[EN] An interdisciplinary study of the geomorphology, sedimentology, stratigraphy and physical oceanography of the deep-sea environments of the Alboran Sea (south-western Mediterranean Sea) has been carried out with the purpose of evidencing and understanding the role of bottom currents in the sedimentary evolution of the Spanish and Moroccan continental margins and adjacent basins during the Pliocene and Quaternary. This study was conducted using swath bathymetry data, more than 1900 profiles consisting of parametric, single- and multi-channel seismic records, scientific and commercial wells, sediment cores, and hydrographic data comprising: Conductivity, Temperature and Depth (CTD) profiles, Acoustic Doppler Current (ADCP) profiles, and EK60 echograms. Here, for the first time, a morphosedimentary scenario with a wide spectrum of depositional (plastered, sheeted, channel-related, mounded confined, elongated and separated drifts) and erosional (terraces, escarpments, moats, channels and furrows) contourite features are described in the Alboran Sea, from the shelf break to the basin floor. Hydrographic data offers new insights into the distribution of the Mediterranean water masses, and reveals that the bottom circulation of the Western Intermediate Water (WIW) and the Levantine Intermediate Water (LIW) interact with the Spanish slope, and the Western Mediterranean Deep Water (WMDW) with the Moroccan slope, Spanish baseof- slope and deep basins. The integration of distinct datasets and approaches allow a new sedimentary model to be proposed for the Alboran Sea that underlines the significance of bottom current processes in shaping deep-sea morphology. This model suggests that the bottom circulation of water masses governs physiography, that the interface positions of water-masses with contrasting densities sculpt terraces at a regional scale, and that morphological obstacles play an essential role in the local control of processes and watermass distribution. An analysis of the seismic stratigraphy from the Pliocene and Quaternary sequences has enabled to update and rename the stratigraphic boundaries and establish a new seismic stratigraphy for the Alboran Sea, after relocating the base of the Quaternary from 1.8 to 2.6Ma. Additionally, the seismic analysis involves the presentation and discussion of the evidence for contourite features reaching the scale of the Alboran Basin. [...]

[ES] En el presente trabajo se ha llevado a cabo un estudio multidisciplinar de la geomorfología, sedimentología, estratigrafía y oceanografía física de los ambientes profundos del Mar de Alborán (extremo sur-oeste del Mar Mediterráneo), con el propósito de comprender el papel que los procesos asociados a las corrientes de fondo juegan en la evolución sedimentaria de los márgenes continentales de España y Marruecos, así como de las cuencas adyacentes, durante el Plioceno y el Cuaternario. Este estudio se ha llevado a cabo empleando datos de batimetría multihaz, más de 1900 registros sísmicos de sonda paramétrica, mono- y multi-canal, sondeos científicos e industriales, testigos de sedimento, y varios tipos de datos hidrográficos que comprenden: perfiles de conductividad, temperatura y profundidad (CTD), perfiles obtenidos con un correntómetro acústico Doppler (ADCP), y ecogramas registrados con una ecosonda EK60. [...]

Memoria de tesis doctoral presentada por Carmen Juan Valenzuela para obtener el título de Doctora en Ciencias del Mar por la Universitat de Barcelona (UB), realizada bajo la dirección de la Dra. Gemma Ercilla Zarraga del Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC), del Dr. F. Javier Hernández Molina de la University of London y de la Dra. Teresa Medialdea Cela del Instituto Geológico y Minero de España (IGME).-- 322 pages

La realización de esta Tesis Doctoral ha sido posible gracias a una beca del Subprograma de Formación de Personal Investigador (Ayudas FPI) BES-2009-023916, otorgada por la Secretaría de Estado de Investigación del Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación y posteriormente gestionada por el Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad

Peer Reviewed