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[EN] The western Mediterranean hosts the plate boundary between the Eurasian and Nubian plates. These plates have a NW-SE convergence of 4.5 mm/year that currently controls the active deformation of the marine basins. In the westernmost basin, the Alboran Basin, the plate boundary has traditionally been understood as a zone of diffuse deformation in which there is no major structure accommodating most of the convergence. However, studies of the deep basin structure with multichannel seismic data reveal that the main submarine fault system in this basin, formed by the Alboran Ridge frontal thrust and the Yusuf strike-slip fault, accommodates at least half of the total plate convergence since the Miocene-Pliocene boundary, when they began their activity. This result challenges the diffuse deformation model, and has major implications for the assessment of the seismic and tsunamigenic hazard in the coastal areas, [ES] En el Mediterráneo occidental se encuentra el límite de placas entre las placas Eurasia y Nubia. Estas placas tienen una convergencia NO-SE de 4,5 mm/año, que actualmente controla la deformación activa de las cuencas marinas. En la cuenca más occidental, la cuenca de Alborán, el límite de placas tradicionalmente se ha entendido como una zona de deformación difusa en la que no había una estructura principal acomodando la deformación. Sin embargo, el estudio de la estructura profunda de la cuenca con datos de sísmica multicanal revelan que el principal sistema de fallas submarino en esta cuenca, formado por el frente de cabalgamiento del Alboran Ridge y la falla en dirección de Yusuf, acomoda un deslizamiento total superior a la mitad de la convergencia de placas desde el límite Mioceno-Plioceno, cuando comenzaron su actividad. Este resultado contradice el modelo de deformación difusa, y tiene grandes implicaciones para el análisis de riesgo sísmico y tsunamigénico de las zonas costeras

The Alboran Basin is located in the westernmost Mediterranean Sea. This basin was formed during the Miocene, and since the late Miocene, has been deformed due to the Iberia – Africa tectonic plates convergence, producing the contractive reorganization of some structures at the basin. Thus, the Alboran Basin is a seismically active area, which hosts the plate boundary between the European and African tectonic plates. This plate boundary has been traditionally considered a wide deformation zone, in which several small faults are accommodating the deformation. Based on a modern set of active seismic data, we were able for the first time to quantify the total slip accommodated by the most prominent tectonic structures of the area, late Miocene - early Pliocene in age. Our results show that the estimated total slip accommodated by the main fault systems may be similar (with error bounds) to the estimated plate convergence value since the Messinian time (~24 km). Thus, slip on that faults may have accommodated most of the Iberian – African plate convergence during the Plio-Quaternary, revealing that the contractive reorganization of the Alboran basin is focused on a few first-order structures that act as lithospheric boundaries, rather than widespread and diffuse along the entire basin. These results have implications not only for kinematic and geodynamic models, but also for seismic and tsunami hazard assessments. Using the most complete dataset until the date, we performed a revision of the geometry and characteristics of the main fault systems offshore. Based on this data, we perform a first appraisal of the seismogenic and tsunamigenic potential of the main fault systems offshore. Our simulations show that the seismogenic and tsunamigenic potential of the offshore structures of the Alboran Basin may be underestimated, and a further characterization of their associated hazard is needed

