Plio-Quaternary seismic stratigraphy of the Western Alboran Sea

ISMS12 International Symposium in Marine Sciences - XVI SIQM Seminario Iberico de Quimica Marina, 24-26 de enero de 2012, Cádiz

A new and detailed Plio-Quaternary seismic stratigraphy has been defined in the Western Alboran Basin. The new stratigraphy has incorporated new three major discontinuities that reflect drastic changes in climate and paleoceanography. They are the followings: the LPR discontinuity (Lower Pliocene Revolution) of 4.2 Ma; the UPR/BQD discontinuity (Upper Pliocene Revolution, Base of Quaternary) of 2.4 Ma; and the MPR discontinuity (Middle Pleistocene Revolution) of 0.9 Ma. These new unconformities divide the Plio-Quaternary sedimentary register overlying the Messinian erosive surface (M discontinuity) into four new seismic divisions. The seismic facies analysis of these divisions have allowed defining a new depositional architecture for the Spanish and Moroccan margins and the adjacent western Alboran basin. This architecture is made up of two major types of sedimentary systems: contouritic and turbiditic. The spatial and temporal distributions of their deposits have allowed reconstructing the depositional history of the western Alboran Sea. This history involves significant relocation of main flow pathways, both longitudinal and transversal. The relocation of the longitudinal pathways seem to have been conditioned by the interplay/feedback between major changes in the oceanographic scenario of the Alboran Sea since the Atlantic flooding, with several morphological and sedimentary factors that have also been conditioned by tectonic activity

Peer Reviewed