Luis Miguel Fernández Salas

• Dr. en Ciencias del Mar
• Senior Researcher at Instituto Español de Oceanografia - Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas

The formation and development of a small Mediterranean deltaic system are investigated through a primary seismic stratigraphic interpretation of a high-resolution seismic profile network, combined with multiple bathymetric data (including multibeam bathymetric imagery) and collated with shallow sediment cores collected with a vibro-corer device. Th...

Within the framework of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), the Oceanographic Centre of the Canary Islands has coordinated, for the last 14 years, 13 scientific surveys around the archipelago to, amongst others, describe and monitor the existing mesophotic and deep-sea communities. The methodology followed during these surveys consis...

Resumen: En la plataforma continental del golfo de Cádiz, se ha encontrado evidencia de un escape fluido en forma de burbujas, a una profundidad de 50 m aproximadamente sobre un alto morfológico denominado Minas Tirith. Los datos obtenidos para la realización de este estudio, principalmente basados en la interpretación de datos acústicos (TOPAS y E...

The present research paper addresses a critical gap in existing literature concerning the absence of a standardized methodology for parameter selection in the computation of the Bathymetric Position Index (BPI) values. The BPI is a measure of where a georeferenced location, with a defined depth, is relative to the neighbouring seascape, and it play...

The Spanish Institute of Oceanography has realized nineteen oceanographic cruises in order to monitor the geomorphological changes during the submarine eruption of the Tagoro volcano and later evolution. The major geomorphological features were achieved fundamentally by the use of Multibeam EM710 echosounder data. Eruption was characterized by two...

Since Tagoro volcano erupted in 2011, several impacts have been associated to the volcano formation process, some of which are still present to date. This chapter is a review of the marine environmental perturbations caused by Tagoro volcano as a new geological structure, but thoroughly onto the partly annihilated benthic and demersal pre-existing...

The invasive seaweed Rugulopteryx okamurae has recently arrived in Europe from the western Pacific. Its explosive spread on coastal areas of the Gulf of Cádiz (GoC), Strait of Gibraltar and Alboran Sea is spoiling native coastal ecosystems and inflicting heavy losses on ecosystem services. We discovered for the first time large amounts (up to 17 g...

Multibeam bathymetry, sub-bottom parametric profiler, multichannel seismic reflection data and sediment cores were used to detail the nature, morpho-sedimentary and internal structure of five newly discovered submarine mud volcanoes (MVs) in the Moroccan margin of the Gulf of Cadiz. The Henriet and Subvent MVs are located at 300–400 m water depth,...

The Gulf of Cadiz and the Alboran Sea are characterized by tectonic activity due to oblique convergence at the boundary between the Eurasian and Nubian plates. This activity has favored a variety of tsunamigenic sources: basically, seismogenic faults and submarine landslides. The main tsunamigenic faults in the Gulf of Cadiz would comprise the thru...

The dense and deep water flow that leaves the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic flows through the upper and middle slope of the Gulf of Cádiz as a powerful bottom stream that models and interacts with bathymetry. The detailed analysis of underwater images, obtained with a photogrammetric sled in the central area of the upper and middle slope of the...

This paper integrates sedimentary, tectonic and volcanic geological processes inside a model of volcano-tectonic activity in oceanic intraplate domains related to rifted continental margins. The study case, the eastern Canary Basin (NE Atlantic), is one of the few places in the world where giant MDTs and Quaternary volcanic and hydrothermal edifice...

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...

The seafloor of the Alboran Sea reflects its complex tectonic, sedimentary, and oceanography dynamics as a consequence of the geological context, involving interaction between the Eurasian and African plates, and oceanographic context, as it is where the Atlantic and Mediterranean waters meet. Their physiography has a semi-enclosed configuration ch...

The toponymy of the main submarine physiographic and morphological features of the Alboran Sea and the Strait of Gibraltar has been compiled without taking into account the coastal places that can be obtained from standardized land cartographic bases. For this, a review of the bibliography has been carried out and the most widely used features have...

