Submersible observations of Cretaceous deformations along the Côte d’Ivoire–Ghana transform margin

 The Côte d’Ivoire–Ghana marginal ridge, mainly formed by thick detrital sediments of Lower Cretaceous age, was surveyed by deep dives with the submersible Nautile (Equanaute survey). Samples retrieved during the dives, combined with observations of video and photos records, allowed us to document a compressional event that occurred along the continental margin off Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, during Early Cretaceous times. Remarkable fracturing, folding, and cleavage characteristics in the sedimentary wedge are best explained by large-scale strike-slip transform activity between the two parting African and South American continents in Cretaceous times.