Search

The aim of this work was to develop innovative and sustainable extraction, concentration, and purification technologies aimed to recover target substances from corn oil, obtained as side stream product of biomass refineries. Residues of bioactive compounds such as carotenoids, phytosterols, tocopherols, and polyphenols could be extracted from this matrix and applied as ingredients for food and feeds, nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetic products. These molecules are well known for their antioxidant and antiradical capacity, besides other specific biological activities, generically involved in the prevention of chronic and degenerative diseases. The project involved the development of methods for the selective extraction of these minor components, using as suitable extraction technique solid phase extraction. All the extracted and purified fractions were evaluated by NMR spectroscopic analyses and UV–Vis spectrophotometric techniques and characterized by quali-quantitative HPLC analyses. TPC (total phenolic content) and TFC (total flavonoid content) were also determined. DPPH and ABTS radical were used to evaluate radical quenching abilities. Acetylcholinesterase (AChE), amylase, glucosidase, and tyrosinase were selected as enzymes in the enzyme inhibitory assays. The obtained results showed the presence of a complex group of interesting molecules with strong potential in market applications according to circular economy principles.

MARCONI (MARgen COntinental Nord Iberico - North Iberian Continental Margin) is a deep seismic reflection survey carried out in the southeastern part of the Bay of Biscay in September 2003. It included the acquisition of 11 multichannel (http://dx.doi.org/10.20350/digitalCSIC/8972) and wide-angle deep seismic reflection profiles covering a total length of 2000 km

The Pyrenean-Cantabrian mountain belt extends in an E-W direction along the northern border of Spain and resulted from the convergence between the Eurasian plate and the Iberian subplate from Late Cretaceous to Miocene times. In the central part of this belt, the Basque-Cantabrian Zone (BCZ) developed as one of the most subsiding Cretaceous basins of the Iberian periphery, formed in a rift-related hyperextended margin. The Alpine orogeny resulted in the subsequent tectonic inversion of the Cretaceous basins and in the exhumation of basement rocks forming the Basque Massifs (Cinco Villas, Alduides and Oroz-Betelu Massifs) in the eastern BCZ and the western Pyrenees. However, the detailed thermo-tectonic evolution of this area remains incompletely understood, prompting the present study integrating structural and new low-temperature thermochronology data around the Basque Massifs and the Leiza thrust sheet. The Leiza thrust sheet is a major fault that superposes a band of Mesozoic rocks that experienced Cretaceous metamorphism (Marble Unit), on top of another Mesozoic sub-basin (Central Depression) with evidence of hydrothermalism. Here, we provide the first apatite fission-track (AFT) and zircon (U-Th)/He (ZHe) low-temperature thermochronology dataset for the eastern BCZ. AFT ages range from 40 to 23.7 Ma while ZHe ages are more dispersed. Samples can be separated into two groups according to their ZHe age-eU correlations: three samples from the Cinco Villas Massif (group 1) depict clustered ZHe ages and eU concentrations. One sample from the Alduides Massif and another sample from a Paleozoic rock pinned along the Leiza thrust sheet (group 2) depict dispersed ZHe ages and eU concentrations. A sample from the Oroz-Betelu Massif shows slight dispersion of the ZHe ages and eU concentrations. Forward and inverse modelling provides insights into the maximum temperatures achieved prior to the Alpine orogeny. Samples from group 1 may have reached maximum temperatures of 30

The ESCI-N project in Northwestern Spain was a subprogram of the ESCI Program (Estudios Sísmicos de la Corteza Ibérica). It is formed by four seismic experiments both on and offshore. This project aimed to image the Cantabrian Zone, West Asturian-Leonese Zone and the northern Iberian margin, thus characterizing the crustal structure resulted from the Variscan and Alpine orogenies and the Mesozoic extension related to the opening of the Bay of Biscay.

MARCONI (MARgen COntinental NordIberico - North Iberian Continental Margin) is a deep seismic reflection survey carried out in the southeastern part of the Bay of Biscay in September 2003. It included the acquisition of 11 multichannel deep seismic reflection profiles covering a total length of 2000 km. The overall goal of the multichannel experiment was to collect seismic data to unravel the structure and evolution of the southern margin of the Bay of Biscay in relation to the Mesozoic tectonic extension and collision and inversion of extensional faults in the context of the Alpine orogeny.

