Oxfordian (Upper Jurassic) coral buildups developed widely in Tethys and Atlantic realms, during a time when paleoclimate potentially swung between greenhouse climate and cold snaps. Buildups were constructed by platy and branching corals, sponges and microbialites. Although their initiation is commonly linked to the Upper Jurassic global transgression, a number of global and local factors may have influenced buildup growth and demise (e.g. climate, shelf geometry, detrital input). Extensive outcrops of Oxfordian buildups in Morocco provide an opportunity to investigate the relationship between external drivers and buildup fauna and architecture. Here we show that the interplay of local accommodation changes, rising sea water temperature, and increasing pCO₂ linked to the onset of the Middle Oxfordian global transgression were the main drivers for buildup initiation, which was synchronous across the basin. The demise of the coral buildups in Morocco was linked to a regression, dated no later than Upper Oxfordian, the establishment of partly evaporitic conditions across the basin, and to localized influx of coarse-grained siliciclastics, the latter likely driven by synsedimentary tectonic activity. Serial logged sections, outcrop panoramas and detailed facies analysis show that low-relief deeper-water buildups of Dimorpharaea platy corals evolved into higher-relief diversified buildups where shallower-water reworking produced coral rubble and large clinoforms. Buildup diachronicity is apparent, with younger coral bioherms growing in the depressions created between the initial bioherms. Size of buildups ranges from 2 m wide and 0.5 m thick, to 700 m wide and 80 m thick. The outcrops provide constraints on geobody architecture and heterogeneity in the subsurface of Morocco and North America, where facies-controlled dolomitization of high-energy buildup and clinoform facies is a main driver for porosity development.

Climate change directly impacts the source, mode and volume of sediment generation which can be observed in the rock record. To accurately model source to sink systems, in addition to hinterland geology, tectonics and transport distance, a thorough comprehension of the climate is essential. In this study we evaluate the role of climate on Cretaceous sediment delivery into the Senegal Basin, NW Africa, using data recorded from extensive sampling of basinal sediments. This is achieved through the mineralogical characterisation by X-ray diffraction and ¹⁴⁶Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd and ⁸⁶Sr/⁸⁸Sr isotopic analyses, which are correlated against existing, climate, tectonic and oceanographic models. Examples of climatic indicators include the change from predominantly smectitic deep marine basinal-clays recorded from the Cretaceous in DSDP wells 367 and 368 to clays with increased illite and kaolinite content, observed during the Albian and Cenomanian-Turonian, interpreted to be representative of higher humidity following the kaolinisation of hinterland source-rocks. Another climate indicator is the observation of palygorskite in deep-marine sediments, noted to be indicative of ocean anoxia related to the authigenesis of marine-smectite, a product of warm saline bottom waters and increased abundancy of silicon. The increase in salinity is interpreted to be a biproduct of elevated temperatures throughout the Cenomanian and increased denudation of the North Atlantic circumjacent continental evaporite-belts. Increase in silicon (biogenic) is related to a result of ocean-wide mass extinction of foraminifera during OAE2 triggered by the eruption of the Caribbean large igneous province. The results suggest that Cretaceous climate evolution of Senegal can be divided into four stages: 1. Berriasian-Barremian; an arid-period with monsoonal weather producing modest fluvial systems restricted to coastal regions. 2. Aptian-Albian; the establishment of a paleo-Intertropical Convergence Zone began to increase global temperature and humidity as recognised by the increase in kaolinite content. 3. Cenomanian-Turonian; the Cretaceous Thermal Maximum hothouse period incurring exceptional temperatures and humidity. This is represented as an antithetical shift in clay mineralogy from chlorite-illite to smectite-kaolinite throughout most of the onshore and nearshore basinal sediments. 4. Coniacian-Maastrichtian; transitional from tropical-to-tropical swamp-like conditions evidenced by increased onshore basin sediment capture and a shift in vegetation to aquatic-fern species. The impact of climate change throughout the Cretaceous produced dynamic shifts in both river size and source-catchment, witnessing exception rates of denudation during the hotter and more humid periods, which climaxed during the Cenomanian and Turonian as a result of the Cretaceous Thermal Maximum. This eroded sediment was deposited in both the onshore and offshore basins during the mid-late Cretaceous but became increasingly restricted to the onshore segment of the basin during the Late Cretaceous.

