Plate Kinematics of The Western Mediterranean Region During The Oligocene and Early Miocene

Geophys. J. Int. (2006) 166, 1398–1423 doi: 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2006.02997.
Plate kinematics of the Western Mediterranean region during

the Oligocene and Early Miocene
Antonio Schettino and Eugenio Turco

Università degli studi di Camerino, Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Via Gentile III da Varano, 62032 Camerino (MC), Italy.
E-mail: antonio.schettino@unicam.it
Accepted 2006 March 10. Received 2006 March 10; in original form 2005 June 23
Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/gji/article/166/3/1398/2140301 by guest on 17 February 2024

SUMMARY
The tectonic history of the Western Mediterranean region during the Oligocene and Early
Miocene is illustrated through a series of plate reconstructions, from chron C13n to chron
C6n. The reconstructions are based on a new interpretation of published magnetic anomaly
data and two-ships seismic data, and their integration with known geological constraints, in
order to determine style and timing of the backarc extension processes in the Liguro-Provençal,
Valencia and Algerian basins. In particular, a reinterpretation of the regional magnetic anomaly
field allowed the calculation of the instantaneous Euler poles associated with the motion of 11
microplates relative to Eurasia and Iberia. Furthermore, a quantitative analysis of the acoustic
basement morphology and the balancing of deep crustal profiles were used to estimate the
closure and pre-rift rotation angles associated with the Euler poles of opening of the Ligurian,
Provençal, Valencia and Algerian basins. This rigorous reconstruction of the geometry of the
GJI Tectonics and geodynamics
pre-rift continental margins of Iberia and Eurasia could furnish important insights into the
study of Mediterranean tectonics for older times.
Key words: Algerian basin, Liguro-Provençal basin, plate kinematics, plate tectonics,
Valencia trough, Western Mediterranean.
critical review of existing data. For instance, the reconstructions pro-

1 I N T RO D U C T I O N
posed by Gueguen et al. (1998) were based on the assumption that
The tectonic setting of the Western Mediterranean region (Fig. 1) and the development of the Western Mediterranean region was mainly
the style of deformation of its marginal basins have been extensively controlled by an eastward subduction rollback. The convergence
investigated since the beginning of the 1970s. In one of the earli- between Africa and Eurasia in this model was considered as a sec-
est applications of the plate tectonic paradigm to the Mediterranean ondary factor. Similarly, Faccenna et al. (2001) reviewed published
geology, Bayer et al. (1973) analysed the magnetic anomaly pattern geological and geophysical data to build a model in which subduc-
of this region to propose an opening history of the Balearic and tion of oceanic lithosphere beneath Corsica and Sardinia started in
Algerian basins, and an initial fit of the now-dispersed microplates the upper Cretaceous and proceeded continuously until the Miocene.
against the Iberian and Eurasian margins. Cohen (1980) integrated In their interpretation the formation of HP metamorphic facies and
geological evidence with new palaeomagnetic data to build a more the subsequent exhumation represent a continuous process, migrat-
comprehensive but still qualitative model for the tectonic evolu- ing towards the East, which started during the Cretaceous or the
tion of the Western Mediterranean. At the beginning of the 1980s, Palaeocene. Finally, two successive papers of Rosenbaum et al.
new geophysical surveys in the Provençal, Ligurian and Valencia (2002) and Rosenbaum & Lister (2004) assemble existing data to
basins allowed the first semi-quantitative palaeotectonic models (see propose a set of plate tectonic reconstructions for the whole Western
Rehault et al. 1984, for a review of these data)). For instance, Mediterranean region since the Oligocene.
Burrus (1984) used the available deep seismic data to constrain In this paper we adopt a rigorous approach to the palaeotec-
the continent–ocean boundaries (COBs) of Sardinia, Corsica and tonic modelling of the Western Mediterranean region during the
Eurasia, whereas Dewey et al. (1989) emphasized the influence of Oligocene and Early Miocene. In fact, in contrast with the method-
the relative positions of Africa and Eurasia, constrained by magnetic ology described in classic studies that were carried out in other
anomalies in the Atlantic ocean, on the kinematics of the intervening regions (e.g. Klitgord & Schouten 1986; Rowley & Lottes 1988;
microplates. Powell et al. 1988; Ross & Scotese 1988) the plate reconstructions
More recent reconstructions of the Western Mediterranean re- proposed so far for the Western Mediterranean area ignore or do
gion have been mainly based on new interpretations of the charac- not adequately take into account of the deformation processes that
teristics of the subduction process and backarc extension and/or a strongly modified the shape and area of continental blocks during
1398 C 2006 Authors

⃝
Journal compilation ⃝
C 2006 RAS
Plate kinematics of the W. Mediterranean region 1399
44˚N
Gulf of Lion
43˚N
201
Ligurian Basin
South Pyrenean Zone
42˚N
Corsica
215
41˚N
Provençal Basin
Valencia Trough
40˚N
Menorca Sardinia
200
Mallorca
Campidano
1500
Ig

le
1000
si
en
39˚N 2000
te
Ibiza
500
2500
Betics
Algerian Basin
38˚N
Internal Zone
37˚N
Petite Kabylie
Grande Kabylie
36˚N Alboran Sea Tell
35˚N
Rif
34˚N 6˚W 5˚W 4˚W 3˚W 2˚W 1˚W 0˚E 1˚E 2˚E 3˚E 4˚E 5˚E 6˚E 7˚E 8˚E 9˚E
Figure 1. Location map, illustrating the topography, bathymetry and main structural features of the study area. Black lines: transform faults; Blue lines: thrusts
and White numbers: bathymetric depths (in m). Circles with red numbers are ESP locations.
the rifting stage that precedes drifting. Furthermore, most studies ometry of the tectonic elements included in the model. In particular,
did not investigate the geological consequences of the instantaneous a deep crustal model of the Western Mediterranean region will be
plate kinematics that can be inferred from the proposed reconstruc- proposed, which allows applying balancing techniques to any pro-
tions. This is a reason for the lack of published rotation models file along flow lines of the estimated tectonic motions. The resulting
for this region, as well as for the qualitative or semi-quantitative plate reconstructions represent a new and rigorous mathematical
character of the reconstructions proposed so far. model for the geological history of the Mediterranean region.
The main objective of the research discussed in this paper is the
formulation of a rigorous kinematic model for the plate motions that
occurred in the Western Mediterranean region during the Oligocene 2 METHODS
and Early Miocene. This model describes:
A plate tectonic model is based on a compilation of tectonic ele-
(a) the angular velocities of drifting of the microplates that for- ments and their rotational parameters. A tectonic element is defined
merly were part of the Iberian or Eurasian margin; as a rigid or quasi-rigid block of continental lithosphere bounded
(b) the interaction between these microplates during the opening by active faults, or, in few cases, by folds, with an independent tec-
of the marginal basins that compose the Western Mediterranean; tonic history during the considered time interval. It is important to
(c) the structural pattern and basin morphology and note that this definition not only requires a precise determination of
(d) the genesis of extensional backarc processes having a direc- ancient plate boundaries, but also implies a detailed knowledge of
tion orthogonal to the arc. their temporal range of activity. When the boundaries of a tectonic
element are known, we can build its mathematical representation us-
In the next sections, the identification of fracture zones in the ing spherical polygons (Schettino 1999a,b). However, when a plate
Western Mediterranean will be accomplished through an analy- boundary is represented by a passive margin, that is to say by a COB,
sis of the magnetic anomaly pattern, in order to determine Euler two problems must be solved.
poles for the drifting of Corsica, Sardinia, Balearic Islands and First, present-day COBs are not easily identified. As a conse-
the Kabylies, and the corresponding directions of opening of the quence, at least four different approaches to their recognition have
Liguro-Provençal, Valencia and Algerian basins. Then, a standard been proposed in the past. The first authors that adopted a rigorous
procedure of analysis of a magnetic anomaly profile will be used, in quantitative approach to plate tectonic modelling were Bullard et al.
conjunction with geological and palaeomagnetic data, to determine (1965), who proposed a computer-generated pre-breakup fit of the
the precise timing of these events. Finally, two-ships seismic data continents that border the Atlantic ocean, based on the minimization
will be used to perform a palispastic reconstruction of the pre-rift ge- of gaps and overlaps of isobaths that were assumed as representative
⃝
C 2006 Authors, GJI, 166, 1398–1423
C 2006 RAS
1400 A. Schettino and E. Turco
of the COBs. A major problem with isobaths arises from the obser- magnetic anomalies appear to be linear and grossly symmetric about
vation that the shape of these lines is strongly affected by the sedi- a central positive anomaly in a zone that is approximately bounded
mentary cover. Hence, even though conjugate isobaths may fit well at by the 2500 m isobath.
the beginning of the ocean opening, subsequent sedimentation gen- The identification of fracture zones at the scale of large oceanic
erally decreases this initial goodness of fit. This argumentation led basins is generally accomplished through the analysis of magnetic
to the attempt of improving reconstructions through a geophysical or gravity anomaly data. Some of these tectonic features are identi-
definition of the COBs. For instance, pre-rift COBs have been asso- fied even by simple inspection of high-resolution bathymetric maps.
ciated with the steepest horizontal gradient of the gravity anomaly However, in the case of the small marginal basins of the Western
field (Schettino & Scotese 2005). Another example of geophysical Mediterranean region neither the gravity anomalies nor the bathy-
COB is represented by some magnetic anomalies that border the metric maps show any clear evidence of fossil transform faults,
continents. Klitgord & Schouten (1986) used this approach to pro- whereas only a limited number of control points can be assigned on
pose a fit of North America to Northwest Africa, which was based the magnetic anomaly map of Galdeano & Rossignol (1977), that
on the match of the East Coast magnetic anomaly of eastern North undoubtedly mark the trace of fracture zones. However, if we as-
America with the West African coast magnetic anomaly. Finally, the sume that the opening of each basin occurred through a single stage
study of the distribution of P-wave velocities represents a further al- of seafloor spreading, then the fracture zones must coincide with

