Structure of the Central High Atlas (Morocco).: Constraints from Potential Field Data and 3D Models

• Autores: Antonio María Casas Sáinz, Pablo Santolaria Otín, Tania Mochales, Andrés Pocoví Juan, Teresa Román Berdiel, Esther Izquierdo Llavall, Hmidou El Ouardi, Bennacer Moussaid, Ahmed Manar, Vicente Carlos Ruíz Martínez, Marcos Marcén Albero, Sara Torres López, Andrés Gil Imaz, Belén Oliva Urcia, Pablo Calvín Ballester
• Localización: Tectonic evolution of the Moroccan High Atlas :: a paleomagnetic perspective : magnetic techniques (anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility and paleomagnetism) applied to the understanding of the evolution of an intra-plate mountain chain / coord. por Antonio María Casas Sáinz, Pablo Calvín Ballester, Teresa Román Berdiel, Juan José Villalaín Santamaría, 2023, ISBN 9783031166921, págs. 75-247
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • From a 3-D reconstruction based on serial cross-sections, structural observations, and potential field geophysical data we characterize the major structural frame of the Moroccan Central High Atlas. Its overall structure shows two fold-and-thrust systems (each one showing particular features) at the northern and southern borders of the chain, resulting from the inversion of the Mesozoic basin. Five more zones can be distinguished in the inner part of the chain, according to their structural features, ranging from basement-involved structures in the westernmost sector to completely detached structures in the eastern part. Most compressional structures show an ENE-WSW (atlasic) trend, also pinpointed by the orientation of pressure-solution and slaty cleavage associated with the compressional stage. Large-scale faults of crustal or lithospheric reach can be inferred from the aeromagnetic maps, that show that the gabbro intrusions (some of them showing sigmoidal shape) are aligned in an E-W direction, oblique to the main trend. The overall compressional structure is controlled by a main, low-angle, South-verging thrust involving both the Mesozoic cover and the Paleozoic basement thrusting over the southern foreland of the chain. Branching on this surface there is a series of back-thrusts and faults, some of them resulting from re-activation of extensional structures.