Fj González

Instituto Geológico y Minero de España | IGME · Marine Geology

The Cretaceous was an important period of manganese deposition in Iran, as evidenced by a series of medium-sized manganese deposits along the edge of the Neotethys ocean. This study characterizes representative example that occurs in Late Cretaceous volcanic rocks in the Goft deposit. This manganese deposit is typically volcanic hosted, with mangan...

The southwest Sabzevar basin in northeast Iran is one of the most important areas for volcanogenic stratiform manganese deposits. The Mohammadabad Mn deposit, found in this basin, is hosted by the upper late Cretaceous marly tuffs in a region that has an active history of tectonism. Their geology, mineralogy and geochemistry, including major, trace...

The production, transport, and deposition of mineral dust exert major influences on climate change and Earth’s biogeochemical cycles. Furthermore, their imprint, as recorded in pelagic sediments, provides an avenue for determining past changes in terrestrial aridity and atmospheric circulation patterns in response to global climate change. Here, by...

Stratabound or “Manto-type/volcanic red-bed” Cu-(Ag) deposits occur along the Urumieh-Dokhtar magmatic arc (UDMA), Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone (SSZ), Alborz Magmatic Assemblage (AMA), Sabzevar Zone, and Lut Block structural zones of Iran, and are hosted by Cretaceous and Eocene volcanic and volcano-sedimentary rocks. The most important deposits of this ty...

Previous studies have addressed the occurrence of Acid Rock Drainage (ARD) affecting La Silva stream due to the generation of large dumps of Middle Ordovician black shales during the construction of a highway close to El Bierzo (León, Spain). This ARD was characterized by sulphated acid waters with high concentration of heavy metals and anomalies i...

Late Pleistocene-Holocene rocks from the western part of Cocos-Nazca Spreading Centre (C-NSC) include ferromanganese crusts that elucidate the geochemistry and mineralogy of a deep-sea geological setting. Six representative Fe-Mn crust samples were studied using petrological methods, such as optical transmitted light microscopy, energy dispersive X...

Extensive beds of the deep-sea mussel Bathymodiolus mauritanicus (currently also known as Gigantidas mauritanicus ) linked to active cold seeps related to fissure-like activity on Al Gacel mud volcano, Gulf of Cádiz, were filmed and sampled for the first time during the oceanographic expedition SUBVENT-2 aboard R/V Sarmiento de Gamboa. Al Gacel mud...

Contourites are globally-distributed features along continental margins where deep-water masses come across the seafloor; however, the genesis and metal-sources of marine mineral deposits associated with contourite deposits remain largely unknown. Abundant Fe-rich nodules were recovered along the continental margin of the South China Sea, where ext...

Gas hydrate systems in the Scotia Sea, the deep-water oceanic gateway between Antarctica and South America, exist in a unique polar setting characterized by: (1) Very low bottom water temperatures (e.g., as low as −0.5 °C at water depths of 2000-4000 m); (2) strong bottom currents sourced both from the ice stream discharge in the Weddell Sea and fr...

FRAME started out with very definite objectives that built on previously available data developed in past EU projects (e.g., M4EU, EuRare, ProSUM, PROMINE and SCRREEN). As we fast approach the end of the GeoERA projects, in which FRAME is included, many are the achievements and substantial leaps forward in information gathering, data harmonisation...

In this work, we integrate five case studies harboring vulnerable deep-sea benthic habitats in different geological settings from mid latitude NE Atlantic Ocean (24–42° N). Data and images of specific deep-sea habitats were acquired with Remoted Operated Vehicle (ROV) sensors (temperature, salinity, potential density, O2, CO2, and CH4). Besides doc...

Purpose This study aims to present the results of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) determination of economically significant metals including rare-earth elements and Y (REY), Co + Ni + Cu obtained from the Fe-Mn deposits (FMD) of different areas selected along the Atlantic Ocean. Design/methodology/approach The description of...

This work presents a new high-resolution multibeam bathymetric map of a segment of active deep sea-floor spreading in the Atlantic Ocean, the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) at 45–46º N. New high-resolution bathymetry data were acquired using an Atlas multibeam echosounder onboard the research vessel Sarmiento de Gamboa during the EXPLOSEA-2 surv...

Hydrothermal iron (Fe)-rich sediments were recovered from the Tagoro underwater volcano (Central Atlantic) that was built during the 2011–2012 volcanic event. Cruises in 2012 and 2014 enabled the monitoring and sampling of the early-stage establishment of a hydrothermal system. Degassing vents produced acoustic flares imaged on echo-sounders in Jun...

