| Summary: | A new model for the opening of the Atlantic is proposed. Subaerial lava flows were emplaced since the breakup of the lithosphere till subaerial spreading centres became immersed. Twined evaporitic basins, with brines enriched by spilitisation of the basalt of the lava flows, developed in each side of the mid-oceanic ridge. The Iberia offshore, and probably also the Newfoundland offshore, had particular geologic histories. In northern area, the breakup took place in a deepwater environment, so SDRs were not developed. In Iberia offshore, an incipient Benioff subduction zone could be the chiefly responsible for the compressional tectonic regime that took place since Upper Miocene (?).
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