Carbonatos palustres en llanuras de inundación fluviales del Plioceno-Pleistoceno (Cuenca de Guadix, Granada, España)

Abstract

During its continental stage of infilling (Late Tortonian-Late Pleistocene), the Guadix Basin acted as an endorheic depression in which an axial fluvial system, fed partialy by two transverse alluvial systems, drained towards a large shallow lake located in the eastern sector. At that moment, detritic and carbonate sediments were depositing in the floodplains of the axial valley. The study of the carbonate facies shows that most of them were deposited in palustrine environments. The palustrine carbonate sediments have been characterized according to their degree of pedological modification and to their content in detritic components. Some of the palustrine sediments appear to be related to the progradation of the transverse alluvial fans, which eventually gave way to the blocking of the master drainage towards the east and the temporary development of extensive ponds.