A major global marine transgression occurred during the Callovian to Early Kimmeridgian, which was interrupted locally by a hiatus during the Late Callovian to Early Oxfordian. The transgression may have been a major driver for extensive coral buildup development in the Oxfordian. The depositional hiatus may be related to a combination of eustasy, local tectonic activity and hinterland movements, highlighting the potential influence of tectonism on sedimentary evolution in sedimentary basins. Whilst a regional Late Callovian-Early Oxfordian hiatus has been recorded extensively in the Tethys realm, this study has improved the biostratigraphic and sedimentary record from Morocco, and for the first time documents the Late Callovian-Early Oxfordian depositional hiatus in the Atlantic realm. Detailed sedimentary facies analysis of Callovian to Oxfordian carbonates and siliciclastics (Ouanamane Formation) demonstrates a major transgression from continental and coastal sediments, through oolitic mid-inner ramp deposits, brachiopod-rich middle ramp deposits, and ultimately to outer ramp marls, sharply overlain by Middle Oxfordian coral buildups across the basin. Repeated hard- and firmgrounds and bioturbated bed tops highlight transgressive surfaces traceable basinwide, which suggests low sedimentation rates in the upper Ouanamane Formation. Localized siliciclastic input is evidence for episodes of erosion in the same interval. Collection of new fossil specimens (ammonites, brachiopods, echinoderms, foraminifera) and revision of existing fossil material suggest this interval corresponds to a hiatus or condensed section in the Callovian-Oxfordian transition. The uppermost part of the Ouanamane Formation is of early Middle Oxfordian age and is directly overlain by Middle Oxfordian coral buildups. Onset of buildup construction is considered synchronous based on the new biostratigraphic data. Observations in Moroco compare with the sedimentary evolution around the Tethys, and in particular with the Arabian Plate. The Callovian-Oxfordian depositional hiatus corresponds to eustatic sea level changes, which were possibly driven by global cooling, and was likely overprinted by local tectonics.

This study combines several provenance tools, analysis of published structural and geodynamic data, integrated with Low-Temperature Thermochronology (LTT) and time-Temperature Modelling (tTM) to reconstruct the evolution of source-to-sink systems feeding the Essaouira-Agadir Basin (EAB) during the Jurassic (Toarcian, Bathonian, and Kimmeridgian) and Lower Cretaceous (Hauterivian and Barremian). LTT and tTM define timing and rate of subsidence and exhumation of the hinterland and allows modelling of the predicted age and lithology of eroding rock units from the most-likely source locations through time. Extrapolation of predicted surface geology allows recognition of the lithology of sedimentary overburden in the hinterland, much of which has been subsequently eroded and is not preserved in the modern surfical geological record. Heavy mineral, petrography and detrital zircon data analysis was carried out on fluvial and shallow marine sandstones sampled from Jurassic and Cretaceous sections across in the EAB. The results document changing sediment source terrains through time. In the Early and Middle Jurassic, the heavy mineral and detrital zircon signature correlates with a Palaeozoic source, suggesting provenance was dominantly from erosion of Cambrian and Ordovician sandstone in the Central and Western Anti-Atlas. From the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous, the heavy mineral and zircon signatures have a strong affinity with Triassic sediments. This indicates a provenance switch to the exhuming West Moroccan Arch (MAM and Western Meseta), interpreted to have been largely covered by Triassic continental red beds at the time. The results help in predicting sediment delivery offshore, into the deep-water basin, where sandstones are a target for hydrocarbon exploration. Defining timing of input, location and composition helps to de-risk exploration. All the intervals examined contained discrete fluvial systems entering in the EAB, suggesting multiple periods of clastic delivery. Results suggest the Middle Jurassic and Hauterivian and Barremian intervals offer the optimum time for delivery of coarse clastics to the shelf margin, and potentially into the deep basin. The source to sink maps developed in this study further characterize these systems, their provenance and timing.

