Recent structures in the Alboran Ridge and Yusuf fault zones based on swath bathymetry and sub-bottom profiling: evidence of active tectonics |
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Authors: | Pedro Mart??nez-Garc??a Juan I Soto Menchu Comas |
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Institution: | (1) Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra (CSIC and University of Granada), Facultad de Ciencias, Campus Fuentenueva s/n, 18002 Granada, Spain;(2) Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra (CSIC and University of Granada) and Departamento de Geodin?mica, Facultad de Ciencias, Campus Fuentenueva s/n, 18002 Granada, Spain |
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Abstract: | The seafloor of the Alboran Sea in the western Mediterranean is disrupted by deformations resulting from convergence between
the African and Eurasian plates. Based on a compilation of existing and new multibeam bathymetry data and high-resolution
seismic profiles, our main objective was to characterize the most recent structures in the central sector, which depicts an
abrupt morphology and was chosen to investigate how active tectonic processes are shaping the seafloor. The Alboran Ridge
is the most prominent feature in the Alboran Sea (>130 km in length), and a key element in the Gibraltar Arc System. Recent
uplift and deformation in this ridge have been caused by sub-vertical, strike-slip and reverse faults with associated folding
in the most recent sediments, their trend shifting progressively from SW–NE to WNW–ESE towards the Yusuf Lineament. Present-day
transtensive deformation induces faulting and subsidence in the Yusuf pull-apart basin. The Alboran Ridge and Yusuf fault
zones are connected, and both constitute a wide zone of deformation reaching tens of kilometres in width and showing a complex
geometry, including different active fault segments and in-relay folds. These findings demonstrate that Recent deformation
is more heterogeneously distributed than commonly considered. A narrow SSW–NNE zone with folding and reverse faulting cuts
across the western end of the Alboran Ridge and concentrates most of the upper crustal seismicity in the region. This zone
of deformation defines a seismogenic, left-lateral fault zone connected to the south with the Al Hoceima seismic swarm, and
representing a potential seismic hazard. Newly detected buried and active submarine slides along the Alboran Ridge and the
Yusuf Lineament are clear signs of submarine slope instability in this seismically active region. |
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