A Seismic Facies Analysis to Determine the Relative Age and History of the Al Idrissi Mud Volcano from Offshore Larache Located in the NW Moroccan Atlantic Margin

Abstract

Formed on top of the Gulf of Cadiz, the Al Idrissi mud volcano is the shallowest and largest mud volcano in the El Arraiche mud volcano field of the northwestern Moroccan margin. The development and morphology of mud volcanoes from the El Arraiche mud volcanoes group have been studied at a large scale. However, the time interval related to their formation period still needs to be better understood. In this regard, we interpreted and analyzed the seismic facies from the 2D reflection data of the GEOMARGEN-1 campaign, which took place in 2011. The aim was to identify the seismic sequences and draw the Al Idrissi mud volcano system to determine the formation period of the Al Idriss mud volcano. And as a result, the Al Idrissi mud volcano system is made of both buried and superficial bicone and was identified along with the Upper Tortonian to Messinian-Upper Pliocene facies. As the initial mud volcano extrusive edifice, the buried bicone was formed in the Late-Messinian to Early-Pliocene period. However, the superficial bicone, as the final extrusive edifice, was included in the Late Pliocene. In this case, the timing interval between the buried and superficial bicone is equivalent to the Late-Messinian to Upper-Pliocene period. Therefore, the latter corresponds to the Al Idrissi mud volcano formation period.