Reply to comment by Yanni Gunnell and Marc Calvet on "Origin of the highly elevated Pyrenean peneplain"

Julien Babault (1) , Jean van den Driessche (2) , Stéphane Bonnet (2) , Sébastien Castelltort (3) , Alain Crave (2)

1 Departament de Geologia
2 GR - Géosciences Rennes
3 LT - Laboratoire de tectonique

Gunnell and Calvet [2006] (hereinafter referred to as GC) challenge the recent model that we proposed for the origin of the highly elevated Pyrenean peneplain by contest- ing our morphometric analysis of this chain and the relation we made between the morphological evolution and the piedmont sedimentation. Their reasoning is as follows: (1) According to Calvet [1996] (on which their comment is largely based) the high-elevation, low-relief surfaces in the Eastern Pyrenees are remnants of a peneplain that devel- oped before the Pliocene from applanation near to sea level, and which was later uplifted by 2000 m during the Plio- Quaternary (in other words, GC belong to the ‘‘applanation’’ school, whereas we woul d belong to the ‘‘altiplanation’’ school); (2) high-elevation, low-relief surfaces do not exist in the Central Pyrenees; (3) therefore the relationships we made between the morphology of the Central Pyrenees and the pattern of the detrital sedimentation in the adjacent Ebro foreland basin is meaningless; (4) contrary to the initial interpretation of Calvet [1996], GC recognize that crustal thickening did not develop since the Pliocene in the Eastern Pyrenees, so they appeal to another geodynamical process such as extension or lithosphere delamination to explain the supposed uplift.

Mots clés: Pyrenean orogen; highly elevated peneplain; Piedmont sedimentation

Domaines: Géomorphologie

Julien Babault, Jean van den Driessche, Stéphane Bonnet, Sébastien Castelltort, Alain Crave. Reply to comment by Yanni Gunnell and Marc Calvet on "Origin of the highly elevated Pyrenean peneplain". Tectonics, 2006, 25 (3), pp.TC3004. ⟨10.1029/2005TC001922⟩. ⟨hal-00115930⟩