Discussion of: Development of carbonate platforms on an extensional (rifted) margin: the Valanginian–Albian record of the Prebetic of Alicante (SE Spain), by J.M. Castro et al., Cretaceous Research 29 (2008), 848–860

The original reconstruction (Granier, 1987, and subsequent revisions) of the Early Cretaceous tectono-sedimentary evolution of the northeastern border of the Citrabetic basin in the Alicante province (Spain) was made possible by the integration of sedimentological and palaeontological data. Its findings are based on direct evidence (synsedimentary fractures, reworking, etc.) that differentiates it significantly from the model proposed by Castro et al. (2008). Errors in their analysis of both the sequence and timing of events are corrected. In addition, their negligence with regard to citations of previous work in the region is discussed. In the Citrabetic basin a thick dominantly-siliciclastic wedge developed at the start of the Valanginian, as a consequence of the major transgression that flooded the "Upper Jurassic" carbonate platform. A rift phase occurred later in Valanginian times; the related block-faulting and fracturing persisted up to early Aptian times. At the edges of the blocks and in the starved basins they delimit, the synrift series is characterized by condensed sedimentation (ferruginous oolites, glauconite). This block-faulting initiated the migration of Triassic salts which possibly reached an apogee in Albian times.