BUSCADOR RECOLECTA

MEDOC Cruise (29SG20100407) carried out on the Research Vessel Sarmiento de Gamboa in 2010, The Western Mediterranean basin: a natural laboratory of the processes of formation of continental margins extension. During the cruise collected 16 Multichannel Seismic Reflection (MCS) profiles using a 3.75 km-long streamer and a 3000 c.i. G-II gun array. Each transect provides the tectonic structure, the geometry of sedimentary deposits, and P-wave seismic velocity distribution. This information allows to interpret the mechanisms of deformation, infer the importance and potential role of magmatism in the rifting process, and estimate the region of mantle exhumation, currently inferred from one drill site. The analysis of the data provides insight in the process of formation of asymmetry structure conjugated margins

TOPOMED-GASSIS_LEG2 Cruise (29SG20111018) carried out on the Research Vessel Sarmiento de Gamboa in 2011, The TOPOMED is a Collaborative Research Project is based in the characterization of the lithospheric structure of the Gibraltar Arc region, including the Gulf of Cadiz and Alboran Sea, and the study of the resulting effects in the relief. Within the TOPOMED national project, GASSIS (Gibraltar Arc System Seismic Investigations Survey) is the first of two cruises that will be carried out in the South Iberian Margin. The TOPOMED-GASSIS cruise has been has been successfully accomplished onboard the R/V Sarmiento de Gamboa, from the 3rd to the 17th October (Leg 1) leaded by E. Gràcia and R. Bartolomé (UTM-CSIC) and from 18th to 29th October (Leg 2) leaded by C.R. Ranero (ICREA/ICM-CSIC). In addition to the seismic imaging of active faults and large structures of the South Iberian Margins, the TOPOMED-GASSIS cruise also included the implementation of new cutting edge marine seismic instrumentation (> 3.7 km streamer). Thus, Leg 1 team departed from Vigo on the 27th September and tests along the Galician and Huelva coasts were carried out until the 2nd October included. The tests included the deployment and recovery operations of a 5.3 km streamer and one seismic array of > 3000 c.i. Two test lines were shot and quality control was carried out by the Leg 1 scientific party. The main aim of the cruise is to characterize the crustal and upper mantle structure of the South Iberian Margin. We focused on: a) the investigation of shallow processes (i.e. active faults, fluid venting, mass fluxes) and b) the imaging and characterization of the deep crustal and mantle structure of the area. These objectives could only be achieved by using the acoustic and new Multi Channel Seismic instrumentation of the Spanish RV Sarmiento de Gamboa, which has provided unprecedented quality of data in the region. The data will permit to efficiently attenuate the seafloor multiple energy, and to use state of the art processing and imaging techniques to obtain the deep tectonic structure of the margin. To accomplish this goal we have used up to two high volume G-gun arrays and up to 6 km long Sercel multichannel digital streamer (480 channels) towed behind the vessel at a survey speed of 4.5-5 knots. Simultaneously to the seismic survey, we have used the hull mounted swath-bathymetry system to map unsurveyed areas, the hull mounted sub-bottom profiler Parasound to image the shallow sediments 0-100 m below the seafloor, a hull-mounted gravimeter and a shallow towed magnetometer

GEOMARGEN Cruise (29SG20111031) carried out on the Research Vessel Sarmiento de Gamboa in 2011, Seismic reflection Images, wide-angle seismic velocity models, and magnetoteluric structure of the Gibraltar Arc system: A geological interpretation of the geodynamic origin of Gulf of Cadiz imbricated wedge, the Alborán basin, and the South-Balearic basin. Tectonic Structure of the Imbricated Wedge of the Gulf of Cadiz (Gibraltar Arc) revealed from new seismic images of the Geomargen-I cruise

CHIANTI-2_LEG3 Cruise (29SG20150804) carried out on the Research Vessel Sarmiento de Gamboa in 2015, The Chianti cruise aims at studying the tectonic structure of the Ionian region using geophysical methods. The cruise has collected multichannel seismic reflection streamer data along with multi beam and sub-bottom profiler records to analyze the distribution of faults and the history of sedimentation to determine which structures are active and may have a potential relation to large or great earthquakes in the regions

