Affluence of data on Volcanism in the Gulf of Cadiz

 

Enrique Wulff-Barreiro

Marine Sciences Institute of Andalusia (CSIC)

Campus Universitario Rio San Pedro s/n.

11510 Puerto Real (Cádiz)

E-mail: enrique.wulff@icman.csic.es

 

 

 

This paper reports the recent progress on mud volcanism data accumulation in the case of the Gulf of Cadiz area. The discovery of giant mud volcanoes, deep coral reefs, and gas hydrates in 1999 and 2000, from the Guadalquivir Diapiric Ridge to the Larache Moroccan margin launched a dynamic of projects (GeNesis, MoundForce, MVSeis, HERMES) and international oceanographic campaigns (R/V Sonne, Marion-Dufresne, Logachev, Pelagia).

The present monitoring of this Ibero-Moroccan oceanic zone is in absence of a comprehensive database available in one site to make the online search possible from a unique interface. The database might constitute a reference point for a focused scoped collection, aiming to modelize the contribution of data coming from the Istituto Hidrografico (Portugal), Instituto Geologico Minero (Spain), and the US and EU involvement. Interpreted profiles through recent programs both in the Alboran region and in the Gibraltar Arc System has permitted earth science data to be categorised into three folds: (1) collect and file geological data related with morphology and gas mobility; (2) collect data on rifting processes associated to seismicity and volcanism; and (3) provide geoinformation databases for the better understanding of the influence of neotectonic processes on coastal evolution. The need of a metadata exchange platform to chart the data on mud volcanism dischargeable from the research cruisers is outlined. An internet site creation grouping the diverse references, and allowing the file, encryption, and the data setting online will profit of the achievements of experiences like http://www-app1.gfz-potsdam.de/ghml/index.php. By identifying as a interactive topic the mud volcanism and gas hydrates. The author offers an overview of the archival and availability of all mud volcanism data gathered by research facilities in the Gulf of Cadiz. The current search for a detailed catalog of seismic images associated with hydrocarbon seeps in the Gulf of Cadiz considerably extrapolate the efficiency of mud volcanism by covering 3.050 km of multichannel seismic. The volume of fluid extruding with the mud is variable, but reaches up to 15 km3 fluid per km trench length and Ma along cross sections. The number of mud volcanoes in the three regions (Moroccan, Portuguese, and Spanish) are nowadays inactive.