ternative technique (e.g. Contrucci et al. 2001), though seismically small circle arcs about stage poles. In this instance we can use a
it is often difficult to discriminate between an oceanic crust and a simple procedure to determine the Euler poles of opening and the
thinned continental crust. associated set of fracture zones in the oceanic areas of the Western
A second problem is represented by the fact that the present-day Mediterranean, starting from the identified control points.
COBs do not coincide with the unstretched pre-rift margins. This In order to highlight linear tectonic features over the whole set
observation implies that a fit of the COBs that have been identi- of magnetic anomalies, comprising areas characterized by thinned
fied according to the methods described above only removes the continental or transitional crust, we first applied a standard gridding
intervening oceanic lithosphere, but does not restore the original algorithm to the original contour map of Galdeano & Rossignol
pre-rift geometry of the continental lithosphere. Hence the correct (1977). It is known that magnetic anomalies are associated with
representation of a tectonic element partially or totally bounded by lateral contrasts in the magnetic properties of the rocks. Hence, a
oceanic lithosphere should be based on a palinspastic restoration of technique for the identification of structural features on these poten-
the areas for times preceding the development of plate boundaries. tial field maps is based on the calculation of the horizontal gradient
Now we consider the rotation model, which is a hierarchical tree- of the anomaly field. This is because the highest values of this quan-
like data structure that describes the relative positions between pairs tity are associated with abrupt lateral changes in the magnetization
of plates. Each position of a plate A in the geological past is speci- of the underlying rocks (Blakely & Simpson 1986, and references
fied through the Euler pole and angle of a finite rotation that carries herein). However, unlike the classic problem of Exploration Geo-
this plate from the present position to the position assumed at time physics, which essentially consists into the detection of the bound-
t relative to a plate B, which is considered at rest with respect to the aries of geological structures, in particular the edges of buried bod-
present geographical frame of reference. Global rotation models are ies, our goal was to determine sets of control points that marked the
based upon a set of identified marine magnetic anomalies and asso- trace of transform faults or transcurrent faults, under the hypothesis
ciated fracture zones (e.g. Müller et al. 1997). Fracture zone trends that these tectonic features could be modelled as small circles arcs
determine, for each time interval, the location of the instantaneous about Euler poles. Hence, we also considered zones characterized by
Euler pole of rotation of a plate with respect to a conjugate plate. sharp transitions between positive and negative anomalies, indepen-
Magnetic anomalies determine the amplitude and timing of mo- dently from the maximum absolute values of the local directional
tion, that is, the size of the angular velocity vector and the temporal derivatives.
boundaries associated with each stage of motion. However, actual Fig. 2 shows the gridded map of Galdeano & Rossignol (1977) and
rotation models include finite total reconstruction poles at anomaly the identified control points and transform faults. For each basin, the
times rather than instantaneous poles. These rotations represent the identification was performed after a series of trials using interactive
total rotation poles and angles of rotation that must be applied to a plate tectonic modelling software (Schettino 1998). At each step,
tectonic element to get the relative positions with respect to a ref- a moving Euler pole grid was overlaid to the map, until its small
erence plate at the anomaly times. In the case of regional studies circles were aligned at best with the control points. This technique
performed on marginal basins the magnetic anomaly record is often allowed determining in a single step transform faults and Euler poles
incomplete or unavailable. Hence, indirect methods must be used in associated with the opening of each basin. As already mentioned,
conjunction with the standard procedure of identification of marine this approach was applied to those tectonic settings that can be
magnetic anomalies, in order to determine the timing of past plate approximately described by a single stage of motion, characterized
motions. by a stable Euler pole of rifting and drifting.
The instantaneous Euler poles (in present-day coordinates) asso-
ciated with the opening of the Ligurian and Provençal basins, the
Valencia Trough, and the Eastern and Western Algerian basins, are
3 MAGNETIC ANOMALIES OF THE
listed in Table 1, whereas Fig. 3 illustrates the flow lines of drifting
WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN
for Corsica, Sardinia, Balearic Islands, Petite and Grande Kabylies.
The magnetic anomaly field of the Western Mediterranean Three key observations can be made.
(Galdeano & Rossignol 1977) can be used to identify transcurrent First, we note that a transpressive line must have represented
faults, fracture zones and other tectonic lineaments in the basins that the boundary between Corsica and Sardinia during the initial stage
compose this region. It can also be used to determine the approxi- of rifting, unless slip partitioning took place during this period.
mate extension of the oceanic crust formed during the Neogene. As However, during the final stage of drifting the boundary was turned
shown by the study of Bayer et al. (1973) on the eastern portion, the back into a transtensional fault.
⃝
C 2006 Authors, GJI, 166, 1398–1423
C 2006 RAS

Figure 2. Gridded magnetic anomaly field of the Western Mediterranean, based on the magnetic contours map of Galdeano & Rossignol (1977). Yellow to
red zones correspond to positive anomalies, whereas the blue scale is associated to negative values. Black circles are control points along identified transform
faults (thin small circle arcs). The dashed small circle arc is the trace of the profile used for the identification of the anomalies associated to seafloor spreading
in the Provençal basin.
Table 1. Euler poles for the opening of backarc basins in the theoretical argumentations indicate that extension in the Algerian
Western Mediterranean. basin was coeval with spreading in the Liguro-Provençal basin.
Basin Lat (◦ N) Lon (◦ E) The first argumentation is related to the relative velocity
field between the microplates that drifted away from Iberia and
Ligurian basin 44.49 10.28
Provençal basin 47.38 12.58 Eurasia. The flow lines shown in Fig. 3 represent directions of rift-
Valencia Trough 34.04 356.61 ing and/or spreading between conjugate pairs of plates. In particular,
Eastern Algerian basin 39.81 4.92 the southeastern portion of the map shows the trend of a system of
Western Algerian basin 33.14 358.92 transform faults and fracture zones that formed when Petite Kabylie
drifted away from southern Sardinia, so that the relative velocity
vectors between these microplates are tangent to the flow lines. If
the rotation of Sardinia had already ceased when Petite Kabylie
Secondly, backarc extension must have started with rifting of started its drifting, then an important compressive structure, associ-
Corsica, Sardinia and Balearic islands at the same time and for ated with E–W convergence of the Petite Kabylie microplate, would
the same causal mechanism, whereas both the Petite and Grande have been generated at the western margin of the Algerian basin, as
Kabylie were still attached, respectively, to Sardinia and Balearics suggested by Cohen (1980). Furthermore, the convergence rate at
during this initial stage. This is evident from the geometry illustrated this western boundary would have been equal to the extension rate
in Fig. 3. However, at a certain time the Balearic Islands aborted their of the Algerian basin. However, there is no geological evidence that
rifting and backarc extension jumped southwards. Hence, at least the basement high between 4◦ E and 5◦ E in Fig. 4, which is called
two stages are necessary to explain the process of fragmentation the Hannibal Ridge (Mauffret et al. 2004), has accommodated im-
of the western Iberian margin during the Late Oligocene and Early portant convergence episodes. This implies that Sardinia was still
Miocene. moving southeastwards relative to Eurasia during the formation of
Finally, during the second stage of backarc extension an R–R–R the eastern Algerian basin.
triple junction (McKenzie & Morgan 1969) must have existed in A second argumentation is associated with the directions of con-
the central Algerian basin, unless we assume that the drifting of the vergence of the Kabylie microplates with respect to Africa. If both
Kabylies started after cessation of seafloor spreading in the Liguro- Sardinia and the Balearic Islands were part of the Eurasian plate
Provençal basin, as suggested by Cohen (1980). However, some at the time of southward migration and convergence of the Kabylie
⃝
C 2006 Authors, GJI, 166, 1398–1423
C 2006 RAS

Figure 3. Map showing the flow lines of opening for the Ligurian, Provençal, Valencia, Western and Eastern Algerian basins. Also shown is the location of
five crustal profiles that have been analysed and balanced to determine closure and pre-rift angles. These profiles are aligned with small circles of the Euler
poles of opening of the corresponding basins. The 3500 m basement isobath, which approximates the unstretched COBs in the Liguro-Provençal basin and in
the Valencia Trough is also shown.
microplates with Africa, then the directions of convergence of Petite cannot be easily used to establish the seafloor-spreading history of
and Grande Kabylie with respect to Africa would have been differ- this region. In fact, the diffuse off-ridge volcanism in the Ligurian
ent from each other, as can be inferred from Fig. 3. Furthermore, a and Provençal basins, as well as considerable variations in the thick-
compressional boundary between the two microplates would have ness of the sedimentary cover of the oceanic crust (5–8 km), have
existed. This scenario is clearly incompatible with the geological in many cases modified the shape of the magnetic anomalies at the
evidence, in particular with the general N–S vergence of the North aeromagnetic survey reference altitude (600 m). Furthermore, sets
African mountain belt. of linear magnetic stripes having alternate polarity are localized in
In summary, in contrast with models that assume a late opening of few zones, so that the record of seafloor-spreading episodes appears
the Algerian Sea (Cohen 1980; Mauffret et al. 2004) we propose that to be discontinuous (Fig. 2). The areas where fragments of oceanic
this basin formed during the last phase of the rotation of Sardinia magnetic anomalies are best preserved are in the Provençal basin,
and Corsica away from Eurasia. around 41◦ N, 4–6◦ E, and in the eastern Algerian basin, around 38◦ N,
6–8◦ E. However, the small length of the stripes along directions
that are parallel to ridge axes implies that small errors in the as-
4 T I M I N G O F B AC K A RC E X T E N S I O N
sumed spreading directions may have a strong impact on the shape
We now consider the problem of determining the time of forma- of the magnetic anomaly profiles that are to be analysed in order
tion of the basins that compose the Western Mediterranean region. to establish the time of seafloor-spreading episodes in the Western
The available magnetic anomaly data (Galdeano & Rossignol 1977) Mediterranean.
⃝
C 2006 Authors, GJI, 166, 1398–1423
C 2006 RAS
44˚N
44˚N
43˚N
9 km
42˚N
10 km
41˚N
8 km
7 km
40˚N
4 km

3 km
39˚N
6 km
8 km
9 km
38˚N
5 km
7 km
6 km
7 km
37˚N
36˚N
4˚W 3˚W 2˚W 1˚W 0˚E 1˚E 2˚E 3˚E 4˚E 5˚E 6˚E 7˚E 8˚E 9˚E
Figure 4. Acoustic basement map of the Western Mediterranean region. Contours spacing is 1 km.
Figure 5. (a) Observed (blue) and calculated (red) field anomalies along the trace of Fig 3. (b) Magnetization model.
Block models and anomaly identifications proposed so far (Bayer anomaly in the southern Provençal basin. Unfortunately the trace of
et al. 1973; Burrus 1984) are not conclusive and cannot be com- the Burrus’ third profile, though located in a zone where the mag-
pared with conventional studies (e.g. Heirtzler et al. 1968; Klitgord netic record is good, was chosen quite arbitrarily. Hence, for the
& Schouten 1986). Burrus (1984) a priori assumed that the timing reasons mentioned above the identification proposed by this author
of drifting of Sardinia was 21–19 Ma on the basis of palaeomagnetic may have been negatively affected by the arbitrary choice of profile
data (Montigny et al. 1981). Burrus (1984) then interpreted three orientation.
magnetic anomaly profiles in the Liguro-Provençal basin to assess In this study we followed a more conventional approach. First, a
the validity of this assumption. In particular, Burrus (1984) iden- forward procedure of identification was applied to a non-composite
tified anomalies 6B and 6, respectively, as the oldest and youngest profile in the Provençal basin, whose trace was chosen to be
⃝
C 2006 Authors, GJI, 166, 1398–1423
C 2006 RAS
Manzoni (1974)
D [deg] De Jong et al. (1973)
Manzoni et al. (1970)

Montigny et al. (1981)
Bobier and Coulon (1970)
Deino et al. (2001)

Alvarez et al. (1973)
Speranza et al. (2002)

Edel (1979)
Montigny et al. (1981)

De Jong et al. (1969)
t [Ma]
Figure 6. Predicted declinations for a reference point in Sardinia at 40.2◦ N, 8.6◦ E. Source data are those listed in Table 2. The result of Speranza et al. (2002)
is shown for reference (see text) but does not contribute to the palaeopole mean. Blue circles are declinations predicted by mean palaeopoles.
Alpine Tethys
Liguride ocean
Figure 7. Middle Tithonian (147.7 Ma) reconstruction of the Mediterranean region (modified from Schettino & Scotese 2002). Arrows represent the instanta-
neous velocity field during this stage.
coincident with a flow line of motion of Sardinia (Fig. 3). Secondly, the shape can be significantly modified by wrong values of (1) the
other geological and geophysical data were reviewed to assess the spreading rate, (2) the orientation of the ridge axis and (3) the pa-
validity of the resulting magnetic anomaly pattern interpretation. rameters of the palaeomagnetic and geomagnetic fields. The present
Fig. 2 illustrates the trace of a magnetic anomaly profile in the orientation of the extinct ridge axis is normal to the mean direction
Provençal basin. It coincides with a small circle of the Euler pole of expansion as determined in the previous section. At the time of
associated with the rotation of Sardinia (Table 1). The prominent formation of the spreading centre the approximate direction of ex-
high (field values up to 70 nT) at 40.7◦ N, 5.6◦ E is interpreted as the pansion was N127E, and the mean palaeolatitude of the profile was
central anomaly, according to Burrus (1984). In fact, this anomaly 35.8◦ N, according to the global plate motions model of Schettino &
is approximately equidistant from the unstretched COBs of Sardinia Scotese (2005).
and Eurasia (Fig. 3). The size of this profile (about 220 km) cor- The profile interpretation was performed using MODMAG, a soft-
responds to the extent of the oceanic crust in the Provençal basin, ware tool for the analysis of marine magnetic anomalies designed
as will be shown in the next section. The shape of both individual by Mendel et al. (2005). The assumed declination and inclination
anomalies and series of anomalies is the most important feature for of the geomagnetic field at the survey time are: D = 3.6◦ W I =
the correct interpretation of the profile and for the correlation of 56.4◦ N. The thickness of the magnetized layer was set to 0.6 km.
each anomaly with chrons in the geomagnetic timescale. However, The blocks were assumed to have a constant magnetization of
⃝
C 2006 Authors, GJI, 166, 1398–1423
C 2006 RAS
6.00
[Km s–1] v s 3 2
v s = -0.0241T b + 0.3746T b - 1.6336T b + 5.3536
5.00
4.00
3.00
2.00
1.00
Tb

0.00
0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00 7.00 [s] 8.00
Figure 8. Mean P-wave velocity of the post-rift sediments as a function of the depth to basement (TWT time) for the 21 ESP profiles of Fig. 1. Also shown is
the cubic polynomial curve of regression that fits these data.
Table 2. Palaeomagnetic poles of Sardinia and Corsica during the Cenozoic.

