Resumen de Geophysical and geological characterization of the active structures and of the nature of the basement in the Eurasia-Africa plate boundary (SW Iberian Margin). Implications for regional geodynamics and seismic hazard assessment = Caracterització geofísica i geològica de les estructures actives i la natura del basament en el límit de plaques Euràsia-Àfrica (Marge SO d’Ibèria). Implicacions per la geodinàmica regional i per l’avaluació de la perillositat sísmica
In this PhD Thesis I present a new interpretation of: 1) active structures implicating old oceanic lithosphere; 2) the nature of the basement; and 3) the distribution of the basement domains and the geodynamic reconstruction of the SW Iberian margin, a region that hosts the slow convergent boundary between the African and Eurasian plates. This interpretation is based on new geophysical data acquired, processed and modeled in the framework of this PhD work. The main findings of my study are the following ones: 1) Recently acquired high-resolution multichannel seismic profiles together with bathymetric and sub-bottom profiler data (SWIM 2006 survey) from the external part of the Gulf of Cadiz (Eurasia-Africa plate boundary) reveal active deformation involving old (Mesozoic) oceanic lithosphere [Martínez-Loriente et al., 2013]. This dataset shows active strike-slip occurring along the prominent lineaments North and South, imaging seafloor displacements and active faulting to depths of at least 10 km and of a minimum length of 150 km [Bartolome et al., 2012]. Seismic moment tensors show predominantly WNW–ESE right-lateral strike-slip motion [Geissler et al., 2010]. Estimates of earthquake source depths close to the fault planes indicate upper mantle (i.e., depths of 40–60 km) seismogenesis [Stich et al., 2010, Bartolomé et al., 2012], implying the presence of old, thick, and brittle lithosphere. Moreover, the SWIM 2006 dataset also reveals E-W trending dextral strike-slip faults showing surface deformation of flowerlike structures, which predominate in the Horseshoe Abyssal Plain. In contrast, NE-SW trending compressive structures prevail in the Coral Patch Ridge and in the Seine Hills [Martínez-Loriente et al., 2013]. Although the Coral Patch Ridge region is characterized by subdued seismic activity, the area is not free from seismic hazard. Most of the newly mapped faults correspond to active blind thrusts and strike-slip faults that are able to generate large magnitude earthquakes (Mw 7.2 to 8.4) [Martínez-Loriente et al., 2013]. 2) Combined seismic and gravity modeling along NEAREST profile P1 acquired in the external part of the SW Iberian margin, reveals the presence of a serpentinized peridotite basement flooring the Gorringe Bank and adjacent sectors of the Tagus and Horseshoe abyssal plains [Sallarès et al., 2013]. These three domains would be part of a wide ultramafic rock band [Sallarès et al., 2013], similar to the Zone of Exhumed Continental Mantle off Western Iberia [Pinheiro et al., 1992; Dean et al., 2000]. Furthermore, the basement velocity structure of the southeastern part of the profile (i.e., the Coral Patch Ridge and Seine Abyssal Plain) indicates the presence of a highly heterogeneous, thin oceanic crust (4-6 km-thick), similar to that described in slow/ultraslow spreading centers, with local high-velocity anomalies possibly representing serpentinite intrusions [Martínez-Loriente et al., submitted]. 3) The integration of the results from NEAREST profiles P1 and P2 that runs across the central Gulf of Cadiz [Sallarès et al., 2011], and previously existing data reveals the presence of three main oceanic domains offshore SW Iberia [Martínez-Loriente et al., submitted]: (a) the Seine Abyssal Plain domain, made of oceanic crust that would be generated during the first slow (~8 mm/yr) stages of seafloor spreading of the northeastern segment of the Central Atlantic (i.e. 190 Ma – 180 Ma) [Martínez-Loriente et al., submitted]; (b) the Gulf of Cadiz domain, constituted of oceanic crust generated in the Alpine-Tethys spreading system between Iberia and Africa, which was coeval with the formation of the Seine Abyssal Plain domain and lasted up to the North Atlantic continental break-up (Late Jurassic) [Sallarès et al., 2011]; and (c) the Gorringe Bank domain, made of exhumed mantle rocks that was probably generated during the earliest phase of the North Atlantic opening that followed the continental crust breakup (Early Cretaceous) [Sallarès et al., 2013]. During the Miocene, the NW–SE trending Eurasia–Africa convergence resulted in thrusting of the southeastern segment of the exhumed serpentinite band over the northwestern one, forming the Gorringe Bank [Sallarès et al., 2013]. These models indicate that the Seine Abyssal Plain and Gulf of Cadiz domains are separated by the Lineament South strike-slip system, whereas the Gulf of Cadiz and Gorringe Bank domains are bounded by a deep thrust fault system located at the center of the Horseshoe Abyssal Plain, which we refer to as the Horseshoe Abyssal plain Thrust [Martínez-Loriente et al., submitted]. These new findings are relevant for geohazard assessment in the region. On one hand, the presence of active deformation has been demonstrated in the external part of the Gulf of Cadiz, involving structures considered inactive [e.g. Zitellini et al., 2009] until the present work. On the other hand, the knowledge of the nature of the SW Iberian margin basement may provide valuable information into the process of seismogenesis, such as earthquake nucleation and velocity propagation. Both aspects will help to refine regional seismic and tsunami hazard assessment models.
