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Marine Geology 155 (1999) 943

The Betic orogen and the IberianAfrican boundary in the Gulf of


Cadiz: geological evolution (central North Atlantic)
Andres Maldonado a, , Lus Somoza b , Lorenzo Pallares c
a

Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra, C.S.I.C.=Universidad de Granada, Campas Fuentenueva s=n,


E-18002 Granada, Spain
b Geologa Marina, Instituto Tecnolo
gico Geominero de Espana, Rios Rosas, 23, 28003 Madrid, Spain
c Departamento de Geodina
mica, Universidad de Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain
Received 20 November 1996; revised version received 3 November 1997

Abstract
The study of the Gulf of Cadiz on the basis of multichannel seismic profiles and wells illustrates the stratigraphy and
tectonics. The evolution of the southern Iberian margins was more complex than in most North Atlantic margins since
it entailed several phases of rifting, convergence and strike-slip motions. Three main tectonic provinces surround the
internal zones of the Gibraltar Arc orogenic belt. These include in the Iberian margin of the Gulf of Cadiz the flysch
units of the Campo de Gibraltar complex, the Betic External Zones, and the Neogene basins of the Guadalquivir Valley.
Fault-bounded blocks of flysch and Subbetic units crops out over large areas of the southeastern Iberian shelf. The
basement of the northwestern area, in contrast, is represented by the Paleozoic rocks of the Hercynian massif of Iberia.
Half-graben structures determined the main structural trends of the margin during the Mesozoic, which were affected by
inversion structures during the Neogene compressional stages. The Mesozoic and lower Cenozoic units are best observed
in wells and seismic profiles from the northern area. These units are either obscure below a thick olistostrome deposit
or are absent in most of the rest of the Gulf of Cadiz. Seven lithoseismic units from Triassic to Upper Oligocene and
another seven Neogene and Quaternary units are identified based on the relationship to the depositional sequence and the
emplacement of the olistostrome. The first tectonic phase was characterized by a passive margin, which was controlled by
the development of half-graben extensional structures and carbonate platforms. This evolution comprises the Mesozoic
and early Cenozoic. Ocean-spreading in the North Atlantic induced extensional tectonics, which deformed the Cretaceous
syn-tectonic post-Aptian deposits. Increased amounts of terrigenous materials were supplied to the margin from Aptian
to Albian times, controlling depositional patterns, while terrigenous siliciclastic facies replaced the Jurassic carbonate
platforms. From Middle Eocene to Early Miocene the margin was influenced by the relative motions of Iberia and Africa
and the development of the Alpine orogeny. The IberianAfrican boundary in the Gulf of Cadiz experienced transpression
and the Mesozoic basins probably underwent subduction. The emplacement of an olistostrome took place in the Gulf of
Cadiz towards the Central Atlantic basin plains during the Tortonian. The end of the olistostrome emplacement during the
Late Miocene coincides with accelerated tectonic subsidence, while thick progradational and aggradational depositional
sequences were developed. The occurrence of closely juxtaposed regions of compression and extension during the Miocene
may reflect the westwards progression of the Gibraltar Arc mountain front over a subducting thinned Tethys crust. When
the motion between Iberian and Africa was NS to NNWSSE oriented, the migration of the arcuate mountain front into
the eastern Gulf of Cadiz is attributed to a mechanism of collision induced delamination of the mantle lithosphere. In

Corresponding

author. Tel.: C34-958-244159; Fax: C34-958-243384; E-mail: amaldona@goliat.ugr.es

0025-3227/99/$ see front matter 1999 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 0 2 5 - 3 2 2 7 ( 9 8 ) 0 0 1 3 9 - X

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A. Maldonado et al. / Marine Geology 155 (1999) 943

contrast to the BeticRif belts, however, there is no geophysical evidence to postulate that continental collision took place
in the Gulf of Cadiz during the Cenozoic. 1999 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: continental margin evolution; plate boundary tectonics; Gulf of Cadiz; central North Atlantic; Gibraltar Arc

1. Introduction
The Atlantic margins of Iberia have received
much attention during the last two decades, thus
providing significant geological information to enlarge the present understanding of the evolution of
the North Atlantic and the development of passive
margins (Tankard and Balkwill, 1989; Lister et al.,
1991). Atlantic margins evolved over a hundred million years, starting with an early Mesozoic period
of rapid rift propagation into the North Atlantic and
the spreading of Iberia and the Grand Banks in
the Early Cretaceous (Srivastava et al., 1990a). The
margins along North America became recognized as
Atlantic-type passive margins and they underwent
significant postrift thermal subsidence that resulted
in the deposition of a seaward-thickening terrace
wedge, which in places is more than 10 km thick
(e.g., margins of eastern Canada; Keen et al., 1990).
The conjugate passive margins of the eastern North
Atlantic, however, indicate the presence of an apparent asymmetry in their structure and evolutionary
paths and the comparatively thin postrift cover reveals a wide variety of tectonic types (e.g., Atlantic
margins of Iberia; Boillot et al., 1989; Wilson et al.,
1989).
Active and transcurrent margins in the North Atlantic are rarer and the best examples are located
along the plate boundaries of Iberia, where primary horizontal motions occurred since the Mesozoic (Dewey et al., 1989). Horizontal motions along
strike-slip systems were important in the northern
Iberia margin of the Bay of Biscay, which also became an active margin during the Paleogene due to
the relative motions of Iberia and Eurasia (Boillot et
al., 1989; Garca-Mondejar, 1989; Srivastava et al.,
1990b).
The tectonic evolution in the Gulf of Cadiz was
also more complex than in most North Atlantic margins since it entailed several phases of extension,
convergence and strike-slip motions. Understanding
the geological evolution of the Gulf of Cadiz mar-

gin is, moreover, important because it occupies a


focal position between the westernmost segment of
the Mediterranean realm and the IberianAfrican
boundary (Fig. 1). The opening of the North Atlantic
during the Late Cretaceous and Tertiary induced the
rotational divergence of North America and Eurasia,
which was paralleled by the counterclockwise convergence of Africa and Eurasia. The northwards drift
of Africa caused the progressive closure of oceanic
basins of the Tethys and the rapid westwards propagation of the Alpine, BeticRif orogenic collision
front in the Gulf of Cadiz, in parallel with the development of the western Mediterranean basins (Dewey
et al., 1989; Garca-Duenas et al., 1992; Jabaloy et
al., 1992; Maldonado et al., 1992). As a consequence
the margins of the Gulf of Cadiz preserve the different phases of extension and collision along the
IberianAfrican boundary and also the evolution of
the westernmost segment of the Alpine orogeny.
The tectonics, stratigraphy and chronology of
events for the development of the Gulf of Cadiz have
been discussed in several studies (Roberts, 1970; Lajat et al., 1975; Malod and Mougenot, 1979; Martnez
del Olmo et al., 1984; Mougenot, 1988; Flinch et al.,
1996). In spite of much recent work on southern Iberia
and northern Africa, however, several conflicting geodynamic hypotheses have been proposed and a general consensus has not been reached (cf. Dewey, 1988;
Doblas and Oyarzun, 1989; Platt and Vissers, 1989;
Maldonado et al., 1992; Docherty and Banda, 1995;
Flinch et al., 1996; Seber et al., 1996a,b). Moreover,
the precise growth patterns of the margins and their relationships with the major tectonic events occurring in
the plate boundary, the principal structural elements,
and the evolution of the area have not previously been
described in detail. In this study, we analyse seismic
reflection profiles from commercial and academic investigations that allow the identification of growth
patterns and the history of development to be constrained. In particular, we characterize the morphological and structural provinces, which are discussed
within the framework of the surrounding lithospheric

A. Maldonado et al. / Marine Geology 155 (1999) 943

11

Fig. 1. Geological setting and simplified bathymetry of the Gulf of Cadiz and surrounding areas. Legend: 1 D Hercynian Massif; 2
D BeticRifean Internal Zones; 3 D dorsal complex; 4 D flysch units; 5 D Meso- and Intrarifean units; 6 D Prerifean units; 7 D
Betic External Zones; 8 D Mesozoic paleomargins of IberiaAfrica; 9 D Guadalquivir olistostrome units; 10 D Neogene basins; 11 D
olistostrome front; 12 D seismic foci; COB D oceancontinent boundary. Bathymetry in meters.

elements. These data allow the geometry of the structures and the tectonic processes that occur around the
boundary between Iberia and Africa to be identified.
The expression of the westernmost segment of the
Alpine orogenic belts and its influence on the development of the Gulf of Cadiz is also analysed. The
objective of this study is to provide new information
for a better understanding of the evolution of continental margins in a complex tectonic setting located
near plate boundaries.