Fracture zones were recognized to be an integral part of the seabed long before plate tectonics was established. Later, plate tectonics linked fracture zones to oceanic transform faults, suggesting that they are the inactive and hence fossil trace of transforms. Yet, scientist have spent little time surveying them in much detail over the last three decades. Recent evidence (Grevemeyer, I., Rüpke, L.H., Morgan, J.P., Iyer, K, and Devey, C.W., 2021, Extensional tectonics and two-stage crustal accretion at oceanic transform faults, Nature, 591, 402–407, doi:10.1038/s41586-021-03278-9) suggests that the traditional concept of transform faults as being conservative (non-accretionary) plate boundary faults might be wrong. Instead, transform faults are always deeper than the associated fracture zones and numerical modelling results suggest that transform faults seem to suffer from extensional tectonics below their strike-slip surface fault zone. During the cruise M170 of the German research vessel METEOR early in 2021, we aimed to test this hypothesis by collecting, in a pilot study, micro-seismicity data from the Oceanographer transform fault which offsets the Mid-Atlantic Ridge by 120-km south of the Azores near 35°N. Preliminary analysis of 10-days of seismicity data recorded at 26 ocean-bottom-seismometers and hydrophones showed 10-15 local earthquakes per day. Along the transform fault the distribution of micro-earthquakes and focal mechanisms support strike-slip motion. However, at both ridge-transform intersections seismicity does not mimic a right-angular plate boundary; instead, seismicity occurs below the inside corner and focal mechanism indicate extensional tectonics. Therefore, micro-seismicity supports features found in numerical simulations, revealing that transform faults have an extensional as well as a strike-slip component

Models of continental margins evolution are largely based on incomplete information, much of it built on research that is now >20 years old. Recent developments in parallel computing and novel geophysical approaches provide now the means to obtain a new look at the structure with radically superior resolution seismic models and a mathematically-robust analysis of the data uncertainty, that was formerly difficult, if not unfeasible, to achieve. Thus, we focused on the Newfoundland margin and applied bleeding-edge methodologies to a high-quality dataset acquired in 2000. The SCREECH data includes three primary transects with coincident multichannel seismic reflection data acquired on a 6-km streamer and wide-angle data recorded by short-period OBS and OBH spaced at ~10-20 km. This dataset was processed >15 years ago with now outdated methodologies. This re-processing in an HPC environment provided the high-resolution images that are needed to fulfill the characterization of this margin. In particular, we performed joint inversion of multichannel and wide-angle seismic data, which drastically improved the resolution of the velocity model, which was subsequently used to perform a Pre-Stack Depth Migration of the multichannel data. The higher resolution of these images allows characterization of the different crustal domains of the margin in detail, as well as its tectonic structure. Altogether, these results provide the high-resolution images needed to understand the formation and evolution of the Newfoundland margin. Comparation of these results on the Newfoundland margin with the recent data on the West Iberian margin, acquired during the cruises FRAME (2018) and ATLANTIS (2022) (PI: C. Ranero, streamer data and coincident closely-spaced OBS data), provides a unique opportunity to improve our knowledge on the evolution of the North Atlantic opening

The Alboran Basin is located in the westernmost Mediterranean Sea. This basin was formed during the Miocene, and since the late Miocene, has been deformed due to the Iberia – Africa tectonic plates convergence, producing the contractive reorganization of some structures at the basin. Thus, the Alboran Basin is a seismically active area, which hosts the plate boundary between the European and African tectonic plates. This plate boundary has been traditionally considered a wide deformation zone, in which several small faults are accommodating the deformation. Based on a modern set of active seismic data, we were able for the first time to quantify the total slip accommodated by the most prominent tectonic structures of the area, late Miocene - early Pliocene in age. Our results show that the estimated total slip accommodated by the main fault systems may be similar (with error bounds) to the estimated plate convergence value since the Messinian time (~24 km). Thus, slip on that faults may have accommodated most of the Iberian – African plate convergence during the Plio-Quaternary, revealing that the contractive reorganization of the Alboran basin is focused on a few first-order structures that act as lithospheric boundaries, rather than widespread and diffuse along the entire basin. These results have implications not only for kinematic and geodynamic models, but also for seismic and tsunami hazard assessments. Using the most complete dataset until the date, we performed a revision of the geometry and characteristics of the main fault systems offshore. Based on this data, we perform a first appraisal of the seismogenic and tsunamigenic potential of the main fault systems offshore. Our simulations show that the seismogenic and tsunamigenic potential of the offshore structures of the Alboran Basin may be underestimated, and a further characterization of their associated hazard is needed

