Summary of The Geology of Morocco
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ScribdTranslationsSummary of The Geology of Morocco
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ScribdTranslations2 - Concepts of geology of Morocco
Morocco has been divided into several structural zones between the African craton of age
Precambrian (Pan-African orogeny) to the South and the Alpine chain of the Rif to the North, a lot
more recent (Eocene to Upper Miocene).
A - The Saharan shield:
The ancient base of gneiss and migmatites of Tiris (3288 to 2373 Ma) has been metamorphosed.
during the Eburnean orogeny (around 2000 Ma), and intruded to the east by the granites of Ain Bentili
(2037 Ma). It is overlain unconformably to the East by the Upper Proterozoic (1100 to 750
And to the west by the layers of the Mauritanides (formed at the end of the Devonian around
360 Ma, during a Caledonian phase). To the north, a Paleozoic basin is superimposed.
calm (Tindouf), and to the West a Cretaceous and Tertiary basin opening towards the Atlantic.
B - The Anti-Atlas :
In the Antiatlas mountains, on the edge of the Sahara, a Paleozoic series emerges.
moderately folded, covered by the discordance of the Late Cretaceous.
The Precambrian outcrops in several massifs, from Ifni to Jebel Sarhro and to
neighborhood of Erfoud; it may include some terrains of the Archean, but mainly of
Proterozoic volcano-sedimentary: this series is intruded by two series of granites, the
some ancient 1700-2000 Ma (Eburnean granites), others much more recent like
those of Tafraoute (549 Ma), related to the Pan-African orogeny: above, rests in
discordance a series from the terminal Precambrian ("Adoudounian"), formed of dolomites at
stromatolites followed by a violet series 'wine lees', in accordance with the Cambrian.
In the Precambrian of Bou Azzer, south of Ouarzazate, a complex is known
serpentinites outcropping over 50 km long, and having provided copper and cobalt ores
the serpentinites are covered by jaspers, limestones, and other marine sediments, and
could represent an Eburnean oceanic suture. Other small outcrops of
Serpentinites are known as far as the High Atlas (Cherotzky, 1969).
The Paleozoic series of the Anti-Atlas includes about 12,000 m of marine sediments.
mostly made of sandstone and clay, in which several limestone formations are found
supplying ornamental stones:
- basically, a powerful layer of Cambrian limestone, including lenses
rich in Archaeocyathus (organisms related to sponges, cone-shaped with double
walls, with radial partitions connecting the two walls); these limestones are weakly
metamorphosed (slight recrystallization).
some banks of black limestone with Orthoceras (unrolled nautiloids) towards the summit of
Silurian.
Devonian reefs in several locations, and pelagic limestones at Orthoceras and Goniatites
(Ammonites from the Paleozoic) in Erfoud.
some reef limestones in the Carboniferous near Taouz.
The Hercynian folding occurred towards the end of the Carboniferous; after a long erosion.
The continental Cretaceous (with vertebrate bones) was deposited discordantly, the slab of
Cenomanian-Turonian reef limestones, followed by the Senonian evaporites.
C - The Atlas Chain
This mountain range continues, reaching 4167 m at Jebel Toubkal above
Marrakech is crossed by rare passes over 2000 m in altitude, it remains snow-covered.
until spring. Toward the WSW it disappears before the coast near Agadir; toward the E it
divided into two branches framing the High Plateaus, the branch directed towards the NE being
called Middle Atlas.
The Precambrian and the Paleozoic are widely exposed in the Western High Atlas, and
different from the series of the Antiatlas; they are however more strongly deformed by
the Hercynian orogeny, which was accompanied by some granitic intrusions, including the
the most important is that of Tichka, which has transformed the Cambrian limestones by
contact metamorphism.
After the salt series of the Triassic, a vast marine gulf forms in the East during the
Lower and Middle Jurassic, during a phase of extension that opens basins
independent of Hercynian directions: the Lower Lias forms a carbonated platform,
studded with reefs from the Middle Lias, the whole having a thickness of 1000 to 1200 m. This
platform collapses at the Upper Lias, forming two furrows, one in the Upper
Atlas Oriental, the other in the Middle Atlas. The sea recedes in the Upper Jurassic; the
Lower Cretaceous is continental, after a phase of folding a vast occurs.
marine transgression from the Cenomanian to the Eocene, with a regressive episode in the Senonian. In
To the west, between Agadir and Essaouira, the marine series extends continuously from the Jurassic to
Terminal Cretaceous.
The folding and formation of the Atlas reliefs are mainly linked, after
minor phases in the Cretaceous and Upper Eocene, in the Upper Miocene-Pliocene (stages
badly dated in continental formations); the deformation mainly occurs along
focal zones of longitudinal faults, with a double dip towards the N and S. It would be about
of an inversion tectonics of ancient faults limiting the collapse trenches
Jurassic, in a declining regime. This situation is quite comparable to the formation of
Pyrenees, except that in Morocco there is no associated metamorphism.
D - The Plateau :
It is a massive Hercynian peneplain, covered with rich Upper Cretaceous-Eocene basins.
in phosphates; the latter are little deformed by the alpine phases, unlike the Atlas
and from the Rif.
The Hercynian basement, interesting for its ornamental rocks, is found in three
massifs: the Jbilet to the north of Marrakech, the Rehamna to the north of Benguerir, and the 'Central Massif'
between Casablanca and Azrou. This area is characterized by the rarity of outcrops.
Precambrian, a strong Hercynian tectonics (with nappes in the East), the existence of a
regional metamorphism in the West, and granitic intrusions.
Limestones are found in the Lower Cambrian, reefs in the Lower Devonian.
(Tiflet) and the Middle Devonian (Oued Yqem), limestone lenses in the Visean
(preceding the Culm flysch).
The Hercynian granite intrusions form several batholiths aged 340 to 260 Ma.
(Middle Carboniferous to Permian), the youngest being post-tectonic. The shortening
produced by the Hercynian folding is oriented roughly NW-SE.
After the penetration of the Hercynian chain, several marine gulfs coming from
the Atlantic (Haha, Doukkala, Phosphate Plateau, Southern Rif Trench) deposit a series
transgressive from the Upper Cretaceous to the Lower Eocene: it includes the limestone beds of
Turonian (Boujad Limestones) and the phosphatic series of the Maastrichtian-Ypresian, large
source of wealth for Morocco.
E - The Rif region
The Rif is the mountain range, rising to 2448 m at Tidiquin, which connects to the chain.
Bétique of Spain through the Strait of Gibraltar. To the south, its foreland slopes downwards.
sweet towards the valley of Sebou. The whole is formed of layers poured towards the South, with
a complex structure still subject to many discussions.
From South to North, one encounters the mio-Pliocene foreland, layers of limestone and
flyschs, a limestone ridge, finally the internal zone including Paleozoic nappe structures and
crystallophyllians. The latter include the massif of poco serpentinitized peridotites of Bni
Bouchra, comparable to the peridotites of Ronda in Andalusia and those of Lanzo in the
Alps; an intrusive origin has been considered for these peridotites, as in Ronda, it is more
probably in our opinion of a stripping of the mantle during oceanic opening
incomplete.
The internal aquifers were established quite early (Eocene), while the external aquifers
come to intercalate in the late Miocene.
