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The Anti-Atlas Pan-African Belt (Morocco): Overview and pending questions

Article · August 2018

DOI: 10.1016/j.crte.2018.07.002

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Tectonics, Tectonophysics

The Anti-Atlas Pan-African Belt (Morocco): Overview and

pending questions
Abderrahmane Soulaimani a, Hassan Ouanaimi b,*, Omar Saddiqi c,
Lahssen Baidder c, André Michard d
a
Department of Geology, Faculty of Sciences Semlalia, Cadi Ayyad University, P.O. Box 2390, Marrakech, Morocco
b
Department of Geology, LGE, École normale supérieure, Cadi Ayyad University, BP S2400, Marrakech, Morocco
c
Geosciences Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences Aı̈n Chock, Hassan II University, BP 5366 Maârif, Casablanca, Morocco
d
Université Paris-Sud (Orsay), 10, rue des Jeûneurs, 75002 Paris, France

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Article history: Between the High Atlas and the Saharan platform, the Anti-Atlas of Morocco offers large
Received 6 June 2018 exposures of Precambrian rocks beneath the moderately folded Paleozoic series. These
Accepted after revision 2 July 2018 inliers allow reconstructing a segment of the Pan-African Belt and of its foreland at the
Available online 2 August 2018
northern outskirts of the West African Craton (WAC). From  885 Ma to  540 Ma, three
Handled by Isabelle Manighetti periods are recognized in the Pan-African cycle. The Tonian–Cryogenian period ends with
the obduction of supra-subduction ophiolite and oceanic arc material at  640 Ma. The
Keywords:
Early Ediacaran period is marked by the development and subsequent closure of a wide
Paleoproterozoic marginal basin next to a likely Andean-type arc. The Late Ediacaran period is recorded by
Neoproterozoic subaerial molasse deposits associated with post-collisional high-K calc-alkaline to
Collision belt shoshonitic magmatism. Although a wide consensus has been reached based on the
Eburnian number of new robust datings, several questions still remain pending, which we address
Pan-African taking into account relevant African and European correlations.
Anti-Atlas C 2018 Published by Elsevier Masson SAS on behalf of Académie des sciences.
Post-collisional magmatism

1. Introduction which the ophiolites and arc units exposed in the suture
zone come from (e.g., Triantafyllou et al., 2018); (ii) the
The Precambrian inliers of the Anti-Atlas mountain discrimination between the post-Eburnian platform cover
range (Fig. 1) have been studied for long (Choubert, 1952, recently dated to the Late Paleoproterozoic (Ikenne et al.,
1963; Neltner, 1938). They expose wide outcrops of the 2017) and the Neoproterozoic passive margin sequence
Neoproterozoic Pan-African belt and of its Paleoprotero- (Leblanc and Moussine-Pouchkine, 1994); (iii) the geody-
zoic foreland (Gasquet et al., 2008 and references therein). namic interpretation of the post-obduction magmatism
Recent studies are numerous and provide a remarkable and sedimentation that developed during the Early
wealth of structural, geochronological, and geochemical Ediacaran (Abati et al., 2010; Letsch et al., 2018b); (iv)
data, as reported below. Despite such a rich documenta- the nature of the continental block that bounded the
tion, controversies remain on important issues: (i) the oceanic domain to the north (present coordinates) and
evolution of the Neoproterozoic oceanic domain from then collided against the WAC during the Ediacaran; (v)
the origin and tectonic framework of the Upper Ediacaran
volcanic/sedimentary cover series that overlie unconform-
* Corresponding author. ably the deformed Pan-African units and immediately
E-mail address: [email protected] (H. Ouanaimi). predate the Cambrian deposits.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crte.2018.07.002
1631-0713/ C 2018 Published by Elsevier Masson SAS on behalf of Académie des sciences.
280 A. Soulaimani et al. / C. R. Geoscience 350 (2018) 279–288