Large igneous systems are formed either in areas of thin lithosphere at or near plate boundaries or by mantle-melting anomalies in intraplate settings with comparatively thicker lithosphere. At plate boundaries extension-driven decompression melting or flux melt due to slab-derived materials dominate. Intraplate magmatism is associated to thermal or compositional anomaly in the mantle. Even though many questions remain open, our understanding of the fundamental driving processes of these systems has dramatically improved during the last 50 years. However, some intraplate large volcanic regions display a complex distribution of magmatic activity that spans a large age range and does not appears easily explained by the evolution of a semi-stable mantle-melting anomaly. We present seismic data collected in 2022 across the Madeira-Tore Rise that show that the extended volcanic region may be related to lithospheric-scale intraplate deformation. The ~1000 km long region displays a broad bathymetric swell (Rise) and abundant volcanic constructions of different dimensions across a several-hundreds-km wide swath. The origin of the rise and volcanic constructions is unclear. The rise has often being associated to excess magmatism and formation of thicker-than normal oceanic crust for a few-million-years period during the Cretaceous. This magmatic event is loosely associated to the seafloor-spreading magnetic lineation named as the J-anomaly, and the rise is often referred as the J-anomaly ridge. However, when analysed in detail, the magnetic J-anomaly is not located at the rise, but to east, and the presence of a basement ridge that may explain the swell has not being yet proved. We show that the seafloor rise is not is underlaid by thin crust, and thicker crust is located to the east, coincident with magnetic J-anomaly. Seismic images display regional-scale tilting of strata covering the oceanic plate, and local contractional deformation. The images show brittle faulting ass

The identification and seismic characterization of the active structures in the Alboran Sea (westernmost Mediterranean) are essential to evaluate better the exposure of the South Iberian Peninsula and Maghreb coasts to different natural hazards. The Alboran Sea accommodates part of the present-day crustal deformation related to the NW-SE convergence (4-5 mm/yr) between the African and Eurasian plates. The area is characterized by low to moderate magnitude instrumental seismicity. However, large earthquakes (I > IX and M > 6.0) have occurred in this region in historical and recent times (i.e., 1522 Almeria, 1790 Oran, 1910 Adra, 1994 and 2004 Al-Hoceima or 2016 Al-Idrissi earthquakes). The dextral strike-slip Yusuf Fault System (YFS) is one of the largest active faults in the Alboran Sea and its seismogenic and tsunamigenic hazard needs to be characterized. The fault system trends WNW-ESE and has a length of ~150 km. Using multi-scale bathymetric (ranging from m to cm) and seismic data and different morphological and seismic analysis tools (i.e., slope or relief image maps), we have imaged and characterized the fault system. The analysis of this dataset reveals that the YFS is a complex structure composed of an array of strike-slip faults. The 3D structural model shows that most of the identified faults reach up and offset the seafloor and the Upper Quaternary sedimentary units. The current morphology of the seafloor is a consequence of the Plio-Quaternary tectonic evolution that have resulted in the formation of a large pull-apart basin, which is deeper than the surrounding areas, a topographic ridge, an elongated depression and morphologic lineaments following its trend. The dataset also images several submarine landslides scars, mainly on the steeper slopes surrounding the pull-apart basin. In addition, the analysis of ultra-high resolution data acquired along the Yusuf lineament with AUV has revealed the presence of a series of en-echelon scarps with heights rang

[ES] Una investigación reporta un sistema de fallas activas a lo largo de 300 kilómetros que absorbe la mayor deformación del choque entre placas, [CAT] Un estudi liderat per l’Institut de Ciències del Mar de Barcelona determina que el subsol del mar d’Alborán té més potencial sísmic del que es creia