This study investigates the provenance of the continental and marine Late Barremian clastics of the Bouzergoun Formation, exposed in the Essaouira-Agadir Basin (EAB). Thin section petrography, Scanning Electron Micrography, heavy minerals analysis, and detrital zircon dating were conducted and integrated with a large dataset of published Low-Temperature Thermochronology (LTT) studies to reconstruct the associated source-to-sink system(s). The results constrain the source and size of the system, and composition of deposited clastics, and investigate the mechanism for delivery of coarse clastics into the offshore domain, a key target for hydrocarbon exploration. The homogeneity of rock composition fingerprints throughout the basin indicates a common provenance for both the northern and southern studied transects. Hinterland analysis based on LTT data identifies the Western Meseta and Massif Ancien de Marrakech (MAM) regions as the only possible source candidates exhuming during the Late Barremian, confirmed by detrital zircon geochronology. Heavy mineral populations reveal partly recycled sediment including a probable igneous source. Rock fragment populations comprise limestones, sandstones, and volcanic composition, which correlate with lithologies of the MAM. The integration of all data suggests a best-fit model for the Late Barremian of a source-to-sink system of moderate size (200–300 km long), dominantly sourced from the MAM (western High Atlas). This provided a sand-rich mix of sediment resulting from the erosion of exhuming Triassic continental basins, with associated clays from the weathering of basalts and Triassic/Jurassic mudstones. Late Barremian eustatic sea level fall, together with regional uplift in the hinterland, is interpreted to have resulted in a forced regression that allowed the system to prograde towards the slope margin, offering enhanced potential for sand delivery into the deep offshore domain. Seismic imaging offshore provides tentative interpretation of synchronous high reflectivity deepwater channels located in structural lows controlled by diapiric salt movement. The Mesetian domain was likely undergoing denudation at the same time and shedding clastic-rich sediments to the northern part of the EAB, beyond the studied region. Sediment supply from the MAM may be mixed with the Mesetian sands to the northern part of the EAB and tentatively in the offshore Essaouira.

This paper presents the first integrated regional outcrop-based sedimentological study of the northern Aaiun-Tarfaya Basin located in Morocco (NW Africa). The Lower Cretaceous Tan-Tan Formation has been subdivided into six new members and placed within a sequence stratigraphic framework that includes two incomplete depositional sequences. Strong thickness variations of individual lithostratigraphic units from north to south suggest differential subsidence during sedimentation and/or the existence of major topography on the basal unconformity that the succession onlaps. The results provide valuable insights into the timing of local tectonics in the Western Anti-Atlas and the control on the evolution of the sedimentary system. Deposition of each of these six units is interpreted to be the result of a complex interplay between an overall eustatic sea-level rise during the early Cretaceous, sediment delivery controlled by tectonic movements in the Western Anti-Atlas and Reguibat Shield and periods of differential subsidence in the basin. The results document the style of evolution of a back-stepping wave-dominated system feeding into the Central Atlantic during the passive margin phase. The improved facies and depositional models together with improved understanding of the evolution of the delta have significant implication for exploring the deep-water equivalents offshore.

The Kerrouchen Basin is an understudied rift basin in the Middle Atlas of Morocco, where over 600 m of Triassic stratigraphy is well exposed. It was partially inverted during the Atlasic orogeny whilst preserving the original basin geometry. Within the Kerrouchen Basin, two distinct fluvial systems are present. The first, recorded by the K3 Formation, is a braided-meandering fluvial system showing vertical and lateral amalgamation. The K3 is an axial fluvial system that shows a predominant drainage direction towards the north-north-east, parallel to the rift zone axis, ultimately draining towards the Tethys Ocean. The K4 Formation records a secondary, Tributary Fluvial System (TFS), with facies spanning a range of alluvial-fluvial processes. Paleoflows predominantly record drainage to the SSW, transverse to the basin axis. Heavy mineral and petrographic analysis of the two fluvial systems indicates two distinct sedimentary provenances for the depositional system. The K3 system records a higher proportion of sediment sourced from igneous rocks. In contrast, the K4 system records a local provenance signal derived from adjacent low-medium grade metamorphic terranes exposed to the east. Comparison of the provenance and stratigraphic trends within the Kerrouchen Basin with work undertaken in the Central and Western High Atlas suggests a shared source region for the through going axial fluvial systems recorded in the High Atlas and Kerrouchen basins. Our study provides evidence for a linked fluvial system spanning the High and Middle Atlas rifts during the Triassic, indicating that a regional fluvial system was present within Central Pangea from Middle-Late Triassic times. Identifying regional and local drainage networks within the Triassic rift basins has key implications for paleogeographic reconstructions and future exploration efforts for hydrocarbons and CCS sites within Morocco.