2. Methodology
The Spanish continental margin of the Gulf of
Cadiz has been intensively explored by oil companies, thus providing a dense network of multichannel
seismic (MCS) profiles (Delaplanche et al., 1982;

Martnez del Olmo et al., 1984; Riaza and Martnez


del Olmo, 1996). Additional MCS profiles were
also obtained with the B=O Hesperides during the
HE-91-3 cruise (Fig. 2). These MCS profiles have
been postprocessed to common depth point, stack
and time migrated using standard procedures. Information is also available from 26 commercial wells
drilled offshore in the Gulf of Cadiz (IGME, 1987).
The seismic units recognized in the MCS profiles
have been characterized on the basis of the borehole data (thicknesses, lithology, facies, age) from 8
representative wells (B-1, B-3, C-1, D-1, E-1, G-1,
6Y-1bis, and ATLANTIDA-2) of several sectors of the
Gulf of Cadiz (Fig. 2). In order to better understand
the history of lithospheric subsidence, decompaction
and backstripping techniques were applied in 5 selected wells, using the methods described by Steckler
and Watts (1978) and Stam et al. (1987).

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A. Maldonado et al. / Marine Geology 155 (1999) 943

Fig. 2. Simplified bathymetric chart of the Gulf of Cadiz. Contour interval is 100 m with additional contours at 50 m. The grid of
multichannel seismic (MCS) profiles and location of commercial wells analysed for this study is shown. Solid lines with numbers
indicate MCS profiles displayed in Figs. 5 and 6.

3. Geological setting
3.1. Breakup of Pangea and the Mesozoic margins
Plate kinematic solutions indicate that during the
Triassic the area of the Gulf of Cadiz was part of the
Tethys-related rift systems, when Permo-Carboniferous fracture zones became tensionally reactivated
(Ziegler, 1989). The breakup of Pangea resulted in
Triassic rifting and the development of the margins
of southern Iberia and northern Africa (Heymann,
1989). Late Triassic basic volcanism was associated
with this rifting and is represented by hydroclastic eruptions of basic volcanic rocks in the Cadiz
margin. Post-volcanism tectonic extension initially

occurred in a SSW direction, changing later to a SE


trend (Garca-Navarro et al., 1994).
The Central Atlantic ridge ended in the Gloria
Transform Fault, which was a major tectonic boundary throughout the early Mesozoic. This transform
fault was probably connected with the extensional,
deep oceanic basins of the Tethys. The Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous progressive rifting of the
Central Atlantic caused a major sinistral translation
between Africa and Laurasia, which probably occurred along wrench-induced deep-crustal fractures,
where the relative motion between the Central and
North Atlantic rift systems was accommodated (Klitgord and Schouten, 1986; Ziegler, 1989). Jurassic
spreading of the Tethys ocean took place through a

A. Maldonado et al. / Marine Geology 155 (1999) 943

major transcurrent fault, separating northern African


from Iberian margins (Dercourt et al., 1986; Mauffret
et al., 1989). This fault zone is thought to be located
at the present area of the Alboran Sea (Andrieux
et al., 1971), but it could has extended westwards
into the Gorringe Bank region, attributed to the latest
Jurassic (Feraud et al., 1986). Northwards, the age
of the older oceanic crust of the Tagus Plain, showing the continentocean boundary, corresponds to
magnetic anomaly M21 (150 Myr, early Tithonian).
Mauffret et al. (1989) suggest that during the Cretaceous occurred a northwards migration of the rifting
process and a westwards jumping of the ridge, which
implies an Early Cretaceous (anomaly MO, Aptian)
abandoned spreading centre in the Tagus Plain. Sea
floor magnetic anomaly reconstructions show that
the separation of Eurasia from North America initiated 118 Myr ago north of the NewfoundlandAGFZ
(AzoresGibraltar Fracture Zone) (Srivastava et al.,
1990a). A spreading axis and associated transform
faults were in existence during this time in the Gulf
of Cadiz area, while a triple junction occurred between the AfricanIberiaNorth American plates in
the vicinity of the Gorringe Bank (Fig. 3).
3.2. Cretaceous and early Tertiary North Atlantic
spreading
During the Cretaceous and Tertiary, the opening
of the North Atlantic induced the rotational divergence of North America (Srivastava et al., 1990a).
Iberia acted as an independent plate for most of
the middle Cretaceous, until it became attached to
Africa sometime before chron 34 (Late Cretaceous,
84 Myr), when the plate boundary was located in the
Bay of Biscay (Srivastava et al., 1990b). The MCS
profiles and the magnetic lineations from the eastern
Horseshoe Plain indicate Upper Jurassic deposits below a pre-Aptian reflector which represents a major
angular unconformity (Mauffret et al., 1989; Sartori
et al., 1994). Lower Aptian deposits were drilled at
the southern Gorringe Bank in DSDP Site 135 (Ryan
et al., 1973), which also indicates that sedimentation related to North Atlantic ocean spreading began
during the Aptian in the area of the AGFZ, whereas
the Jurassic deposits were largely controlled by the
North AfricanIberian ocean spreading.
During the Middle Eocene to Middle Miocene

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(chron 18 to chron 6c), Iberia became once again


an independent plate. Strike slips along the Gloria Transform Fault passed into the compressional
area of the Gorringe Bank, while the AGFZ was
an active plate boundary between Africa and Iberia
(Roest and Srivastava, 1991). The relative motion
between the two plates in the Gulf of Cadiz was
small between chrons 18 and 13, but since then compression has existed east of Gorringe Bank, with a
significant amount of shortening in the area of the
Gulf of Cadiz. A major unconformity has been reported in DSDP Site 135 during the Early Eocene
Late Oligocene, and also is observed in Ampere
Seamount and Coral Patch area. These unconformities suggest regional uplift at this time (Hayes et al.,
1972).
3.3. Late Cenozoic evolution
Plate-motion studies by Dewey et al. (1989) suggest that the area of the Alboran SeaGulf of Cadiz
plate boundary experienced about 200 km of roughly
NS convergence between the mid-Oligocene to
Late Miocene, followed by about 50 km of NWdirected oblique convergence from the Late Miocene
to recent. The BeticRif chains and the enclosed
Alboran Domain represent the disrupted fragments
of a convergent orogenic belt developed between
the two major plates within the generalized compressional regime and that evolved from the Late
Cretaceous to Early Miocene (De Jong, 1991; Monie
et al., 1991; Garca-Duenas et al., 1992; Jabaloy et
al., 1992). The northwards drift of Africa caused
the progressive closure of the Tethys basins and the
rapid westward propagation of the Gibraltar Arc belt
towards the Gulf of Cadiz area (Balanya and GarcaDuenas, 1987). During the AquitanianBurdigalian,
extensional tectonics and sea-floor spreading gave
rise to most of the western Mediterranean Sea as
the CorsicaSardinia block rotated counterclockwise
from the Gulf of Lion and the Balearic block separated from the Iberian Peninsula (Rehault et al.,
1984; Dewey et al., 1989; Mauffret et al., 1995).
Most of the Alboran Sea also developed during this
time, as a type of Mediterranean backarc basin (Horvath and Berckhemer, 1982; Comas et al., 1992;
Maldonado et al., 1992). Part of the area now occupied by the Alboran Sea underwent significant

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A. Maldonado et al. / Marine Geology 155 (1999) 943
Fig. 3. Geographic chart showing the regional tectonic setting of the study area. The distribution of the present major lithospheric structures and their relationship with the
distribution of deep earthquakes is depicted. Earthquake location obtained from the Instituto Geografico Nacional database. A schematic paleotectonic map of the area during
the Late JurassicEarly Cretaceous is shown in the small inset. The data of oceanic structures is modified from Ryan et al. (1973), Mauffret et al. (1989), Morley (1992),
Sartori et al. (1994). O.C. D Oceanic crust; C.C. D continental crust. Explanation in the text.

A. Maldonado et al. / Marine Geology 155 (1999) 943

crustal thinning (Platt and Vissers, 1989; Watts et


al., 1993; Docherty and Banda, 1995; Seber et al.,
1996a).

15

southern sector, where the seismicity is lower and


most of the deep earthquakes are distributed along a
NS-trending arc in the western Alboran Sea (Figs. 1
and 3).