Low‐temperature thermochronology studies have increased our knowledge of the orogenic processes along the Pyrenean‐Cantabrian mountain belt by placing time constraints on the exhumation history of its rocks. However, a significant gap in the data existed between the western Pyrenees and the central Cantabrian Mountains, hampering a comprehensive view of the tectonothermal evolution along the belt. We present a new apatite fission‐track (AFT) and zircon (U‐Th)/He (ZHe) dataset for the eastern Basque‐Cantabrian zone−western Pyrenees. AFT central ages cluster in the Eocene–Oligocene. ZHe samples can be separated into two groups: Group 1 depicts clustered ZHe ages‐eU concentration (Cinco Villas massif), and Group 2 depicts dispersed ZHe ages‐eU concentration (Alduides massif and a Paleozoic rock pinned along the Leiza thrust sheet). A sample from the Oroz‐Betelu massif shows intermediate behavior. Inverse modeling suggests that samples from Group 1 reached 240‐280 °C in the Cretaceous implying deep sedimentary burial of the Cinco Villas massif before its major exhumation phase, most probably in the early to middle Eocene, postdating the phase of rapid exhumation of the western part of the Leiza thrust sheet. The sample from the Oroz‐Betelu massif, far from the Mesozoic exhumed mantle domain, experienced maximum temperatures close to 200 °C by burial beneath the Jaca‐Pamplona basin. It was later exhumed in the hanging wall of the Gavarnie thrust in the Bartonian‐Priabonian. This work provides new insights into the tectonothermal evolution of the Basque massifs and the inversion of a hyperextended margin

Low-temperature thermochronology studies have increased our knowledge of the orogenic processes along the Pyrenean-Cantabrian mountain belt by placing time constraints on the exhumation history of its rocks. However, a significant gap of data existed between the Pyrenees and the Cantabrian Mountains, hampering a comprehensive view of the tectonothermal evolution along the belt. Thus, we present a new apatite fission-track (AFT) and zircon (U-Th)/He (ZHe) dataset for the eastern Basque-Cantabrian zone and western Pyrenees. AFT central ages cluster in the Eocene-Oligocene. According to their ZHe age-eU correlations, samples can be separated into two groups: group 1 depicts clustered ZHe ages-eU concentrations (Cinco Villas Massif) and group 2 depicts dispersed ZHe ages-eU concentration (Alduides Massif and a Paleozoic rock pinned along the Leiza thrust sheet). A sample from the Oroz-Betelu Massif shows an intermediate behavior. Our results agree with previous data in the Pyrenean-Cantabrian mountain belt, supporting a Cenozoic cooling of the hinterlands of this part of the belt.

We present a new crustal-scale transect of the eastern Basque-Cantabrian Zone, through the Cinco Villas Massif, the Leiza-Aralar Thrust System and the South-Pyrenean Zone. The restoration of this transect to its pre-shortening stage allows us to assess the architecture of the hyperextended domain and the style of the Alpine contractional deformation. During the Cretaceous, extension led to a hyperthinned crust with local mantle unroofing to the base of the eastern Basque-Cantabrian Basin. The mantle unroofing process was driven by a complex system of detachments putting into contact Mesozoic sediments in the hanging wall with mantle rocks in the footwall. At this stage, extensive fluid circulation caused serpentinization of the uppermost mantle body. Furthermore, the thermal anomaly created during the unroofing caused high temperature metamorphism of the overlying sediments of the Leiza detachment system and hydrothermalism in further basins. The Alpine convergence gave rise to the tectonic inversion of the Mesozoic basins. Tectonic structures inherited from the Cretaceous hyperextension played a major role in mountain building. The southward indentation of the European crust forced the northwards subduction of the Iberian crust and the basement-cover decoupling along the Triassic evaporites. Restoration of this section to the end of the extensional period enabled us to estimate a shortening of~90 km., En este trabajo se presenta un nuevo modelo de estructura cortical en el borde oriental de la Zona Vasco-Cantábrica, atravesando el Macizo de Cinco Villas, el sistema de cabalgamientos de Leiza-Aralar y la Zona Surpirenaica. La restauración de esta sección al estadio previo a la convergencia alpina permite establecer la arquitectura del dominio cortical hiperextendido Mesozoico y el estilo de la deformación compresiva posterior. Durante el Mesozoico, la deformación extensional asociada a la apertura del Golfo de Vizcaya dio lugar a la formación de dominios de corteza hiperextendida y a la exhumación parcial del manto bajo la Cuenca Vasco-Cantábrica oriental. El proceso de exhumación del manto se produjo por la acción de un complejo sistema de detachments extensionales que pusieron en contacto la cuenca cretácica en el bloque superior con el manto en su bloque inferior. En este estadio, la intensa circulación de fluidos a lo largo de estos detachments causó la serpentinización de la parte superior del cuerpo mantélico. Además, la anomalía térmica creada en este proceso, generó un metamorfismo de alta temperatura que afectó a los materiales mesozoicos localizados inmediatamente sobre el manto exhumado, así como hidrotermalismo en cuencas más alejadas de la aureola metamórfica. La orogenia Alpina dio lugar a la inversión de las cuencas mesozoicas, y las estructuras tectónicas heredadas de la etapa de hiperextensión cortical jugaron un papel determinante en la configuración de la estructura orogénica. La indentación hacia el sur de la corteza Europea en la corteza Ibérica forzó la subducción de esta última hacia el norte y el desacoplamiento del basamento con respecto a la cobertera sedimentaria mesozoico-terciaria a lo largo del nivel de despegue de las evaporitas del Triásico superior. La restauración de esta sección cortical al final del periodo extensional indica un acortamiento cenozoico de aproximadamente 90 km.

