5.4.3 Tecto-Sedimentary Evolution
The different sub-basins share a common Pliocene-Quaternary history, although
each of them formed and evolved differently over time (Fig. 5.11). The WAB
contains the most complete stratigraphic record, from the lower Miocene
(Aquitanian-Burdigalian) to Quaternary (Comas et al. 1999). Analyzing the geometries of seismic stratigraphic sequences sheds light on the evolution of the basin
linked with crustal deformation.
5.5 Miocene
In the WAB, most tectonic and stratigraphic markers indicate that the basin began to
develop in early Miocene times, probably above an extensional detachment that
controlled subsidence (Do Couto et al. 2016). Then, in the middle Miocene, the
Fig. 5.11 Onshore-offshore chronostratigraphic correlation from Spain to Morocco, showing the
main unconformities that affect the whole domain (see Do Couto et al. (2016) for more details),
together with synthetic cross-sections reflecting the evolution of the western Alboran basin from
late Oligocene (a) to late Tortonian, and the shift from extensional to contractional reorganization
(d)
132
J.-T. Vázquez et al.
The different sub-basins share a common Pliocene-Quaternary history, although
each of them formed and evolved differently over time (Fig. 5.11). The WAB
contains the most complete stratigraphic record, from the lower Miocene
(Aquitanian-Burdigalian) to Quaternary (Comas et al. 1999). Analyzing the geometries of seismic stratigraphic sequences sheds light on the evolution of the basin
linked with crustal deformation.
5.5 Miocene
In the WAB, most tectonic and stratigraphic markers indicate that the basin began to
develop in early Miocene times, probably above an extensional detachment that
controlled subsidence (Do Couto et al. 2016). Then, in the middle Miocene, the
Fig. 5.11 Onshore-offshore chronostratigraphic correlation from Spain to Morocco, showing the
main unconformities that affect the whole domain (see Do Couto et al. (2016) for more details),
together with synthetic cross-sections reflecting the evolution of the western Alboran basin from
late Oligocene (a) to late Tortonian, and the shift from extensional to contractional reorganization
(d)
132
J.-T. Vázquez et al.