Unlike most Neogene basins of the Betic Cordillera where the Salinity Crisis is dated to the Messinian, a contradictory Tortonian dating was proposed for evaporites of the Lorca Basin. As a consequence, complex structural models have been proposed in the literature to explain this discrepancy in the timing of evaporites. In order to integrate the Lorca Basin into the geological context of the western Mediterranean domain during the Late Miocene, new sedimentological and stratigraphical studies coupled with new dating were performed, which allow us to propose a Messinian age for both diatomite-bearing deposits and evaporites of the Lorca Basin. These new ages challenge the idea of a Tortonian salinity crisis in the Lorca Basin. Three main events of base-level drop were evidenced during the Messinian. Each event is correlated with successive steps of basin restriction. Shallow salina evaporites were deposited after a base-level fall during the Messinian before a final base-level drop, which led to the entire exposure of the basin. This last exposure is interpreted as coeval with the deposition of first evaporites and halite in the deep Mediterranean basins. The reflooding which allowed the deposition of brackish deposits and a short-lived marine incursion occurred at the end of the Messinian. Base-level drops occurred during eustatic falls amplified by the gradual uplift of the Betic Cordillera. The exhumation of the Tercia ridge along the strike-slip Alhama de Murcia fault system during the Messinian probably favoured the gradual restriction of the basin. A discussion on correlations of main unconformities between several Neogene basins of the Betics is proposed, suggesting a similar structural evolution at the regional scale.

中文翻译：

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洛尔卡盆地（贝蒂奇，西班牙东南部）晚中新世矿床的时代和地层结构：边缘盆地盐度危机的新见解

与贝蒂克山脉的大多数新近纪盆地不同，其中盐度危机的年代可追溯到墨西拿，有人提出了对洛尔卡盆地蒸发岩的自相矛盾的托尔托尼年代测定法。因此，文献中提出了复杂的结构模型来解释蒸发岩时间的这种差异。为了在晚中新世期间将洛尔卡盆地整合到西地中海地区的地质背景中，进行了新的沉积学和地层学研究以及新的测年，这使我们能够提出含硅藻土沉积物和蒸发岩的墨西拿时代。洛尔卡盆地。这些新时代挑战了洛尔卡盆地托托尼亚盐度危机的想法。在墨西拿时期见证了三个主要的基础水平下降事件。每个事件都与盆地限制的连续步骤相关。浅层盐沼蒸发岩沉积在墨西拿时期的底面下降之后，最后底面下降，导致盆地完全暴露。最后一次暴露被解释为与地中海深部盆地中第一批蒸发岩和岩盐的沉积同时期。导致微咸沉积物沉积和短暂的海洋入侵发生在墨西尼纪末期的回灌。由于贝蒂奇山脉的逐渐抬升，在浮沉式下降期间发生了基线下降。墨西拿时期沿着走滑 Alhama de Murcia 断层系统的 Tercia 海脊的剥露可能有利于盆地的逐渐限制。