RESULT L-AGE H-AGE M-AGE !t SLAT SLONG B N KD ED95 PLAT PLONG DP DM DEMAG REFERENCE
2727 0.0 5.0 3.0 2.5 40.5 8.7 6 27 28.5 12.7 82.5 248.0 13.5 18.4 2 Alvarez et al. (1973)
2852 0.0 5.0 3.0 2.5 40.0 9.0 24 48 58.2 3.9 84.6 191.6 4.0 5.5 2 Manzoni et al. (1970)
2792 2.0 8.0 5.0 3.0 40.5 8.7 6 17 114.0 4.0 79.0 205.0 3.7 5.3 2 Bobier & Coulon (1970)
2859 2.0 10.0 6.0 4.0 40.5 8.7 4 12 89.3 9.7 78.7 160.1 9.1 13.1 2 Manzoni (1974)
2959 5.0 16.0 11.0 5.5 40.9 8.8 5 25 131.0 6.5 81.0 170.0 6.0 9.0 3 De Jong et al. (1973)
8709 18.0 19.0 19.0 0.5 40.3 8.5 12 155 62.0 5.3 81.6 248.5 5.4 7.5 4 Deino et al. (2001)
668 18.0 20.0 19.0 1.0 40.7 8.5 84 0.0 3.0 81.0 189.0 2.7 4.0 2 Montigny et al. (1981)
2960 16.0 23.0 20.0 3.5 40.9 8.8 16 69 9.8 12.3 50.1 280.7 11.7 16.6 3 De Jong et al. (1973)
749 16.0 34.0 25.0 9.0 40.0 8.5 78 398 19.2 3.8 67.2 269.2 3.6 5.2 3 Edel (1979)
667 20.0 34.0 27.0 7.0 40.7 8.5 102 0.0 2.0 64.0 270.0 1.8 2.7 2 Montigny et al. (1981)
3173 23.0 34.0 29.0 5.5 40.5 8.5 10 59 20.0 11.0 54.0 263.0 8.0 14.0 3 De Jong et al. (1969)
6272 15.0 22.0 18.5 3.5 42.6 9.0 5 83 177.0 5.8 84.7 71.7 7.2 9.2 4 Vigliotti & Kent (1990)
6273 42.0 50.0 46.0 4.0 42.6 9.0 3 35 84.0 13.5 66.8 263.8 12.8 18.6 4 Vigliotti & Kent (1990)
RESULT = Result number; L-AGE = Low Magnetic age of palaeopole; H-AGE = High Magnetic age of palaeopole; M-AGE = Mean Magnetic age of
palaeopole; !t = Semi-axis of time uncertainty, in Myr; SLAT = Site latitude in degrees; SLONG = Site longitude in degrees; B = Number of sites; N =
Number of samples; KD = Fisher precision parameter for mean direction; ED95 = Circle of 95 per cent confidence about mean direction, in degrees; PLAT =
Palaeopole latitude, in degrees; PLONG = Palaeopole longitude, in degrees; DP= Semi-axis of oval of 95 per cent confidence about pole position; DM=
Semi-axis of oval of 95 per cent confidence about pole position and DEMAG = Demagnetization code (2–5).
5 A m−1 . Finally, the acoustic basement topography (Fig. 4) was Provençal basin. Therefore, other independent data sources must be
considered to be coincident with the external surface of the mag- considered to assess the validity of the interpretation proposed here
netized sources. The best match between the model and observed (Fig. 5).
profiles is shown in Fig. 5. It was obtained with a full spreading rate The few palaeomagnetic data available for the Cenozoic of Sar-
of 29.6 km Myr−1 from ∼26.3 Ma (chron C8n.2n) to ∼19.0 Ma dinia and Corsica are listed in Table 2. These palaeopoles have
(chron C6n). Although not statistically significant, a −1 per cent been extracted from the Global Paleomagnetic Database (GPMDB,
spreading asymmetry was introduced in the model (that is, the half- version 4.5a, McElhinny & Lock 1990), which includes 9067
spreading rate of the western flank was assumed to be 1 per cent palaeopoles for all ages published from 1949 through 2003 June.
greater) to slightly improve the fit. We note that the fit is good on the This version has been recently updated using the latest stratigraphic
western flank and poor on the opposite side. This could be associated chart published by the International Commission on Stratigraphy
with the presence of volcanic bodies or with the superposition of (Gradstein et al. 2004). The palaeopoles listed in Table 2 are those
an edge anomaly. Moreover, minor oscillations of the model profile that match the following criteria: ED95 ≤ 15◦ (95 per cent con-
about the observed curve could be an effect of the low resolution of fidence interval), DEMAGCODE ≥ 2 (cleaning procedure code),
the map of Galdeano & Rossignol (1977). !t ≤ 10 Ma (half-interval of age uncertainty).
The results obtained here differ significantly from the interpreta- Fig. 6 illustrates the predicted declinations of a reference point in
tion of Burrus (1984), who proposed a correlation of the observed Sardinia, determined from these palaeopoles. This curve indicates
magnetic anomaly pattern with chrons C6B, C6A and C6, hence a that Sardinia was subject to ∼28◦ of absolute counter-clockwise
time interval of spreading between 23 Ma and 19 Ma in the southern rotation about a vertical axis passing through a reference point at
⃝
C 2006 Authors, GJI, 166, 1398–1423
C 2006 RAS
40.2◦ N, 8.6◦ E, from 27 Ma to 19 Ma. However, the large time un- between Africa and Iberia during the Palaeocene and the Eocene, be-
certainties of the Oligocene data do not allow a precise determina- cause the northward motion of Africa was still accommodated along
tion of the starting time of this event. Montigny et al. (1981) used the Pyrenean and Alpine belts (Vergés et al. 2002). Furthermore, ge-
the individual (site) palaeomagnetic directions that contribute to ological evidence implies that during this time interval Adria was
their older palaeopole (result 667) to build a temporal sequence of also part of Africa.
components having comparable declination values. These compo- Mesozoic plate reconstructions of the Mediterranean region
nents had radiometric ages spanning the interval 20–34 Ma. Hence, suggest the existence of an oceanic area between Africa, Iberia
they proposed that the rotation of Sardinia did not occur before and Adria, whose spreading centre became extinct at ∼150 Ma
∼20.5 Ma. (Schettino & Scotese 2002). We refer to this ocean as the Liguride
It can be shown that this approach is not statistically justified. In- ocean (Fig. 7), which is distinguished from the more northern Alpine
dividual palaeomagnetic directions are generally combined through Tethys by the age of cessation of seafloor spreading. At the end of
the application of Fisherian statistics (Fisher 1953). This technique the Eocene most of the southern part of the Liguride Ocean was still
implies that only the resulting mean palaeopole, with its lower and unsubducted (Schettino & Scotese 2002). A major period of NNE
upper ages of magnetization, has a physical meaning and can be compression in the Liguride basin started during chron C13n (Early
used in geological applications. The mean palaeomagnetic direc- Oligocene, 33.1 Ma), when the Pyrenean zone ceased to exist as a

tion of the Montigny et al. (1981) older palaeopole (result 667) major plate boundary. This event was the cause, at the very begin-
simply shows that Sardinia was still attached to Eurasia at 27 ± ning, of deformation processes in the southeastern Iberian margin,
7 Ma, which is the mean magnetization age of their samples. with accumulation of elastic energy, folding and thrusting. After this
Unfortunately the argumentations of Montigny et al. (1981) were short initial phase, a subduction zone formed that accommodated
uncritically adopted in a considerable number of studies as palaeo- convergence between Africa and Iberia. As soon as a trench system
magnetic evidence that the drifting of Corsica and Sardinia oc- formed at the southeastern Iberian margin and oceanic lithosphere
curred in a very short interval. However, both the younger result of the Liguride Ocean initiated to subduct, the mechanic energy
of Montigny et al. (1981) and the result of Deino et al. (2001) accumulated in the marginal areas was released through an exten-
indicate that 19 Ma was the time of cessation for the rotation of sional stress field. In addition, it is likely that the negative buoy-
Sardinia. ancy of this cold Jurassic subducted lithosphere induced rollback
Fig. 6 also shows the recent contrasting value obtained by and SE trench migration (Dewey 1980; Malinverno & Ryan 1986),
Speranza et al. (2002), which is not included in the GPMDB. These hence the progressive fragmentation of the former Iberian margin.
authors suggest that the rotation of Sardinia occurred during chron 5, These argumentations imply that the time of initiation of rifting
that is, after 19 Ma. However, the set of measurements discussed by in the Liguro-Provençal basin and in the Valencia Trough must be
these authors is characterized by the absence of reversed directions. placed at chron C13n (33.1 Ma), in good agreement with geological
Furthermore, the mean direction shows a low scatter (α 95 = 3.9◦ ). data.
Therefore, the proposed mean direction could be a VGP, because In summary, the model proposed here requires that the process
there is no warranty that the individual palaeomagnetic components of fragmentation of the southeastern Iberian margin started during
are not biased by a systematic overprint. the Early Rupelian (chron C13n, 33.1 Ma), whereas the drifting
Although only two results are available for Corsica (results 6272 of the continental fragments ended during the Early Burdigalian
and 6273, Table 2), these high-quality data show that this block was (chron C6n, 19 Ma). Of course, the consumption of oceanic litho-
subject to ∼33◦ of counter-clockwise rotation about a vertical axis sphere proceeded continuously until the last fragments collided with
passing through a reference point at 42.2◦ N, 8.9◦ E, some time during the African continental margin. If we assume that the subduction rate
the Oligocene and Early Miocene. They also show that this rotation did not change significantly during this period, we can estimate the
ceased at 19 Ma, in agreement with the results from Sardinia. time of initiation of seafloor spreading in each basin by calculating
We now consider the time constraints derived from available ge- the rate between two angular parameters. The angle of closure (pre-
ological data. The area now occupied by the Gulf of Lion (Fig. 1) drift angle) is the rotation angle about the Euler pole associated with
was the natural eastward prosecution of the Pyrenean belt (Séranne the opening of a basin, which removes all the intervening oceanic
et al. 1995; Benedicto et al. 1996; Lacombe & Jolivet 2005). In lithosphere. The fit angle is the rotation angle about the same Euler
this region extensional structures are superimposed on the thrusts pole, which restores the original pre-rift geometry by a match of
and folds of the Pyrenean orogen and its foreland. The oldest syn- the estimated unstretched COBs. If either the time of initiation of
rift sediments are dated 34–32 Ma (Early Rupelian), whereas older rifting or the time of the onset of seafloor spreading is known, the
upper Eocene synrift deposits can be found to the northwest (Bene- remaining quantity can be easily calculated by the rate between the
dicto et al. 1996, and references therein). On the Sardinian margin, closure and fit angles. In the next section these parameters will be es-
Cherchi & Montandert (1982) proposed 30 Ma as the age of ini- timated through the analysis and balancing of deep crustal sections.
tiation of the rifting event. Finally, a thermochronologic analysis Then, the proposed interpretation of the magnetic anomaly pattern,
performed by Jakni et al. (2000) shows that the uplift of the rift which predicts the onset of seafloor spreading in the Provençal
shoulder in Corsica occurred at 28 to 27 Ma. basin during chron C8, will be assessed by an independent data
An indirect but important constraint on the time of initiation of source.
rifting processes in the Western Mediterranean is represented by
the kinematics of the major surrounding plates (Africa, Iberia and
Eurasia) during the Oligocene and Early Miocene. According to
5 A C RU S T A L M O D E L F O R T H E
many global plate motion models (e.g. Schettino & Scotese 2005),
the relative kinematics of Africa with respect to Eurasia or Iberia
can be calculated through a plate circuit that connects these plates The deep structure of the Western Mediterranean basin has been
indirectly through North America. The reconstructions proposed investigated since the early 1980 through a dense network of mul-
by Schettino & Scotese (2005) show that no plate boundary existed tichannel seismic profiles and two-ships surveys (Le Douaran et al.
⃝
C 2006 Authors, GJI, 166, 1398–1423
C 2006 RAS
1984). 32 expanding spread profiles (ESPs) were shot in 1981 by For consistency, the conversion algorithm performed the follow-
the CROC2 survey using a two-ships seismic technique (Stoffa & ing test at each point:
Buhl 1979). A first interpretation of these data was performed by
2w ∼
Le Douaran et al. (1984), who proposed a series of deep crustal sec- Tb ≥ = 1.3333w, (5)
v1
tions across the Liguro-Provençal basin. These cross-sections were
built using the velocity models that resulted from the analysis of the which guarantees that d ≥ w. Figs 4 and 9 show the resulting maps
ESPs and allowed an estimation of the locations of the COBs. A of the acoustic basement depth (in km) and sediment thickness for
subsequent reprocessing of about half of these ESPs was performed the Western Mediterranean region.
by Pascal et al. (1993) for the Provençal basin (11 ESPs, Fig. 1), The construction of a generalized crustal model for the West-
and by Contrucci et al. (2001) for the Ligurian basin (4 ESPs). The ern Mediterranean can be accomplished by combining the acoustic
six additional ESPs that were shot in the Valencia Trough in 1988 basement surface with a Moho discontinuity map. This operation
(Torné et al. 1992; Pascal et al. 1992) provided important insights was performed by digitizing and gridding the recent compilation
into the deep crustal structure of this basin (Maillard & Mauffret of Dèzes & Ziegler (2001) for the Western Europe. In particular,
1999). this map incorporates the Moho discontinuity surface proposed by
In this paper we use 21 ESP velocity models from the Provençal Chamot-Rooke et al. (1999) for the Liguro-Provençal basin. Fig. 10

