Structure of the Gulf of Lions (Northwestern Mediterranean Sea): A Review

Implications of salt–sediment interactions on the architecture of the Gulf of Lions deep-water sedimentary systems—western Mediterranean Sea

“…The Arlesian transfer zone forms the boundary between a weakly stretched crust along the Provençal margin and the thinned crust of the central Languedoc-Roussillon margin. Southwestwards, this central portion is separated from the Eastern Catalan margin by the Catalan transfer zone (Gorini et al, 1993;Gorini, 1994;Fig. 3).…”

“…The geological evolution of this margin has been extensively studied in the last decades. Many studies pointed out the role of deep structures heritage on the structural and morphological segmentation of the margin (Mauffret et al, 1973(Mauffret et al, , 1995Réhault, 1981;Réhault et al, 1984;Gorini et al, 1993Gorini et al, , 1994Gorini, 1994;Benedicto, 1996). (Smith and Sandwell, 1997), showing location of the study area.…”

“…1). Crustal extensional was accommodated by two main NW-SE transfer zones (the Arlesian and the Catalan transfer zones), which segmented the area in three main structural compartments: the Languedoc-Roussillon margin, the Eastern Catalan margin and the South Provençal margin (Gorini et al, 1993;Gorini, 1994;Fig. 3).…”

Steep topographic slope preservation by anisotropic diffusion: An example from the Neogene Têt fault scarp, eastern Pyrenees

“…The period of extension probably lasted until the middle Pliocene (Cabrera et al, 1988;Carozza and Delcaillau, 1999). This particular tectonic setting in the Pyrenees can be ascribed to the extension in the Gulf of Lions and subsequent opening of the Algero-Provencal ocean (Gorini et al, 1994;Séranne, 1999;Jolivet and Faccenna, 2000).…”

Sand bodies at the shelf edge in the Gulf of Lions (Western Mediterranean): Deglacial history and modern processes

“…It comprises a wide (at least 70 km) shelf and a continental slope that is incised by numerous canyons descending down to the abyssal area of the Algero-Balearic Basin (Fig.1A). This basin formed as a result of Oligocene-Miocene rifting (Gorini et al, 1994) and it hosted the accumulation of huge amount of clastic sediments forming a thick wedge (900 m on the inner shelf, more than 2 km on the outer shelf (Lofi, 2002) that makes up the outbuilding shelf.…”