3.4. Quaternary tectonics


The tectonic regime in southern Iberia shows significant variations during the Quaternary. The Gibraltar Strait suffered uplifting processes, whereas in the
Gulf of Cadiz westwards extension could have been
influenced by lateral ejection processes. Uplift rates
of between 0.1 to 0.2 mm=yr were calculated in
the Gibraltar area based on the altitude of Upper
Pleistocene marine deposits (Goy et al., 1995). A
right-dihedra diagram from the focal mechanism of
earthquakes in the Gulf of Cadiz region shows, however, a general compressional stress regime with 1
subhorizontal and NNWSSE trending, whereas coeval extensional processes took place in the Alboran
Sea (cf. Maldonado et al., 1992; Galindo-Zaldvar et
al., 1993).
The present kinematics along the Azores
Gibraltar Fracture Zone (AGFZ) is complex (Fig. 3).
From west to east it is characterized as: (1) transtensional in the western sector from the Azores triple
junction; (2) dextral along the Gloria Transform
Fault; (3) diffuse compressional in the area of the
Gorringe Bank; and (4) convergent complex with
right-lateral strike slips in the Gulf of Cadiz and
Gibraltar Arc area (Grimison and Chen, 1986; Buforn et al., 1988a,b; Argus et al., 1989; Westaway,
1990; Udas and Buforn, 1992; Sartori et al., 1994).
The model proposed by Argus et al. (1989) predicts a
right-lateral slip of about 4 mm=yr along the eastern
portion of the AGFZ and a west-northwest convergence in the western Gulf of Cadiz (Figs. 1 and 3).
The seismicity, heavily concentrated along the AGFZ
in the Azores and Gloria Fault, becomes disperse in
the Gulf of Cadiz and Gibraltar Arc, which may
indicate the more diffuse nature of the contact in this
area and the partitioning of the relative motion along
several fracture zones (Buforn et al., 1988a,b). Seismicity in the Gulf of Cadiz allows to differentiate,
in addition, two main domains in this area (Udas
and Buforn, 1992): (1) the northern sector in the
External Betic zone and Guadalquivir Depression,
where most of the intermediate (30 km < h < 150
km) and shallow earthquakes are located; and (2) the

4. Seismic stratigraphic units


4.1. Mesozoic and lower Cenozoic units
The Mesozoic and lower Cenozoic units are best
observed in wells and multi-channel seismic profiles
(MSC) from the northernmost area. These units are
either obscure below a thick olistostrome deposit
or are absent over most of the rest of the Gulf of
Cadiz (Lajat et al., 1975; Delaplanche et al., 1982;
Martnez del Olmo et al., 1984). The basement is
made up of the Paleozoic rocks of the Hercynian
massif of Iberia. Half-graben structures determined
the main structural trends of this margin during the
Mesozoic, which were affected by inversion structures during the Neogene compressional stages. The
Triassic evaporites acted as detachment layers during
the extensional and compressional stages. Well data
and multichannel seismic profiles permit us to distinguish seven main lithoseismic units from the Triassic
to the Late Oligocene (Figs. 46).
4.1.1. Units TR1 and TR2 (Triassic)
Two main Triassic units are identified in wells
showing a typical Germanic-type facies: a lower siliciclastic TR1 Unit and an upper evaporitic TR2 Unit
composed of salts, gypsum and shallow-water carbonates (Fig. 4). In MCS profiles the top of TR1
Unit locally shows a very high-amplitude reflector,
mostly above the structural highs, frequently identified as the acoustic basement (Fig. 5). This unit
has been sampled at 4102 m depth below sea level
in well B1, where it is represented by the red
beds facies composed of red clays and volcanogenic
rocks filling half-grabens. Unit TR2 shows a strong,
discontinuous acoustic reflector, frequently of hyperbolic or chaotic character. It is also affected by
diapirism, particularly near the contact with the olistostrome front (Fig. 5). This unit has been drilled
at well C1 between 1720 and 2763 m on top of a
diapiric dome (Fig. 4). The lithologies consist of an
upper section of 55 m of red clays with anhydrite

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A. Maldonado et al. / Marine Geology 155 (1999) 943
Fig. 4. Lithologic logs of commercial wells. Stratigraphic units and horizons drilled by the wells and total depth are indicated. Main unconformities and stratigraphic
correlation between the wells are also shown. Arrows indicate emplacement of the olistostrome and thrust structures (note that this representation is not a geological
section). See Fig. 2 for location of wells. Discussion in text.

A. Maldonado et al. / Marine Geology 155 (1999) 943

layers and a lower section of salt deposits composed


of layers of anhydride, potassium salt and red clays.
The TR2 Unit acted as a detachment layer for extensional features during the Mesozoic and also during
the emplacement of the Neogene olistostrome.
4.1.2. Unit LJ (LowerMiddle Jurassic)
This unit is generally represented by tilted blocks
detached from the TR2 Unit with abundant diffractions at the top. The acoustic character is massive,
with no internal reflectors. It has been drilled in
well B1 at 3902 m, with an upper section containing
493 m of dolomite and a lower section containing
300 m of marly limestones and limestones. This
unit belongs to the carbonate platform that arose in
the Tethys domain along the southern Iberian margin
during the EarlyMiddle Jurassic (Garca-Hernandez
et al., 1980; Vera, 1988).
4.1.3. Unit UJ-LK1 (Upper JurassicLower
Cretaceous)
This unit fills the depressions of the underlying
half-graben structures. The deposits near the contact
with the faulted, steep margin of the half-grabens
show chaotic reflectors, which change basinwards
into a progradational character. Aggradational reflectors are observed on the footwall of the halfgrabens and offlapping and progradational configurations have developed along the hanging walls.
The central area of the half-grabens, in contrast, are
characterized by divergent and aggradational reflection patterns. The geometry indicates development
during syn-rift climax processes. The unit has been
drilled at 2437 m with a thickness of 953 m in well
D1 (Fig. 4). The lithologies comprise a lower section
of grey-green limestones with an abundance of algae
fragments and forams of Kimmeridgian to Tithonian
ages, and an upper section of algal limestone and
dolomites of Valangian to Barremian ages. This seismic stratigraphic unit is interpreted as a sequence of
carbonate fans, debris aprons and slope facies which
fills the half-grabens.
4.1.4. Unit LK2 (middle Cretaceous)
The seismic character of this unit is very diverse,
both upwards in the stratigraphic sequence and laterally depending on the location within the half-graben
structures. The bottom is marked by a high-ampli-

17

tude reflector that represents a major unconformity


(Figs. 4 and 5). The reflectors show transparent
aggradational and divergent configuration patterns in
the center of the half-grabens, passing laterally into
retrogradational sets of prograding reflectors that dip
basinwards in the footwall areas. This geometry indicates retrogradational hanging wall fans and footwall
fans. At well B1 this unit is composed of a sequence
of silt and shale drilled at 27503405 m, overlying
the Lower Jurassic dolomites. These facies are attributed to the aggradational sequence of the center
of a half-graben. At well Atlantida 2, the lithologies consist of calcareous grey clays with intervals
of black clays and polygenic conglomerates with a
thickness of 350 m. The lithology and seismic character indicate slope facies interbedded with footwall
fans, grading upwards into aggradational onlapping
slope and basin deposits. At well D1, the 100 m
red-grey marls with Albian to Cenomanian faunal
assemblages are also separated from the underlying
Hauterivian dolomites by an angular unconformity
(Fig. 4). Therefore, the angular unconformity that
separates LK2 from the underlying units developed
between the Barremian and the Aptian.
4.1.5. Unit UK-UE (Upper Cretaceousuppermost
Eocene)
This unit onlaps the underlying deposits and it
recorded the final episode of the Late Cretaceous
early Tertiary extensional and passive margin evolution. The deposits fill the half-graben structures and
overlap the structural highs of the margins (Fig. 5).
The lithology is extremely variable in the different
wells, although it is generally thin or absent. At well
Atlantida 2, green clays with some intervals of limestones appear at 19752150 m. However, at well B1,
the lithology consists of interbedded sequences of
limestone, marls and clays drilled at 20272750 m.
In contrast, this unit is not present in well B3, where
a stratigraphic hiatus occurs between the Albian and
the Oligocene (Fig. 4).
4.1.6. Unit UO-LM (Upper Oligocene(?) Lower
Miocene)
This unit is characterized by internal progradational reflectors, which downlap the underlying units
basinwards and onlap them landwards (Fig. 4). The
lower boundary is a very strong, high-amplitude