basin (Pascal et al. 1993), the Ligurian basin (Contrucci et al. 2001), illustrates the depth-to-Moho map of the Western Mediterranean
and the Valencia Trough (Torné et al. 1992; Pascal et al. 1992) to that was used for the construction of a crustal model of this region.
construct a time-to-depth conversion function for the TWT times The data sets (basement and Moho) obtained through the pro-
represented in the acoustic basement map of the Western Mediter- cedures described above, along with the digital bathymetric grid
ranean region (Rehault et al. 1984). The continental portions of (ver. 8.2) of the oceans compiled by Sandwell & Smith (1997), can
this diffracting surface approximately coincide with the top of the be used to generate crustal profiles in the directions of interest. In
Mesozoic sequence, hence with the depositional horizon of the syn- particular we are interested to analyze cross sections that are aligned
rift sediments. The transformation from TWT times (in seconds) with the small circles of the Euler poles associated with the opening
to depths (in kilometres) was performed by considering the whole of the Western Mediterranean basins (Table 1). Fig. 3 shows the lo-
sedimentary sequence above the acoustic basement as a single layer cation of five sections that were used for the identification of COBs
with a mean P-wave velocity v s given by: and for the calculation of stretching parameters. Fig. 11 illustrates
! the application of a balancing procedure to crustal profile 1. The
τi vi
vs = ! , (1) track of this profile passes close to ESPs 201–207 and 215–216.
τi The COBs have been identified by the basin morphology
where τ i is crossing time of ith layer of post-rift sediments, and v i (Fig. 11a) and by the crustal thickness (5–6 km, Contrucci et al.
is the P-wave velocity in this layer. Table 3 lists the velocity models 2001). The Eurasian COB results to be located close to ESP 203
associated with each ESP and the resulting mean velocities. If τ is (Fig. 1), whereas Le Douaran et al. (1984) placed this boundary
the crossing time of post-rift sediments and w is the water depth, between ESPs 205 and 206. However, Pascal et al. (1992) proposed
then the depth to basement d (in km) is given by: a COB between ESPs 203 and 204, which agrees well with the lo-
cation assumed here. The 226 km of oceanic crust between Sardinia
d = w + τ vs . (2) and Eurasia account for a closure angle $ = 15.76◦ . In order to
The quantity τ can be calculated as follows: evaluate the pre-rift configuration, the profile shown in Fig. 11(a)
must be restored to a crustal thickness, which should be compatible
Tb − Tw Tb w with the tectonic setting that preceded the development of a plate
τ= = − , (3)
2 2 v1 boundary. According to geological data (e.g. Séranne et al. 1995;
where v 1 is the P-wave velocity in the sea water (1.50 km s−1 ), Tw Benedicto et al. 1996) the Gulf of Lion was initially occupied by
and T b are, respectively, the TWT times of the water bottom and the the eastward prosecution of the Pyrenean orogen. Fig. 11(b) shows a
basement top. Hence, we obtain the following formula for d: hypothetical pre-drift configuration, which results from the removal
" # of both the intervening oceanic crust and the post-rift sediments.
vs 1 The balanced profile shown in Fig. 11(c) was calculated assuming
d =w 1− + Tb vs . (4)
v1 2 a 30-km-thick unstretched crust and a 60-km-long Pyrenean belt
with a mean thickness of 39 km (e.g. Vergés et al. 1995). It implies
The practical use of the conversion formula (4) required a pre- 25.96◦ of pre-rift angle for the rotation of Sardinia (∼373 km along
liminary digitizing procedure of the contour lines of the basement profile 1), hence a mean angular velocity ω = 1.84◦ Myr−1 from
map and the application of a gridding algorithm, which produced a C13n to C6n. If we assume that the instantaneous angular velocity
matrix of values for T b . Eq. (4) also requires knowledge of the mean ω i (t) was constant during this stage (ω i (t) = ω), then the onset of
P-wave velocity v s at the points where the calculation is performed. seafloor spreading and initiation of drifting of Sardinia would have
In order to estimate this quantity, we used information included in occurred at ∼27.6 Ma (C9n), in agreement with the interpretation
the velocity models of Table 3. Fig. 8 illustrates the trend of v s as a of the magnetic anomaly pattern proposed here. Finally, the pre-
function of T b in the case of the 21 ESP velocity models listed in dicted linear velocities of this block with respect to Eurasia vary
Table 3. We note that for a range of values between T b = 2 s and from 24.5 mm yr−1 in the northern Provençal basin to 31.7 mm yr−1
T b = 7 s, the velocity v s is almost independent from T b , because it close to Menorca.
only increases from 3 to 4 km s−1 . This implies that a smoothed re- The balanced crustal profile shown in Fig. 11(c) can be also used
gression curve is appropriate to predict a value for v s at any point as to estimate the extent and shape of the unstretched Eurasian and
a function of T b . Fig. 8 also shows the regression curve that has been Sardinian margins. The β factors for Eurasia and Sardinia are β =
adopted in this study. Finally, water depths w were extracted from 1.59 and β = 1.44, respectively, whereas the unstretched size of
satellite altimetry data (Sandwell & Smith 1997). their margins is 129 km (Sardinia) and 151 km (Eurasia). On the
⃝
C 2006 Authors, GJI, 166, 1398–1423
C 2006 RAS
Table 3. ESP velocity models and mean P-wave velocities in the Miocene to recent sedimentary layers.
Layer TWT time Crossing time v top [km s−1 ] v bot [km s−1 ] ⟨v⟩ Thickness [km] Base [km]
ESP 201 (42.88◦ N, 4.57◦ E) Pascal et al. (1993)
1 1.00 0.50 1.50 1.50 1.50 0.75 0.75
2 1.41 0.21 2.55 2.80 2.68 0.55 1.30
3 2.11 0.35 3.30 3.50 3.40 1.19 2.49
4 2.41 0.15 3.70 3.85 3.78 0.57 3.05
5 2.84 0.22 4.30 4.45 4.38 0.94 4.00
6 3.08 0.12 5.00 5.00 5.00 0.60 4.60
7 7.44 2.18 6.10 6.10 6.10 13.30 17.89
8 7.99 0.28 7.20 7.40 7.30 2.01 19.90
2+3+4+5+6 3.08 1.04 2.55 5.00 3.70 3.85 4.60
1 1.44 0.72 1.50 1.50 1.50 1.08 1.08

2 1.84 0.20 2.10 2.25 2.18 0.44 1.52
3 2.33 0.25 2.40 2.65 2.53 0.62 2.13
4 2.68 0.18 3.20 3.20 3.20 0.56 2.69
5 2.83 0.08 3.50 3.50 3.50 0.26 2.96
6 3.12 0.15 3.70 3.70 3.70 0.54 3.49
7 3.79 0.34 4.40 4.55 4.48 1.50 4.99
8 3.99 0.10 5.15 5.15 5.15 0.52 5.51
9 4.54 0.28 5.35 5.45 5.40 1.49 6.99
10 4.85 0.16 5.80 5.80 5.80 0.90 7.89
11 8.12 1.64 6.20 6.20 6.20 10.14 18.03
12 8.61 0.25 7.10 7.30 7.20 1.76 19.79
2÷9 4.54 1.55 2.10 5.45 3.81 5.91 6.99
1 2.36 1.18 1.50 1.50 1.50 1.77 1.77
2 2.60 0.12 1.90 2.10 2.00 0.24 2.01
3 2.85 0.13 2.30 2.30 2.30 0.29 2.30
4 3.23 0.19 2.45 2.65 2.55 0.48 2.78
5 3.67 0.22 3.05 3.25 3.15 0.69 3.48
6 3.89 0.11 3.70 3.70 3.70 0.41 3.88
7 4.14 0.13 4.30 4.45 4.38 0.55 4.43
8 4.69 0.28 4.70 4.70 4.70 1.29 5.72
9 4.87 0.09 5.10 5.10 5.10 0.46 6.18
10 5.53 0.33 5.30 5.30 5.30 1.75 7.93
11 6.00 0.24 5.70 5.70 5.70 1.34 9.27
12 7.04 0.52 6.20 6.20 6.20 3.22 12.49
13 7.75 0.36 7.20 7.40 7.30 2.59 15.08
2÷10 5.53 1.59 1.90 5.30 3.89 6.16 7.93
1 2.80 1.40 1.50 1.50 1.50 2.10 2.10
2 3.05 0.13 1.80 2.10 1.95 0.24 2.34
3 3.40 0.18 2.15 2.28 2.22 0.39 2.73
4 3.80 0.20 2.63 2.63 2.63 0.53 3.26
5 4.11 0.16 3.04 3.04 3.04 0.47 3.73
6 4.41 0.15 3.70 3.70 3.70 0.56 4.28
7 4.91 0.25 4.20 4.40 4.30 1.08 5.36
8 5.51 0.30 4.70 4.70 4.70 1.41 6.77
9 6.01 0.25 5.05 5.15 5.10 1.28 8.04
10 6.88 0.44 5.30 5.30 5.30 2.31 10.35
11 7.35 0.24 5.70 5.70 5.70 1.34 11.69
12 7.75 0.20 6.60 6.60 6.60 1.32 13.01
13 8.15 0.20 7.10 7.30 7.20 1.44 14.45
2÷10 6.88 2.04 1.80 5.30 4.04 8.25 10.35
basement map of Fig. 4, these distances coincide with the points Eurasian margin. Hence, we assume the 3500 m basement isobath
where the 3500 m basement isobath intersects profile 1. Moreover, as representative of the unstretched (pre-rift) margin of Sardinia and
the application of a 25.96◦ clockwise rotation to the isobath that Eurasia (Fig. 3).
is located on the Sardinian side about the Euler pole listed in Ta- Fig. 12 illustrates the balancing of crustal profile 2, which can
ble 1 shows an excellent match with the conjugate isobath on the be used to calculate the rotation parameters of Corsica with respect
⃝
C 2006 Authors, GJI, 166, 1398–1423
C 2006 RAS
Table 3. (Continued.)
1 3.15 1.58 1.50 1.50 1.50 2.36 2.36
2 3.55 0.20 1.80 2.00 1.90 0.38 2.74
3 3.70 0.08 2.30 2.30 2.30 0.17 2.92
4 4.47 0.39 2.50 3.20 2.85 1.10 4.01
5 4.79 0.16 3.50 4.20 3.85 0.62 4.63
6 5.34 0.28 4.40 4.40 4.40 1.21 5.84
7 5.84 0.25 4.70 4.70 4.70 1.18 7.01
8 6.39 0.28 4.95 5.10 5.03 1.38 8.40
9 7.15 0.38 5.30 5.30 5.30 2.01 10.41
10 7.74 0.30 5.60 5.60 5.60 1.65 12.06
11 8.27 0.27 6.55 6.85 6.70 1.78 13.84
12 8.39 0.06 7.10 7.25 7.18 0.43 14.27

