Gibraltar Arc

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). The Gibraltar Arc is located at the western end of the Mediterranean Alpine belt and formed during the Neogene due to convergence of the Eurasian and African plates.

Maximum altitudes of the region are reached at the Mulhacén peak (3482 m) 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..

North–south convergence of the Eurasian and African plates occurred during the middle Oligocene to the late Miocene, followed by northwest–southeast convergence from the late Tortonian to present. The Gibraltar Arc was formed during the Neogene due to a combination of western migration of the orogenic mountain front and late orogenic extension. The present convergence rate of the plates is estimated to be approximately 4.5 to 5.0 mm/year with an azimuth of 135–120°.

The eastward Gibraltar Arc oceanic subduction system was active during the Early and Middle Miocene and has likely been inactive since. At this time, the Alboran Sea acted as a back-arc basin during the deposition of accretionary units. Since the Late Miocene, north–south to northwest–southeast continental convergence forced the subduction system along the arc that is oriented N20°E to N100°E. There is a lithospheric slab dipping east from the Strait of Gibraltar down to 600 km depth beneath the Alboran Sea.

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