Intergrated onshore-offshore study in the northwestern margin of the Alboran Basin, between meridians 5,30ºW y 3,30ºW

Abstract

The Gibraltar Arc is a case study of an arcuate Alpine orogen where compression in the external zones went hand by hand with back-arc extension in the hinterland of the arc. Extensional tectonics controlled the formation of several basins in the Alboran Domain and the deposition of Miocene to Recent sediments. Those basins are nowadays partially emerged due to the tectonic inversion that affects the whole Gibraltar Arc from Late Miocene onwards. In this context, a great number of onshore and offshore studies have been carried out for the last decades. Nevertheless, very little has been done to integrate both types of studies in order to better understand the geodynamic evolution of this area. This PhD. Thesis focuses on onshore-offshore correlations of the Miocene sedimentary infill deposited over the metamorphic complexes of the Alboran Domain and its relationship with the synchronous tectonic structures observed either in the basement or in the sedimentary sequence. The study combines the analysis offshore of a comprehensive dataset of multichannel seismic profiles with onshore field work. The studied area is situated in the northern branch of the Arc. It comprises the western part of the Alboran Domain of the Betic cordillera onshore, and the northern half of the Western Alboran Basin, also known as the Malaga Basin. The study has permitted to differentiated three main episodes that took place in the studied area.