Gran Canaria Volcanic Apron and Madeira Abyssal Plain drilled

Abstract

The drilling program at Gran Canaria Volcanic Apron and Madeira Abyssal Plain had two distinct goals: to study the evolution of an oceanic island from sediments in the volcanic apron, and to study the history of sediment mass wasting in a deep‐sea basin by drilling abyssal‐plain turbidites. The abyssal plain receives sediment flows from the northwest African continental margin and the Canary Islands, thus providing a link between the studies, which were conducted by Leg 157 of the Ocean Drilling Program.