Late Triassic to middle Jurassic history of the north-central high Atlas, Morocco
The Lower and Middle Jurassic (Liassic and Dogger) rocks in the north-central High Atlas and on the adjacent Oran Meseta, Morocco, were deposited on the subsiding margin of the Triassic/Jurassic High Atlas trough. This and the Middle Atlas trough formed as a result of rifting of the Moroccan Meseta and oran Meseta from the Saharan craton during initial stages of the opening of the modern Atlantic. The Tethys seaway flooded these troughs in the early Liassic, resulting in deposition of several thousand meters of liassic and Dogger limestone and marlstone. The deepening-upward Liassic section in the north-central High Atlas reflects the rapid development of the short-lived High Atlas trough, which formed in the Late Triassic-Early Liassic flooding by the Tethys established carbonate tidal flats on the Oran Meseta, a shelf margin at the basin's edge, and slope and basin-floor deposition within the trough. Rapid subsidence of the margin brought slope and basin floor sediments on top of the platform margin as the trough developed. Subsidence slowed toward the end of the Lias, resulting in progradation of the shelf-margin environments. At the end of the Lias, a portion of the margin slid into the basin, followed by debris shed off the slide scar. Continued marlstone and limestone deposition filled the basin during the Dogger, marking the end of rift-related sedimentation in the High Atlas trough.
- Research Organization:
- Chevron U.S.A., Inc., Houston, TX
- OSTI ID:
- 5954039
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-880301-
- Journal Information:
- AAPG (Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol.) Bull.; (United States), Vol. 72:2; Conference: Annual meeting of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Houston, TX, USA, 20 Mar 1988
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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