Paleogeographic evolution of a segmented oblique passive margin

Author(s)
A. Ramos, O. Fernández, P. Terrinha, Josep Anton Muñoz, Arnaiz
Abstract

The SW Iberian margin is an oblique passive margin developed during the Mesozoic, as part of the opening of the westernmost Ligurian Tethys. The Algarve Basin developed on the SW Iberian margin and its sedimentary record was strongly controlled by tectonics. The Algarve Basin was dominated during the Mesozoic by WSW–ENE trending extensional faults and their associated depocenters, segmented by oblique NW–SE transfer zones. Two major NW–SE trending transfer zones connected the Algarve Basin to the Gorringe Bank in the west and to the Betic Basin in the east. The SW Iberian margin was later inverted during Late Cretaceous to Cenozoic times, due to convergence between Africa and Iberia. Inversion of the Algarve Basin and the SW Iberian margin was controlled by both the WSW–ENE and NW–SE trending structures formed during the passive margin phase. The evolution of the Algarve Basin during the Mesozoic and up to the Paleogene is documented in this paper through paleogeographic reconstructions based on field geology and reinterpretation of offshore seismic and well data.

Organisation(s)
Department of Geology
External organisation(s)
University of Barcelona, Instituto Geológico y Minero de España, Repsol S.A., Universidade de Lisboa
Journal
International Journal of Earth Sciences
Volume
109
Pages
1871-1895
No. of pages
25
ISSN
1437-3254
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-020-01878-w
Publication date
09-2020
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
105106 Geodynamics, 105103 Petroleum geology, 105121 Sedimentology
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
General Earth and Planetary Sciences
Portal url
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/de757314-d81a-4cf7-8489-0452d0e2f17d