2÷9 7.15 2.00 1.80 5.30 4.02 8.05 10.41
1 3.23 1.62 1.50 1.50 1.50 2.42 2.42
2 3.50 0.14 2.00 2.10 2.05 0.28 2.70
3 3.80 0.15 2.25 2.40 2.33 0.35 3.05
4 4.00 0.10 2.60 2.80 2.70 0.27 3.32
5 4.47 0.24 3.10 3.30 3.20 0.75 4.07
6 4.62 0.08 4.00 4.30 4.15 0.31 4.38
7 5.17 0.28 4.45 4.60 4.53 1.24 5.63
8 5.82 0.33 4.65 4.80 4.73 1.54 7.16
9 6.32 0.25 5.10 5.10 5.10 1.28 8.44
10 6.96 0.32 5.30 5.30 5.30 1.70 10.13
11 7.51 0.28 5.45 5.90 5.68 1.56 11.69
12 8.13 0.31 6.45 6.90 6.68 2.07 13.76
13 8.32 0.09 7.10 7.30 7.20 0.68 14.45
2÷10 6.96 1.87 2.00 5.30 4.13 7.71 10.13
1 3.40 1.70 1.50 1.50 1.50 2.55 2.55
2 3.65 0.13 2.00 2.00 2.00 0.25 2.80
3 4.04 0.20 2.28 2.28 2.28 0.44 3.24
4 4.19 0.08 2.70 2.70 2.70 0.20 3.45
5 4.50 0.16 3.10 3.10 3.10 0.48 3.93
6 4.75 0.13 3.70 4.20 3.95 0.49 4.42
7 5.11 0.18 4.45 4.60 4.53 0.81 5.24
8 6.03 0.46 4.70 5.00 4.85 2.23 7.47
9 6.70 0.34 5.10 5.10 5.10 1.71 9.18
10 6.90 0.10 5.30 5.30 5.30 0.53 9.71
11 7.71 0.41 5.50 6.00 5.75 2.33 12.03
12 8.52 0.41 6.80 6.80 6.80 2.75 14.79
2÷10 6.90 1.75 2.00 5.30 4.09 7.16 9.71
1 3.27 1.64 1.50 1.50 1.50 2.45 2.45
2 3.65 0.19 1.80 2.00 1.90 0.36 2.81
3 4.01 0.18 2.40 2.70 2.55 0.46 3.27
4 4.33 0.16 3.10 3.10 3.10 0.50 3.77
5 4.56 0.12 3.50 3.50 3.50 0.40 4.17
6 5.01 0.23 4.10 4.30 4.20 0.95 5.12
7 5.41 0.20 4.30 4.55 4.43 0.89 6.00
8 5.96 0.28 4.75 4.85 4.80 1.32 7.32
9 7.00 0.52 5.35 5.35 5.35 2.78 10.10
10 7.35 0.18 5.70 5.95 5.83 1.02 11.12
11 8.04 0.35 6.60 6.80 6.70 2.31 13.43
12 8.34 0.15 7.10 7.30 7.20 1.08 14.51
2÷9 7.00 1.87 1.80 5.35 4.10 7.65 10.10
⃝
C 2006 Authors, GJI, 166, 1398–1423
C 2006 RAS
1 3.03 1.52 1.50 1.50 1.50 2.27 2.27
2 3.37 0.17 1.80 2.10 1.95 0.33 2.60
3 3.58 0.11 2.30 2.50 2.40 0.25 2.86
4 3.81 0.12 2.50 2.70 2.60 0.30 3.16
5 4.10 0.15 2.90 3.05 2.98 0.43 3.59
6 4.88 0.39 4.10 4.10 4.10 1.60 5.19
7 5.32 0.22 4.70 4.70 4.70 1.03 6.22
8 5.85 0.27 5.35 5.35 5.35 1.42 7.64
9 6.50 0.33 5.75 5.75 5.75 1.87 9.51
10 7.05 0.28 6.24 6.24 6.24 1.72 11.22
11 7.60 0.28 7.10 7.30 7.20 1.98 13.20
2÷8 5.85 1.41 1.80 5.35 3.80 5.36 7.64

1 3.60 1.80 1.50 1.50 1.50 2.70 2.70
2 3.80 0.10 1.90 2.10 2.00 0.20 2.90
3 4.25 0.23 2.25 2.50 2.38 0.53 3.43
4 4.50 0.13 2.90 2.90 2.90 0.36 3.80
5 4.80 0.15 3.45 3.70 3.58 0.54 4.33
6 5.03 0.12 4.30 4.30 4.30 0.49 4.83
7 5.54 0.26 4.10 4.10 4.10 1.05 5.87
8 6.19 0.33 4.50 4.70 4.60 1.50 7.37
9 6.84 0.33 5.05 5.05 5.05 1.64 9.01
10 7.68 0.42 5.50 6.20 5.85 2.46 11.47
11 7.88 0.10 6.60 6.60 6.60 0.66 12.13
12 8.50 0.31 6.80 7.00 6.90 2.14 14.27
2÷9 6.84 1.62 1.90 5.05 3.89 6.31 9.01
1 3.63 1.82 1.50 1.50 1.50 2.72 2.72
2 3.95 0.16 1.90 2.20 2.05 0.33 3.05
3 4.30 0.18 2.25 2.65 2.45 0.43 3.48
4 4.65 0.18 3.00 3.60 3.30 0.58 4.06
5 4.91 0.13 4.30 4.30 4.30 0.56 4.62
6 5.41 0.25 4.10 4.10 4.10 1.03 5.64
7 6.26 0.43 4.40 4.90 4.65 1.98 7.62
8 6.90 0.32 5.00 5.15 5.08 1.62 9.24
9 7.48 0.29 5.40 6.30 5.85 1.70 10.94
10 8.56 0.54 6.70 6.90 6.80 3.67 14.61
2÷8 6.90 1.64 1.90 5.15 3.99 6.52 9.24
ESP 222 (42.92◦ N, 8.47◦ E) Contrucci et al. (2001)
Water 3.40 1.70 1.50 1.50 1.50 2.55 2.55
Plioc.—recent 3.63 0.12 2.00 2.00 2.00 0.23 2.78
Evaporites 4.10 0.24 3.71 4.45 4.08 0.96 3.74
Salt 4.70 0.30 3.64 3.82 3.73 1.12 4.86
Miocene 5.40 0.35 4.50 4.50 4.50 1.58 6.43
Crust 1 6.17 0.39 5.40 5.40 5.40 2.08 8.51
Crust 2 7.00 0.42 6.17 6.17 6.17 2.56 11.07
Crust 3 7.90 0.45 7.30 7.30 7.30 3.29 14.36
Mioc.—recent 5.40 1.00 2.00 4.50 3.88 3.88 6.43
Water 3.40 1.70 1.50 1.50 1.50 2.55 2.55
Plioc.—recent 3.74 0.17 2.00 2.00 2.00 0.34 2.89
Evaporites 4.40 0.33 3.15 3.63 3.39 1.12 4.01
Salt 5.25 0.43 3.90 3.90 3.90 1.66 5.67
Miocene 5.74 0.25 4.50 4.50 4.50 1.10 6.77
Crust 1 6.24 0.25 5.20 5.20 5.20 1.30 8.07
Crust 2 7.00 0.38 6.00 6.00 6.00 2.28 10.35
Crust 3 7.65 0.33 6.85 6.85 6.85 2.23 12.57
Mioc.—recent 5.74 1.17 2.00 4.50 3.61 4.22 6.77
⃝
C 2006 Authors, GJI, 166, 1398–1423
C 2006 RAS
Water 3.30 1.65 1.50 1.50 1.50 2.48 2.48
Plioc.—recent 4.03 0.37 2.00 2.00 2.00 0.73 3.21
Evaporites 4.45 0.21 3.30 3.70 3.50 0.74 3.94
Salt 5.24 0.40 3.75 4.00 3.88 1.53 5.47
Miocene 6.00 0.38 4.45 4.45 4.45 1.69 7.16
Crust 1 6.60 0.30 5.00 5.00 5.00 1.50 8.66
Crust 2 7.30 0.35 6.30 6.30 6.30 2.21 10.87
Crust 3 8.00 0.35 6.90 6.90 6.90 2.42 13.28
Mioc.—recent 6.00 1.35 2.00 4.45 3.47 4.69 7.16
Water 2.64 1.32 1.50 1.50 1.50 1.98 1.98

Plioc.—recent 3.50 0.43 2.00 2.00 2.00 0.86 2.84
Evaporites/Salt 4.35 0.43 3.80 4.00 3.90 1.66 4.50
Miocene 5.22 0.44 4.40 4.40 4.40 1.91 6.41
Crust 1 6.21 0.50 4.80 4.80 4.80 2.38 8.79
Crust 2 6.62 0.21 5.20 5.20 5.20 1.07 9.85
Crust 3 7.24 0.31 6.30 6.30 6.30 1.95 11.81
Crust 4 7.86 0.31 7.20 7.20 7.20 2.23 14.04
Mioc.—recent 5.22 1.29 2.00 4.40 3.44 4.43 6.41
ESP 2 (41.00◦ N, 3.51◦ E) (Torné et al. 1992; Pascal et al. 1992)
Water 3.04 1.52 1.50 1.50 1.50 2.28 2.28
Plioc.—recent 3.38 0.17 1.70 2.10 1.90 0.32 2.60
3.55 0.09 2.20 2.50 2.35 0.20 2.80
3.83 0.14 2.60 3.00 2.80 0.40 3.20
4.11 0.14 3.10 3.50 3.30 0.45 3.65
Top of Mess. 4.29 0.09 3.60 3.90 3.75 0.35 4.00
top mid-Mioc. 4.58 0.14 4.10 4.30 4.20 0.60 4.60
4.82 0.12 4.20 4.20 4.20 0.50 5.10
5.06 0.12 4.10 4.10 4.10 0.50 5.60
Top of crust 5.20 0.07 4.20 4.30 4.25 0.30 5.90
5.79 0.29 4.80 6.10 5.45 1.60 7.50
6.29 0.25 6.10 6.70 6.40 1.60 9.10
Mioc.—recent 5.20 1.08 1.70 4.25 3.35 3.62 5.90
Water 0.11 0.05 1.50 1.50 1.50 0.08 0.08
Top of Mesoz. 0.27 0.08 5.05 5.10 5.08 0.42 0.50
2.08 0.90 5.10 5.10 5.10 4.60 5.10
Top of upper crust 2.68 0.30 5.40 5.80 5.60 1.70 6.80
Top of lower crust 5.07 1.19 6.00 6.40 6.20 7.40 14.20
Mioc.—recent 0.27 0.08 5.05 5.10 5.08 0.42 0.50
ESP4 (40.58◦ N, 2.33◦ E) (Torné et al. 1992; Pascal et al. 1992)
Water 2.56 1.28 1.50 1.50 1.50 1.92 1.92
Plioc.—recent 2.86 0.15 1.70 2.00 1.85 0.28 2.20
Top of Messinian 3.11 0.12 2.30 2.60 2.45 0.30 2.50
Top of mid-Miocene 3.90 0.39 2.70 3.90 3.30 1.30 3.80
Acoustic Basement 4.17 0.14 4.80 5.30 5.05 0.70 4.50
Mioc.—recent 4.17 0.81 1.70 5.30 3.20 2.58 4.50
Water 0.12 0.06 1.50 1.50 1.50 0.09 0.09
1.23 0.56 1.70 3.20 2.45 1.36 1.45
Top of Mesozoic 1.81 0.29 3.30 4.30 3.80 1.10 2.55
4.13 0.70 6.10 6.20 6.15 4.30 9.50
7.06 0.73 6.40 6.40 6.40 4.70 18.80
Mioc.—recent 1.81 0.84 1.70 4.30 2.91 2.46 2.55
⃝
C 2006 Authors, GJI, 166, 1398–1423
C 2006 RAS
Water 0.20 0.10 1.50 1.50 1.50 0.15 0.15
Pliocene—recent 0.38 0.09 1.60 1.80 1.70 0.15 0.30
0.97 0.30 2.00 2.70 2.35 0.70 1.00
1.28 0.15 2.80 3.10 2.95 0.45 1.45
Miocene 1.48 0.10 3.20 3.60 3.40 0.35 1.80
Top of Mesozoic 2.61 0.56 4.00 4.70 4.35 2.45 4.25
3.32 0.35 5.40 5.60 5.50 1.95 6.20
4.56 0.62 5.60 6.00 5.80 3.60 9.80
6.67 0.41 6.40 6.40 6.40 2.60 16.40
7.10 0.21 6.60 6.60 6.60 1.40 17.80
Mioc.—recent 2.61 1.20 1.60 4.70 3.40 4.10 4.25

