Rapid coastal diapiric uplift in Cádiz Bay (SW Spain). Implications on OIS 3 sea level reconstruction

The Bay of Cadiz, of about 30km length and 15 km width, is located at the south-atlantic margin of the Iberian Peninsula, southwards of the Guadalquivir river mouth, Geologically it is located within the Subbetic Zone of the Betic Ranges. The origin of the Bay is related to vertical tectonic movements during a distensive phase in the upper Miocene-Pliocene (Benkhelil, 1976). This depression was occupied by a deltaic sedimentary system developed during the middle and upper Pliocene until the lower Pleistocene, giving rise to a strategic unit with mixed fluvial and littoral characteristics.