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In this paper we discuss the results of a swath bathymetric investigation of the Canary archipelago offshore area. These new data indicate that volcanism is pervasive throughout the seafloor in the region, much more that would be suggested by the islands. We have mapped tens of volcanic edifices between Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria and offshore Tenerife, La Gomera, El Hierro and La Palma. Volcanic flows are present between Tenerife and La Gomera and salic necks dominate the eastern insular slope of La Gomera. This bathymetry also supports land geologic studies that indicate that the oceanic archipelago has acquired its present morphology in part by mass wasting, a consequence of the collapse of the volcanic edifices. In the younger islands, Tenerife, La Palma and El Hierro, the Quaternary (1.2 to 0.15 Ma) debris avalanches are readily recognizable and can be traced offshore for distances measured in tens of km. Off the older islands, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria and La Gomera (<20 to 3.5 Ma), the avalanches have been obscured by subsequent turbidity current deposition and erosion as well as hemipelagic processes. The failure offshore western Lanzarote is in the form of a ramp at the base of the insular slope bound on the seaward side by a scarp. Its size and the lack of evidence of rotation along its landwards side precludes the possibility that it is a slump. It probably represents a slide whose outer scarp is caused by break-up of the slide. Mounds on the ramp’s surface may represent post-displacement volcanic structures or exotic blocks transported to their present locations by the slide. The failures offshore Fuerteventura are so large that, although they occurred in the Miocene-Pliocene, exotic blocks displaced from upslope are still recognizable in the insular margin morphology. The Canary Island insular margin appears to be a creation of Miocene-Pliocene mass wasting and more recent turbidity current deposition and erosion, and hemilepagic deposition. Failures offshore La Gomera are due to debris flows and/or turbidity currents. These events have obscured earlier mass wasting events.

Circular to elliptical mounds in the Canary Channel with reliefs of 75 to 375 m and diameters of 4 to 8 km partially surrounded by moats with reliefs of 25 to 75 m, were formed by piercement of the seafloor by Mesozoic evaporites. Several long gullies, <1 km wide, with abrupt terminations and pockmarks associated with these mounds were probably eroded by dense brine and hydrocarbon seeps. The salt brines that eroded the gullies were formed where salt diapirs intersect the seafloor, or in the subsurface by circulating ground water heated by igneous activity along the Canary Ridge. If the brines originated in the subsurface they reached the seafloor along faults. Displacement of the surficial sediments by sliding and creep is probably the result of the expulsion of hydrocarbons and/or vertical motion of the Mesozoic evaporites. Microtopographic features along or near the east flank of the Canary Ridge are the creation of uplift of the ridge, hydrothermal activity, mass wasting processes and turbidity currents.

The meso-scale (km) morphology of the well-studied volcanic rift zones on the Island of Hawaii is compared to the morphology of the lesser known rift zones of La Palma and El Hierro, Canary Islands. We find that there are both differences and similarities in their morphologic characteristics. In general, the rift zones on La Palma and El Hierro are shorter (a few tens of km in length) than those on Hawaii (ranging up to >100 km in length), perhaps reflecting both magma supply and composition. Many of the rift zones on Hawaii have well defined axial zones, both on-and offshore. In contrast, the rift zones on La Palma and El Hierro display various geometries ranging from linear ridges having smooth to irregular crests to structures with a broad fan-like morphology in plan view. The pronounced fanning may be a reflection of: 1) the stress field within the rift being insufficient to trap dikes within a narrow region, 2) dike injection and volcanism shifting laterally through time, 3) volcanoes building nearly one atop of another in the Canary Islands, superimposing the stress field of one structure on the other and thus yielding a more complex distribution of gravitational stresses, and 4) low rate of magma supply producing low magma pressures and thus randomly oriented dike injections. Irregularities and curvature along the axes of the rifts on La Palma and El Hierro may be a reflection of differences in the rate of magma production. Unlike the volcanoes on the Island of Hawaii there may be insufficient volumes of lavas erupted on La Palma and El Hierro to smooth out irregularities. The superposition of rifts from different volcanoes may also add to topographic irregularities in the Canary Islands, especially if eruption rates are low.

