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The Gulf of Cádiz (in Spanish: ''Golfo de Cádiz'') is the arm of the Atlantic Ocean between Cabo de Santa Maria (''Cape of St. Mary''), the southernmost point of Mainland Portugal and Cape Trafalgar (''Cabo Trafalgar'') at the western end of the Strait of Gibraltar. Two major rivers, the Guadalquivir and the Guadiana, as well as smaller rivers, like the Odiel, the Tinto, and the Guadalete, reach the ocean here. The Gulf of Cádiz is located in the north-eastern Atlantic Ocean between 34°N and 37°15'N and 6°W to 9°45'W.〔 It is enclosed by the southern Iberian and northern Moroccan margins, west of Gibraltar Strait.〔 == Geology == The geological history of the Gulf of Cádiz is intimately related to plate tectonic interaction between Southern Eurasia and North Africa and is driven by two major mechanisms:〔 * subduction associated with the westward emplacement of the Gibraltar Arc and formation of the Gulf of Cádiz accretionary wedge.〔 The current activity of the subduction is unclear, with some advocating ongoing active subduction.〔 Others suggest that subduction is inactive and that a new plate boundary has recently formed along a series of prominent WNW-ESE trending lineaments acting as a dextral strike-slip (transform) plate boundary.〔 * oblique lithosphere collision between Iberia and Nubia. Oblique convergence between Africa (Nubia) and Iberia (Eurasia) occurs here at about 4 mm/yr in a NW-SE direction.〔〔 Some have suggested this may also be causing active thrusting in the Gulf of Cadiz.〔〔 It is now well established that the whole area is under compressive deformation and that mud volcanism and processes associated with the escape of hydrocarbon-rich fluids sustain a broad diversity of chemosynthetic assemblages.〔 The accretionary wedge formed by subduction represents an extensive area which encompasses over forty mud volcanoes (a type of cold seep), at depths ranging from 200 to 4000 m (confirmed by coring), and active methane seepage has been documented on several locations.〔〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Gulf of Cádiz」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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