The West Iberian margin: Past and current research concepts and future challenges

The West Iberian Margin (WIM) has historically been at the forefront of fundamental research on rifting and breakup. The WIM is considered a "classic" example of a magma-poor margin. This chapter presents an overview of the structure of the WIM and summarizes the main tectono-stratigraphic models proposed to explain its evolution. The WIM has historically been, and remains, at the forefront of fundamental research on the breakup and development of oceanic basins. Exploration of the WIM has led to the definition of three major models of continental breakup that appear to offer a solution to the extension discrepancy and which have subsequently applied to the rifting and breakup of other magma-poor margins. These models are: crustal depth-dependent stretching, cross-cutting polyphase faulting, and migrating faulting models, which include the sequential faulting.