This work presents the preliminary result of the multidisciplinary cruise EXPLOSEA2 surveying the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge and Azores Archipelago from 46 • 30 N to 38 • 30 N aboard the R/V Sarmiento de Gamboa and ROV Luso over 54 days (June 11 to July 27, 2019). In this cruise report, we detail the geophysical, hydrographic, geological, oceanogr...

This paper synthesizes the geology of the Atlantic Margin off the coast of Iberia and surrounding Abyssal Plains using published thematic mapping freely downloadable from EMODNET-Geology portal at different scales. Selected information was chosen in order to highlight mineral occurrences and natural hazards overlaid on geological and morphological...

Siboglinids were sampled from four mud volcanoes in the Gulf of Cádiz (El Cid MV, Bonjardim MV, Al Gacel MV, and Anastasya MV). These invertebrates are characteristic to cold seeps and are known to host chemosynthetic endosymbionts in a dedicated trophosome organ. However, little is known about their tube as a potential niche for other microorganis...

La planificación espacial marina es un proceso que requiere de participación, desde las primeras eta-pas, de las partes interesadas, usuarios y/o exper-tos, que representen a los múltiples sectores que desarrollan su actividad en las aguas que rodean el área de estudio. En este caso particular el ámbito geográfico considerado son las aguas, hasta l...

Four pure hydrogenetic, mixed hydrogenetic-diagenetic and hydrogenetic-hydrothermal Fe-Mn Crusts from the Canary Islands Seamount Province have been studied by Micro X-Ray Diffraction, Raman and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy together with high resolution Electron Probe Micro Analyzer and Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spec...

The Ab-Bagh Zn-Pb deposit is located in the central part of the Sanandaj-Sirjan zone (SSZ) and southeastern corner of the Malayer-Esfahan metallogenic. Based on stratigraphic position, two ore horizons can be distinguished which are hosted in the Upper Jurassic-lower Cretaceous sedimentary sequence. Due to alternating pulses of hydrothermal fluid (...

Siboglinid worms were sampled from four mud volcanoes in the Gulf of Cádiz (El Cid MV, Bonjardim MV, Al Gacel MV and Anastasya MV). These invertebrates are characteristic to cold seeps and are known to host chemosynthetic endosymbionts in a dedicated trophosome organ. However, little is known about their tube as a potential niche for other chemosyn...

Siboglinid worms were sampled from four mud volcanoes in the Gulf of Cádiz (El Cid MV, Bonjardim MV, Al Gacel MV and Anastasya MV). These invertebrates are characteristic to cold seeps and are known to host chemosynthetic endosymbionts in a dedicated trophosome organ. However, little is known about their tube as a potential niche for other chemosyn...

Azooxanthellate cold-water corals (CWCs) have a global distribution and have commonly been found in areas of active fluid seepage. The relationship between the CWCs and these fluids, however, is not well understood. This study aims to unravel the relationship between CWC development and hydrocarbon-rich seepage in Pompeia Province (Gulf of Cádiz, A...

Deep-water ferromanganese (Fe-Mn) nodules cumulate trace elements from the underlying sediment pore-water and seawater during the concentric mineral layers' growth process over millions of years. They can record longterm tectonic movements and paleoceanographic changes. To systematically ascertain paleoceanographic evolution of the deep South China...

A joint study and mapping of the morphological features and architecture of the Galicia margin based on high-resolution multibeam bathymetry data and multichannel seismic profiles, provides new insights of the margin morphostructure. Tectonic processes are the major control of the margin's morphology, where the imprint of the North Atlantic rifting...

A GIS catalogue of gas seeps around the Iberian Margin has been performed for the first time in the framework of the EMODNET-Geology-3 European project. Gas seep-related features include mud volcanoes and pockmarks but also other indicators of seabed fluid venting as the occurrence of methane-derived authigenic carbonates (MDACs) and chemosynthetic...

The Ab-Bagh Zn-Pb deposit is located in the southeastern part of Malayer-Esfahan metallogenic belt. This deposit is hosted in Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous sedimentary sequence; zinc and lead mineralization occurred within two horizons. The ore horizon 1 is hosted by Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous black shale and siltstone. The ore body displays...

Methane, CO2 and other greenhouses gases associated with sill intrussions in sedimentary basins may have driven catastrophic climate change in the geological past. Modeling of hydrothermal venting based on fossil volcanic sedimentary basins show that overpressure generated by gas release during kerogen breakdown in the sill thermal aureoloe may cau...