As part of the ‘National Hydrographic and Oceanographic Research Plan for the Spanish Exclusive Economic Zone’, multibeam bathymetry and seismic reflection profiles were obtained in the Canary Islands aboard the R/V Hespérides. The submarine flanks of the Anaga offshore extension of Tenerife Island are here studied to analyze its geomorphology. In the north sector of the Anaga submarine massif, the extension of the Anaga Debris Avalanche has been mapped for the first time, and a volume of 36 km^3 was calculated. The relationship between the Anaga and Orotava Debris Avalanches is also described. Faulting has been recognized as a key process for the occurrence of debris avalanches and the growth of volcanic lineaments. Moreover, faulting affects previous structures and the channelling of debris flows. Structural analysis shows the typical radial pattern of an oceanic island. In addition, a NE-SW dominant direction of faulting was obtained, consistent with the Tenerife Island structural trend seen in the Anaga Massif and Cordillera Dorsal. NW-SE and E-W are two other main trends seen in the area. Special interest is manifest in two long faults: ‘Santa Cruz Fault’ bounds the southern edge of Anaga offshore Massif with a length of 50 km and a direction that changes from NE-SW to almost E-W. The Güimar Debris Avalanche was probably channeled by this fault. The ‘Guayotá Fault’ was recognized in several seismic profiles with a N-S direction that changes towards NW-SE at its southern end. This fault affects the more recent sediments with a vertical offset of 25–30 m, along 60 km. It has been interpreted as a transpressive strike-slip fault.

As part of a systematic mapping program of the Hydrographic and Oceanographic Research Plan for the Spanish Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), gravity surveys were carried out offshore the Canary Islands. Using the gravity data collected during cruises between 1998 and 2000 aboard the RV Hesperides and satellite and land data, we construct free air and Bouguer anomaly maps and discuss the geodynamic implications. Using maps of Bouguer anomaly, free air anomaly, vertical derivative, long wavelength Bouguer anomaly and short wavelength anomaly, a detailed description of the gravity characteristics of the archipelago is presented, describing gravity anomalies from a geologic point of view. The character of the crust throughout the studied area has been defined, as well as high gradient zones that limit crustal blocks of different density. High gradient zones have been mapped for the first time and interpreted as fracture zones, taking into account geophysical and geological information. Gravity highs and lows have been studied and related to crustal, mantle and volcanic effects.

A scalar magnetic anomaly map of the regions offshore the Canary Archipelago is presented here. This map is based on measurements taken inside the Exclusive Economic Zone Project framework. This paper contains a description of the data set, whose accuracy and internal consistency are analysed. The magnetic anomalies are described and the main structural trends are highlighted. This analysis has served to detect two possible fractures with a NW—SE component: one separates Fuerteventura from Gran Canaria Island, and the other apparently runs through Fuerteventura. The latter finding agrees with a 1.7 km depth offset, between its northern and southern halves, detected by the algorithm based on the Euler Deconvolution. A similar approach has been performed, estimating the depth to the top of the most significant anomalies. This result shows that the most noteworthy magnetic anomaly source of the archipelago, which lies between Tenerife and Gran Canaria Island, seems to be located at an average depth of 4 km below sealevel. A spectral analysis was performed to estimate the depth extent of the deepest anomalies. It argues the presence of sub-crustal magnetic sources (underplating) in the archipelago. A standard Euler Deconvolution analysis was executed to analyse the spatial distribution of these mantle-like sources. Our results seem to support the existence of magmatic underplating under Gran Canaria, Tenerife, and Fuerteventura, and suggest this possibility for La Palma.

A series of clastic dikes and tubular vents were identified in southern Tenerife (Canary Islands). These features are the result of seismic liquefaction of a Holocene sand deposit, as the consequence of a high intensity paleoearthquake. The peak ground acceleration (pga) and magnitude of the paleoearthquake generating these liquefaction features were estimated by back calculation analysis. A representative value of 0.30 ± 0.05 g was obtained for the pga. From this, an earthquake intensity of IX was estimated for the liquefaction site. Magnitude bound methods and energy based approaches were used to determine the magnitude of the paleoearthquake, providing a moment magnitudeM = 6.8. The zone in which the liquefaction structures are found has undergone tectonic uplift and is affected by two faults. One of these faults was responsible for displacing Holocene materials. Dating of the uplifted sand formation indicates an age of 10,081 ± 933 years, the liquefaction features ranging from this age to 3490 ± 473 years BP. This paleoearthquake was of much greater magnitude than those known historically. Faults with neotectonic activity are significant features that should be borne in mind when assessing the seismic hazards of the Canary Islands, presently considered as low and mainly of volcanic origin.

A number of samples have been dredged from the upper parts of Amanay and El Banquete Seamounts, yet volcanic materials have been collected only on Amanay Seamount. Based on textural features and the presence or absence of kaersutite, two main types of olivine pyroxene basaltic rocks have been identified. The rocks are basanites with high enrichment in the most incompatible elements, similar to that displayed by Ocean Island Basalts. Samples from Amanay Seamount formed due to a low degree of melting of an enriched mantle, very similar to that which probably caused the Miocene volcanic activity of Fuerteventura. The age of Amanay volcanic rocks, 15.3 ± 0.4 and 13.1 ± 0.3 Ma, is similar to those of the older volcanic units exposed in the nearby islands (Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote). This proves the formation of a separate submarine volcanic edifice coeval with the other edifices of the Eastern Canarian Volcanic Ridge. Volcanic activity on the submarine edifice is thought to have ceased at about 13 Ma, simultaneous with the adjacent main volcanic construction.