Abstract Based on more than 4500 km of new and re-processed multichannel seismic lines, high-resolution seafloor bathymetry, available well data, and basement dredge samples, we have re-evaluated the entire stratigraphy and the tectonic evolution of the Alboran and western Algerian basins. We have correlated the sediment units deposited since the beginning of the formation of the different sub-basins, and we present for the first time a coherent stratigraphy and large-scale tectonic evolution of the whole region. The results provide the information to test and refine models of the geodynamic evolution of the westernmost Mediterranean. The data analysis supports an independent evolution of the sub-basins through the latemost Oligocene and Miocene, and a common Plio-Holocene evolution. The latemost Oligocene and Miocene evolution was controlled by the evolution of the Gibraltar subduction system. The oldest sedimentary unit is restricted to the West Alboran and Malaga basins depocenter that during the latemost Oligocene and early Miocene connected to some smaller marine basins currently uplifted and located onshore on the Betics range. Later, during the middle Miocene, the Habibas and Pytheas sub-basins formed a second depocenter on the North African margin. The different sedimentary units found in both depocenters, together with their different deformation patterns, support that the West Alboran-Malaga and the Habibas-Pytheas depocenters were separated by a major tectonic boundary. The early Tortonian initial arc magmatic activity produced the formation of new areas floored by a volcanic basement by the end of the late Tortonian, when the first sedimentary units deposited in the East Alboran sub-basin, and probably during the late Tortonian-early Messinian in the South Alboran sub-basin. Extension of the back-arc setting created oceanic crust flooring the Algero Balearic Basin. The extensional formation of the westernmost Mediterranean basins ended in the latemost Miocene. The western migration of the subduction system stopped and the convergence between the African and the European tectonic plates started to dominate the tectonic evolution of the region. During the Plio-Holocene, the sub-basins did not further subside individually so that these sediments have spread out across the whole Alboran Basin. A new tectonic contractional and strike-slip fault system developed that is active nowadays. The integration of our results together with the most recent tomographic studies has been used to test and refine the existing kinematic models of the area. None of the existing models explains all our large-scale observations.

中文翻译：

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地中海最西部盆地的演化

摘要 基于超过 4500 公里的新的和重新处理的多道地震线、高分辨率海底测深、可用井数据和基底疏浚样品，我们重新评估了阿尔博兰和阿尔及利亚西部的整个地层和构造演化。盆地。我们将不同次盆地形成以来沉积的沉积单元进行了关联，我们首次展示了整个地区的连贯地层和大规模构造演化。结果为测试和完善地中海最西端地球动力学演化模型提供了信息。数据分析支持子盆地通过最新的渐新世和中新世的独立演化，以及共同的上新世演化。最近的渐新世和中新世演化受直布罗陀俯冲系统演化的控制。最古老的沉积单元仅限于西奥尔博兰和马拉加盆地沉积中心，在渐新世晚期和中新世早期，这些沉积中心与一些较小的海相盆地相连，这些盆地目前被抬升并位于贝蒂斯山脉的陆上。后来，在中中新世，Habibas 和 Pytheas 次盆地在北非边缘形成了第二个沉积中心。在两个沉积中心发现的不同沉积单元，连同它们不同的变形模式，支持了西 Alboran-Malaga 和 Habibas-Pytheas 沉积中心被一个主要的构造边界隔开。Tortonian 早期的初始弧岩浆活动在晚期 Tortonian 末期形成了被火山基底覆盖的新区域，当时第一批沉积单元沉积在 East Alboran 次盆地，并且可能在 Tortonian 晚期-Messinian 早期。南奥尔博兰子盆地。弧后环境的延伸形成了阿尔杰罗巴利阿里盆地的洋壳底板。地中海最西端盆地的伸展形成结束于中新世晚期。俯冲系统的西移停止，非洲和欧洲构造板块的会聚开始主导该地区的构造演化。在上新世期间，子盆地没有进一步单独下沉，因此这些沉积物遍布整个奥尔博兰盆地。一个新的构造收缩和走滑断层系统被开发出来，现在很活跃。我们的结果与最新的断层扫描研究相结合，已被用于测试和改进该地区现有的运动学模型。现有模型都不能解释我们所有的大规模观察。