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A. Maldonado et al. / Marine Geology 155 (1999) 943

reflector interpreted as an erosional unconformity,


which extends to the palaeo shelf-break. The aggradational and progradational reflectors are observed
over the palaeo slope, while mounded configuration
patterns characterize the shelf-break. The lithologies
identified at well D1 include glauconitic limestone
with Nummulites and algae fragments interbedded
with grey to brown marls. This unit also exhibits
large variations in thickness, from 20 m at 1933 m in
well D1, located in the deep basin, to thick deposits
towards the shelf-break, such as the 375 m of wackestone to packstone limestones drilled at 1600 m in
the well B1 (Fig. 4). The seismic geometry and the
lithologies suggest a progradational to aggradational
carbonate shelf platform which developed over the
entire margin and mantled the former fault-bounded
units deposited within the half-graben structures.
The upper boundary is also a very high-amplitude
reflector that corresponds to a widely spread regional
unconformity. This unconformity is well observed
in the northern area of the Gulf of Cadiz, bounding
mid-Miocene deposits from the Oligocene carbonate
platform unit. The unconformity acted as a palaeoslope for the generation of the Upper Miocene turbidite system, while basinwards it sinks below the
mid-Miocene olistostrome deposits (Fig. 5, Line 79339, shot points 32004000).
4.2. Neogene and Quaternary units
Seven main stratigraphic units are differentiated
in the Gulf of Cadiz on the basis of their relationship
to the olistostrome. The location of the northern front
of the olistostrome, well mapped by the oil industry,
reaches the central sector of the Gulf of Cadiz in
a WNWESE direction and it masks and partially
obliterates the underlying units in the southern area
(Figs. 1 and 4).
4.2.1. Pre-olistostrome Unit M1
(LanghianSerravalian, lower Tortonian)
Unit M1 is deformed into a wedge-shaped mound
in front of the olistostrome, while it dips southeastwards below the olistostrome and is involved in
the basal overthrust (Figs. 5 and 6). The top is a
very strong high-amplitude reflector, which marks
the base of the main olistostrome mass through the
Gulf of Cadiz basin. This reflector also represents the

basal foredeep unconformity (BFU). This unit is well


represented by three main depositional sequences
in the MCS profiles in the northern area (Fig. 5).
The sequences are characterized by a wedge geometry filling depressions of the basement, showing
progradational and aggradational reflector configuration patterns. The lower sequence is the thickest
and it progrades northwestwards. The intermediate
sequence is thinner and onlaps the northern boundary of the lower sequence and the older units which
fill the basement depressions. The upper sequence
is more extensive and drapes the two underlying
sequences. This unit is equivalent to the Atlantida
group previously described in the area (Martnez del
Olmo et al., 1984; Riaza and Martnez del Olmo,
1996).
Three main lithological packages were drilled at
well B3: a basal section from the lower Langhian is
composed of grey-black marly clays with some intervals of fine-grained limestones at 18141850 m; an
intermediate LanghianSerravalian section at 1772
1814 m is represented by limestones interbedded
with marly black clays, and an upper Serravalian to
lower Tortonian section at 17571772 m consists of
plastic and compacted green clays with an abundance
of pyrite and glauconite (Fig. 4). These deposits may
be correlated with the fossil-rich carbonate formation
of Lagos-Portimao dated as LanghianTortonian in
central Algarve (Antunes et al., 1990; Cachao and
Silva, 1992; Boski and Moura, 1994). The Lagos
Portimao formation is the lowermost Tertiary unit
recognized in the northern emerged margin and it
overlies a major unconformity above the Mesozoic
substratum. Well D1 near the olistostrome front, in
contrast, drilled 200 m of compacted green to grey
clays at 1740 m depth. The deposits of well D1 may
correspond to the allochthonous margin of southern
Iberia, mostly composed of ductile marly clays of
detrital nature sourced in the Betic orogeny. These
clays are thought to be responsible for the formation
of the marly diapirism that occurred in the central
area of the gulf due to excess pore pressure, which
facilitates density inversion in relation to the overlying deposits (Maldonado et al., 1989).
4.2.2. Syn-olistostrome unit M2 (upper Tortonian)
This unit is well recognized near the front of the
olistostrome, where it is wedge-shaped and interfin-

A. Maldonado et al. / Marine Geology 155 (1999) 943

Fig. 5. Representative MCS profiles and interpretative line drawing showing representative cross-sections of the northern Gulf of Cadiz. Discussion in the text. See Fig. 2 for location.

pp. 1920

pp. 2122

A. Maldonado et al. / Marine Geology 155 (1999) 943

Fig. 5 (continued).

A. Maldonado et al. / Marine Geology 155 (1999) 943

Fig. 6. Representative MCS profiles and interpretative line drawing showing representative cross sections of the southern Gulf of Cadiz. Discussion in text. See Fig. 2 for location.

pp. 2324

pp. 2526

A. Maldonado et al. / Marine Geology 155 (1999) 943

Fig. 6 (continued).

A. Maldonado et al. / Marine Geology 155 (1999) 943

gers with the olistostrome (Fig. 5). The thickness decreases uniformly northwards from the olistostrome
front, where it reaches 300 m. The top of the unit
is affected by overthrust faults of the olistostrome,
whereas below it is delaminated or eroded. There
are local progressive and angular unconformities and
some small depressions on top of the olistostrome,
which may be filled by this unit. Most of these deposits developed during the emplacement of the olistostrome and were also affected by later residual
movements of thrusting and backthrusting. The olistostrome masses reaching the Gulf of Cadiz eroded
the underlying deposits and formed a detrital basal
unit (Fig. 5). This unit is equivalent to the Betica
group that is described by the oil industry in the Gulf
of Cadiz (Riaza and Martnez del Olmo, 1996). The
Betica group appears intensively deformed in front
of the olistostrome mass, developing wedge-shaped
geometries.
Unit M2 drilled at 14991757 m in well B3
consists of plastic grey clays with an abundance of
glauconite and pyrite (Fig. 4). The lower boundary
of these deposits is the BFU reflector on top of the
Atlantida group, while the upper boundary is also
an erosional unconformity interpreted as a sequence
boundary.
4.2.3. Olistostrome unit
The olistostrome unit is seismically identified by
chaotic, high-amplitude reflectors with diffractions
and hyperbolic reflections. The lower boundary is a
strong high amplitude reflector dipping southwards
from the olistostrome front and becoming obscure
below the olistostrome body (Figs. 4 and 5). The
overthrusting took place through low-angle planes
observed as high-amplitude reflectors within the
chaotic olistostrome body. The front is configured
into several wedges involving the syn-sedimentary
deposits of Unit M2. The youngest deposits, of
Messinian age, are also slightly affected by overthrusting movements. The angular unconformities
observed within the depositional sequences are the
results of the kinematics of the wedge-shaped thrusting. Overthrusting also occurred within the body
of the olistostrome, developing a relief in the upper boundary which involves the overlying deposits.
Slope facies were deposited in front of the active
overthrusting, while they merge northwestwards into

27

hemipelagic facies. Backthrusting and extensional


features are also seen at the back of the olistostrome
involving the same units. This suggests a coeval
development of overthrusting and backthrusting processes. Backthrusting also influences slope facies
development of Unit M2, which were deformed by
later displacements.
The main emplacement of the olistostrome to a
location close to its present distribution, took place
just before and during deposition of Unit M2, during
the late Tortonian. The large advancing wedge was
diverted by the bottom morphology and distribution
of the previous deposits. Older accretionary wedges
are observed below the front of the olistostrome and
may be correlated with middle and probably Lower
Miocene deposits (Figs. 5 and 6).
4.2.4. Unit M3 (Messinian)
Unit M3 fills most of the irregularities and depressions of the underlying deposits and drapes
the top of the olistostrome (Figs. 47). The thickest deposits are observed in the depressions north
of the olistostrome front, where they may reach
450 m but are less than 200 m thick to absent
above the olistostrome body. Unit M3 corresponds
to the Andaluca group, which includes the Guadiana and Guadalquivir sands (Riaza and Martnez
del Olmo, 1996). The Guadiana sands represent depositional fan lobes derived south and southeastwards from the northern Gulf of Cadiz margin. The
Guadalquivir sands began to develop earlier in the
upper Guadalquivir Valley and have migrated, in
contrast, southwestwards along the river valley to the
Gulf of Cadiz (Sierro et al., 1996).
Unit M3 consists of clays and interbedded very
fine-grained sand lenses which prograde into the
foredeep basin from the northern margin of the
Gulf of Cadiz (Delaplanche et al., 1982; Riaza and
Martnez del Olmo, 1996). These sands contain the
gas field of the Gulf of Cadiz.
4.2.5. Unit P1 (Lower Pliocene)
The bottom of this unit is a basin-wide erosional
unconformity recognized in single channel and MCS
profiles in the Gulf of Cadiz (Nelson et al., 1993).
It is a rather uniform unit with a thickness of about
300 m north of the olistostrome front and about 50 m
above the olistostrome in the northern area (Figs. 4

28

A. Maldonado et al. / Marine Geology 155 (1999) 943

Fig. 7. Isobath chart to the top of the olistostrome and syn-olistostrome M2 unit in the central area of the Gulf of Cadiz (Middle Miocene
to recent).

