Gemma Ercilla a,*, Diego Córdoba b, Josep Gallart c, Eulalia Gràcia d, Josep A. Muñoz e,

Luis Somoza f, Juan T. Vázquez g, Federico Vilas h, Prestige Group i

Instituto Ciencias de la Tierra-Jaime Almera-CSIC (J. Díaz, M. Ruiz), Instituto Geológico y Minero de España-IGME

(A. Maestro, T. Medialdea, R. León, E. Llave), Unidad de Tecnología Marina-CSIC

(J. Dañobeitia, M.A. Marín, A. Vizcaino, S. Dı´ez), Universidad de Barcelona (E. Roca, O. Ferná ndez, N. Carrera, B. Benjumea, J. Mencos),

Universidad de Cádiz (M. Sayazo, C. Pérez), Universidad Complutense de Madrid (M. Octavio, L.M. Agudo), Universidad de Vigo (S. García-Gil,

F.J. Hernández-Molina, D. Rey, B. Rubio, K. Mohamed, R. Alvarez, R. Durán, A. Ferrin)

Abstract

The tanker Prestige sank off NW Iberia on the 19th November 2002. The stern and bow of the Prestige wreck are located on the

southwestern edge of the Galicia Bank, at 3565 m and 3830 m water depths, respectively. This bank is a structural high controlled by

major faults with predominant N–S, NNE–SSW, and NNW–SEE trends. It is characterized by moderate to low seismic activity.

The faults have controlled the local depositional architecture, deforming, fracturing, relocating and distributing sediments since the

Valangian (early Cretaceous). The Prestige sinking area corresponds to an asymmetric half-graben structure with a N–S trend, which

conditions the present-day morphology. The faulted flank outcrops and its activity and erosion have favoured the occurrence of

mass-movements (slumps, slump debris, mass-flows and turbidity currents), building valleys and depositional lobes. Nearsurface sediments

comprise mostly terrigenous and biogenous turbiditic muds and sands with a minor presence of hemipelagic muds, except on

the fault scarp where pelagites predominate. Potential geological hazards resulting from tectonic and sedimentary processes affect almost

the entire Prestige sinking area.