The Gibraltar Arc is a geological region corresponding to an arcuate orogen surrounding the Alboran Sea, between the Iberian Peninsula and Africa. It consists of the Betic Cordillera (south Spain), and the Rif (North Morocco).[1] The Gibraltar Arc is located at the western end of the Mediterranean Alpine belt[2] and formed during the Neogene due to convergence of the Eurasian and African plates.[3]
Maximum altitudes of the region are reached at the 3,482 m (11,424 ft) Mulhacén peak at the Cordillera Betica. Precipitation is collected mainly by the Guadalquivir (Betics) and Sebou (Rif) rivers, which have delivered most sedimentary infill of the homonym sedimentary foreland basins.[citation needed].
- ^ Flinch, J.F. (1994) (1994). Tectonic evolution of the Gibraltar Arc. Doctoral Thesis, Rice University (Thesis). hdl:1911/16726.
{{cite thesis}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Miller, M.S.; Allam, A.A.; Becker, T.W.; Di Leo, J.F.; Wookey, J. (2013). "Constraints on the tectonic evolution of the westernmost Mediterranean and northwestern Africa from shear wave splitting analysis". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 375: 234–243. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2013.05.036.
- ^ Fernández-Ibañez, F.; Soto, J.I.; Zoback, M.D.; Morales, J. (2007). "Present-day stress field in the Gibraltar Arc (western Mediterranean)". Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth. 112 (B8). doi:10.1029/2006jb004683.