Pedrera et al. (2017) presented a new tectonic model for the Basque‐Cantabrian Basin in the Pyrenean‐Cantabrian belt, based on a geological cross section and the results of a 3‐D gravity modeling that presumably “demands the presence of a high‐density mantle body placed within the crust in order to justify the observed anomalies.” Other authors have discussed before the possibility that the strong gravimetric (and magnetic) anomalies observed over the area could be explained, totally or partially, by bodies of mantle rocks located at shallow depths beneath the sediments of the Basque‐Cantabrian Basin (e.g., Pedreira et al., 2007; Roca et al., 2011; Tugend et al., 2014). However, the contribution by Pedrera et al. (2017) is novel in that it suggested that the present‐day crustal‐scale structure retains largely the morphology of the hyperextended Mesozoic basin and is only slightly modified by the Cenozoic Pyrenean orogeny. In their model, the continental crust is totally removed at present beneath the Cretaceous sediments of the northern part of the Basque‐Cantabrian Basin, so that these sediments are resting on top of the mantle, with the asthenosphere at only ~15‐km depth. The modeled upper surface of the mantle extends laterally to the central Pyrenees, always reaching “shallow crustal levels also locally attaining the topographic surface.” That is to say that in those places of the Pyrenees, there is supposedly only mantle from the topographic surface to the Earth's core, at ~2,900‐km depth. New and provocative ideas, especially when implying paradigmatic changes, should be particularly convincing in their presentation. These presentations should ideally provide detailed justifications for the decision adopted in the course of the research and take into consideration all the available results from previous studies, or a reinterpretation of them, adding full discussions regarding their implications. The contribution by Pedrera et al. (2017) failed in this attempt.

The Basque-Cantabrian basin, located in the north of Spain, represents the main Mesozoic extensional basin developed during the opening of de Bay of Biscay. This basin shows a very high subsidence with sediment thickness exceeding 20 km. In Cenozoic times, it was inverted as part of the Pyrenean-Cantabrian Mountains. The SISCAN seismic network was designed to high-resolution long-term monitoring of the seismic activity within the basin and to gain insight into basement depth of sedimentary basin and its crustal structure by the use of different tomographic techniques. The network consists of 31 broad-band seismic stations with a mean inter-station distance of 30 km. Its deployment concluded in July 2014 and it is operative since then. The geometry and close spacing of the SISCAN network coupled with the relatively weak but persistent regional seismicity favor the application of both ambient noise and body wave local tomography techniques. Since time domain methods suffer from limitations at short inter-station distances, Rayleigh wave phase velocities have been measured from the cross-correlation spectrum of the continuous records provided by the network. These measurements have been used in a tomographic inversion to produce a set of preliminary phase velocity maps for periods ranging from 5 to 20 s. In addition, more than 12000 P-wave travel times and near 8000 S-wave travel times from about 1500 events recorded in 3 years were inverted to obtain the three-dimensional velocity structure of the area for P-waves, S-waves and the Vp/Vs ratio. Preliminary results reflect a significant agreement between the outcomes of both methods (considering their different approaches and resolutions) and with the existing geological knowledge of the basin. Low phase velocities are recovered for the zones with a thicker sedimentary cover (like the Villarcayo and Miranda-Treviño synclines, and the western end of the Jaca-Pamplona basin) and along the Pamplona transfer fault. Relative

