Recent shale tectonics and basin evolution of the NW Alboran Sea

Abstract

This contribution is intended to show some of the most recent, eventually active, shale structures developed in the northwestern margin of the Alboran Sea in the western Mediterranean. Most marine geophysical data used for this study are from surveys conducted by ConocoPhillips in 2000 and 2001 in the Alboran Sea. This company explored the western sector of this basin, both in Spanish and Moroccan waters. It acquired a comprehensive data set, including a complete mosaic of sea-floor multibeam bathymetry with the associated sub-bottom high-resolution profiles, and a dense network of 2D multichannel seismic reflection profiles. These surveys provide a significant amount of new marine geophysical data, which increase the previous knowledge of the structure and characteristics of the westernmost Mediterranean region.