Water 1.40 0.70 1.50 1.50 1.50 1.05 1.05
Pliocene—recent 1.78 0.19 1.65 2.00 1.83 0.35 1.40
2.14 0.18 2.00 2.50 2.25 0.40 1.80
2.29 0.08 2.60 2.70 2.65 0.20 2.00
Top of Messinian 2.50 0.11 2.90 3.10 3.00 0.32 2.32
2.61 0.05 3.30 3.30 3.30 0.18 2.50
2.73 0.06 3.40 3.50 3.45 0.20 2.70
2.84 0.06 3.50 3.70 3.60 0.20 2.90
2.94 0.05 3.80 3.80 3.80 0.20 3.10
Top of Mesozoic 3.19 0.13 4.50 5.10 4.80 0.60 3.70
3.46 0.13 5.10 5.65 5.38 0.70 4.40
4.12 0.33 5.10 5.10 5.10 1.70 6.10
5.08 0.32 6.20 6.20 6.20 2.00 9.00
Mioc.—recent 3.19 0.90 1.65 5.10 2.95 2.65 3.70
to Eurasia. About 82 km of oceanic crust are identified between away from the unstretched COB). Therefore, the 3500 m isobath
the two COBs (Fig. 12a), which account for a closure angle $ = (Fig. 3) can still be used as representative of the unstretched (pre-rift)
15.75◦ . Fig. 12(b) shows the pre-drift configuration that is obtained margins. Finally, a good fit of these conjugate isobaths is obtained
by removing the post-rift sedimentary layer and a corresponding by the application of a 29.30◦ clockwise rotation about the Euler
amount of subsidence. As before, the hypothesized pre-rift thickness pole listed in Table 1.
of the Eurasian margin is 39 km, whereas 31 km are assumed for We now consider the crustal profile along track 3 (from the Iberian
the initial thickness of Corsica (equal to the maximum thickness of margin to Mallorca) (Fig. 13a). In this profile, there is no interven-
the present-day block). ing oceanic crust. If the Iberian margin is restored to 30 km, and
The balanced cross section of Fig. 12(c) implies that the pre-rift the maximum thickness of Mallorca (28 km) is used as a pre-rift
angle for Corsica is 29.30◦ (∼155 km along profile 2). Hence, the thickness, then the fit angle is 6.10◦ and the stretching factors are
mean angular velocity results to be ω = 2.08◦ Myr−1 from C13n to β = 1.44 and β = 1.42, respectively. This profile also shows that
C6n. In this instance, if ω i (t) was constant during this stage, then the 3500 m basement isobaths (Fig. 3) are representative of the un-
the onset of seafloor spreading in the Ligurian basin would have stretched margins.
occurred at 26.6 Ma (C9n), 1 Myr later with respect to Sardinia. Similar results were obtained from a profile farther north, from
However, such small difference could be an artefact of the balancing Iberia to Menorca. However, the pre-rift angle of 6.80◦ implies that
procedure. The linear velocities vary from 5.58 mm yr−1 in the about 48 km of dextral strike-slip motion occurred along the central
northern Ligurian basin to 13.28 mm yr−1 at the Corsica–Sardinia Fracture Zone (Maillard & Mauffret 1999) between Menorca and
boundary. Mallorca. In this regard, the 20 km offset estimated by Maillard &
The balanced crustal profile can be used also in the case of Corsica Mauffret (1999) appears to be too small to account for the basement
to estimate the extent and shape of the unstretched margins. The morphology illustrated in Fig. 4.
β factors for Eurasia and Corsica are β = 1.53 and β = 1.31, The last two crustal profiles (Figs 13b and c) are located in the
respectively, whereas the unstretched size of their margins is 79 km Algerian Sea. The trace of profile 4 (Fig. 13b) starts from the south-
for Corsica and 91 km for Eurasia. As before, we used the basement western margin of Sardinia, crosses a basin that formed when the
map of Fig. 4 to determine which basement isobaths intersect the Petite Kabylie drifted away from this block, and ends on the crest
unstretched COBs on the crustal profile. In this instance the 3500 m of a basement high (Fig. 4), which is called the Hannibal Ridge
isobath intersects the crustal profile at 87.5 km from the NW end (Mauffret et al. 2004). Similarly, the trace of profile 5 (Fig. 13c) starts
along the Eurasian margin (hence 3.5 km away from the unstretched from the Balearic promontory close to the Iberian coast (Fig. 3),
COB), and 70 km from the SE end along the Corsica margin (9 km crosses a basin associated with the southeast drifting of Grande
⃝
C 2006 Authors, GJI, 166, 1398–1423
C 2006 RAS
44˚N
44˚N
4 km
43˚N
6 km
5 km
8 km
42˚N
7 km
41˚N
6 km
2 km
5 km
3 km
3 km

2 km
40˚N 4 km
5 km
39˚N
4 km
5 km
6 km
38˚N
2 km
4 km
3 km
2 km
3 km
37˚N
36˚N
4˚W 3˚W 2˚W 1˚W 0˚E 1˚E 2˚E 3˚E 4˚E 5˚E 6˚E 7˚E 8˚E 9˚E
Figure 9. Sediment thickness map of the Western Mediterranean region. Contours spacing is 1 km.
Kabylie away from Ibiza, and ends close to the Tellian front. The time-to-depth migration. However, the location of this profile (from
morphology of these two deep basins is shown in Fig. 4. We note that 38.68◦ N, 2.70◦ E to 37.97◦ N, 3.26◦ E) indicates that it crosses a zone
the basement reaches a depth of 7 km in the western basin and 9 km in where the TWT time of the acoustic basement is between 5 s and 6 s.
the eastern part. The depth to the Moho discontinuity beneath these Hence, it is likely that this reflector represents the upper crust-lower
basins is 16–20 km (Fig. 10). Therefore, the lowest crustal thickness crust transition, which is the second possibility suggested by Vidal
is about 10 km in the eastern Algerian basin and 8.8 km in the western et al. (1998).
basin, which seems to exclude the presence of oceanic crust in this In the eastern basin, the only available datum is represented by
area. the western end of reflection profile CROP M23 (Catalano et al.
In contrast with the above interpretation, most authors point to 2000), which indicates the presence of a reflector at 7.5 s that could
the existence of oceanic crust from the area around longitude 1W be interpreted as the Moho discontinuity. In this instance, if we
towards the East in the Algerian basin (e.g. Comas et al. 1999; consider that the acoustic basement reaches 6 s TWT time in this
Mauffret et al. 2004). The first refraction profile in the area south zone, then a mean V P = 6.5 km s−1 in the basement would give an
of the island of Mallorca (Hinz 1973) shows the Moho disconti- estimate of 4.88 km for the crustal thickness and 10.88 km for the
nuity at a depth of 12 km. Hinz (1973) suggested the presence of Moho depth at 38.18◦ N, 7.79◦ E.
a 5 km thick oceanic crust, with V P increasing from 6 km s−1 to Finally, Comas et al. (1997) found few isolated deep reflections
7.4 km s−1 . These velocities are currently known to be effectively between 6.5 and 7 s at the eastern end of the ESCI Alboran pro-
too high for the oceanic crust (the typical P-wave velocity of layer file 2 (36.7◦ N, 0.2◦ W in the western Algerian basin). These authors
2 increases from 4.5 km s−1 to 5.6 km s−1 , whereas the P-wave suggested that the reflectors could represent the Moho discontinuity
velocity of layer 3 is between 6.5 and 7 km s−1 ; Tanimoto 1995, and beneath a 2 s (TWT time) thick oceanic or transitional crust. How-
references therein). Conversely, the velocity structure of the crustal ever, the depth to the acoustic basement is about 6 s (TWT time) in
layer identified by Hinz (1973) is more similar to velocity models this zone, which excludes the interpretation of Comas et al. (1997).
of continental margins (e.g. see ESP 201–202 in Table 3). The few controversial interpretations of seismic profiles discussed
A recent multichannel deep seismic reflection profile in the same above are not sufficient to establish the nature of the crust in the
area (Vidal et al. 1998) shows that the sedimentary layer is domi- Algerian basin. Moreover, neither the compilation of Moho depths
nated by Messinian evaporites that obscure deep seismic reflectors. of Dèzes & Ziegler (2001) nor the regional Moho maps of Meiss-
These authors interpreted the reflector at 6–7 s as the base of the crust ner et al. (1987) and Marone et al. (2003) are compatible with the
and used the P-wave velocity model of Hinz (1973) to perform the existence of oceanic crust in the Algerian basin. We believe that the
⃝
C 2006 Authors, GJI, 166, 1398–1423
C 2006 RAS
45˚N
50 Km
14 Km

30 Km
40˚N
16 Km
16 Km 22 Km
35˚N
5˚ W 0˚ E 5˚ E 10˚ E
Figure 10. Depth-to-Moho map for the Western Mediterranean region, redrawn from Dèzes & Ziegler (2001). Contour spacing is 2 km.
only data that undoubtedly point to the presence of oceanic crust construction shows the initial fit of several microplates against the
in the Algerian basin are the linear magnetic anomalies of the east- Iberian and Eurasian margins. It is based on the restored shape of
ern zone and the seismic profile CROP M23 (Catalano et al. 2000). the blocks, according to the crustal profiles balancing procedure dis-
However, even though our preferred model for this area requires the cussed in the previous section. We note that the Balearic promontory
existence of oceanic crust, the lack of a reliable Moho map for this has been divided into three blocks separated by two major transcur-
region prevents the application of the balancing procedure to the rent faults, which correspond to the Ibiza and the central fracture
profiles illustrated in Figs 13(b) and (c) (tracks 4 and 5 in Fig. 3), so zones of Maillard & Mauffret (1999). In order to avoid a large over-
that the rotation parameters of the Kabylies were simply estimated lap between Menorca-Mallorca and southern Sardinia, we separated
on the basis of the present-day COBs. In particular, the triangular Sardinia in two blocks by a major dextral NE-trending transcur-
shape of the western–central Algerian basin required a subdivision rent fault (Fig. 1). This fault is representative of an important sys-
of the Grande Kabylie in four separate microplates that moved about tem of strike-slip faults that is widespread in northern Sardinia and
the same Euler pole with different angular velocities. According to southern Corsica (Faccenna et al. 2002). We assume that a dextral
this model the more eastern blocks were subjected to greater rota- strike-slip or transtensional fault separated Sardinia in two tectonic
tions, and the relative motion between the different parts occurred elements during the first stage of opening of the Provençal basin.
along dextral strike-slip faults. In the next section we will combine The fit illustrated in Fig. 14 shows that this fault was aligned with the
the structural and kinematic information discussed above in a pre- South Corsica fault system at 33.1 Ma. This means that southeast
cise chronology of events, in order to construct a rigorous model of Corsica must be offset with respect to the main Corsica block
the palaeotectonic evolution of the Western Mediterranean during through the prosecution of the Sardinian fault system. We also note
the Oligocene and Early Miocene. that the transtensional structures of the Campidano (Fig. 1), between
the Iglesiente and Sulcis regions and main Sardinia, could represent
a conjugate system of the NE-trending faults. This interpretation is
6 P L AT E T E C T O N I C M O D E L F O R T H E
confirmed by the study of Casula et al. (2001), which shows that the
first stage of formation of the Campidano graben occurred during
The plate tectonic configuration of the Western Mediterranean re- the Late Oligocene. Furthermore, two seismic profiles in the Gulf of
gion at chron C13n (33.1 Ma) is illustrated in Fig. 14. This re- Cagliari—profiles ES319 and ES321, Casula et al. (2001)—show
⃝
C 2006 Authors, GJI, 166, 1398–1423
C 2006 RAS
5
NW COB 1 COB 2 SE
0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 Km
-5
Basement
-10
Oceanic Crust
-15 A
-20
Moho
-25
-30
Km
-35