6). In the southern Gulf of Cadiz, the thickness of


this unit is controlled by the structure of the basement below the Upper Miocene (Fig. 7). It varies
between absence above the diapiric ridges to several hundred meters in the interdiapiric depressions.
The internal reflectors are parallel, continuous and
of high amplitude. The lithologies are clays with
interbedded sandy clays representing a hemipelagic
drape of the basin with some sandy turbiditic beds.
Depositional systems off major sediment sources
such as the Guadiana and Guadalquivir rivers also
formed major deep-sea fans in this unit (cf. Riaza
and Martnez del Olmo, 1996).
4.2.6. Unit P2 (Upper Pliocene)
This unit is also better developed in the basin
north of the olistostrome front. The lower boundary reflectors are aggradational or onlap the slopes
of the lower boundary of the unit, while the top
boundary is a subhorizontal or gently inclined surface which masks most of the geometries of the
underlying units and the olistostrome (Figs. 47).
The internal reflectors show a sequence with more

transparent to discontinuous reflectors at the bottom


and with higher amplitude, interfingered reflectors
at the top. Thickness varies between 500 m in the
depressions and 150 m above the olistostrome body
in the northern Gulf of Cadiz, while in the southern
area the thickness varies from 0 to more than 1000 m
(Fig. 7). The lithology in all the wells of the area consists of clays and sand, which belong to hemipelagic
deposits, turbidite sands, and current-drift deposits.
4.2.7. Units P=Q (Upper PlioceneQuaternary)
The bottom reflector is an unconformity observed
over most of the basin. The basal reflectors onlap and prograde basinwards on top of the basal
unconformity. These deposits are composed of several units showing significant facies and thickness
variations controlled by the structure of the margin, the sediment sources and the Plio-Quaternary
eustatic sea-level fluctuations (Rodero et al., 1999).
Facies distribution on the slope is influenced by the
Mediterranean undercurrent, which developed large
drift depositional bodies and erosional surfaces (Nelson et al., 1993, 1999).

A. Maldonado et al. / Marine Geology 155 (1999) 943

5. Structural features in the Spanish margin of


the Gulf of Cadiz
The trends of the main structural features of the
Spanish margin in the Gulf of Cadiz are controlled
in the western area by the External Zones of the
BeticRif belts, where the Gibraltar Arc bends to develop an arcuate orogenic belt plunging westwards.
The continental margin of the gulf consists of three
main tectonic provinces which concentrically surround the internal zones of the arc. These include the
flysch units of the Campo de Gibraltar complex in
the proximity of the Strait of Gibraltar, the Betic
Rif External Zones, and the Neogene basins of the
Guadalquivir Valley, which extend southwestwards
and occupy most of the central sector of the Gulf
of Cadiz (Malod and Mougenot, 1979; Malod, 1982;
Pallares et al., 1995; ITGE, 1998).
Northwestern and southeastern areas in the
Iberian continental shelf are characterized by the
absence or presence of shallow acoustic basement
formations (Figs. 7 and 8). The basement in the
northwestern sector is restricted to a narrow zone

29

close to the coastline, while the overlying Cenozoic


deposits show significant seawards thickening. The
basement, in contrast, crops out over large areas in
the southeastern sector of the shelf, and is locally
draped by a thin veneer of recent deposits. The basement is composed of fault-bounded blocks of flysch
and subbetic units, which may be correlated with
the Gibraltar belt (cf. Balanya, 1991). The Cenozoic
formations in this sector are only observed in the
outer shelf. The evolution of the shelf was largely influenced by the tectonics, since the main boundaries
between geologic provinces coincide with faults affecting the basement in the southeastern sector and
the development of fault-bounded basins in the other
sectors of the margin (Figs. 7 and 8).
5.1. Northwestern shelf
The northwestern shelf is characterized by extensional features, subparallel to the coast, which
are associated with subsidiary faults of predominant strike-slip component. These faults facilitate
the seawards subsidence of the shelf and the devel-

Fig. 8. Simplified tectonic chart of the central sector of the Gulf of Cadiz. Symbols legend: 1 D fault; 2 D normal fault; 3 D reverse
faults; 4 D anticline; 5 D syncline; 6 D diapir; 7 D well.

30

A. Maldonado et al. / Marine Geology 155 (1999) 943

opment of thick Cenozoic depositional units. The


inner and middle shelf exhibit three NNWSSE-,
NWSE- and EW-striking fault sets, which affect
the basement. According the displacement of units,
boundaries and reflectors in the tectonic chart, the
first and third group indicate a sinistral component
of strike-slip motion, while the second group is a
complex of normal faults, some of which correspond
to growth faults, that may also have a strike-slip
component (Fig. 8). All these faults have been active
during the Quaternary, with a significant proportion
that have late Quaternary to recent displacement,
clearly observed in the high resolution profiles of
the margin (cf. Rodero et al., 1999). Some faults,
however, are interpreted as reactivated Pliocene and
Miocene fractures.
The outer shelf contains faults with NNWSSE
and NS directions, which intersect the edge of
the shelf. These are generally normal faults, some
of which appear to have a strike-slip component
and locally show reverse drag. The most recent
displacements are from the mid- or early Quaternary,
therefore older than the faults of the middle and inner
shelf. Some of these faults are associated to diapirs
that also have very recent displacements.
5.2. Southeastern shelf
The southeastern shelf is very different from the
northwestern area. The structure of this sector was
controlled by a compressive regime, which developed fault-bounded blocks in the acoustic basement
and constrained the development of large depositional basins. The shallowness of the acoustic basement and the absence of a significant depositional
cover, however, make the identification of faults difficult and only the most significant fractures are well
observed (Fig. 8).
This sector is bounded to the northwest by a reverse fault, which cuts obliquely across the shelf
in a NESW direction and reaches the upper slope
(Fig. 8). The fault facilitates the westwards extension of the shelf, which reaches its maximum width
in this sector. This fault also bounds the basement
formations and delineates the extension of the Cenozoic depositional units onlapping the basement. The
fault was active from the Pliocene to the late Quaternary, experiencing in its northern sector the youngest

movements. The orientation, age and kinematics of


the fault suggest the last compressive stages of the
BeticRif orogen and the westwards thrusting.
5.3. Slope
The most prominent tectonic elements of the
slope are open folds with a NESW axis, slightly
curved and subparallel among them (Fig. 8). These
structures are coherent with the fault system described in the northwestern shelf. Focal mechanism
solutions indicate a diffuse area of seismicity east
of Gorringe Bank (Buforn et al., 1988a,b; Buforn
and Udas, 1991; Blanco and Spakman, 1993; Seber
et al., 1996a), which probably follows the boundary between major crustal elements (Figs. 1 and 3).
One branch of this presently active area extends into
the Gulf of Cadiz and may be represented by the
ESEWNW-trending strike-slip faults identified in
the high-resolution seismic profiles and the tectonic
chart (Rodero et al., 1999; ITGE, 1998).
These structures are compatible with wrench
zones, with an approximate EW to ESEWNW
orientation and a dextral sense involving both dipslip and strike-slip components caused by deep faults
associated with a broad deformation zone (Pallares et
al., 1995; ITGE, 1998). The deformation zone may
be attributed to a branch of the boundary defined by
the continuing collision of the African and Eurasian
plates. These structures and the inferred tectonics
in the Gulf of Cadiz are compatible with those observed in the Betic cordilleras that are characterized
by NNWSSE-directed compression.

6. Growth patterns of the Gulf of Cadiz


Three main phases can be differentiated in the
evolution of the Iberian margin of the Gulf of Cadiz
(Fig. 9). The first phase is largely recognized by a
passive style of margin evolution, characterized by
the development of half-graben extensional structures and extensive carbonate platforms. This passive
evolution takes place in the Mesozoic and the early
Cenozoic. From the Middle Eocene to the Early
Miocene the margin was influenced by the relative
motion of Iberia and Africa and the development of
the Alpine orogeny and the area of the Gulf of Cadiz

A. Maldonado et al. / Marine Geology 155 (1999) 943

31

Fig. 9. Synthesis of lithoseismic units based on well data and MCS profiles of the Gulf of Cadiz. Subsidence rates calculated using
backstripping methods are indicated. Main tectonic events and relative motions of Iberia and Africa are correlated with the timing of
development of the main lithoseismic units. See Fig. 4 for thickness of units in the wells and description of lithoseismic units. Discussion
in text.

was under transpression. Finally, the end of the olistostrome emplacement in the Gulf of Cadiz coincides
with an accelerated subsidence of the margin, which
becomes essentially passive although modified by
the active compression between Iberia and Africa.
6.1. The initial passive margin
The breakup of Pangea and Triassic rifting initiated the margins of southern Iberia, where extensive
red beds, limestones and evaporites were deposited
(units TR1 and TR2). During the Early Jurassic,
carbonate platforms developed in the Gulf of Cadiz
(Unit LJ), which were part of the Tethys realm
together with the roughly EW-oriented southern

margins of Iberia (Vera, 1988). Following the rifting


of Eurasia and North America, half-grabens were developed and subsequently filled with carbonate fans
and slope facies (Fig. 9). The structural blocks, either emergent or occupied by carbonate platforms
and unconformities are shown by hard-grounds and
condensed sequences (cf. Garca-Hernandez et al.,
1980). The main stage of syn-sedimentary Atlantic
rift climax at the Gulf of Cadiz seems to have taken
place during the KimmeridgianTithonian, while extended post-rift deposits were developed during the
HauterivianBarremian. The widespread unconformity in the Gulf of Cadiz before the early Aptian
between units UJ and LK1=LK2 recorded a compressional event followed by extension (Fig. 9). About