The current diffuse-strain model of the collision between Africa and Eurasia in the western Mediterranean predicts a broad region with deformation distributed among numerous faults and moderate-magnitude seismicity. However, the model is untested because most deformation occurs underwater, at poorly characterized faults of undetermined slip. Here we assess the diffuse-strain model analysing two active offshore fault systems associated with the most prominent seafloor relief in the region. We use pre-stack depth migrated seismic images to estimate, for the first time, the total Plio-Holocene slip of the right-lateral Yusuf and reverse Alboran Ridge structurally linked fault system. We show that kinematic restoration of deformational structures predicts a slip of 16 ± 4.7 km for the Alboran Ridge Fault and a minimum of 12 km for the Yusuf Fault. Thus, this fault system forms a well-defined narrow plate boundary that has absorbed most of the 24 ± 5 km Plio-Holocene Africa-Eurasia convergence and represents an underappreciated hazard

The westernmost Mediterranean hosts part of the plate boundary between the European and African tectonic plates. Based on the scattered instrumental seismicity, this boundary has been traditionally interpreted as a wide zone of diffuse deformation. However, recent seismic images and seafloor mapping studies support that most of the plate convergence may be accommodated in a few tectonic structures, rather than in a broad region. Historical earthquakes with magnitudes Mw > 6 and historical tsunamis support that the low-to-moderate instrumental seismicity might also have led to underestimation of the seismogenic and tsunamigenic potential of the area. We evaluate the largest active faults of the westernmost Mediterranean: the reverse Alboran Ridge, and the strike-slip Carboneras, Yusuf and Al-Idrissi fault systems. For the first time, we use a dense grid of modern seismic data to characterize the entire dimensions of the main fault systems, accurately describe the geometry of these structures and estimate their seismic source parameters. Tsunami scenarios have been tested based on 3D-surfaces and seismic source parameters, using both uniform and heterogeneous slip distributions. The comparison of our results with previous studies, based on limited information on the fault geometry and kinematics, indicates that accurate fault geometries and heterogeneous slip distributions are needed to properly assess the seismic and tsunamigenic potential in this area. Based on fault scaling relations, the four fault systems have a large seismogenic potential, being able to generate earthquakes with Mw > 7. The reverse Alboran Ridge Fault System has the largest tsunamigenic potential, being able to generate a tsunami wave amplitude greater than 3 m in front of the coasts of Southern Spain and Northern Africa

Based on more than 4,500 km of new and re-processed multichannel seismic lines, high-resolution seafloor bathymetry, available well data, and basement dredge samples, we have re-evaluated the entire stratigraphy and the tectonic evolution of the Alboran and western Algerian basins. We have correlated the sediment units deposited since the beginning of the formation of the different sub-basins, and we present for the first time a coherent stratigraphy and large-scale tectonic evolution of the whole region. The results provide the information to test and refine models of the geodynamic evolution of the westernmost Mediterranean. The data analysis supports an independent evolution of the sub-basins through the latemost Oligocene and Miocene, and a common Plio-Holocene evolution. The latemost Oligocene and Miocene evolution was controlled by the evolution of the Gibraltar subduction system. The oldest sedimentary unit is restricted to the West Alboran and Malaga basins depocenter that during the latemost Oligocene and early Miocene connected to some smaller marine basins currently uplifted and located onshore on the Betics range. Later, during the middle Miocene, the Habibas and Pytheas sub-basins formed a second depocenter on the North African margin. The different sedimentary units found in both depocenters, together with their different deformation patterns, support that the West Alboran-Malaga and the Habibas-Pytheas depocenters were separated by a major tectonic boundary. The early Tortonian initial arc magmatic activity produced the formation of new areas floored by a volcanic basement by the end of the late Tortonian, when the first sedimentary units deposited in the East Alboran sub-basin, and probably during the late Tortonian-early Messinian in the South Alboran sub-basin. Extension of the back-arc setting created oceanic crust flooring the Algero Balearic Basin. The extensional formation of the westernmost Mediterranean basins ended in the latemost Miocene. T

