GRAVITY-INDUCED RECUMBENT FOLDS AND LOW-ANGLE NORMAL FAULTS IN THE ALPUJARRAS REGION (BETIC CORDILLERAS, SPAIN) - INDICATIONS OF MIOCENE EXTENSIONAL TECTONICS IN THE WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN

Large north-facing recumbent folds in the Alpujarride Domain of the Be tic orogen, heretofore related with a contractional nappe-stacking epi sode predating the early- to middle-Miocene extension, can be reinterp reted as gravitational folds, their development being connected with t he extensional event that produced the low-angle normal faults and ext ensional detachments in Miocene times. This conclusion is based on det ailed research carried out in the eastern part of the Alpujarras regio n (souther Betics) and includes the establishment of the fold geometry and metamorphic frame by means of field and mineralogical techniques, and the analysis of the relationships between recumbent folds and ext ension-related structures such as low-angle normal faults, stretching lineations, boudinage structures, etc.