The seafloor of the Alboran Sea reflects its complex tectonic, sedimentary, and oceanography dynamics as a consequence of the geological context, involving interaction between the Eurasian and African plates, and oceanographic context, as it is where the Atlantic and Mediterranean waters meet. Their physiography has a semi-enclosed configuration ch...

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...

Highlights Gazul MV presents a high geomorphological variability and diversity of bottom types. Six main epibenthic assemblages have been identified conforming habitats. Hard bottoms of the MV edifice contain the most biodiverse assemblages. Cold-water coral communities are dominated by Madrepora oculata. Gazul MV harbors different vulnerable...

A morphological and seismic-stratigraphic analysis of the Gulf of Cadiz area near the Strait of Gibraltar is presented in this work, focused on the sedimentary evolution of the upper and proximal middle-continental slope since the Mid-Pleistocene. Based on the analysis of seismic reflection profiles and swath bathymetry data, this work analyses the...

The Iberian margin in the Gulf of Cádiz hosts a fluid venting area embedded into a contourite depositional drift and is a natural laboratory to study how multiple interacting processes shape the seafloor. A high-resolution morpho-sedimentary analysis, based on geophysical data, sediment samples and submarine imagery, has been carried out; the onset...

On continental margins, the upper slope to shelf break environment forms a critical region where sediment supply, hydrographic activity and gravitational processes determine how and when sediments are partitioned between the shallow- and deep-marine realm. On the SW Iberian margin, relatively few studies have addressed the dynamics of this region,...

The Gulf of Cádiz represents an area of extensive seepage of the south-western Iberian Peninsula that is located between two continents and basins, where a high geomorphologic, sedimentary and environmental complexity occurs. In the present study, epibenthic communities were investigated in a mud volcano field containing four mud volcanoes (Gazul,...

The Canary Islands are a volcanic alignment of seven islands that conforms an archipelago located in the northwestern part of the still active Nubian (African) tectonic plate. The archipelago showed its latest volcanic activity south off El Hierro Island in 2011, resulting in the formation of the newest underwater volcano, known as Tagoro, for the...

A series of six gravity cores has been used to reconstruct the depositional history of Hatton Bank (Rockall Plateau, NE Atlantic Ocean). The cores have been studied for magnetic susceptibility (MS), geochemical composition, grain size distribution, and a semi-quantitative foraminiferal association. Two main interbedded facies have been described: (...

The Gulf of Cádiz is influenced by the collision of the Alborán Domain with the North African and South Iberian margins, which ultimately promotes hydrocarbon-rich fluid venting. Regarding oceanography, the effects of the Eastern North Atlantic Central Water, the Mediterranean Outflow Water and their interaction, strongly influence seabed topograph...

A relationship between scleractinian cold-water corals and fluid venting submarine structures has been observed in Mediterranean and adjacent areas. Mud volcanoes and mud diapirs promote different substrate types for biological colonisation: from muddy bottoms with chemosynthesis-based communities and typical bathyal soft bottom fauna to hard botto...

• An ecologically representative, well‐connected, and effectively managed system of marine protected areas (MPAs) has positive ecological and environmental effects as well as social and economic benefits. Although progress in expanding the coverage of MPAs has been made, the application of management tools has not yet been implemented in most of th...

Tagoro, the youngest submarine volcano of the Canary Islands, erupted in 2011 South of El Hierro Island. Pre-existing sea floor and inhabiting biological communities were buried by the newly erupted material, promoting the appearance of new habitats. The present study pursues to describe the first metazoans colonizing different new habitats formed...

Tagoro, the most recently discovered shallow submarine volcano on the Canary Islands archipelago, Spain, has been studied from the beginning of its eruptive phase in October 2011 until November 2018. In March 2012, it became an active hydrothermal system involving a release of heat and gases that produce significant physical–chemical anomalies in t...

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...

