The SW Iberian margin is an oblique passive margin developed during the Mesozoic, as part of the opening of the westernmost Ligurian Tethys. The Algarve Basin developed on the SW Iberian margin and its sedimentary record was strongly controlled by tectonics. The Algarve Basin was dominated during the Mesozoic by WSW–ENE trending extensional faults and their associated depocenters, segmented by oblique NW–SE transfer zones. Two major NW–SE trending transfer zones connected the Algarve Basin to the Gorringe Bank in the west and to the Betic Basin in the east. The SW Iberian margin was later inverted during Late Cretaceous to Cenozoic times, due to convergence between Africa and Iberia. Inversion of the Algarve Basin and the SW Iberian margin was controlled by both the WSW–ENE and NW–SE trending structures formed during the passive margin phase. The evolution of the Algarve Basin during the Mesozoic and up to the Paleogene is documented in this paper through paleogeographic reconstructions based on field geology and reinterpretation of offshore seismic and well data.

伊比利亚西南缘是中生代期间形成的一种倾斜的被动缘，是最西端的利古里亚特提斯开放的一部分。阿尔加威盆地在伊比利亚西南边缘发育，其沉积记录受到构造学的强烈控制。在中生代，阿尔加维盆地被WSW–ENE趋势性伸展断层及其相关沉积中心所支配，并由倾斜的NW–SE过渡带分割。两个主要的西北向东南趋势转移区将阿尔加威盆地与西部的戈林格河岸和东部的比蒂克盆地相连。由于非洲和伊比利亚之间的融合，西南白垩纪至新生代时期伊比利亚西南缘倒转。阿尔加威盆地和西南伊比利亚边缘的反转受被动边缘阶段形成的WSW–ENE和NW–SE趋势结构的控制。