Ferromanganese nodules and crusts contain relatively high concentration of rare earth elements (REE) and yttrium (REY), with a growing interest in exploitation as an alternative to land-based REY resources. On the basis of comprehensive geochemical approach, the abundance and distribution of REY in the ferromanganese nodules from the South China Se...

Two Fe–Mn crusts among 35 samples, from six seamounts in the Canary Island Seamount Province, were selected as representatives of the endpoint members of two distinct types of genetic processes, i.e., mixed diagenetic/hydrogenetic and purely hydrogenetic. High-resolution analyses pursued the main aim of distinguishing the critical elements and thei...

The project MINDeSEA results of the collaboration between eight GeoERA Partners and four Non-funded Organizations at various points of common interest for exploration and investigation on seafloor mineral deposits. This project addresses an integrative metallogenetic study of principal types of seabed mineral resources (hydrothermal sulfides, ferro...

Submarine geomorphology is the study of landforms and processes in the underwater domain. The ocean hosts a tremendous variety of forms that reflect the action of a range of tectonic, sedimentary, oceanographic, chemical and biological processes at multiple spatio-temporal scales. Submarine geomorphological mapping provides fundamental and effectiv...

High-resolution multibeam bathymetry, seismic reflection data, sediment core and water samples were used to first detail the morpho-sedimentary structure and seepage environment of a recently discovered mud volcano (MV) in the Atlantic Moroccan margin during the SUBVENT-2 cruise. Henriet MV is the most eastern edifice of the Gulf of Cadiz, located...

The seabed geomorphology of the Passage of Lanzarote (PoL), between the Lanzarote and Fuerteventura islands and the West Africa Continental Margin (WACM), has been considered with the aim to improve the knowledge of the main active processes working on the seafloor. We have analyzed the acoustic data obtained in the oceanographic cruise SUBVENT2 ca...

This work presents biomarker content of sediments obtained from a new mud volcano, Subvent MV, in the Gulf of Cádiz. This mud volcano located in the Moroccan margin was discovered, surveyed and sampled during the SUBVENT2. A gravity core (SUBVENT2-TG02) recovered from the top of this mud volcano, at 434 m water depth, consists of recent mud breccia...

EMODnet es una iniciativa de la Comisión Europea (“Estrategia para el Conocimiento Marino 2020”) creada con el fin de desarrollar una infraestructura europea de datos marinos y facilitar el uso y acceso a la información a organismos gubernamentales, la industria y centros de investigación.

On the basis of 2D multichannel and very-high-resolution seismic data and swath bathymetry, we report a sequence of giant mass-transport deposits (MTDs) in the Scan Basin (southern Scotia Sea, Antarctica). MTDs with a maximum thickness of c. 300 m extend up to 50 km from the Discovery and Bruce banks towards the Scan Basin. The headwall area consis...

New seismic profiles, bathymetric data and sediment-rock sampling document for the first time the discovery of hydrothermal vent complexes and volcanic cones at 4800-5200 m depth related to recent volcanic and intrusive activity in an unexplored area of the Canary Basin (Eastern Atlantic Ocean, 500 km west of the Canary Islands). A complex of sill...

Submarine volcanic eruptions are frequent and important events, yet they are rarely observed. Here we relate bathymetric and hydroacoustic images from the 2011-2012 El Hierro eruption with surface observations and deposits imaged and sampled by ROV. As result of the shallow submarine eruption, a new volcano named Tagoro grew from 375 to 89 m depth....

El desarrollo de la sociedad moderna y el avance en la investigación tecnológica dependen íntimamente de la minería. Éstos están representados por algunos elementos como las tierras raras, el cobalto, el telurio o el platino que son codiciados por los países industrializados por su escasez y por sus propiedades físicas y/o químicas específicas.

Thick ferromanganese (Fe-Mn) crusts from four Cretaceous seamounts (The Paps, Tropic, Echo and Drago) at the southern Canary Island Seamount Province (CISP) in the northeastern tropical Atlantic were recovered along the flanks and summits from 1700 to 3000 m water depths. CISP is composed of > 100 seamounts and submarine hills, is likely the oldest...

Mercator mud volcano has been explored by direct visual observations using a ROV at 350 to 370 m depth. Underwater images, taken mainly at the summit, have allowed characterizing the fluid venting environment, where different microforms, habitats and associated biota, with typical seepage components have been identified. Chemosynthetic bacterial co...

This paper presents a combined onshore-offshore morpho-structural characterization of the El Golfo giant landslide, island of El Hierro (Canary Archipelago, Spain). Offshore data from multibeam echosounders, chirp sub-bottom profiles and multichannel seismic reflection data and onshore data coming from water wells and galleries have been analyzed....

