The interpretation of Rhône maritime seismic profiles and the accurate mapping of all the structural features affecting the Miocene cover made it possible for us to develop herein a new structural model for the top of the eroded Miocene of the Gulf of Lions platform. Late Miocene extensional faults exerted a considerable structural control on the Messinian erosion. In particular, mapping of transfer zones has shown that these structures controlled retrogressive erosion of the platform. This late Miocene extension could have been caused by gravity-driven destabilization of the platform, associated with base-level lowering at the onset of the Messinian salinity crisis.

The occidental part of the Gulf of Lions passive margin (western Mediterranean) was chosen by the GDR Marges Golfe du Lion (a French research group on the continental margins) to conduct the first correlations between the post-rift Miocene sedimentary formations of the onshore domain and their extension on the adjacent continental shelf. The correlation between the two domains lay on an existing correspondence between seismic profile, offshore and onshore well logs, in terms of stacking pattern, biostratigraphy and geometries. This communication is based on the study of 11 offshore drillings and industrial offshore seismic lines. We present in this communication the first results of a seismic stratigraphy study and well log correlations for the offshore Miocene of the Gulf of Lions margin.