| Abstract |
DSDP Site 398 is located on the West Iberian passive continental margin, south of Galicia Bank, 20 km to the south of Vigo Seamount (Figure 1).The kinematic evolution of the Iberian plate is closely controlled by the relative motions of the African, European, and North American plates. A study based on magnetic data and land data was undertaken to better define the relative motion of Iberia with respect to these main plates (Sibuet et al; in preparation).Trapped between these plates, microcontinents such as Galicia Bank and Flemish Cap (located between Iberia and North America) assumed their own relative motions with respect to Iberia and North America during the early evolution of the North Atlantic.Consequently, the initial oceanic circulation between small basins corresponding to the Bay of Biscay and the North Atlantic West of Iberia and Europe is closely controlled by relative positions and movements of these microcontinents. Site 398 paleoenvironment data, therefore, are of crucial interest in understanding the early evolution of the North Atlantic and the vertical evolution of continental margins. [NOT CONTROLLED OCR] |
