Seismic and gravity anomaly evidence of large-scale compressional deformation off SW Portugal

Multi-channel seismic and gravity anomaly data have been used to determine the extent of compressional deformation along the SW Portugal rifted continental margin and place constraints on the long-term (> 1 M.a.) strength of the lithosphere. The seismic sections suggest that the region of compressional deformation is broad (∼ 100 km) and has been active since the Miocene. Integration with recently compiled high-resolution bathymetric data shows that the main thrust front is located along the base of the continental slope, between north of the Gorringe Bank and the Setúbal Canyon. Gravity data show that the thrust front is associated with a narrow isostatic anomaly ‘high’ of up to 70 mGal that is flanked on its NW edge by a broad ‘low’ of up to 20 mGal. This high-low ‘couple’ can be explained by compressional loading of extended continental lithosphere that increased its flexural strength (or equivalent elastic thickness, Te) since rifting. Based on combined 2-D backstripping and gravity modelling techniques we estimate a Te of ∼ 10 km during the main stretching episode, in the Late Jurassic (maybe earliest Cretaceous?), and of 35–50 km during the Miocene to Recent compression. The existence of a broad region of deformation off SW Portugal together with a strong lithosphere have implications for the rupture models of large earthquakes in the region, such as the 1755 Great Lisbon earthquake, particularly when accounting for a complex, multiple rupture in faults which cut through lithosphere of distinct nature and origin, as appears to be required by modellers to explain the historical observational data.