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The main objective of this review is to compare the geology of these two conjugate margins, which are separated by about 7,000 kilometers. Special emphasis will be placed on the Gulf of Cádiz and Gharb basins which are located along the westernmost part of the collision zone of the Eurasian and African plates (southern Iberian Peninsula, and north-west Morocco). The Nova Scotia passive margin is located along the eastern Canadian coast, immediately south of Newfoundland platform, which is the conjugate margin of West Iberia. The Newfoundland - Las Azores transform fault system separates the conjugate margins of Nova Scotia - Cádiz / Gharb located to the south, from the margins of Newfoundland - West Iberia, located to the north. The methodology includes are view of key public scientific references, to summarize the main geological features, such as geodynamic evolution, stratigraphic column, and salt tectonics calendar. Several seismic profiles, both refraction and seismic, are interpreted to discuss geologic models along deep-water Gulf of Cádiz and Gharb basins. It is important to mention that the World Geological Map (https://ccgm.org/en/) has been of great help, as it includes the limit between continental and oceanic crusts (C.O.B.).
Preliminary results show transition from extended to hyperextended continental crust, and the presence of mobile evaporitic rocks ranging from the Upper Triassic to Lower Jurassic. Salt-induced tectonism has deformed the Mesozoic and Cenozoic rocks, on both margins, during Neogene and Quaternary times. Likewise, the interpretation of several seismic lines, both reflection and refraction, in the Gulf of Cádiz and Gharb basin, suggests the presence of evaporitic rocks on avery thin, and possibly hyperextended continental crust, analogous to the conjugate margin of Nova Scotia. This is well documented in the literature along the Nova Scotia margin. However, along the Gulf of Cádiz and Gharb basins, this issue is controversial because several other scenarios have been proposed, such as the presence of oceanic–transitional crust. More studies are necessary to describe the width and nature of continental-oceanic boundary-forming processes (C.O.B.).
To be presented in 8th Conjugate Margins Conference 2024: Sharing Knowledge to unlock the Potential