32

A. Maldonado et al. / Marine Geology 155 (1999) 943

this time the eastward jumping of the Tagus spreading axis to its present location in the North Atlantic
also occurred (Mauffret et al., 1989).
Ocean-spreading in the North Atlantic induced
extensional tectonics in the Gulf of Cadiz, which deformed the Cretaceous syn-tectonic post-Aptian deposits (Fig. 9). Increased amounts of terrigenous materials were supplied to the margin from the Aptian
to the Albian, controlling depositional patterns in the
Gulf of Cadiz margin, and terrigenous siliciclastic
facies replaced the Jurassic carbonate platforms. The
half-graben of the Gulf of Cadiz became reactivated
and filled with a large variety of facies (Unit LK2),
with a greater proportion of terrigenous deposits than
in previous units (Fig. 4). The deposits became more
extensive and onlapped structural highs.
The units of the Gulf of Cadiz recorded a change
in the depositional style during the Late Cretaceous,
which may also reflect the change in the tectonic
regime and the shifting of the AGFZ boundary between Eurasia and Africa to the Bay of Biscay,
when Iberia became attached to Africa (Fig. 9). The
deposits are very irregularly distributed and depict
significant facies variations (Unit UK-UE). The volcanic intrusions of southern Portugal occurred during
this time, probably reflecting thinning of the crust,
and extensional normal faults were favoured along
the Hercynian fractures. Basement subsidence curves
derived from well B1 show strong increases of tectonically induced subsidence between 90 and 70
Myr (Fig. 10). Shallow-carbonate platforms, however, may have continued in existence until the
Maastrichtian within this tectonic regime.
6.2. The transpressive margin and olistostrome
emplacement
The Upper EoceneLower Oligocene deposits in
the Gulf of Cadiz are very reduced or absent, reflecting the compressional regime along the AGFZ
initiated at chron 18 (Figs. 4 and 9). Extensive areas
of erosion show uplifted blocks that developed during the generalized compressional regime, which induced inversion tectonics of the previous half-graben
structures. Hayes et al. (1972) have also suggested a
regional post-Early Eocene unconformity marked by
a reduction in the depositional rate above the structural highs of the AmpereCoral Patch seamounts.

The Oligocene deposits were controlled by an


increase of the subsidence rate caused by reactivated extensional tectonics and graben development
(Fig. 10). MiddleUpper Oligocene carbonate platforms onlapped the Cretaceous and early Tertiary
highs during this time (Unit UO). A high-energy,
carbonate shelf existed in the area linking the Central Atlantic and Mediterranean basins through the
north Africasouth Iberia corridors. In the westernmost Gulf of Cadiz margin, a regional middle
Oligocene onlapping sequence may represent the 30
Ma sequence boundary of the global sea-level curve
(cf. Geel et al., 1990).
Since the mid-Oligocene to the recent, the Gulf of
Cadiz has been located along the extensive area of
deformation of the transcurrent fault system between
Africa and Iberia (Dewey et al., 1989). The Iberian
African plate boundary experienced transpression
and the probably floored by oceanic crust Mesozoic
basins of the Gulf of Cadiz area were submitted to
subduction. Wrench zones within conjugated fault
systems may have induced the development of subsiding, roughly WSWENE-oriented basins (Figs. 1,
3 and 8). The changing orientation of the stress-field
may also have played a significant role in the development of these basins (cf. Sanz de Galdeano, 1990;
Maldonado et al., 1992). An autochthonous northern
calcareous margin of the Gulf of Cadiz extended
into southern Portugal, while an allochthonous terrigenous southern margin developed around the morphological highs of the Alboran Domain. Between
these two margins, deep basins and straits connected
the Atlantic and Mediterranean basins forming the
Betic corridor (Sanz de Galdeano and Vera, 1992).
The basins became progressively filled with plastic
clays, while carbonate-rich deposits developed over
the structural highs of the Iberian margin (Unit M1).
The olistostrome body was emplaced in foredeep
basins as a result of the westwards motion of the
Internal Zone of the Betics (Fig. 3). Several olistostrome bodies may have developed as the orogenic
front progressed westwards between the Serravallian
in the east to the late Tortonian in the Gulf of Cadiz
(Fig. 11). The migration of these foredeep basins
progressively closed the Betic corridor westwards.
A rapid increase of basement subsidence rates in
the Gulf of Cadiz during the early Tortonian may
have favoured the foredeep basin formation and the

A. Maldonado et al. / Marine Geology 155 (1999) 943

33

Fig. 10. Tectonic subsidence curves using backstripping methods for representative wells of the Gulf of Cadiz. Main tectonic events in
the evolution of the gulf are indicated. Wells are arranged approximately from north (well B1) to south (well C1). Discussion in text.

34

A. Maldonado et al. / Marine Geology 155 (1999) 943

Fig. 11. Interpretative cross-section of a SSE to NNW profile along the Spanish margin of the Gulf of Cadiz showing the main tectonic
elements. MCS profiles used for the profile are projected over the cross-section.

emplacement of the olistostrome (Figs. 10 and 11).


Younger westwards migration of the olistostrome
front onto the Horseshoe and Seine plains would
have resulted largely from gravitational processes
of the accretionary wedge in the continental margin
(Fig. 13).
The olistostrome geometry in the Gulf of Cadiz
resembles the accretionary wedges formed at a
thrusting front with a rigid buttress at the rear
(Figs. 11 and 13). Extensional deformation involves
both, a back-wedge high and a dipping backstop to
the hinterland. The mechanism of underplating at the
base of the thrusting wedge also incorporates fragments of Mesozoic and early Cenozoic units from
the attenuated distal margin of Iberia within the olistostrome body. Plastic Triassic materials from Unit
TR2 were often incorporated into the olistostrome.
This overthrusting and accretion in outer orogenic
domains such as the Gulf of Cadiz and Guadalquivir
foredeeps was coeval with extensional deformation
of the Internal Zone of the Betics, which culminated in extreme thinning of the Alboran basin (cf.
Maldonado, 1992). The Gibraltar crustal thrust represents the boundary between the Neogene accretionary olistostrome wedge and the Internal Zones of
the hinterland (Figs. 3, 13 and 14).
6.3. The late Cenozoic passive margin
Structural analysis shows the Tortonian maximum
compressional axis of the stress field in the area to be
roughly NNWSSE trending (Montenat et al., 1987;
Sanz de Galdeano, 1990; Campillo et al., 1992).
Sinistral NE-trending strike-slip faults were active in

the southern Iberian margin and Alboran Sea, while


previous WSW-oriented faults were reactivated as
sinistral transpressive strike-slip faults (Maldonado
et al., 1992). During the Messinian, the stress field
rotated slightly from NNWSSE to NS and the
generalized compressional regime facilitated relative
sea-level lowering as a result of intraplate stresses
(e.g., Cloeting et al., 1992). This, together with a
global sea-level lowering (Haq et al., 1987), resulted
in the closure of the Betic and Rif straits (Campillo
et al., 1992). This stress field allowed transcurrent
movements and extension in an EW to ESEWNW
direction.
Active subsidence in the Gulf of Cadiz facilitated the development of thick progradational and
aggradational depositional sequences over the margin (Figs. 11 and 12). Large turbidite systems (Unit
M3) were deposited during the Messinian in deep depositional basins trending NESW along the axis of
the Guadalquivir Valley and Gulf of Cadiz (Fig. 7).
Several source areas provided significant amounts of
terrigenous materials for the development of these
systems, mainly the Guadalquivir and Guadiana
rivers, but probably also other local drainage systems. These turbidite systems developed as lowstand
system tracts. A generalized erosional unconformity,
which represents a sequence boundary, has been
recognized between the lower and upper Messinian
depositional sequences.
At the end of the Messinian and during the Early
Pliocene, the stress field in the area was also roughly
oriented NS compression (Philip, 1987), which facilitated a transtensional regime and the development
of pull-apart basins (cf. Maldonado et al., 1992).

A. Maldonado et al. / Marine Geology 155 (1999) 943

35

Fig. 12. Sea-level curve (modified from Haq et al., 1987), depositional sequences and tectonic subsidence rates in m=Myr from the
Middle Miocene to present showing the rapid increase in subsidence due to foredeep subsidence in front of the olistostrome mass. Early
Pliocene higher rates are interpreted as extensional collapses. Lithoseismic units: pre-olistostrome Unit M1, LanghianSerravalian, lower
Tortonian; syn-olistostrome Unit M2, upper Tortonian; Unit M3, Messinian; Unit P1, Lower Pliocene; Unit P2, Upper Pliocene; units
PQ, Upper PlioceneQuaternary. BFU D Basal Foredeep Unconformity interpreted in MCS profiles.

