Tectonic mode switches in the Pyrenees caused by Africa-Eurasia rotation pole drift

Tectonic mode switches in the Pyrenees caused by Africa-Eurasia rotation pole drift | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Tectonic mode switches in the Pyrenees caused by Africa-Eurasia rotation pole drift Douwe van Hinsbergen, Roi Granot, Bram Vaes, Reinoud Vissers This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8017726/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Motions of lithospheric plates and the tectonic mode of their plate boundaries are considered stable between abrupt major reorganizations. However, recent geodynamic models identified subtle effects on plate motion, for instance mantle-plume-induced that, if kinematically corroborated, offer novel insights into mantle dynamics. Here, we show that the drift of the Africa-Eurasia rotation pole in the Cretaceous correlates with tectonic mode switches, from divergence and convergence and back, in the Pyrenees. We use recent marine magnetic constraints from the Cretaceous Central Atlantic Ocean floor to demonstrate that Africa-Eurasia motion in the Pyrenean realm was divergent (until ~121 Ma), convergent (121-108 Ma), divergent again (108-92 Ma) and convergent again (since 92 Ma). This coincides with phases of Iberian microplate breakup, rotation and subduction, North Pyrenean Basin extension, and Pyrenean collisional orogeny, respectively. The pole drift phases explain Cretaceous Pyrenean mantle rock exhumation as eduction of a previously subducted, Jurassic Iberian hyperextended margin. Vice versa, the tectonic mode shifts offer novel insights into the dynamic response of the African Plate to south Atlantic rift-to-drift, Indian Ocean plume rise, and a Neotethyan Ocean same-dip, double subduction episode. Integrated plate kinematic and orogen-scale tectonic analysis thus aid interpreting geological records and geodynamic drivers alike. Earth and environmental sciences/Solid Earth sciences/Tectonics Earth and environmental sciences/Solid Earth sciences/Geodynamics Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8017726","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":539090869,"identity":"0e99f44a-1e26-4852-954e-51e8b65e66f6","order_by":0,"name":"Douwe van Hinsbergen","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA/0lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACewbGBwwVIJZEYgMDYwNYECgEBHw4tBg2MCQwSKBpYTYAkWw4tBgcgGtJYIBpYZMgQstheXOJ5LaHP3fY5Mu79x6r5m1jyCOkxXDn/Iftxrxn0iw3njmXdhuopZiAljTGDTcS26QZ2w4bGM7IMQNpSWwjoMUepEXyZ9t/A8P5b8yK8WthSWCUYLBJBGmR4G07YCAvwWPGjE+LYTPbgYMbDGySwQ7jPZNsYMCTYyw555wETi327M2NDx5USNhuuJH+TPLnDjsD+fYzhh/elNkk9uPQwsDMwHCAwQDVdyAggUsDFiDfQILiUTAKRsEoGBEAAJtPVycJinnyAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3410-0344","institution":"Utrecht University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Douwe","middleName":"van","lastName":"Hinsbergen","suffix":""},{"id":539090870,"identity":"7497773d-c6c6-4438-95ee-921facec86db","order_by":1,"name":"Roi Granot","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5366-188X","institution":"Ben Gurion University of the Negev","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Roi","middleName":"","lastName":"Granot","suffix":""},{"id":539090871,"identity":"e0bddfb0-47e8-45fd-ad94-05b4a0cf98d2","order_by":2,"name":"Bram Vaes","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"CEREGE","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Bram","middleName":"","lastName":"Vaes","suffix":""},{"id":539090872,"identity":"f04ead0f-9cbe-45a1-8f17-d7646c43513d","order_by":3,"name":"Reinoud Vissers","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Utrecht University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Reinoud","middleName":"","lastName":"Vissers","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-11-03 10:08:05","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":false,"vertebrateSubjects":false,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false,"humanSubjectConsent":false,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8017726/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8017726/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":104404568,"identity":"3dba4c1d-c6d8-4b5a-8a9d-530ae805ffa1","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-11 12:20:32","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1003068,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"vanHinsbergenetalNGeo.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8017726/v1_covered_681482b0-22f6-48bd-a246-4e98f312f890.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Tectonic mode switches in the Pyrenees caused by Africa-Eurasia rotation pole drift","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":true,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8017726/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8017726/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Motions of lithospheric plates and the tectonic mode of their plate boundaries are considered stable between abrupt major reorganizations. 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