The presence of ophicalcites in serpentinized peridotites together with fragments of these rocks in Cretaceous breccias along several North‐Pyrenean basins led to the interpretation of complete mantle exhumation to the seafloor. The westernmost outcrop of peridotites in the Pyrenean‐Cantabrian belt is located in Ziga (eastern Basque‐Cantabrian Basin), associated to a band of HT metamorphism related to the Leiza fault (Marble Unit). We present a petrological and geochemical study of the marbles and Ziga peridotite‐hosted calcite, including standard stable isotope composition and clumped isotope geothermometry. These isotopic techniques allow the determination of different types of formational fluids and crystallization temperatures, and are a useful tool for studying carbonation processes in hyperextended basins. Fieldwork and analytical studies lead us to conclude that during the opening of the Bay of Biscay, mantle rocks were unroofed at the base of the sedimentary pile of the eastern Basque‐Cantabrian Basin. However, the ophicalcite veins were recrystallized from meteoric fluids at low temperatures (≤49°C). The primary carbonate phase may have been formed either during the mid‐Cretaceous unroofing of the mantle or in a post‐exhumation stage. The process of mantle exhumation was accompanied with HT‐LP metamorphism and fluid circulation along major faults that reset the marine isotopic signature in the nearest marbles. For comparison, ophicalcites from Urdach and Lherz (North‐Pyrenean Zone) were included in the clumped isotope study. Results show that they were recrystallized from hot (∼200–230°C), saline fluids, and from meteoric fluids at near ambient temperatures (∼32–42°C), respectively.

The structure and geodynamics of the southern margin of the Bay of Biscay have been investigated from a set of 11 multichannel seismic reflection profiles, recorded also at wide angle offsets in an onshore-offshore network of 24 OBS/OBH and 46 land sites. This contribution focuses on the analysis of the wide-angle reflection/refraction data along representative profiles. The results document strong lateral variations of the crustal structure along the margin and provide an extensive test of the crustal models previously proposed for the northern part of the Iberian Peninsula. Offshore, the crust has a typical continental structure in the eastern tip of the bay, which disappears smoothly towards the NW to reach crustal thickness close to 10 km at the edge of the studied area (~ 45°N, 6°W). The analysis of the velocity-depth profiles, altogether with additional information provided by the multichannel seismic data and magnetic surveys, led to the conclusion that the crust in this part of the bay should be interpreted as transitional from continental to oceanic. Typical oceanic crust has not been imaged in the investigated area. Onshore, the new results are in good agreement with previous results and document the indentation of the Bay of Biscay crust into the Iberian crust, forcing its subduction to the North. The interpreted profiles show that the extent of the southward indentation is not uniform, with an Alpine root less developed in the central and western sector of the Basque-Cantabrian Basin. N-S to NE-SW transfer structures seem to control those variations in the indentation degree. © 2017 Elsevier B.V.

The Cantabrian Mountains have been interpreted as a Paleozoic basement block uplifted during an Alpine deformation event that led to the partial closure of the Bay of Biscay and the building of the Pyrenean range in the Cenozoic. A detailed interpretation of deep seismic reflection profile ESCIN-2 and the two-dimensional seismic modelling of the data allowed us to construct a N-S geological cross section along the southern border of the Cantabrian Mountains and the transition to the Duero Cenozoic foreland basin, highlighting the Alpine structure. The proposed geological cross section has been constrained by all geophysical data available, including a 2-D gravity model constructed for this study as well as refraction and magnetotelluric models from previous studies. A set of south-vergent thrusts dipping 30 to 36° to the north, cut the upper crust with a ramp geometry and sole in the boundary with the middle crust. These thrusts are responsible for the uplift and the main Alpine deformation in the Cantabrian Mountains. A conspicuous reflective Moho shows that the crust thickens northwards from the Duero basin, where subhorizontal Moho is 32 km deep, to 47 km in the northernmost end of ESCIN-2, where Moho dips to the north beneath the Cantabrian Mountains. Further north, out of the profile, Moho reaches a maximum depth of 55 km, according to wide-angle/refraction data. ESCIN-2 indicates the presence of a tectonic wedge of the crust of the Cantabrian margin beneath the Cantabrian Mountains, which is indented from north to south into the delaminated Iberian crust, forcing its northward subduction. © 2016 Author(s).

