Sea floor morphology of the Ebro Shelf in the region of the Columbretes Islands, Western Mediterranean

• Published in: Geomorphology (Amsterdam, Netherlands) Vol. 72; no. 1; pp. 1 - 18
• Main Authors: Muñoz, A., Lastras, G., Ballesteros, M., Canals, M., Acosta, J., Uchupi, E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01-12-2005; Elsevier
• Subjects: Bgi / Prodig; Coastal geomorphology; Crystalline rocks; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; Geomorphology; Geomorphology, landform evolution; Igneous and metamorphic rocks petrology, volcanic processes, magmas; Marine and continental quaternary; Multibeam bathymetry; Physical geography; Submarine geomorphology; Surficial geology; Volcanic field; Western Mediterranean; Iberian Peninsula; Southern Europe; West Mediterranean; Spain; Ebro; Mediterranean Sea; West Mediterranean Sea; Western Mediterranean; Submarine geomorphology; Multibeam bathymetry; Volcanic field; bathymetric maps; continental shelf; vertical seismic profiles; morphology; Quaternary; Europe; multibeam sounders; upper Quaternary; seismic profiles; submarine volcanism; volcanism; islands; seismic reflection; bathymetry; Phanerozoic; Cenozoic; Mediterranean Sea; Holocene; landform evolution; high resolution; Geology; Earthquake; Sea floor; Continental shelf; Bathymetry; Volcanism
• ISSN: 0169-555X; 1872-695X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.geomorph.2005.04.012

Widespread volcanism off eastern Spain in the western Mediterranean is associated with Cenozoic crustal attenuation and sinistral motion along the Trans-Moroccan–Western Mediterranean–European mega shear, extending from northern Morocco to the North Sea via the Alboran Basin, eastern Iberia, the Valencian and Lyons basins, France and Germany. The Quaternary Columbretes Islands volcanic field is the most prominent example of this volcanism associated with this mega shear. The islands are located in the Ebro continental shelf on top of a structural horst probably made of Paleozoic metamorphic rocks. Surrounding the emerged islands are volcanic structures and associated flows partially mantled by a sediment drift whose morphology is controlled by the southwestward flowing Catalan Current. This association is rather unique and appears to have never been described from a continental shelf in the Mediterranean Sea or outside the sea. The morphology of both kinds of structures, obtained by means of swath bathymetry data and very-high resolution seismic profiles, is presented in this study. They provide striking images of this previously unstudied part of the western Mediterranean seafloor. These images suggest that the volcanic structures are intruded into the surficial Holocene sediments indicating that volcanism in the Columbretes has extended into Holocene.