5
NW SE
0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 Km
-5 Basement
-10
-15
B
-20
Moho
-25
-30
Km
-35
5
NW Basement SE
0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 Km
-5
-10
Eurasia Sardinia
-15
C
-20
-25
Moho
-30
-35
Km
-40
Figure 11. (a) Crustal profile along track 1 of Fig. 3 (Eurasia-Sardinia). (b) Pre-drift configuration. (c) Assumed pre-rift configuration.
the presence of important negative flower structures that may be as- along the southern and eastern margins of Iberia, and the Pyrenean
sociated with strike-slip faulting along a direction that is compatible belt ceased to represent a major plate boundary. However, a limited
with the model proposed here. Finally, Fig. 14 shows three forearc amount of differential motion between Eurasia and Iberia could still
blocks that are rigidly linked to southern Sardinia during the open- occur. We assume that starting from chron C13n the Pyrenean belt
ing of the Provençal basin. These tectonic elements are: Calabria, was part of Eurasia, so that any motion between Iberia and Eurasia
the South Tyrrhenian Block and the Sardinian Channel block, which was accommodated south of the Ebro basin. In this instance, the
will separate from Sardinia and each other during the subsequent rotations of Corsica and Sardinia must be defined with respect to
opening of the Tyrrhenian basin. Eurasia. Table 4 lists the rotation parameters of the proposed model.
A possible kinematic circuit for the microplates of the Western Note that it defines three distinct stages of motion between 33.1 Ma
Mediterranean region during the Oligocene and Early Miocene is (C13n) and 19 Ma (C6n), separated by two stage boundaries at
shown in Fig. 15. Some of these blocks are kinematically linked to 28.0 Ma and 23.4 Ma.
Eurasia, whereas others are linked to Iberia. For times preceding The first stage boundary corresponds to the end of extension
the chron C13n transition, in particular when Iberia was still part in the Valencia Trough and the jump of the extensional centre to-
of Africa, both Corsica and Sardinia formed part of the northeast- wards the more external zones. The exact timing of this event is
ern margin of Iberia. After the plate reorganization at anomaly 13, not well constrained as there is no consensus about the timing of
convergent motion between Africa and Eurasia was accommodated rifting episodes in this region (e.g. Roca et al. 1999). However, it
⃝
C 2006 Authors, GJI, 166, 1398–1423
C 2006 RAS
5
NW COB 1 COB 2 SE
0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 Km
-5
Basement
-10 Oceanic Crust
-15
A
-20
Moho
-25
-30
-35
Km
-40

5
NW SE
0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 Km
-5 Basement
-10
-15
-20 Moho B
-25
-30
-35
Km
-40
5
NW Basement SE
0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 Km
-5
-10
-15 Eurasia Corsica
-20
C
-25
-30
-35
-40 Moho
Km
-45
Figure 12. (a) Crustal profile along track 2 of Fig. 3 (Eurasia-Corsica). (b) Pre-drift configuration. (c) Assumed pre-rift configuration.
is constrained kinematically by the fact that the clockwise rotation third stage was performed using specific software for the modelling
of Mallorca and Menorca must follow without compression at the of triple-junction kinematics.
front the rotation of the South Sardinia block, which is indepen- A set of plate reconstructions will be discussed in the next section.
dently linked to the motion of North Sardinia. This observation de- They represent a kinematic model for the tectonic evolution of the
termines a strong constraint for the angular velocity of opening of the Western Mediterranean during the Oligocene and Early Miocene.
Valencia Trough, hence for the time of cessation of rifting processes The reconstructions were made using PCME, a software package for
in this basin. the palaeotectonic modelling designed by Schettino (1998), in the
The second stage boundary is associated with the start of rifting framework of the global plate motions model proposed by Schettino
(and eventually seafloor spreading) in the eastern Algerian basin. & Scotese (2005).
It also marks the time of formation of an R–R–R triple junction in
this basin, because the separation of South Sardinia from Eurasia
and the coeval drifting of Petite Kabylie away from this block imply 7 P L AT E R E C O N S T RU C T I O N S
the existence of a third extentional centre that separated the Petite As mentioned in the previous section, three stages are identified
Kabylie from the Balearic promontory (which was fixed to Eurasia in the Oligocene to Early Miocene tectonic history of the Western
at that time). Therefore, calculation of the time of initiation of this Mediterranean. The first phase started during chron C13n (Early
⃝
C 2006 Authors, GJI, 166, 1398–1423
C 2006 RAS
5
NW SE
Km
0
0 50 100 150 200 250
Basement
-5
-10
A
-15
-20
Moho
-25
-30
Km

-35
0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
Km
-5
NE SW
Basement
-10
B
-15
-20
Moho
-25
Km
-30
0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 Km 350
-5
NW SE
Basement
-10
C
Moho
-15
-20
Km
-25
Figure 13. Crustal profiles along tracks 3 (Iberia-Balearic islands) (a), 4 (eastern Algerian Basin) (b), and 5 (western Algerian Basin) (c). See Fig. 3 for
locations.
Rupelian, 33.1 Ma), when the convergent boundary between Africa and the first rift structures formed along the Eurasian and Iberian
and Eurasia jumped southwards. At the very beginning, when a margins. In particular, in the northeast zone the continuation of the
trench system was not yet established, it is reasonable to assume Pyrenean orogen was truncated by a system of low-angle normal
that a compressional state characterized the southern and eastern faults in the area now occupied by the Gulf of Lion (Fig. 1, Séranne
margins of Iberia, with the formation of fold and thrust structures. et al. 1995; Benedicto et al. 1996). This extensional regime was the
An example of this tectonic event could be represented by the thrust- result of the tendency of the trench system to migrate southeast-
ing of the Catalan Coastal Ranges over the Ebro basin (Roca et al. wards.
1999). Fig. 14 illustrates the initial configuration of the Iberian mar- A representative reconstruction of the first stage of backarc ex-
gin and the direction of compression during this stage. tension is illustrated in Fig. 16. We note that two main non-rigid sets
As soon as old oceanic crust of the Liguride Ocean started to of microplates are moving away from Iberia and Eurasia with differ-
subduct at the new trench, an extensional tectonic setting prevailed, ent kinematic parameters. The northern assemblage, which includes
⃝
C 2006 Authors, GJI, 166, 1398–1423
C 2006 RAS
Table 4. Rotation model for the Western Mediterranean region. Finally, the subduction flip between South and North Corsica is
Age [Ma] Lat [◦ N] Lon [◦ E] Angle [◦ ccw] necessary to represent the link between the western Alpine and north
Apennines convergence systems and the Liguride subduction front.
Corsica–Eurasia The stage that starts at 28 Ma can be considered as a transitional
19.0 0.00 0.00 0.00
stage between the two main phases of back arc extension. The tec-
33.1 +44.49 10.28 −29.30
tonic setting of the Western Mediterranean region during this stage
South Corsica–Corsica is illustrated in Fig. 17. This time period was characterized by the
23.4 0.00 0.00 0.00 onset of seafloor spreading in the Balearic basin, between north-
33.1 +52.18 345.38 +2.45 ern Sardinia and Eurasia, in the Ligurian basin, between Corsica
North Sardinia–Eurasia and Eurasia, and by the first episode of extension in the western
19.0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Algerian basin, between Ibiza and the Grande Kabylie, which pos-
33.1 +47.38 12.58 −25.96 sibly led to the formation of oceanic crust in this area.
South Sardinia–North Sardinia The last stage of opening of the Western Mediterranean basins
23.4 0.00 0.00 0.00 was characterized by the presence of an R–R–R triple junction in the
33.1 +62.30 309.18 +1.29 eastern Algerian basin, as illustrated in Fig. 18. This stage started

Petite Kabylie–South Sardinia
at ∼23.4 Ma, according to kinematic constraints determined by the
19.0 0.00 0.00 0.00 evolution of the triple junction and the kinematic relations among
23.4 +39.81 4.92 +22.50 the migrating blocks. The reconstruction in Fig. 18 is also based
28.0 +40.63 5.03 +30.33 on the assumption that both Sardinia and Corsica behaved as rigid
33.1 +40.74 5.07 +34.63 blocks during this stage. The seafloor-spreading history of the West-
Menorca–Iberia
ern Mediterranean region terminated when the first drifting blocks
28.0 0.00 0.00 0.00 collided with Africa, possibly at 19 Ma. The final tectonic configu-
33.1 +34.04 356.61 +6.80 ration at the end of the last stage of backarc extension is shown in
Fig. 19.
Mallorca–Iberia
In this reconstruction the northern African margin has been
28.0 0.00 0.00 0.00
33.1 +34.04 356.61 +6.10
palinspastically extended on the basis of the assumption that the
collision of the Kabylie blocks occurred at 19 Ma, and that the
Ibiza–Iberia subsequent convergence between Africa and Eurasia was accom-
28.0 0.00 0.00 0.00 modated along the Tellian and Atlas belts (Frizon de Lamotte et al.
33.1 +24.29 341.96 +0.93
2000). It can be shown that more than 100 km of shortening oc-
Grande Kabylie 1–Mallorca curred along the northern margin of Africa since the Burdigalian.
19.0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Frizon de Lamotte et al. (2000) also proposed that the collision of the
28.0 +33.14 358.92 +17.00 Kabylie blocks determined the split of the Tethyan slab in two dif-
Grande Kabylie 2–Ibiza ferent parts, one of which controlling the opening of the Tyrrhenian
19.0 0.00 0.00 0.00 basin, whereas the second one would have controlled the opening of
28.0 +33.14 358.92 +15.20 the Alboran basin. This model is consistent with our reconstruction
Grande Kabylie 3–Ibiza (Fig. 19) as far as the mechanism of opening of the Alboran basin is
19.0 0.00 0.00 0.00 concerned (Lonergan & White 1997). Nevertheless, it contrasts with
28.0 +33.14 358.92 +13.20 the model proposed here in the eastern region. In this regard we note
that at 19 Ma almost all the lithosphere of the eastern Liguride ocean
Grande Kabylie 4–Mallorca
19.0 0.00 0.00 0.00
was already subducted. In particular, Calabria was approaching the
28.0 +33.14 358.92 +15.50 carbonatic platforms that today form the southern Apenninic chain.
It is still uncertain if these platforms were built on oceanic crust or
if they overlaid a thinned sliver of continental crust. In any case, the
Sardinia and Corsica, is moving counter-clockwise with respect to Apenninic platforms represented the boundary between two differ-
Eurasia. Conversely, the southern assemblage (Balearic islands and ent oceanic domains, the Liguride Ocean to the west, and the Ionian
Grande Kabylie) is moving clockwise relative to Iberia. These dif- basin to the east (Dewey et al. 1989), which formed by different
ferent modes of rifting induced an extensional regime between the tectonic mechanisms and at different times (Schettino & Scotese
two sets of microplates, which is represented by the NW-SE ori- 2002). The opening of the Tyrrhenian basin was driven by subduc-
ented system of extension centres in Fig. 16. In this context, the tion rollback of Ionian lithosphere beneath Calabria (Malinverno &
Petite Kabylie block was placed at the interface between the north- Ryan 1986; Rosenbaum & Lister 2004), and not by subduction of an
ern and southern assemblages and rifted away from both systems. eastern arm of the Liguride ocean (Frizon de Lamotte et al. 2000).
The most southern of the rift structures reached the trench and was
responsible for the deformation of the forearc-trench system. These
8 D I S C U S S I O N A N D C O N C LU S I O N
tectonic regimes lasted until ∼28 Ma, when the main rifting phase
in the Valencia Trough stopped and an extensional centre formed In the previous sections we have presented a new model of the
between Grande Kabylie and the Balearic islands. Oligocene and Early Miocene tectonic history of the Western
Regarding the geometry of the trench system shown in Fig. 16, we Mediterranean region. The model was built on the basis of mag-
first note that the convergence direction changes along the trench, netic anomaly and seismic data and by taking into account available
because of the different relative velocities of the forearc blocks with geological constraints. The magnetic anomaly pattern of this region
respect to Africa and Adria. Furthermore, the northern segment of was used to determine the directions of opening of the Ligurian,
the subduction front is essentially reduced to a transpressive zone. Provençal, Valencia and Algerian basins, hence the Euler poles of
⃝
C 2006 Authors, GJI, 166, 1398–1423
C 2006 RAS
39˚N
38˚N
37˚N
36˚N
COR
35˚N
SCR
NSR
SSR
34˚N
MEN

