Interaction between active tectonics, bottom-current processes and coral mounds: A unique example in the NW Moroccan Margin, southern Gulf of Cadiz

The NW Moroccan Margin has a complex geological evolution, being located close to the transition zone between the Azores – Gibraltar Fracture Zone and the western front of the Betic–Rif collisional orogen. The interaction between tectonic, halokinetic and fluid flow processes with bottom-current activity shapes the seafloor and influences the distribution of seafloor biological communities (such as the cold-water coral mounds) and deep-water sedimentation. The aims of this work are to study the interaction of the paleo-oceanographic and morpho-tectonic processes that generated the various seafloor features of the NW Moroccan Margin. To achieve this, high-resolution multibeam bathymetry and parasound data acquired in the “ALBOCA II” cruise have been used, complemented by high-resolution 2D seismic reflection data and the EMODnet bathymetric compilation.

Several morphological features were identified in the margin, which are related to different processes of sedimentary (contourites and sediment waves), structural (faults and diapirs), gravitational (slide scars, mass transport deposits), fluid migration (mud volcanoes and pockmarks) and biogenic (exposed and buried coral mounds) nature. The structural features (e.g., strike-slip faults) have a major control on the seafloor morphology and, consequently, on the development and evolution of the sedimentary systems in the study area.

The evolution of the NW Moroccan Margin during the late Quaternary has been controlled by climatic variations and tectonic activity. The action of these factors has been dominant in distinct parts of the study area where: i) contourite terraces developed when climatic and oceanographic changes were the prevalent factor, ii) mounded and confined contourite drifts and local mass transport deposits formed when the major control was tectonic activity.