Structure and geodynamics of the Bay of Biscay
J.P. Réhault
The Bay of Biscay is a passive margin that represents the opening of the North Atlantic Ocean during the Cretaceous time. During this period, the north of Spain margin is re-activated by tectonic compression corresponding to the orogenic event that created the Pyrerear Mountains.

Previously the North Biscay ridge was thought to be an elongated ridge, but researchers on the Norgasis cruse have found it to be a large ocean plateau. Researchers during this cruse made several other important discoveries. Crustal thinning was discovered along the narrow continental slope and an 80Km wide ocean-continent transition zone that is covered up by sediments.

Authors: T. Clifton and L. Wulput