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Cenozoic denudation in the Marrakech High Atlas, Morocco: insight from apatite fission‐track thermochronology
Author(s) -
Missenard Yves,
Saddiqi Omar,
Barbarand Jocelyn,
Leturmy Pascale,
Ruiz Geoffrey,
El Haimer FatimaZahra,
Frizon de Lamotte Dominique
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
terra nova
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.353
H-Index - 89
eISSN - 1365-3121
pISSN - 0954-4879
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3121.2008.00810.x
Subject(s) - thermochronology , geology , denudation , fission track dating , foreland basin , neogene , cenozoic , paleontology , seismology , tectonics , structural basin
Abstract In North Africa, the High Atlas belt culminates at more than 4000 m. In Morocco, recent work shows that a lithospheric thinning explains about 1000 m of the mean topography, the remaining topography being related to crustal shortening. We combine regional geology with new apatite fission‐track (AFT) ages to constrain the timing of these events in the Marrakech High Atlas (MHA). In the inner belt, 10 AFT ages are comprised between 9 ± 1 and 27 ± 3 Ma. These Neogene ages indicate that the MHA underwent significant denudation during that time. In the southern foreland domain of the belt, three samples give scattered AFT ages between 27 ± 2 and 87 ±5 Ma. Geological evidences allow us to constrain the age of a major denudation event during Middle Miocene age. We propose that it is linked to the thermal doming highlighted in the whole Moroccan Atlas domain.