The knowledge of the anisotropic properties beneath the Iberian Peninsula and Northern Morocco has been dramatically improved since late 2007 with the analysis of the data provided by the dense TopoIberia broad-band seismic network, the increasing number of permanent stations operating in Morocco, Portugal and Spain, and the contribution of smaller scale/higher resolution experiments. Results from the two first TopoIberia deployments have evidenced a spectacular rotation of the fast polarization direction (FPD) along the Gibraltar Arc, interpreted as an evidence of mantle flow deflected around the high velocity slab beneath the Alboran Sea, and a rather uniform N100°E FPD beneath the central Iberian Variscan Massif, consistent with global mantle flow models taking into account contributions of surface plate motion, density variations and net lithosphere rotation. The results from the last Iberarray deployment presented here, covering the northern part of the Iberian Peninsula, also show a rather uniform FPD orientation close to N100°E, thus confirming the previous interpretation globally relating the anisotropic parameters to the LPO of mantle minerals generated by mantle flow at asthenospheric depths. However, the degree of anisotropy varies significantly, from delay time values of around 0.5 s beneath NW Iberia to values reaching 2.0 s in its NE corner. The anisotropic parameters retrieved from single events providing high quality data also show significant differences for stations located in the Variscan units of NW Iberia, suggesting that the region includes multiple anisotropic layers or complex anisotropy systems. These results allow to complete the map of the anisotropic properties of the westernmost Mediterranean region, which can now be considered as one of best constrained regions worldwide, with more than 300 sites investigated over an area extending from the Bay of Biscay to the Sahara platform.

A ~ 1000-km-long lithospheric transect running from the North-Iberian Margin to the Alboran Basin (W-Mediterranean) is investigated. The main goal is to image the changes in the crustal and upper mantle structure occurring in: i) the North-Iberian margin, whose deformation in Alpine times gave rise to the uplift of the Cantabrian Mountains related to Iberia-Eurasia incipient subduction; ii) the Spanish Meseta, characterized by the presence of Cenozoic basins on top of a Variscan basement with weak Alpine deformation in the Central System, and localized Neogene-Quaternary deep volcanism; and iii) the Betic-Alboran system related to Africa-Iberia collision and the roll-back of the Ligurian-Tethyan domain. The modeling approach, combines potential fields, elevation, thermal, seismic, and petrological data under a self-consistent scheme. The crustal structure is mainly constrained by seismic data whereas the upper mantle is constrained by tomographic models. The results highlight the lateral variations in the topography of the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB), suggesting a strong lithospheric mantle strain below the Cantabrian and Betic mountain belts. The LAB depth ranges from 180 km beneath the Cantabrian Mountains to 135-110. km beneath Iberia Meseta deepening again to values of 160. km beneath the Betic Cordillera. The Central System, with a mean elevation of 1300. m, has a negligible signature on the LAB depth. We have considered four lithospheric mantle compositions: a predominantly average Phanerozoic in the continental mainland, two more fertile compositions in the Alboran Sea and in the Calatrava Volcanic Province, and a hydrated uppermost mantle in the North-Iberian Margin. These compositional differences allowed us to reproduce the main trends of the geophysical observables as well as the inferred P- and S-wave seismic velocities from tomography models and seismic experiments available in the study transect. The high mean topography of Iberia can be p

New tomographic images of the upper mantle beneath the westernmost Mediterranean suggest that the evolution of the region experienced two subduction-related episodes. First subduction of oceanic and/or extended continental lithosphere, now located mainly beneath the Betics at depths greater than 400 km, took place on a NW-SE oriented subduction zone. This was followed by a slab-tear process that initiated in the east and propagated to the west, leading to westward slab rollback and possibly lower crustal delamination. The current position of the slab tear is located approximately at 4°W, and to the west of this location the subducted lithosphere is still attached to the surface along the Gibraltar Arc. Our new P-wave velocity model is able to image the attached subducted lithosphere as a narrow high-velocity body extending to shallow depths, coinciding with the region of maximum curvature of the Gibraltar Arc, the occurrence of intermediate-depth earthquakes, and anomalously thick crust. This thick crust has a large influence in the measured teleseismic travel time residuals and therefore in the obtained P-wave tomographic model. We show that removing the effects of the thick crust significantly improves the shallow images of the slab and therefore the interpretations based on the seismic structure

