Searching for the Africa-Eurasia Miocene boundary offshore western Algeria (MARADJA'03 cruise)

We present new results from the MARADJA'03 cruise depicting the geological structures offshore central and western Algeria. Using swath bathymetry and seismic reflection data, we map and discuss the offshore limits of the Internal Zones corresponding to relics of the AIKaPeCa domain that drifted and collided the African plate during the Miocene. We identify large reverse faults and folds that reactivate part of these limits and are still active today. The morphology of the westernmost NE-SW margin suggests a former strike-slip activity accommodating a westward block translation responsible for the shift of the Internal Zones towards the Moroccan Rif.