Southern Tunisia is known to be less deformed and simpler than its neighboring Atlassic domain to the north. This area is complex and basin evolution in the Southern Chotts-Jeffara (SCJ) basin is debated. In this paper we combined surface and subsurface data with low temperature thermochronology (LTT) to reinvestigate the tectono-sedimentary evolution of the SCJ basin from Permian to Jurassic. We reconstruct the present-day architecture of the SCJ basin along two regional sections. In these sections, we focused mainly on regional thickness variations and on internal reflections interpreted from seismic data. We observe three structural elements: (a) A Paleozoic culmination, oriented E-W, capped by Mid-Upper Triassic deposits; (b) the Tebaga of Medenine (ToM), a culmination also oriented E-W but located ∼50 km north of the Paleozoic culmination; and (c) A Triassic culmination in the eastern part of the area, oriented NW-SE. We note the absence of major normal faults along the sections. The LTT data we present are the first published in this area and allow to reconstruct the timing and magnitude of vertical movements. These data prove: (a) exhumation at ∼230 Ma of the Permian and Lower Triassic units associated with the onset of the ToM removing locally about 900 m of pre-Cretaceous sediments; and (b) the development of the Triassic culmination ∼180 Ma removing 2000 m of pre-Cretaceous sediments in the Jebel Rehach. This study demonstrates that vertical movements in the SCJ basin are controlled by long-wavelength processes developed essentially in shortening regimes.

Evaporite mobilisation in evaporite-cored anticlines leads to topographic growth that can alter sedimentary routing in shallow marine environments. This paper analyses two evaporite-cored anticlines perpendicular to the NW Africa coast to understand how their tectonic evolution influenced sediment pathways during the Early to Middle Jurassic and Early Cretaceous exhumation of the Mesozoic margin hinterland. The Essaouira-Agadir Basin in Morocco underwent evaporite deposition during the Atlasic and Atlantic rifting. Subsequent loading and tectonics resulted in re-mobilisation and generation of a variety of evaporite structures. Structural data obtained from analysis of Google Earth images processed using Move 2D allowed derivation of the thickness of sedimentary units on both flanks of the structures. Integrated with sedimentary logs from nine locations around evaporite-cored structures and two onshore wells, this data constrains the depositional record and allow an assessment of siliciclastic flux in the Essaouira-Agadir Basin. The results show the importance of syn-sedimentary evaporite tectonics on basin morphology, which influences the distribution of clastics delivered by fluvial systems and deepwater processes into the basin. This paper constrains the evolution of the Amsittène and Imouzzer anticlines in the Early to Middle Jurassic and support that their growth is associated with halokinesis. Mesozoic syn-sedimentary fold growth would have provided an important control on sediment discharge pathways and on the location of sediment entry points on the shelf margin, that ultimately fed deep water fan systems. This knowledge is key to predict the reservoir presence on the eastern margin of the Central Atlantic Ocean and to some extent, its conjugate margin in Nova Scotia.

Passive margins are traditionally regarded as tectonically quiescent, however the increasing recognition of significant post-rift tectonic uplift along their flanks offers an important control on sediment delivery. The most extensive record of the early post-rift succession of the Central Atlantic Margin (CAM) is found in the Lower and Middle Jurassic outcrops of the Essaouira-Agadir Basin (EAB). This important succession is characterised by alternating deposition of marine carbonates and paralic siliciclastics that correlate with periods of tectonic activity along the margin, rejuvenating sediment input to the basin. Field observations, well data and petrographic analysis are integrated into a coherent sedimentological model, correlated across the basin within a sequence stratigraphic framework. Comparison is drawn with equivalent dated units in the Central High Atlas, which allows a constraint on the regional versus local tectonostratigraphic evolution. In the EAB, Upper Sinemurian to Lower Pliensbachian open marine ramp carbonates record an initial transgression. They are only preserved locally in the north of the basin, below a major fluvial erosion surface that is regionally traceable across the basin and incisive into the Pliensbachian, CAMP basalts or Triassic sediments. In the Central High Atlas (CHA), the correlative fluvial erosive event has been dated as Toarcian in age. This influx of siliciclastic sediments is interpreted to have been sourced from the Meseta and/or the Anti-Atlas, supporting recent apatite-fission track thermochronology that indicates erosional exhumation at this time. During the Upper Toarcian, a regional carbonate platform, dominated by peritidal deposits, developed across the EAB in response to renewed marine transgression. Facies include oolitic and bioclastic grainstones, crystalline dolomite, stromatolites and dissolution breccias or evaporites. Overlying Middle Jurassic shallow-marine and fluvial siliciclastics encroached from south of the basin (possibly related to a potential source area in the Anti-Atlas), while to the north shallow marine carbonates dominated. These observations evidence the role of tectonic movements of the hinterland during a passive margin phase as a mechanism to trigger forced regressions, compensating the effect of eustasy.