This study shows a morphosedimentary characterization of the continental shelf between “Punta de Baños” and “Punta de Torrenueva”, on the northwestern margin of the Alboran Sea. Multibeam bathymetry and backscatter data, very high resolution seismic profiles and surficial sediment samples were used for this purpose. Two groups of morphological feat...

The Gulf of Cádiz margin is characterized by geological processes that control seabed bathymetry and promote hydrocarbon-rich fluid venting in areas where the Eastern North Atlantic Central Water and the Mediterranean Outflow Water influence the substrate types. Geological and oceanographic processes determine the distribution of a wide variety of...

The seabed characteristics, the oceanographic circulation and the geomorphology heterogeneity of the Gulf of Cádiz (mud volcanoes, diapiric ridges, channels, etc.) promote a wide variety of biological communities.

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...

The seafloor of the Alboran Sea shows morphological evidence of the activity of several tectonic structures that basically correspond to two large families of conjugated strike-slip faults, the first of WNW-ESE to NW-SE trend and right-lateral movement, and the second of NNE-SSW to NE-SW trend and left-lateral movement, likewise it has been recogni...

During the INDEMARES/CHICA 0610, 0211 and 0412 expeditions, carried out in the northern Spanish sector of the Gulf of Cádiz (Spain), samples were collected with a box-corer in 11 mud volcanoes and their adjacent bottoms. Chemoautotrophic communities were found in nine mud volcanoes. Among Decapoda, a rare eucalliacid, belonging to the genus Calliax...

The increasing volume of high-resolution multibeam bathymetry data collected along continental margins and adjacent deep seafloor regions is providing further opportunities to study new morphological seafloor features in deep water environments. In this paper, seafloor mounds have been imaged in detail with multibeam echosounders and parametric sub...

An integrated approach combining swath bathymetry, high-resolution seismic reflection and seabed sediment sampling was performed to characterize a field of sand ridges on the Murcia continental shelf in the western Mediterranean Sea. The aim of this work was to improve knowledge about the formation, evolution and present-day dynamics of these bedfo...

High habitat diversity was observed on the Seco de los Olivos Seamount (SW Mediterranean Sea), a Site of Community Importance belonging to the Spanish marine Natura 2000 Network. Thirteen epibenthic habitats were identified by analysing 55 Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) transects from 76 m to 700 m depth and derived data from multibeam bathymetry...

Derived digital elevation models (DEMs) are high-resolution acoustic technology that has proven to be a crucial morphometric data source for research into submarine environments. We present a morphometric analysis of forty deep seafloor edifices located to the west of Canary Islands, using a 150 m resolution bathymetric DEM. These seafloor structur...

The pathways and transformations of dense water overflows, which depend on small-scale interactions between flow dynamics and erosional-depositional processes, are a central piece in the ocean's large-scale circulation. A novel, high-resolution current and hydrographic data set highlights the intricate pathway travelled by the saline Mediterranean...

Report on the geophysics and seabed sampling made on the submarine canyon of Algeciras to know its geological, geomorphological and benthic characteristics. In addition, a series of underwater mounds were studied in two sectors of the northern margin of the Alboran Sea.

Fields of submarine undulations occurring over prodeltaic slopes may be caused in some circumstances by the imprint of high-density sediment flows (i.e. hyperpycnal flows). This is the case of numerous Mediterranean settings, where marked seasonal climates and abrupt inshore physiography are conducive to the generation of these flows. In this contr...

Undulation fields found on Mediterranean prodeltaic slopes usually display sub-surface precursory features recognized through seismic profiling and sediment core data. In this contribution we examine the stratigraphic patterns of sub-surface undulations occurring in wedge-shaped Holocene deposits that are in agreement with the episodic activity of...

Multibeam swath bathymetry, high-resolution seismic data and sediment samples were used to characterize a field of sand ridges and subaqueous dunes on the outer Murcia continental shelf (western Mediterranean Sea). Sand ridges are 1.5–3 m high and show a predominant E-W orientation oblique to the present-day shoreline. High-resolution seismic data...

