A multiple Contourite Depositional System has been defined in the Plio-Quaternary
sedimentary register in the Alboran Sea. This multiple system formed by the Atlantic and the low density
and high density Mediterranean Waters, which shaped the margins and basins since the opening of the
Gibraltar Strait. Three different (paleo)circulation scenarios are proposed since then: the Atlantic water
Flooding;the Pliocene circulation, characterized by immature low and high density Mediterranean
waters and a strong countercurrent in the Western Basin; and the Quaternary circulation, characterized
by tabular Mediterranean water masses with multiple current dynamics,an increasing influence of density
contrasts, and climate shifts causing major vertical and horizontal displacements of their interfaces.Versión del edito