It is unclear how the crustal-scale erosional exhumation of continental domains of the Moroccan Atlantic margin and the excessive subsidence of its rifted domains affected the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous post-rift evolution of the margin. To constrain the km-scale exhumation, we study the structural evolution of the Jbel Amsittene. This anticline is located on the coastal plain of the Moroccan Atlantic margin, and is classically considered to have been developed initially in the Late Cretaceous by halokinesis, and by contraction during the Neogene. Contrarily, our structural analysis indicates that the anticline is a fault-propagation fold verging north with Triassic salts at its core and that it formed by shortening shortly after continental breakup of the Central Atlantic. The anticline grew by NNW-SSE to NNE-SSW contraction, as shown by syn-tectonic wedges, regional kinematic indicators and synsedimentary structures in Upper Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous rocks. It grew further and tightened during the Cenozoic, presumably in relation to the Atlas/Alpine contraction. Thus, our data and interpretation suggest that “tectonic-drives-salt” in the anticline early growth, which is coeval with the growth of other anticlines along the Moroccan Atlantic margin and widespread km-scale exhumation farther onshore. Anticline growth due to shortening argues for intraplate far-field stresses potentially linked to the geodynamic evolution of the African, American and European plates.

Continental passive margins and their hinterlands in the Atlantic realm have been the locus of many Low Temperature Thermochronology (LTT) and time-Temperature (t-T) modelling studies that evidence pre-, syn- and post-rift episodic km-scale exhumation and burial episodes. In this study, we integrate data from over 30 published LTT and t-T modelling studies from Morocco and its surroundings using a three-step workflow to obtain: (a) exhumation/burial rates, (b) erosion rates and (c) palaeoreconstructions of source-to-sink domains, between the Permian and the Present. Our synthesis of available t-T modelling results predicts high exhumation rates in the Anti-Atlas (0.1 km/Myr) during the Early to Middle Jurassic, and in the High Atlas (0.1 km/Myr) and Rif (up to 0.5 km/Myr) during the Neogene. These rates are comparable to values typical of rift flank, domal or structural uplifts settings. During the other investigated periods, exhumation rates in the Meseta, High-Atlas, Anti-Atlas and Reguibat shield are around 0.04 ± 0.02 km/Myr. Interpolation of the exhumation rates at the regional scale allow calculation of the volume of rocks eroded. Estimates of erosion rates are between 0.2 x 10³ and 7.5 x 10³ km³ (in the Meseta and the Reguibat Shield respectively). Ten erosional (quantitative, from interpolation results) and depositional (qualitative, from data synthesis) “source-and-sink” maps have been constructed, with emphasis on the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. The maps integrate the extent of exhumed domains, using information from geological maps, lithofacies and biostratigraphic data from new geological fieldwork and well data from onshore and offshore basins. The results illustrate changes in the source-to-sink systems and allow for a better understanding of the Central Atlantic margin hinterlands evolution.

Low-temperature thermochronology studies revealed major exhumation events affecting domains in the hinterland of the Central Atlantic margins, where Palaeozoic and/or Precambrian basement is exposed. Thus, domains traditionally assumed to be stable since at least the Variscan and juxtaposed to subsiding Meso-Cenozoic basins, appear to be affected by km-scale vertical movements during the Atlantic rifting and after the Early Jurassic breakup in the Central Atlantic. In this contribution, we investigate the extent and the magnitude of these motions along the NW African margin by presenting the first low-temperature thermochronology data from west Mauritania. The analysed 22 samples were collected along the Mauritanides, a N-S trending Variscan Belt separating the cratonic Taoudeni Basin in the east from the Atlantic coastal basin in the west. The obtained apatite fission track (AFT) ages range between 236 and 90 Ma, with mean track lengths between 11.22 and 12.81 μm and D_par comprised between 1.6 and 2.1 μm. The uncorrected (U-Th-Sm)/He (AHe) ages vary between 261 and 33 Ma. Inverse thermal modelling of the AFT and AHe data indicates that the hinterland of the Mauritanian Atlantic margin experienced (i) burial between the Permian and the Late Triassic, (ii) km-scale exhumation during Middle-Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous, (iii) burial during the Palaeogene–early Miocene, and (iv) exhumation between mid-Miocene and present-day. We argue that these vertical movements are primarily driven by the tectonic evolution of the Atlantic rift and the subsequent geodynamic evolution of the Central Atlantic Ocean and the African plate.

