The Río Grío depression (Iberian Chain, NE Spain). Neotectonic graben vs. fluvial valley
Keywords:
neotectonic graben, fluvial incision, geomorphological mapping, seismic hazardAbstract
This contribution presents a geomorphological map of the Río Grío depression, located in the central sector of the Iberian Range, NE Spain. Inprevious geological maps this depression, ca. 30 km long, has been interpreted as an erosional fluvial valley. Geomorphologicalmapping reveals that it corresponds to a neotectonic graben filled by alluvial fan deposits and subsequently dissected by the axialGrío River and its tributaries. The length of the normal faults indicates that some of the mapped neotectonic structures have thepotential to generate earthquakes with moment magnitudes as high as 6.8. This work suggests that there may be a limitedknowledge on the distribution recent faults in some sectors of Spain and that a higher input on the geomorphology and Quaternarygeology in the geological maps would help to overcome this weakness.References
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