AL-IDRISSI Cruise (29SG20160911) carried out on the Research Vessel Sarmiento de Gamboa in 2016, OBS deployment cruise for monitoring the seismicity of Southern Alboran, High resolution mapping of Al-Idrissi fault segments using multibeam probe and TOPAS

FRAME-MCS Cruise (29SG20180708) carried out on the Research Vessel Sarmiento de Gamboa in 2018, The nature and spatial distribution of geological domains across rifted continental margins are used to infer the processes that governed the formation of the system. Current conventional wisdom states that continental rifted margins formed away from the influence of hot-spots are systematically characterized by a spatial distribution of domains that implies a temporal sequence of geological events. The current paradigm proposes that extension of continental lithosphere causes thinning and break up of the crust leading to exhumation of the underlying mantle, followed by enough melting of the asthenosphere to form a spreading center. This widely accepted conceptual model is greatly influenced by past work in the West Iberia Margin, that is the model example of magma-poor rifted margins. However, the interpretation of the characteristics of the geological domains of the West Iberia Margin, including their nature (continental crust, synrift magmatism, oceanic crust etc), spatial distribution (e.g. width) and geometrical relationships (e.g. which occurred first) are for most of the region constrained by a few profiles of old-vintage, low-resolution geophysical data and locally restricted ground-truthing information. Based on our recent work, we propose that a considerable body of knowledge of the structure of the West Iberia continental margin needs to be updated with modern higher-resolution geophysical data, and the use of state-of-art methodologies to produce accurate quantifiable observations. Our recent work in the Gulf-of-Cadiz segment of the West Iberia Margin has shown that existing vintage data there provide ambiguous information, that cannot realistically constrain basement nature. Further, our work in the Tyrrhenian basin using several transects of modern seismic data has shown that the sequence of events accepted for the formation of rifted margins does not always apply, because there magmatic crust was formed before mantle exhumation. Therefore, a first main objective of this proposal is to collect, process, model with leading-edge methods and interpret several transects of geophysical data in key areas of the West Iberia Margin resulting from the separation of America from Iberia and African plates. Using those highly improved observation we aim at updating the characteristics of the geological domains of the rifted margin and refining existing conceptual models. As the second main objective of this proposal, we aim at analyzing the lithospheric-scale structures defined by the contacts among geological domains in the current kinematic framework of the region, where Africa and Iberian (Eurasian) plates are starting to collide. The Gulf-of-Cadiz segment of the West Iberia Margin is currently possibly entering into a new part of the Wilson cycle, in which structures formed by lithospheric deformation during basin opening are being re-activated with a different slip vector. The >100 Ma lithosphere is thick and lithospheric-scale faulting poses a major (albeit poorly studied and understood) hazard in the region. We aim at expanding our previous pilot work identifying and characterizing major lithospheric-scale boundaries, currently active and potentially capable of generating great seismic event of a magnitude similar to the catastrophic 1755 Lisbon earthquake and associated tsunami

GEOMARGEN-2 Cruise (29GD20130509) carried out on the Research Vessel García del Cid in 2013, Study of leaks of gaseous fluids on the coast of Tunissia

HADES Cruise (29GD20150801) carried out on the Research Vessel García del Cid in 2015, In this campaign, the oceanographic ship Garcia del Cid has been supporting the Sarmiento de Gamboa in the Hades project. One of the activities carried out is to spot whales while proceeding to conduct reflection seismic so that there is a space of security between the seismic activities and the Whales.The aim of Hades project is to Investigate the relationship between tectonics, magmatism and sediment dynamics and their influence on geo risks; large earthquakes, sliding volcano slopes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis in the tectonically active area of ​​the Calabrian arch system

FRAME-MCS Cruise (29GD20180708) carried out on the Research Vessel García del Cid in 2018, For the deployment of the 6 km-long streamer and operations during the entire cruise, the R/V Sarmiento de Gamboa will have the help of the auxiliary R/V Garcia del Cid. The tasks of the auxiliary boat are thus only to help on the different maneuvers and safety of instrumentation. The auxiliary boat will not collect any scientific data