The occurrence of km-scale exhumations during syn- and post-rift stages has been documented along Atlantic continental margins, which are also characterised by basins undergoing substantial subsidence. The relationship between the exhuming and subsiding domains is poorly understood. In this study, we reconstruct the evolution of a 50 km long transect across the Moroccan rifted margin from the western Anti-Atlas to the Atlantic basin offshore the city of Sidi Ifni. Low-temperature thermochronology data from the Sidi Ifni area document a ca. 8 km exhumation between the Permian and the Early/Middle Jurassic. The related erosion fed sediments to the subsiding Mesozoic basin to the NW. Basement rocks along the transect were subsequently buried by 1–2 km between the Late Jurassic and the Early Cretaceous. From late Early/Late Cretaceous onwards, rocks present along the transect were exhumed to their present-day position.

Our understanding of the Earth’s interior is limited by the access we have of its  deep layers, while the knowledge we have of Earth’s evolution is restricted to harvested information from the present state of our planet. We therefore use  proxies, physical and numerical models, and observations made on and from the surface of the Earth. The landscape results from a combination of processes  operating at the surface and in the subsurface. Thus, if one knows how to read  the landscape, one may unfold its geological evolution.

In the past decade, numerous studies have documented km-scale upward and downward vertical movements in the continental rifted margins of the Atlantic  Ocean and in their hinterlands.These movements, described as exhumation (upward) and subsidence (downward), have been labelled as “unpredicted” and/or  “unexpected”. ‘Unpredicted’ because conceptual, physical, and numerical models that we dispose of for the evolution of continental margins do not generally account for these relatively recent observations. ‘Unexpected’ because the km-scale vertical movements occurred when our record of the geological history is insufficient to support them. As yet, the mechanisms responsible for the km-scale vertical movements remain enigmatic.

One of the common techniques used by geoscientists to investigate the past kinematics of the continental crust is to couple ‘low-temperature thermochronology’ and ‘time-temperature modelling’. In Morocco alone, over twenty studies were conducted following this approach. The reason behind this abundance of studies and the related enthusiasm of researchers towards Moroccan geology is due to its puzzling landscapes and complex history. In this Thesis, we investigate unconstrained aspects of the km-scale vertical movements that occurred in Morocco and its surroundings (Canary Islands, Algeria, Mali, and Mauritania). 

Traditional models of passive margin evolution suggesting generalised regional subsidence with rates decreasing after the break-up have been questioned in the last decade by a number of detailed studies. The occurrence of episodic km-scale exhumation well within the post-rift stage, possibly associated with significant erosion, have been documented along the Atlantic continental margins. Despite the wide-spread and increasing body of evidence supporting post-rift exhumation, there is still limited understanding of the mechanism or scale of these phenomena. Most of these enigmatic vertical movements have been discovered using low-temperature geochronology and time-temperature modelling along strike of passive margins. As proposed in previous work, anomalous upward movements in the exhuming domain are coeval with higher-than-normal downward movements in the subsiding domain. These observations call for an integrated analysis of the entire source-to-sink system as a pre-requisite for a full understanding of the involved tectonics. We reconstruct the geological evolution of a 50km long transect across the Moroccan passive margin from the Western Anti-Atlas (Ifni area) to the offshore passive margin basin. Extending the presently available low-temperature geochronology database and using a new stratigraphic control of the Mesozoic sediments, we present a reconstruction of vertical movements in the area. Further, we integrate this with the analysis of an offshore seismic line and the pattern of vertical movements in the Anti-Atlas as documented in Gouiza et al. (2016). The results based on sampled rocks indicate exhumation by circa 6km after the Variscan orogeny until the Middle Jurassic. During the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous the region was subsequently buried by 1-2km, and later exhumed by 1-2km from late Early/Late Cretaceous onwards. From the Permian to present day, the Ifni region is the link between the generally exhuming Anti Atlas and continually subsiding offshore basins. Along strike, the rifted margin exhibits significant variability in the architecture of the Mesozoic deposits onshore and present day offshore shelf. North of the High Atlas, the ca. 2km thick Mesozoic succession is characterized by continuous sedimentation. South of the High Atlas the thickness increases to 6km in the offshore Tarfaya basin, where the Jurassic succession may be separated by a regional unconformity. Further south, close to the border with Mauritania, the Triassic to Jurassic succession is missing and the Cretaceous attains less than a kilometre of strata.

