Third Annual Conference IGCP No526, Rabat, MOROCCO PROVENANCE OF MULTICYCLE SEDIMENTS ON high reworking grade, polycyclic character of the THE BAY OF CADIZ AND THE ADJACENT sediments and diversification of source area. CONTINENTAL SHELF (SW SPAIN) BASED ON The combination of compositional and mineralogical SILICICLASTIC GRAINS EXOSCOPY study of modern sediments of the bay of Cadiz and the 1 2 2 adjacent continental shelf is of great hydrodynamic and M. Achab , J.P. Moral Cardona & J.M. Gutiérrez Mas sedimentary processes interest. The application of textural 1 Département des Sciences de la Terre, Institut Scientifique. Université and morphological analysis has allowed the establishment Mohammed-V-Agdal, BP 703, Agdal, Rabat, Maroc. [email protected] of multicyclic character of the sediments and the stages 2 Departamento de Geologia. Facultad de Ciencias del Mar y Ambientales and cycles undergone by the terrigenous grains during its .Universidad de Cadiz. Apartado 40, 11510. Puerto Real (Cadiz, Spain). sedimentological evolution. Studies on the provenance and sediment transport have been based on the use of accessory minerals to determine assemblages and source areas. These can be supplemented UPWELLING VARIATIONS IN CABO FRIO by techniques such as the exoscopy, which provides REGION DURING THE HOLOCENE information on morphology and surface features of grains AND ITS RELATION WITH PALEOCLIMATE as well as the differentiation of sedimentary stages. CHANGES INLAND In the littoral zones and inner continental shelf, recent sea level changes force to coexist relict sediments deposits, A.L.S. Albuquerque, M.M. Andrade, A.C. Cruz, formed when sea level was lower than nowadays, with A. Sifeddine & B. Turcq more recent sediments which are in equilibrium with Departamento de Geoquimica, Universidade Federal Fluminense, hydrodynamic agents. It is important to consider the Niteroi, Brazil. sedimentary facies distribution and the characteristics and LOCEAN, IRD/UPMC/CNRS/MNHN, Bondy, France. provenance of the sediments. The objective of this work is to establish The Cabo Frio region as indicated by its name is a differentiation criteria between present and relict place of low SST due to a local upwelling triggered by the sediments, the determination of depositional environments, Northeast trade winds, the northward flow of cool South source areas and the sedimentation cycles undergone by Atlantic Central Water and vortex of the Brazilian current the recent sediments of the bay of Cadiz and the adjacent in the upper warm Tropical Water. Paleoceanographic continental shelf. This study was based on a conditions during the last 13,000 years have been multidisciplinary methodology involving the use of reconstructed based on two cores collected on the outer sedimentological, mineralogical and morphological shelf. The studied proxies included mineral and heavy analysis of the quartz and heavy minerals grains. metal quantification, bulk organic matter characteristics and The study area constitutes an example of a siliciclastic planktonic foraminifera. sedimentary marine environment and displays several A first phase of sedimentation between 13,000 and sediment types: inner bay with mud, external bay with sand 7,000 cal BP is characterized by high mineral content and muddy-sand, while in the inner shelf predominate probably due to the lower sea level. SST reconstructions sandy-mud to the north and the muddy-sand to the south. indicate cool and highly variable temperatures that were The littoral zone is formed by beaches, cliffs, river mouths, probably not related to upwelling events made difficult by and tidal creek and salt marsh edges. The mineralogical the low sea level but to lower regional SSTs. This is in analysis shows the predominance of quartz in the sandy good agreement with observations of continental climate fraction. The heavy fraction in the sediments was never dryer in southwest Brazil with intense events of more than 5%, the heavy minerals studied are zircon, precipitation. garnet, tourmaline, epidote and andalousite. A second phase between 7,000 and 3,000 cal BP shows The use of surface feature analysis using SEM gives higher SST indicating few occurrences of upwelling. Its information about morphological characteristics and may be due to the decrease of South Atlantic Convergence separate phases of the sedimentary evolution. The principal Zone (ZCAS) intensity linked to the lower summer mechanical and chemical surface features identified in insolation and the reduced monsoonal flux at that time. On quartz and heavy minerals grains are: conchoidal features, the adjacent continent the decrease monsoon is evidenced mechanical V’s, curbed grooves, arcuate steps, oriented by low lake levels and poorly developed forests. etch