High-resolution single channel and multichannel seismic reflection profiles and multibeam bathymetric and backscatter data collected during several cruises over the period 1999 to 2007 have enabled characterising not only the seabed morphology but also the subsurface structural elements of the Yuma, Ginsburg, Jesús Baraza and Tasyo mud volcanoes (M...

South Shahreza basin located in the most southeastern corner of the Malayer-Esfahan metallogenic belt. Zinc and lead mineralization occurred in two ore horizons at extensional back-arc basin. Ore horizon 1 hosted upper Jurassic-lower Cretaceous detrital-carbonate (includes black organic matter rich shale, siltstone and limestone) and ore horizon 2...

A wide variety of marine mineral deposits were recovered from 750 to 1400 m water depths on Galicia Bank, Iberian margin. Mineral deposits include: (1) carbonate fluorapatite phosphorite slabs and nodules that replaced limestone and preserved original protolith fabric. (2) Ferromanganese vernadite crusts with high Mn and Fe (Mn/Fe = 1) contents, an...

This study shows an onshore-offshore morpho-structural characterization of the El Golfo flank collapse and debris avalanche on El Hierro (Canary Islands, Spain). Erosive and depositional features have been identified based on: LIDAR topography and geology from water galleries (onshore); and high-resolution 3.5 kHz and multichannel seismic reflectio...

This study presents the first version of a GIS catalogue of submarine landslides affecting the Spanish Continental Shelf pursuant UNCLOS (United Convention for the Law of the Sea) that comprise continental-type margins (Atlantic and Mediterranean) as well as hot-spot type volcanic islands and seamounts (Canary Archipelago). This first version compi...

En este trabajo se presentan los resultados geoquímicos de dos testigos de gravedad (TG16 y TG18) realizados sobre un cono volcánico-hidrotermal denominado Tenor 1 y ubicado en la Cuenca de Canarias (Atlántico Central NE), durante la campaña oceanográfica SUBVENT_1 (2013). Debido a su situación geográfica, la estructura estudiada es susceptible de...

En la región oceánica de Canarias (Atlántico Central NE), existe un conjunto de más de 100 montes y relieves submarinos elevados hasta 3000 m por encima de los fondos marinos. Estas estructuras están siendo exploradas dado que contienen depósitos minerales de interés científico y económico (Manzanares et al., 2013; González et al., 2014; 2015; Mari...

Micro-pyrite in methane-derived carbonate pipes collected from different areas of the Gulf of Cadiz shows framboidal, euhedral and sunflower morphologies. Although micro-pyrite is massively transformed into iron oxyhydroxides, original pyrite mineralogy is preserved in the three morphologies. Size distributions of the whole population and by morpho...

Extrusive edifices and structural reliefs, catalogued as mounds and located on the seafloor to the west of Canary Islands were analyzed by acoustic data obtained with multibeam and parametric echosounders during several oceanographic expeditions. They were carried out at deep waters, from 4800 to 5200 m, and they have allowed characterizing 41 newl...

The Passage of Lanzarote is an example of a wide oceanic corridor. It extends between the eastern Canary Islands and the Western Africa continental margin. Seafloor morphology of this passage has been analyzed with the aim to know the morphogenetic processes related to both the oceanography and the geology. Multibeam bathymetric data and high and v...

The mud volcanism in the Iberian and Moroccan margins of the Gulf of Cadiz is well known over more than a decade. Nevertheless, new structures and morphologies related to fluid venting are still discovered in the recent oceanographic cruise SUBVENT2 in 2014 along the Moroccan margin. Four new mud volcanoes have been identified along two sector of M...

The continental slope of the Canary Islands volcanic province is characterized by the occurrence of several seamounts and large landslides that have been widely documented. A detailed morphological study of the Echo seamount has been done by using multibeam bathymetry, backscatter data and very high resolution seismic profiles. The seamount shape,...

We report precursory geophysical, geodetic, and geochemical signatures of a new submarine volcanic activity observed off the western coast of El Hierro, Canary Islands. Submarine manifestation of this activity has been revealed through acoustic imaging of submarine plumes detected on the 20-kHz chirp parasound subbottom profiler (TOPAS PS18) mounte...

We developed and implemented a mathematical algorithm to model the growth of sedimentary framboidal pyrite simulating diverse natural mechanisms. The algorithm starts with growth in open system, based in the Proportional Effect Law, and finishes with growth in closed system at constant volume, following processes of dissolution, interstitial spaces...