CAL
33˚N
MAL PKB
32˚N
STB
GK1
IBZ
31˚N SCH
GK2
GK3
GK4
30˚N
29˚N
2˚W 1˚W 0˚E 1˚E 2˚E 3˚E 4˚E 5˚E 6˚E 7˚E 8˚E 9˚E 10˚E 11˚E 12˚E
Figure 14. Initial fit of the Western Mediterranean microplates at chron C13n (33.1 Ma). CAL = Calabria; COR = Corsica; GK1–GK4 = Grande Kabylie;
IBZ = Ibiza; MAL = Mallorca; MEN = Menorca; NSR = northern Sardinia; PKB = Petite Kabylie; SCR = southern Corsica; SSR = southern Sardinia;
STB = South Tyrrhenian Block and SCH = Sardinian Channel. Arrows represent the direction of the velocity field (Adria and Africa relative to Eurasia) at
33.1 Ma. Dashed red lines are incipient extension centres. Blue line is an incipient trench. Palaeolatitudes are assigned according to the global plate motions
model of Schettino & Scotese (2005). The figure also illustrates the extinct convergent boundary between Eurasia and Iberia and the inferred zone of Eocene
and Oligocene calc-alkaline volcanism.
(3) the fit angles of these microplates against Eurasia and Iberia.
COR SCR
Eurasia Finally, five plate tectonic reconstructions, that integrate the re-
NSR SSR PKB sults mentioned above in a self-consistent kinematic model, have
been proposed. An animation is available in the online version
of this article which illustrates the evolution of the Ligurian,
MEN Provençal and Algerian basins during the Late Oligocene and Early
Miocene.
Iberia MAL GK4 An important geological implication of the model proposed here
GK1 is the prediction of a specific style of deformation of the forearc in
IBZ GK2 the context of a trench-retreating system (Turco et al. 2005). The
different Euler poles of rifting and/or drifting of a set of forearc
GK3
blocks that are moving independently with respect to each other
generate secondary extensional deformations, which is directed or-
thogonal to the main direction of backarc extension. The best geolog-
Figure 15. Kinematic circuit for the Western Mediterranean microplates.
ical example for this deformation represented by the Algerian basin
(Figs 18–19). These extensional structures, which are associated
with TTR triple junctions, determine the formation of breaks that
rotation of Corsica, Sardinia, Balearic Islands and Kabylies. In ad- interrupt the lateral continuity of the accretionary wedge.
dition, ESP data were analysed to convert the acoustic basement The model proposed in this paper is based upon the observation
map of the Western Mediterranean from TWT times to depths. The that a main phase of compression affected the whole southeastern
resulting crustal model of this region allowed to determine: Iberian margin (Fig. 14) not before chron C13n (Early Oligocene,
33.1 Ma), as predicted by the global plate motions model of
(1) the closure (pre-drift) angles of the Ligurian and Provençal Schettino & Scotese (2005). This aspect contrasts with models that,
basins; based on the existence of a calc-alkaline volcanism in Sardinia dur-
(2) the unstretched shapes, in particular the pre-rift COBs, of ing the Oligocene, assume a continuous northwestward subduction
the microplates that were rifted away from the Eurasian and Iberian of 350 km or more of Liguride oceanic lithosphere beneath the
margins and Iberian margin since the Cretaceous (e.g. Faccenna et al. 2001).
⃝
C 2006 Authors, GJI, 166, 1398–1423
C 2006 RAS
39˚N
38˚N
37˚N
36˚N
35˚N
34˚N
33˚N
32˚N

31˚N
30˚N
29˚N
Figure 16. Plate tectonic reconstruction at 30.0 Ma (Late Rupelian). Red lines are extension centres. Black lines are strike-slip faults. Arrows represent direction
and magnitude of relative motion.
39˚N
38˚N
37˚N
36˚N
35˚N
34˚N
33˚N
32˚N
31˚N
30˚N
29˚N
Figure 17. Plate tectonic reconstruction at 26.0 Ma (Middle Chattian). Red lines are extension centres. Black lines are strike-slip faults. Arrows represent
direction and magnitude of relative motion. Modelled isochrons indicate the extent of the oceanic crust at this time.
In our opinion the Eocene and Oligocene volcanism of the West- first phase of this convergence was responsible for the southeastward
ern Mediterranean region was not related to subduction of the subduction of the prosecution of the Valais ocean beneath Iberia-
Liguride Ocean beneath Iberia since the Cretaceous. The global Sardinia-Corsica (Stampfli et al. 1998; Schettino & Scotese 2002),
plate motions model of Schettino & Scotese (2005) shows that no whereas the second stage led to the formation of the Pyrenean moun-
significant convergence occurred during the Late Cretaceous be- tain belt. The subduction of the Valais ocean and its southwestern
tween Africa and Iberia, and that Iberia was part of the African prosecution represented the westernmost tip of the Alpine system.
plate during the Palaeocene and Eocene. Conversely, about 320 km The geological evidence for this early subduction system has been
of convergence with Eurasia occurred at the northeastern boundary discussed by Lacombe & Jolivet (2005). We believe that the Eocene
of Iberia between 110 Ma (Early Albian) and 67.7 Ma (C31, Maas- and Oligocene volcanism of Sardinia and the volcanoclastic deposits
trichtian), whereas further ∼110 km of convergence are predicted of the Apennines (Montanari et al. 1994) were related to this sub-
between 53 Ma (C24, Ypresian) and 33.1 Ma (C13n, Rupelian). The duction system (Fig. 14) and not to the hypothesized convergence
⃝
C 2006 Authors, GJI, 166, 1398–1423
C 2006 RAS
39˚N
38˚N
37˚N
36˚N
35˚N
34˚N
33˚N
32˚N

31˚N
30˚N
29˚N
Figure 18. Plate tectonic reconstruction at 21.0 Ma (Late Aquitanian). Red lines are extension centres. Black lines are strike-slip faults. Arrows represent
direction and magnitude of relative motion. Modelled isochrons indicate the extent of the oceanic crust at this time.
39ßN
38ßN
37ßN
36ßN
35ßN
34ßN
33ßN
32ßN
31ßN
30ßN
29ßN
2ßW 1ßW 0ßE 1ßE 2ßE 3ßE 4ßE 5ßE 6ßE 7ßE 8ßE 9ßE 10ßE 11ßE 12ßE
Figure 19. Plate tectonic reconstruction at chron C6n (19.0 Ma, Early Burdigalian). Red dashed lines are extinct spreading centres. Black lines are strike-slip
faults. Modelled isochrons indicate the extent of the oceanic crust at the end of the last stage of backarc extension.
between the Liguride ocean (hence Africa) and Iberia. However, the suggestions that allowed to improve the manuscript. This work
once Sardinia and Corsica collided with the Eurasian margin, the was funded in part by the MIUR, COFIN prot. 2004041440.
subduction stopped and a new plate boundary formed between the
Liguride ocean and Iberia, which accommodated the convergence of REFERENCES
Africa relative to Iberia and Eurasia. This new plate boundary was
by then responsible for the consumption of the Liguride oceanic Alvarez, W., Franks, S.G. & Nairn, A.E.M., 1973. Paleomagnetism of Plio-
lithosphere beneath Corsica and Sardinia. Pleistocene basalts from north-west Sardinia, Nature Phys. Sci., 243, 10–
11.
Bayer, R., Le Mouel, J.L. & Le Pichon, X., 1973. Magnetic anomaly pattern
in the western Mediterranean, Earth planet. Sci. Lett., 19, 168–176.
AC K N OW L E D G M E N T S Benedicto, A., Labaume, P., Séguret, M. & Séranne, M., 1996. Low-angle
crustal ramp and basin geometry in the Gulf of Lion passive margin:
The authors would like to thank Dietmar Müller and Alfonsa Milia Oligocene-Aquitanian Vistrenque graben, SE France, Tectonics, 15(6),
for their help, and G. Rosenbaum and an anonymous reviewer for 1192–1212.
⃝
C 2006 Authors, GJI, 166, 1398–1423
C 2006 RAS

Plate Kinematics of The Western Mediterranean Region During The Oligocene and Early Miocene

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Plate Kinematics of The Western Mediterranean Region During The Oligocene and Early Miocene

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Geophys. J. Int. (2006) 166, 1398–1423 doi: 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2006.02997.

Plate kinematics of the Western Mediterranean region during

Antonio Schettino and Eugenio Turco

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/gji/article/166/3/1398/2140301 by guest on 17 February 2024

critical review of existing data. For instance, the reconstructions pro-

1398 C 2006 Authors

South Pyrenean Zone

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/gji/article/166/3/1398/2140301 by guest on 17 February 2024

36˚N Alboran Sea Tell

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/gji/article/166/3/1398/2140301 by guest on 17 February 2024

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/gji/article/166/3/1398/2140301 by guest on 17 February 2024

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/gji/article/166/3/1398/2140301 by guest on 17 February 2024

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/gji/article/166/3/1398/2140301 by guest on 17 February 2024

Manzoni et al. (1970)

Bobier and Coulon (1970)

Deino et al. (2001)

Speranza et al. (2002)

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/gji/article/166/3/1398/2140301 by guest on 17 February 2024

Montigny et al. (1981)

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/gji/article/166/3/1398/2140301 by guest on 17 February 2024

Table 2. Palaeomagnetic poles of Sardinia and Corsica during the Cenozoic.

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/gji/article/166/3/1398/2140301 by guest on 17 February 2024

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/gji/article/166/3/1398/2140301 by guest on 17 February 2024

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/gji/article/166/3/1398/2140301 by guest on 17 February 2024

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/gji/article/166/3/1398/2140301 by guest on 17 February 2024

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/gji/article/166/3/1398/2140301 by guest on 17 February 2024

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/gji/article/166/3/1398/2140301 by guest on 17 February 2024

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/gji/article/166/3/1398/2140301 by guest on 17 February 2024

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/gji/article/166/3/1398/2140301 by guest on 17 February 2024

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/gji/article/166/3/1398/2140301 by guest on 17 February 2024

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/gji/article/166/3/1398/2140301 by guest on 17 February 2024

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/gji/article/166/3/1398/2140301 by guest on 17 February 2024

-15 Eurasia Corsica

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/gji/article/166/3/1398/2140301 by guest on 17 February 2024

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/gji/article/166/3/1398/2140301 by guest on 17 February 2024

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/gji/article/166/3/1398/2140301 by guest on 17 February 2024

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/gji/article/166/3/1398/2140301 by guest on 17 February 2024

Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/gji/article/166/3/1398/2140301 by guest on 17 February 2024

You might also like