the oceanographic connections between the seas situated to the west and the east of
Iberia.
Within the specific region currently occupied by the Alboran Basin (yet previous
to its formation), there was an oceanographic connection between the Atlantic and
Ligurian Tethys oceans in southern Iberia in the Late Jurassic, and a secondary
connection occurred in northern Iberia (Ziegler 1988; Schettino and Turco 2011).
Since the Late Cretaceous (Fig. 5.13a) the Iberian block has undergone compression
due to the convergence between Africa and Eurasia; indeed, it led to the closure of
the connection in northern Iberia during the Paleocene (Ziegler 1988; Rosenbaum
et al. 2002a) (Fig. 5.13b) and finally to the Pyrenean orogen as part of the Alpine belt
in the Eocene phase (Schettino and Turco 2011). Some uncertainty surrounds the
characteristics of the southern oceanographic connection. Did it occur only across
the continental margins of South Iberia and North Africa? Elsewise, if oceanic
Fig. 5.13 Evolutive scheme of palaeoceanographic relations between the Atlantic Ocean and the
different oceans and seas in the Tethys domain, east to the Iberia, (a, b, c) from the Upper
Cretaceous to Eocene-Oligocene boundary based on Ziegler (1988), Schettino and Turco (2011),
Advokaat et al. (2014) and Martín-Chivelet et al. (2019); (d, e, f) Palaeoceanographic scheme of the
Alboran Sea region along the formation and evolution of the Betic-Rif Belt and the Alboran Sea
Basin (modified from Do Couto 2014; Do Couto et al. 2016)
140
J.-T. Vázquez et al.
Iberia.
Within the specific region currently occupied by the Alboran Basin (yet previous
to its formation), there was an oceanographic connection between the Atlantic and
Ligurian Tethys oceans in southern Iberia in the Late Jurassic, and a secondary
connection occurred in northern Iberia (Ziegler 1988; Schettino and Turco 2011).
Since the Late Cretaceous (Fig. 5.13a) the Iberian block has undergone compression
due to the convergence between Africa and Eurasia; indeed, it led to the closure of
the connection in northern Iberia during the Paleocene (Ziegler 1988; Rosenbaum
et al. 2002a) (Fig. 5.13b) and finally to the Pyrenean orogen as part of the Alpine belt
in the Eocene phase (Schettino and Turco 2011). Some uncertainty surrounds the
characteristics of the southern oceanographic connection. Did it occur only across
the continental margins of South Iberia and North Africa? Elsewise, if oceanic
Fig. 5.13 Evolutive scheme of palaeoceanographic relations between the Atlantic Ocean and the
different oceans and seas in the Tethys domain, east to the Iberia, (a, b, c) from the Upper
Cretaceous to Eocene-Oligocene boundary based on Ziegler (1988), Schettino and Turco (2011),
Advokaat et al. (2014) and Martín-Chivelet et al. (2019); (d, e, f) Palaeoceanographic scheme of the
Alboran Sea region along the formation and evolution of the Betic-Rif Belt and the Alboran Sea
Basin (modified from Do Couto 2014; Do Couto et al. 2016)
140
J.-T. Vázquez et al.