The Quaternary Active Faults Database of Iberia (QAFI) is an initiative lead by the Institute of Geology and Mines of Spain (IGME) for building a public repository of scientific data regarding faults having documented activity during the last 2.59 Ma (Quaternary). QAFI also addresses a need to transfer geologic knowledge to practitioners of seismic hazard and risk in Iberia by identifying and characterizing seismogenic fault-sources. QAFI is populated by the information freely provided by more than 40 Earth science researchers, storing to date a total of 262 records. In this article we describe the development and evolution of the
Quaternary activity of folds and faults can be assessed by the analysis of drainage network and the evaluation of geomorphic indexes. These analyses are especially productive in semiarid areas where tectonic rates are low-to-moderate and Quaternary dating is limited. In this work, we have revisited the most relevant GIS-based methodologies used to assess tectonic activity by using morphometric analyses and we discuss the tectonic implications in two key areas of the central and eastern Betic Cordillera (Sierra Nevada and Sierra Alhamilla regions). In the Sierra Nevada area, the use of geomorphic indexes in the mountain range and in the neighboring Granada and Guadix-Baza basins suggests that all are part of the same SW-directed extensional system. The Granada basin (except in its NE border) subsided during the Late Pleistocene as it is located in the hanging wall of the extensional system. On the other hand, the Sierra Nevada mountain range, the NE border of the Granada basin and the Guadix-Baza basin are located in the active uplifted foot wall of the system. Thus, the higher fluvial incision rates in the Guadix-Baza basin can be directly correlated with the most recent uplift history of Sierra Nevada mountain range. In the Sierra Alhamilla region, a geomorphic study shows Late Pleistocene activity along the North Alhamilla Reverse Fault and the dextral transpressive South Gafarillos Fault, two segments of the Polopos Fault Zone, previously considered as an inactive fault.Keywords: Betic Cordillera, active tectonics, drainage networks, tectonic geomorphology
ResumenLa actividad cuaternaria de pliegues y fallas puede ser estimada mediante el análisis de las redes de drenaje y el cálculo de índi-ces geomorfológicos. Este tipo de análisis es especialmente útil en zonas semiáridas con tasas de bajas y moderadas de actividad tectónica, y con escasas dataciones cuaternarias. En este trabajo hemos hecho una revisión de los principales trabajos que utilizan ISSN (print): 1698-6180. ISSN (online): 1886-7995
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