This tectonic evolution induced the reopening of the


connection between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean through the Strait of Gibraltar, which led to
the end of the Messinian salinity crisis (Campillo
et al., 1992). Deposition was controlled by diapiric
activity, the extensional collapse of the margin and
the location of the tectonic highs or diapiric depressions as shown by the distribution of depocenters and
diapiric ridges (Figs. 7 and 8). A significant increase
in the subsidence rate in the Gulf of Cadiz during the
Early Pliocene contributed to a major change in the
depositional patterns (Fig. 12). The Early Pliocene
high sea-level stand favoured ponding of the fluvial valleys and sediment draping over the margin.
Large roll-over extensional basins with strong marly
diapiric phenomena occurred in the central zone of
Gulf of Cadiz (Figs. 5 and 6).
From the Late Pliocene to Quaternary, the stress
field was frequently of a NNWSSE compression.
The distal sectors of the margin experienced a rapid
decrease in basement subsidence rates (Fig. 12),
while the synchronous global climatic changes show

significant fluctuation of the eustatic sea level (cf.


Haq et al., 1987). The effective cross-section at
the Strait of Gibraltar, controlling seawater mass
exchange was significantly reduced during low sealevel stands and the Mediterranean undercurrent outflow underwent major fluctuations (Nelson et al.,
1993, 1999). Lowering sea level and climatic deterioration induced large sediment supply to the margin
from the Guadalquivir and Guadiana rivers, which
developed thick depositional aprons ponding in the
morphological depressions. The Plio-Quaternary unconformities between units P1, P2 and PQ are attributed to third-order eustatic cycles (Fig. 12). Overall the Plio-Quaternary deposits (Unit PQ) are characterized by progradational shelf margin wedge and
slope fan deposits, which developed during forced
regressive stages and low sea-level stands (Somoza
et al., 1996). The distribution of these deposits over
the margin was controlled by the interplay between
the sea-level fluctuations, the sediment input and the
influence of water masses and current distribution
(Nelson et al., 1993, 1999; Rodero et al., 1999).

36

A. Maldonado et al. / Marine Geology 155 (1999) 943

7. Regional geodynamic evolution


The Gulf of Cadiz includes the only preserved
segment of the south Iberian Mesozoic margin and
the allochthonous units of the Gibraltar Arc, which
overthrusts the IberianAfrican plate boundary (Dercourt et al., 1986; Balanya, 1991; Flinch et al.,
1996). In order to understand the geodynamics of
this area, the Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic motions
of the two plates, the evolution of the westernmost
orogenic Alpine belts and the opening of the southwestern Mediterranean basins should be considered.
7.1. The IberianAfrican plate boundary in the Gulf
of Cadiz
The Gulf of Cadiz accommodates the present
NWSE- to NS-oriented stress compressional field
between Iberia and Africa (Figs. 1, 3 and 13). Significant seismic activity is observed in the gulf north of
the contact between the Internal and External zones
of the Betics, including shallow, deep and large
earthquakes (Udas and Buforn, 1992). The deep
earthquakes seem to be located along several tectonic
lineaments from Gorringe Bank into southwestern
Iberia, including the offshore prolongation of the
PlasenciaAlentejo Dyke and the CadizAlicante
tectonic lineament (Figs. 1 and 3). In the Gorringe
Ridge area, most of the shortening is produced by
high-angle thrust faults without a predominant vergence of the oceanic lithosphere. The convergence

between the African and Iberian plates of <4 mm=yr


in this area is distributed along a zone at least
200 km wide, producing compressional earthquakes
down to 4050 km depth in the lithospheric mantle
(Argus et al., 1989; Sartori et al., 1994). The transference of the convergence towards southwestern
Iberia through high-angle faults might be the mechanism generating the deep earthquakes observed in
the northernmost Gulf of Cadiz. This seismic activity
indicates a mechanism of reverse faulting with strike
slip component (Udas and Buforn, 1992). Reverse
faults and subordinated strike-slip faults are the main
structures observed in the Spanish margin, which coincides with the observed seismicity (Figs. 3 and 8).
Fault plane solutions seem to indicate, moreover, an
underthrusting of the African plate below Iberia, but
the motion may be partitioned along several tectonic
lineaments (McKenzie, 1972; Grimison and Chen,
1986; Buforn and Udas, 1991). A major transcurrent fault zone has been postulated in the southern
Gulf of Cadiz, as indicated by deep earthquakes,
which would represent the present IberianAfrican
plate boundary (Buforn et al., 1988a,b; Argus et al.,
1989).
Miocene convergence between the two plates,
with a shortening of about 100150 km for the last
35 Myr is also generally accepted (Dercourt et al.,
1986; Dewey et al., 1989; Srivastava et al., 1990a,b).
This compression developed the high-angle reverse faults in the Gulf of Cadiz, which probably
evolved eastwards in the Betics during most of the

Fig. 13. Geographic chart of the study area showing regional tectonic reconstruction and present tectonic setting of the Gulf of Cadiz,
highlighting the westwards motion of the Alboran Domain and the development of the Alpine Gibraltar Arc thrust belt. Timing of the
trust: A D Oligocene (?)Aquitanian; B D Early Miocene; C D late Tortonian; D D Late Pliocene to present. Arrows indicate main
direction of compressional stress. Discussion in text. Partly modified from Royden (1993).

A. Maldonado et al. / Marine Geology 155 (1999) 943

Miocene into right-lateral strike-slip faults (cf. Sanz


de Galdeano, 1990). The detailed motion along this
plate boundary is still speculative, although it is
generally accepted that there was a N- to NNE-oriented, with minor variations, African plate motion
in the European frame of reference between the
Early Eocene (51 Ma) and the Late Miocene (9 Ma).
Since that time, it apparently changed 90 counterclockwise to become northwesterly up to the present
(Dewey et al., 1989).
7.2. The Alpine belts and the Gulf of Cadiz
The external domain of the Gibraltar Arc in the
Gulf of Cadiz includes sedimentary allochthonous
units derived from the southern Iberian and northern
African margins of the Tethys (Garca-Hernandez et
al., 1980; Balanya, 1991; Blankenship, 1992). The
frontal tectono-sedimentary complexes of the Betic
and Rif Cordilleras and the olistostrome constitute
an accretionary wedge superposed on the Iberian
passive margin in the northern Gulf of Cadiz and
over the IberianAfrican boundary in the central
Gulf of Cadiz. The structure of the accretionary
wedge consists of frontal imbricated ridges, thrusts
and low-angle extensional detachments (Fig. 11).
Flinch et al. (1996) proposed that Triassic evaporites
were originally emplaced as gravitational evaporite
masses in the Betic passive margin setting during the
Late CretaceousPaleogene. These evaporites were
later overthrusted during the Neogene as part of
the Gulf of Cadiz olistostrome. The seismic profiles
and well data indicate that rapid extensional collapse affected the accretionary wedge in the Gulf of
Cadiz during the late Messinian and the Pliocene,
giving rise to major roll-over structures and the highest rates of basin subsidence (Figs. 11 and 12).
The extensional collapse may also have influenced
the westwards migration of the accretionary wedge
towards the oceanic crust of the Horseshoe Plain
(Figs. 13 and 14).
The arcuate geometry of the arc, the causes of
extension in the backarc Alboran basin within a collision zone and the westward arc migration have
been explained by several models. Following the earliest geological interpretations of the Betic and Rif
Cordilleras, the Internal domain, independent from
Africa and Iberia, was assigned to a block or mi-