During the last decade, a major target for several international research teams has been to improve the knowledge on the Geodynamics of the Iberian plate and surrounding domains. The complexity of this area and the scarcity of appropriate constraints had been evidenced by the very different evolutionary models proposed in past decades. Hence, the recent efforts to tackle the key questions and derive new conclusive constraints have been afforded through large-scale research approaches that combine expertise on geology, geophysics and geodesy. A pioneering example of joining forces for that aim was the Topo-Iberia initiative, launched by the Spanish funding agency in 2006 to gather along 8 yearsmore than 100 scientists fromdifferent Spanish universities and research institutions. Topo-Iberia has placed new knowledge and constraints to unravel the interaction between deep and surficial processes, following the approach of the coeval Topo-Europe program. It has also been a reference to encourage other international teams to collaborate with and promote research on specific topics, such as the Betic–Rif–Atlas system (Picasso initiative), the Pyrenean domains (Pyrope project), Portugal (Wilas project) or theWestern Mediterranean domain (Topo-Med project). Topo-Iberia has allowed a significant increase on the quality and amount of the scientific information/data available for the Iberian plate by acquisition, deployment and management of a technological observatory infrastructure platform, IberArray, consistingof highresolution multi-disciplinary Solid Earth acquisition systems (seismology, deformation-GPS and magnetotellurics), following in this sense the US-Earthscope approach. As an example of future scientific outcome that could only be afforded within such an integrative approach, one might mention a N–S geotransect of about 1500 km-long across the whole Iberian Peninsula and the Alboran–Rif–Atlas system, from the Cantabrian Continental Margin down to the Algerian-Sah

© 2015 Elsevier B.V. Cenozoic contractional deformation in the North-Iberian continental margin (southern Bay of Biscay) led to the uplift of the Cantabrian Mountains and the northward subduction of part of the thick continental crust, down to at least ~. 55. km depth beneath the coastline, and perhaps even ~. 30-40. km deeper. In order to provide a more constrained model of this unique structure and gain insight into the factors controlling its evolution, we performed an integrated geophysical-petrological modeling of the lithosphere along a 470. km-long, N-S transect down to 400. km depth. The methodology used allows for fitting gravity anomalies, geoid undulations, surface heat flow, elevation and seismic velocities with a realistic distribution of densities and seismic velocities in the mantle and the subducting lower crust, which are dependent on chemical composition, pressure and temperature. Two models are presented, with variable maximum depth for the crustal root: 60. km (Model A) and 90. km (Model B). Results indicate that both models are feasible from the geophysical point of view, but the shallower root agrees slightly better with tomographic results. The thickness of the thermal lithosphere in Model A varies from 125-145. km south of the Cantabrian Mountains to 170. km beneath the crustal root and 135-140. km beneath the central part of the Bay of Biscay. Model B requires a thicker thermal lithosphere beneath the crustal root (205. km). Low seismic velocities beneath the Bay of Biscay Moho and in the mantle wedge above the crustal root are explained by the addition of 1-2. wt% of water. Input from dehydration reactions in the subducting lower crust is ruled out in Model A and has a very minor influence in Model B. We therefore interpret the water to have percolated from the seafloor during the formation of the margin in the Mesozoic. A later basaltic underplating was also inferred. A tentative evolutionary model (to a great extent governed by these petr

We have determined the three-dimensional P-wave velocity structure of the crust and uppermost mantle beneath the Iberia-Africa collision zone using local earthquake tomography. We have inverted arrival times of first-arriving P phases listed in the bulletins of the Instituto Geográfico Nacional and phases picked by us on permanent stations of other regional networks and on temporary broadband stations deployed in the frame of the TOPO-IBERIA project. In total we have used 38,624 P-wave arrival times from 2362 local events recorded at 120 seismic stations. The most remarkable result is the imaging of a large high velocity body following approximately the western Alboran coastline, with a horizontal dimension of at least 200. km and extending in depth from the surface down to 24. km. This body, not imaged previously with this extent using seismic tomography, coincides with surface exposures of subcontinental mantle (peridotites) in Iberia and Africa and with a belt of positive gravity anomalies. We have also found a marked contrast in the seismic velocities of the middle and lower crust of the Alboran basin, coinciding with the location of the Trans-Alboran Shear Zone. We attribute this contrast to widespread magmatic intrusions in the eastern part of the basin, resulting in higher P-wave velocities than in the west. This contrast would also explain the different orientation of the Trans-Alboran Shear zone with respect to the surface features and faults in the Alboran basin. We also image thick crust beneath the Betics and Rif, accompanied by downgoing lithosphere of the Iberian foreland and Gulf of Cadiz beneath the Betic-Rif-Alboran system.