The Oolithe Blanche Formation (Bathonian, Middle Jurassic) is one of the deep saline aquifers of the Paris Basin in France. The spatial distribution of its reservoir properties (porosity, permeability, tortuosity, etc.) is now better known with relatively homogeneous properties, except for some levels in the central part of the basin, where permeability exhibits higher values. This spatial distribution has been correlated with diagenetic events (variability of cementation) and palaeo-fluid flow circulation phases leading to variable cementation. In this paper, numerical simulations of reactive transport are performed. They provide a preliminary quantitative analysis of the Oolithe Blanche Formation, the type of fluids involved, the duration of fluid flow, and the time required to reduce the primary porosity of the Bathonian sediments by 10% due to cementation. Our results from the reactive transport simulations along a flow line, and a parameter sensitivity analysis suggest that diagenesis processes driven by meteoric water recharge do not exclusively cause the 10% decrease in porosity. Other geochemical and hydrogeologic processes must be involved.

The Anti-Atlas belt of Morocco extends ENE–WSW, over more than 600 km, from the Atlantic margin in the west to the interior of the African plate in the east. It exhibits Precambrian rocks outcropping as basement inliers and surrounded by marine Ediacaran–Cambrian sequences around the axis of the mountain range. The belt, which has for a long time been interpreted as of Variscan age, is now revealed to have experienced major vertical movements through Mesozoic and Cenozoic times. Thereby, the Anti-Atlas domain appears to be affected by two episodes of exhumation separated by an episode of subsidence. The initial episode occurred in the Late Triassic and led to the exhumation of 7.5–10.5 km of crustal rocks by the end of the Middle Jurassic (ca. 160–150 Ma). The following phase resulted in 1–3 km of basement subsidence and occurred during the Late Jurassic and most of the Early Cretaceous. The basement rocks were then slowly brought to the surface after experiencing 2–3.5 km of exhumation throughout the Late Cretaceous and the Cenozoic. The timing of these episodes of exhumation and subsidence coincides with major tectonic and thermal events in relation with the evolution of the Atlantic and Tethys Oceans, indicating that the effects of their rifting and drifting extended beyond their presumed margins.

Roughly 15 years ago it was discovered that substantial parts of the Morocco passive continental margin experienced km-scale, post-rift exhumation. It was predicted that the sands resulting from the associated erosion would be present in the offshore and potentially form hydrocarbon reservoirs. At the same time, anomalous post-rift vertical movements have been documented in various localities of the world and rifted continental margins are at present exciting objects of research. Following intense research efforts the knowledge of the kinematics of vertical movements and their implications for sedimentary systems is increasing. The low-T geochronology initially limited to the classical Meseta-Massif Ancien de Marrakech transect has been expanded reaching the Reguibate Massif to the S and covering, possibly more importantly, one transect in E-W direction along the Anti Atlas. Exhumation occurred along two dominant trends. In N-S direction a several hundred-kilometers long exhuming domain developed roughly parallel to the Atlantic margin. Changes in magnitude and timing of exhumation are observed along this elevated domain associated with E-W trending undulations. The timing of main stage of upward movement of E-W trending highs seems to be Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous in the Meseta and High Atlas and somewhat older, Early to Middle Jurassic, in the Anti-Atlas and Reguibate. The discovery of E-W trending highs and lows has major implication for sediment distribution and dispersal. At the large scale, it means that the drainage basins were smaller than initially predicted. This seems to be compatible with the paucity of sands encountered by recent exploration wells drilled offshore Morocco. At the scale of several kilometers, W-E trending anticlines and synclines developed in a generally subsiding coastal environment. These folds often had an expression at the sea floor documented by ravinement surfaces and (Jurassic) reef build-ups on top of the anticlines. Detailed outcrop correlation and facies mapping in the Agadir-Esssaouira basin shows E-W trending highs and lows formed salient and embayment’s conditioning Cretaceous topography and palaeodrainage. Integrated palaeogepgraphy, sequence stratigraphic analysis and renewed biostratigraphy further highlight the temporal and spatial restriction of coarse-clastic sediment input in an otherwise mud-dominated system.