Small turbidite systems in a complex tectonic setting (SW Mediterranean Sea): morphology and growth patterns

Three small turbidite systems (Almeria, Sacratif, and Guadiaro), each tens of kilometres long, are developed in the complex morpho-structural setting of the northern Alboran Sea and have similar primary architectural elements (canyons, channel-levee systems, lobes). However, comparison reveals differences in the axial gradients of their canyons, depth/physiographic location, morphological framework, and lateral and longitudinal sedimentary shifts of turbidite deposition. The depositional architecture and sedimentary evolution from late Pliocene to Quaternary seems to be conditioned by number of submarine feeding sources (canyons), sea-level fluctuations and local tectonic (e.g. margin/canyon-channel gradients, faults). We group the Alboran turbidite systems into two models: mud/sand-rich submarine point-source and mud/sand-rich multiple submarine source ramp. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.