About 25% of the Earth’s mid-ocean ridges spread at ultraslow rates of less than 20 mm/yr. However, most of these ultraslow spreading ridges are located in geographically remote areas, which hamper investigation. Consequently, how the crust forms and ages at such spreading centres, which traditional models predict to be magma-starved and cold, remains poorly understood. CAYSEIS project was proposed to survey the Cayman Trough area in order to obtain new data that constraints the nature of the crust, tectonic structures, lithologies outcropping and hydrothermal processes taking place in this area, which includes the Mid Cayman ultra-slow spreading centre (MSCS) with spreading rates of ~15-17 mm/yr. Understanding the sub-seabed geophysical structure of the MCSC is key to understanding not only the lithologies and structures exposed at the seabed, but more fundamentally, how they are related at depth and what role hydrothermal fluid flow plays in the geodynamics of ultraslow spreading. CAYSEIS was a joint and multidisciplinary programme of German, British and US American top tier scientists designed for the obtaining of a new high-quality dataset, including 3D Wide-Angle Seismic (WAS), magnetic, gravimetric and seismological data. We took leverage of the CAYSEIS dataset to invert a 3D velocity model of the Cayman Trough lithosphere using the Tomo3D code (Meléndez et al., 2015; 2019). This is one of the first times that the Tomo3D code is used for 3D inversion of real datasets. Thus, we are checking our results comparing them with travel time tomographic inversions of 2D lines and testing the different parameters to obtain the more accurate and higher resolution model as possible. The results of this experiment show not only the lithospheric structure along and across the MSCS, including the exhumed Ocean Core Complexes in the surrounding areas, but the 3D lithospheric configuration of the region which is important to understand the crustal formation processes and evolu

The SW Iberian margin is one of the most seismogenic and tsunamigenic areas in W-Europe, where large historical and instrumental destructive events occurred. To evaluate the sensitivity of the tsunami impact on the coast of SW Iberia and NW Morocco to the fault geometry and slip distribution for local earthquakes, we carried out a set of tsunami simulations considering some of the main known active crustal faults in the region: the Gorringe Bank (GBF), Marquês de Pombal (MPF), Horseshoe (HF), North Coral Patch (NCPF) and South Coral Patch (SCPF) thrust faults, and the Lineament South strike-slip fault. We started by considering for all of them relatively simple planar faults featuring with uniform slip distribution; we then used a more complex 3D fault geometry for the faults constrained with a large 2D multichannel seismic dataset (MPF, HF, NCPF, and SCPF); and finally, we used various heterogeneous slip distributions for the HF. Our results show that using more complex 3D fault geometries and slip distributions, the peak wave height at the coastline can double compared to simpler tsunami source scenarios from planar fault geometries. Existing tsunami hazard models in the region use homogeneous slip distributions on planar faults as initial conditions for tsunami simulations and therefore underestimate tsunami hazard. Complex 3D fault geometries and non-uniform slip distribution should be considered in future tsunami hazard updates. The tsunami simulations also support the finding that submarine canyons attenuate the wave height reaching the coastline, while submarine ridges and shallow shelves have the opposite effect

La zona noroeste de Iberia reúne rasgos geológicos excepcionales relacionados con el desarrollo de un margen continental hiperextendido cerca de un punto triple y la posterior inversión tectónica parcial. Es una zona de gran interés para el estudio del papel de la herencia tectónica y la posterior inversión en márgenes continentales extensionales, pero hay un gran déficit de información. Todo esto sienta las bases del proyecto anfibio MARIBNO (PGC2018-095999-B-I00) donde a lo largo de 2021 y 2022 se adquirirán sísmica marina de reflexión multicanal 2D (~4000 km), sísmica de gran ángulo en 3 transectos tierra-mar (~600 km), batimetría multihaz, grav-mag y sísmica de alta resolución. Se complementará en tierra con adquisición de datos grav-mag y varias campañas de cartografía geológica. Los objetivos se centran en el estudio de la estructura cortical, el control tectónico ejercido por estructuras previas a las etapas alpinas y la cartografía y caracterización de los dominios corticales aunando criterios geológicos y geofísicos.