Seabed morphology, sub-bottom characteristics and benthic communities of the Hespérides volcanic complex, located in the continental slope of the Gulf of Cadiz, have been analyzed. The aim of this study is to characterize the morphological features, the geological processes and near-bottom water masses for understanding the relationships between th...

Between October 2011 and March 2012 a submarine volcanic eruption took place at the offshore of El Hierro Island. The extensive study of the eruption and subsequent degassing process has allowed monitoring the newly generated volcanic edifice. Multibeam bathymetric has enabled building a digital high-resolution bathymetric model (grid 1x1 m). The p...

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...

Habitat characterization using underwater images has been carried out in 4 mud volcanoes (Gazul, Almazán, St. Petersburg and Aveiro) and one mud volcano/diapir complex (Hespérides) located at the middle slope of the Spanish margin of the Gulf of Cádiz (360-1200m depth). A total of 126 species, mostly cnidarians, sponges, brachiopods, crustaceans an...

Seafloor morphotectonic features on the NE Alboran Sea have been analyzed using a mosaic of multibeam bathymetry and a mesh of reflection seismic profiles. A geomorphologic analysis and their relationship with active and Quaternary tectonic structures has been realized. Morphotectonic features are: i) fault scarps; ii) elongated ridges correspondin...

An analysis of small-scale morphologies developed in the different domains of submerged deltas (topset, foreset and bottomset) on the continental shelf of the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula is performed in this paper. The aim of the study is to understand the genetic processes, in particular the role played by the fluvial flows. To achieve this...

Numerical simulations of turbidity currents in deltaic areas have been used to study the morphology and the formation of the undulations of the western Mediterranean prodeltaic systems. A series of elongated and subparallel sea floor undulations are located on the middle and distal domains of the prodeltaic wedges. Those are associated with river m...

Seabed morphology, sub-bottom characteristics and benthic habitats of a sector of the Gulf of Cadiz continental slope have been analyzed. The aim is to recognize morphological features, geological processes and near-bottom water masses for understanding the relationships between the occurrence of fluid venting related edifices and their associated...

In this work, we present a morphometric analysis of 41 mounded edifices located on the seafloor to the west of Canary Islands, from 4800 to 5200 m water depth, using a 150 m resolution DEM and very high resolution seismic profiles. The objective of this study is to establish mound morphological relationships related to the possible variability in f...

The construction and evolution of submarine deltaic deposits are influenced by a combination of allogenic factors , such as fluvial flow (Q), and autogenic factors, such as basin slope (BS). Numerical simulations of turbidity currents are used to propose a morphodynamic model that quantifies the effect of both the slope and river input variations o...

Numerical simulation of turbidity currents are used to study the formation of the seafloor undulations in the Adra prodeltaic system, western Mediterranean basin. A series of elongated and subparallel bathymetric undulations are distinguished in the foreset-bottomsets domain of the Holocene pro-deltaic wedge associated with the Adra river. In this...

The margin of the continental slope of the Volcanic Province of Canary Islands is characterised by seamounts, submarine hills and large landslides. The seabed morphology including detailed morphology of the seamounts and hills was analysed using multibeam bathymetry and backscatter data, and very high resolution seismic profiles. Some of the elevat...

The analysis of a data set of multibeam bathymetry plus high resolution seismic and parametric profiles allow us to characterize the geomorphologic units on the Alboran Sea-floor as well as the evolution of morpho-sedimentary systems along the Pliocene and Quaternary, later than the main erosive Messinian event. Since the opening of the Gibraltar S...

Análisis de imagen para la identificación de objetos en filtros procedentes de las plumas de turbidez Image analysis to identify objects in filters obtained from turbidity plumes Abstract: The study of turbidity plumes developed in front of the river mouth, have an increasing scientific interest due to its contribution to infralittoral sediment tra...

