Gibraltar Arc

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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).

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.

The geology of this orogen undergoes simultaneous extension coeval to the regional convergence between Iberia and Africa during the Tertiary, which has not yet been satisfactorily interpreted.

[edit] See also

• Messinian Salinity Crisis