37

croplate located in the eastern Tethys before collision


(Andrieux et al., 1971). The indentation of this arcuate block with the Iberian and African blocks, would
have developed the curvature of the Gibraltar Arc
(Andrieux et al., 1971; Bouillin et al., 1986; Sanz
de Galdeano, 1990). Other authors, in contrast, have
emphasized the role of anomalous mantle diapirism
and static extensional collapse (Dewey, 1988; Platt
and Vissers, 1989; Doblas and Oyarzun, 1989; Weijermars, 1991; Platzman, 1992). Another model implies the delamination of a thickened continental
mantle lithosphere and the roll-back of the subduction hinge (Frizon de Lamotte et al., 1991; Garca-Duenas et al., 1992; Morley, 1992; Docherty and
Banda, 1995; Seber et al., 1996a). Royden (1993)
suggests that westwards motion of the Gibraltar Arc
since the Oligocene was the consequence of the
westwards retreat of an E-dipping subduction boundary from the Alboran Sea into the Gulf of Cadiz
(Fig. 13). Westwards lateral ejection of material out
of the primary plate boundary as a consequence of
NS-directed convergence may have facilitated the
westwards migration of the Gibraltar Arc and the
opening of the backarc Alboran basin (Maldonado et
al., 1992). The Ampere Seamount and Coral Patch
Seamount show reverse-thrust faults with prevailing
northwards vergence towards the Horseshoe Plain
(Sartori et al., 1994). This area exhibits high-angle
faults in the sedimentary cover and low-angle faults
in the oceanic basement. Thus, the Horseshoe Plain
may represent the accretionary wedge overthrusting
oceanic crust at present (Figs. 3 and 13).
7.3. A geodynamic model for the Gulf of Cadiz
A significant aspect of the recent seismicity in
the Alboran Domain is the distribution of a large
concentration of intermediate (50150 km) and deep
(640 km) earthquakes in a NS arcuate segment of
the western Alboran Sea (Figs. 1 and 3). The compressional axis of the deep earthquake mechanisms
plunges eastwards, while most Mediterranean deep
earthquakes show northwestwards or westwards dips
(Udas and Buforn, 1992). The seismic sources may
represent the contact between the Alboran Domain,
the African and Iberian lithospheres. In this regards,
the crustal thickness of 31 km under the eastern Gulf
of Cadiz, near the Gibraltar Arc is attributed to the

38
A. Maldonado et al. / Marine Geology 155 (1999) 943
Fig. 14. Interpretative cross-sections showing a geodynamic model for the Gulf of CadizAlboran Domain from Early Miocene to present. Lithospheric delamination
facilitated the coeval development of accretionary wedges and extensional collapse in the Alboran Sea. (A) Westward motion and collision of the Alboran Domain from
the mid-Oligocene to early Burdigalian. The Betic and Rif belts and the Gibraltar Arc are generated as pop-up structures. Relict or active subduction of the Eurasian plate
was inherited from the Cretaceous and early Cenozoic. (B) Progressive lithospheric delamination of the African plate as a consequence of the emplacement of the Alboran
Domain induced extensional collapse of the Alboran Sea after the Burdigalian. From the Langhian to late Tortonian several accretionary wedges migrated westwards
on the attenuated passive Eurasian margin. (C) Westwards motion of the Alboran Domain ceased during the late Messinian and NWSE-oriented convergence between
AfricaIberia took place. Lateral westwards ejection of material is a consequence of this convergence between the Late Miocene and present. Extensional collapse and
inversion structures are coeval in the Alboran Sea. The deformation along the AGFZ is transferred eastwards through the thinned Iberian plate into the Betic and Rif belts.
A detached, SE-dipping fragment of lithosphere is sinking under the Alboran Domain. Explanation in text.

A. Maldonado et al. / Marine Geology 155 (1999) 943

Eurasian Hercynian crust, whereas the 25 km thickness observed just eastwards of the arc may structurally represent the Alboran Domain (Medialdea et
al., 1986). Tomographic images of the upper mantle
in the Alboran Domain show, in addition, a region
of anomalous positive seismic velocity (Blanco and
Spakman, 1993; Seber et al., 1996b). The isolated
seismic source at 640 km depth and the anomalous
velocity distribution have been attributed to a fragment of subducted lithosphere detached from the
surface (Blanco and Spakman, 1993; Seber et al.,
1996b).
We speculate that the sinking fragment may correspond to a portion of the Jurassic thinned and probably oceanic lithosphere developed during the Tethys
drifting episode and that was slowly subducted in the
area of the Alboran Domain, probably beginning in
the Eocene as Iberia became an independent plate
(Fig. 14). When the NS- to NNWSSE-oriented
motion between Iberia and Africa generated continental collision during the Middle Miocene, extension in the Alboran Sea and migration of the arcuate
mountain front towards the Gulf of Cadiz could be
attributed to a mechanism of collision-induced delamination of the continental mantle lithosphere (cf.
Docherty and Banda, 1995; Seber et al., 1996a). The
Miocene subduction would have been preceded by
the delamination process of asymmetric, thickened
lithospheric mantle, similar to the mechanism proposed for the Tyrrhenian BasinCalabrian Arc by
Channel and Mareschal (1989). From the Miocene
to recent, the Tethys lithosphere would have become
delaminated from the thick continental lithosphere
and subducted deeper in the mantle, generating the
600 km deep seismicity observed in the western
Alboran Domain.
We propose that transpression in the Gulf of
Cadiz was initiated at chron 18, when Iberia became an independent plate and the relative motion
of Africa was N to NE directed (Fig. 9). Most of
the Tethys gap in the area was probably obliterated
between chron 18 and chron 6c, when Iberia was
an independent plate and the Alboran Domain was
emplaced westward over the AfricanIberian suture
(Figs. 9 and 14). In contrast to the BeticRif belts,
there is no geophysical evidence to postulate that
continental collision took place in the Gulf of Cadiz.
The continental crust decreases steadily in thickness

39

from the Iberian Peninsula, while there is a significant increase in sediment thickness towards the Gulf
of Cadiz (Medialdea et al., 1986). The lithosphere
thickness, in addition, is thinner in the Gulf of Cadiz
than in the continental margin off Morocco (Mueller
and Kahle, 1993; Seber et al., 1996b). The eastwards
dip of the deep earthquake mechanisms attributed to
the delaminated lithosphere suggest that the initial
subduction may has been of the Iberian Tethys crust
below Africa, while the present dynamics in the Gulf
of Cadiz indicate underthrusting of the African plate
below Iberia (Fig. 14).

8. Conclusions
The deposits of the Gulf of Cadiz Iberian margin
have recorded the complex geodynamic evolution
of the IberianAfrican boundary. Extensional processes involving rifting and spreading took place
from the Triassic breakup of Pangea until the Late
Cretaceous as a consequence of transtensional movements between the Eurasian and African plates. The
westwards propagation of the Tethys rift and seafloor spreading created an EW-trending, probably
oceanic, seaway between Iberia and Africa.
Ocean-spreading in the North Atlantic induced
additional extensional tectonics in the Gulf of Cadiz,
which deformed the syn-tectonic post-Aptian deposits. Half-graben structures became reactivated.
There was a modification in the depositional style
during the Late Cretaceous, maybe in response to
the change in the tectonic regime due to the shifting of the AGFZ boundary between Eurasia and
Africa to the Bay of Biscay, when Iberia became attached to Africa (Fig. 9). The volcanic intrusions of
southern Portugal indicate thinning of the crust and
extensional faults along ancient Hercynian fractures.
Tectonically induced, basement subsidence curves
show a strong increase in subsidence between 90 and
70 Ma (Fig. 10).
Iberia became an independent plate at chron 18
(Srivastava et al., 1990a,b). The relative motion between Africa and the Gulf of Cadiz was small between chrons 18 and 13, but since then a significant amount of shortening has occurred in the area
(Fig. 9). Transpression and subduction of the Tethys
thinned crust, probably in a southward direction be-

40

A. Maldonado et al. / Marine Geology 155 (1999) 943

low Africa is suggested by the distribution of deep


earthquakes. Between the mid-Oligocene and Late
Miocene, the Gulf of Cadiz experienced about 200
km of NS convergence. The orogenic front of the
Gibraltar Arc migrated westwards and reached the
eastern Gulf of Cadiz, while an olistotrome was
emplaced. The end of this tectonic phase probably
coincided with the end of subduction in the centralsouthern Gulf of Cadiz.
Thermal subsidence accelerated during the Late
Miocene, followed by extensional collapse during
the Early Pliocene (Fig. 12). The approximately 50
km of NWSE-directed oblique convergence in the
Gulf of Cadiz since the Late Miocene to recent
was also accompanied by a change in the tectonic
regime. A northwards shift in the vergence of the
IberianAfrica boundary is assumed, since the recent
earthquake mechanisms indicate overthrusting of the
African plate by Iberia (Fig. 14). The dominant tectonic regime at present, however, is characterized by
moderate tectonic subsidence and local transpressive
tectonics.

Acknowledgements
We acknowledge the cooperation of Captain, officers and crew of the B=O Hesperides during the
HE-91-3 cruise. We are indebted to Drs. Cecilio
Quesada and Jesus Galindo-Zaldivar for helpful suggestions which improved the interpretation discussed
in the manuscript. We also thank Jesus Rodero and
Laura Perez of the Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de
la Tierra for discussions and help with the figures.
The initial funding for this study was provided by
the Joint Committee of Science and Technology of
the U.S. Spain Treaty of Friendship (Project CCA
8309=47). Financial support was also provided by
Comision Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnologa
(CICYT) of Spain by an Accion Especial. This
study was finalized within the framework of a Joint
Project no 125=94 of the ITGE=CSIC.

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