The identification and characterization of a series of complex landslides have been carried out using Topographic Parametric Sounder (TOPAS) very high resolution profiles, obtained during the INDEMARES/CHICA1011 and ARSA0313 cruises, along the upper and middle slope of the eastern Gulf of Cádiz continental margin. These landslides constitute a larg...

The seabed morphology, type of sediments, and dominant benthic species on eleven mud volcanoes and diapirs located on the northern sector of the Gulf of Cádiz continental slope have been studied. The morphological characteristics were grouped as: (i) fluid-escape-related features, (ii) bottom current features, (iii) mass movement features, (iv) tec...

The construction and evolution of submarine deltaic deposits are influenced by a combination of allogenic and autogenic factors. Numerical simulation of turbidity currents are used to propose a morphodynamic model that quantifies the effect of the slope and river input variations on delta development/construction for the case of mountainous rivers...

Morfometría de montículos submarinos del talud inferior del margen continental canario (O de las Islas Canarias): Análisis basado en un MDT Abstract: We present a morphometric analysis of 41 mounded edifices located on the seafloor to the west of Canary Islands, using a 150 m resolution DEM and very high-resolution seismic profiles. In order to car...

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...

Advances in remotely-sensed techniques have revolutionized mapping methods and our understanding of the seabed environment. In particular, multibeam backscatter data nowadays allows developing quantitative studies on the composition of the seafloor, which represents an important baseline for habitat mapping. Usually, the acoustic response is consid...

The northeastern sector of the Gulf of Cadiz continental margin has been deeply studied the last two decades. The seafloor is characterized by the Gulf of Cadiz Contourite Depositional System, strong diapirism and seepage related to the mobility of the frontal units of the Gibraltar Arc. Since 2010 high resolution bathymetric data and high and very...

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...

Five different groups of gullies have been distinguished along the northeastern slope of the Gulf of Cádiz using geostatistical analysis. A Grouping Analyst has been carried out to six morphological variables of the gullies: area, straight line length, width/depth ratio, width, depth and stream order. The spatial distribution of the identified five...

Clinoforms constitute the basic building elements of continental margin growth. Submarine clinoforms are composed of three geometric elements: topset, foreset and bottomset. This study focuses on the determination of the distal termination of submarine deltaic clinoforms by using morphometric criteria and subsequent validation with stratigraphic, s...

New high-quality high-resolution bathymetric data along the northeastern slope of the Gulf of Cadiz continental margin reveals three gullies fields. The morphological and morphometric features of these gullies have been studied. The following morphometric variables have been measured in every gully in order to make a quantitative morphological anal...

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...

Ocean scientists are increasingly more interested in monitoring underwater ecosystems. Nowadays gathering that kind of data is practically limited to exploration expeditions which usually involve a very high cost for the information acquired. Underwater networks can be used to provide a quasi-real-time and continuous data flow, but the current capa...

The Gulf of Cadiz is located in the boundary of two lithospheric plates, this tectonic activity promote fluid rich hydrocarbon emissions from subsurface reservoirs and the formation of several mud volcanoes. The seabed and sedimentological heterogeneity, the complex oceanographic circulation, and the low fishing activity in certain areas may promot...

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,...

The seabed morphology and the sub-bottom characteristics of a sector of the Gulf of Cádiz continental slope have been analyzed from different data sets. The morphological characteristics, the type of sediments and dominant benthic species of Gazul mud volcano and adjacent areas have been studied. The morphological characteristics identified were gr...

The evolutionary stages of the submarine delta off the Adra River are investigated in this study, under the context of climatic fluctuations entangled with increasing human activities and interventions in the drainage basins and adjacent shores during the Middle to Late Holocene. To achieve that goal, we used an extensive database comprising a set...

The Gulf of Cádiz (GoC) represents an area of ecological importance within the northeastern Atlantic Ocean due to the presence of Mediterranean and Atlantic water masses, a heterogeneous seafloor and a biological confluence. Nevertheless, information on the presence of vulnerable deep-sea habitats is still very scarce and it is of importance for fu...