pits, solution pits, chattermark trails, and pulished The third and last phase, post 3,000 cal BP, is surface. In addition, idiomorphic, subidiomorphic and characterized by the onset of upwelling events that may be xenomorphic grains are also observed especially in the related to an intensification of the South American group of heavy minerals. These textures (marks) and Monsoon and of the ZCAS activity leading to an increase morphologies are generated as a consequence of of Northeast winds during summer which is typically the sedimentary processes undergone by sediments during upwelling season. On the continent this period was marked different stages and geological cycles of erosion, transport by forest development. The transition at 3,000 yrs BP is and deposit. The coexistence of different morphological very late compared to other Holocene record. Paleoclimate types of siliciclastic grains in these sediments indicates a model simulations suggest that this later change would be a characteristic of the southern tropics. 79 Third Annual Conference IGCP No526, Rabat, MOROCCO LA CASCADE MESSINIENNE DU DETROIT The Estremadura Spur (ES) is a E-W trending submarine DE GIBRALTAR promontory (ca. 200 x 100 km) off the West-Iberian Margin, which establishes the morphological connection M. El Abbassi & A. Ammar between the Madeira-Tore Rise (MTR) with the Portugal mainland and separates the Iberia Abyssal Plain in the north Université Mohammed V-Agdal, Faculté des Sciences, Département des from the Tagus Abyssal Plain in the south. Sciences de la Terre, B.P. 1014 RP, Rabat, Morocco. The coalescence of the TMR and ES with the onshore Il est admis qu’au Messinien, la Méditerranée a connu mountains of the Portugal mainland that resulted from the un grand déficit hydrique dont a résulté une accumulation Alpine shortening events of Paleogene and Miocene age, as de sels de plusieurs dizaines de mètres dans certains de ses well as alkaline magmatic intrusions of Late Cretaceous age bassins. (Miranda et al., 2009) indicates that the history of the formation of the ES is polyphase and underwent different En mer d’Alboran, ce type de sédimentation n’existe tectonic and magmatic processes. pas, et le Messinien n’est représenté que par de faibles épaisseurs sédimentaires indiqués par un faciès sismique In order to characterize its continental shelf, namely the particulier. Cette période est également marquée par une morphology, surface structure and depositional architecture érosion généralisée revêtant parfois des dimensions the following data set was used: (1) a bathymetric mosaic spectaculaires dans le prolongement de certains cours d’eau acquired with single-beam and multi-beam echo sounders; en particulier au droit de oued Kert dans le Rif oriental et (2) single channel seismic reflection profiles acquired with oued Laou dans le Rif occidental, mais aussi à la sortie sparker and chirp sonar systems; and (3) high-frequency orientale du détroit de Gibraltar. L'importance de cette side-scan sonar sonographs. érosion suggère qu'elle s'est produite à l’air libre, mais The Digital Terrain Model (DTM) analysis and its surtout que le détroit fonctionnait déjà à la fin du Miocène derived products (Slope, Aspect, Curvature, Roughness and et non pas au Pliocène comme le soulignent tous les travaux Fractal Dimension) allowed segmenting the ES continental antérieurs. shelf in three distinct bathymetric and morphological Avant le Messinien, l'alimentation de la mer domains: inner, middle and outer shelf. Alternatively, the Méditerranée par l’eau océanique était assurée par le biais seismic stratigraphy interpretation calibrated with rock des corridors passant par le sillon Sud-Rifain et par la samples dated by Mougenot (1976), allowed the production chaîne bétique. Ces corridors se seraient fermés au of a geological map and thus a correlation of morphology Messinien. Pour expliquer la quantité de sel déposé au with stratigraphy and tectonics. Peaks of Palaeozoic and niveau du bassin Algéro-Baléare, certains auteurs Mesozoic rocks were uplifted during the Miocene tectonic envisageaient une alimentation en eaux salées sans pour inversion (Tortonian) and now make up the main relief in autant préciser son origine. La découverte de cette entaille the inner and middle shelf. These reliefs delineate and d'érosion messinienne à l'Est du détroit de Gibraltar comble enclose depressions (Ericeira Sea and Lourinhã Basin), cette lacune. Nous pensons que pendant cette période le which were partially filled during the Aquitanian- détroit était partiellement ouvert et fonctionnait comme une Burdigalian transgression. cascade alimentant la Méditerranée en eau océanique avant Ravinements and abrasion platforms of late-Palaeogene son effondrement qui a donné