Our goal is to present a short review of the state of the the thick-skinned foreland belt common to the Maurita-
art in the geology of the Anti-Atlas Pan-African belt, nide in the west and to the Meseta Paleozoic orogen in the
making a point on the five key issues cited above. In the north. Inversion of the faults formed in the Cambrian-
following, the cited ages are U–Pb zircon ages, unless Ordovician and Late Devonian rifting events occurred
otherwise stated. Table 1 (Supplementary Material) lists during the Late Carboniferous–Permian (Baidder et al.,
the most important U–Pb zircon dates available in each of 2016), and resulted in the uplift of the present-day
the Anti-Atlas inliers, generally obtained by SHRIMP or LA– Precambrian inliers.
ICP–MS methods. Two contrasting groups of inliers are recognized,
separated from each other by the Anti-Atlas Major Fault
2. Geological setting (AAMF; Choubert, 1947). Along the AAMF (Bou Azzer and
Siroua inliers) and farther to the northeast (Saghro and
The Anti-Atlas mountain range is a hierarchical, nested Ougnat massifs, Ouzellarh massif of the Marrakech High
range. At the largest scale, the range corresponds to an Atlas, Skoura massif north of Ouarzazate), the Precambrian
ENE-trending lithospheric fold cored by Paleozoic and inliers only display Neoproterozoic terrains. In contrast,
Proterozoic rocks, and whose envelope is made of thin those to the southwest of the AAMF only expose
Cretaceous–Neogene strata that form the ‘‘hamadas’’ Paleoproterozoic terrains that include Eburnian basement
plateaus in the South, and the Souss and Ouarzazate–Ar- rocks and their Upper Paleozoic cover series (see below).
Rachidia basins in the North (Fig. 1). This fold echoed the
Atlas compressional orogeny (Frizon de Lamotte et al., 3. The Tonian-Cryogenian pre- to syn-Pan-African times
2009), but the Anti-Atlas fold crest elevation was increased
by about 1000 m due to the development of a hot mantle 3.1. Evolution of the oceanic domain
anomaly underneath, which also caused the high elevation
of the Atlas domain farther to the northeast (Fullea et al., The occurrence of ophiolites in the Bou Azzer and Siroua
2010; Missenard et al., 2006). Late Miocene to Quaternary inliers (Figs. 1 and 2) was introduced by Leblanc (1972) and
alkaline volcanism occurs above this hot anomaly, well- raised immediately a major interest, not only from a
illustrated in the Anti-Atlas by the Siroua strato-volcano geodynamic point of view, but also because of the
erected on top of the Siroua plateau (Admou and particular metallogeny of these rocks. A wealth of
Soulaimani, 2011). structural, petrological, and geochronological studies
The more internal, but still large-sized part of the range developed during the last three decades helped to reach
corresponds to the Variscan fold belt. This belt formed at a consensus about the major stages of the evolution of the
the expense of the thick Paleozoic series deposited on the Pan-African oceanic domain. This consensus is summa-
rifted margin of the West African Craton (WAC; Burkhard rized as follows, mostly after Blein et al. (2014a), Hefferan
et al., 2006; Michard et al., 2010). The Anti-Atlas fold belt is et al. (2014) and Triantafyllou et al. (2016, 2018):

Fig. 1. The Anti-Atlas mountain range, after Gasquet et al. (2008), modified.
 A. Soulaimani et al. / C. R. Geoscience 350 (2018) 279–288 281

Fig. 2. Structural map and cross-section of the Bou Azzer inlier, modified after Blein et al. (2014a) and El Hadi et al. (2010), respectively.

 the oceanic domain includes ophiolitic sequences and 2002) arcs materials exhibit ages spanning from  760 to
oceanic arc units, partly dismembered along the poly- 660 Ma (Table 1, Supplementary Materials). Two alterna-
phased, and eventually sinistral AAMF; tive interpretations have been proposed (Fig. 3), involving
 the ophiolitic sequences formed during the Cryogenian, either the activity of two arcs of different ages (Admou
with dates spanning between 760–660 Ma (Table 1, et al., 2013; Soulaimani and Hefferan, 2017), or the
Supplementary Materials); polyphase evolution of a single arc (El Hadi et al., 2010;
 their geochemical signature points to an emplacement in Hefferan et al., 2014; Triantafyllou et al., 2018; Walsh et al.,
a supra-subduction zone setting; 2012). The two-arcs hypothesis is mainly supported by the
 the rocks typical of intra-oceanic arc setting consist of (i) separate outcrops of the Tichibanine and Bougmane arcs in
low-grade metamorphic rocks such as greywackes, the Bou Azzer structure (Fig. 2). The alternative, one-arc
basalts, andesites, rhyolites and tuffites in the Tichiba- hypothesis relies on the distinction between deformation
nine arc domain, north of the Bou Azzer inlier; (ii) high- events versus magmatic events (Triantafyllou et al., 2018).
grade orthogneiss, intrusive metagabbro, and crosscut-
ting leucogneiss in the Bougmane (aka Bougmmane) arc 3.2. The foreland and its passive margin
complex, south of the main ophiolitic axis of the Bou
Azzer inlier (Blein et al., 2014b; Triantafyllou et al., The Precambrian massifs southwest of the AAMF (Fig. 1)
2018), and (iii) a single, Iriri–Tachakoucht–Tourtit are cored by low- to high-grade schists and granitoids that
complex arc composed of schists, gneiss, and intrusive yielded a number of U–Pb zircon dates ranging from
leucogneiss and hornblendites in the Siroua inlier  2200 to  2030 Ma (Aı̈t Malek et al., 1998; Barbey et al.,
(Triantafyllou et al., 2016); 2004; Blein et al., 2014a; Ennih and Liégeois, 2001; Ennih
 according to most authors, the subduction of the oceanic et al., 2001; Gasquet et al., 2004, 2008; O’Connor et al., 2010;
crust was outboard with respect to the WAC (i.e. north- Walsh et al., 2002). Thus, these rocks have recorded the
dipping in present coordinates), at least up to 640– Eburnian (Birimian) orogeny, as those of the northern
630 Ma (Soulaimani et al., 2006). Reguibat Rise (Peucat et al., 2003; Schofield et al., 2006).
They correspond to the exhumation of the WAC upper crust
However, the consensus abuts on the interpretation of in the Anti-Atlas axis north of the Tindouf syncline.
the radiometric ages obtained from these varied arc The Eburnian rocks of the Anti-Atlas are overlain at first
complexes. The arc volcanism of the Tichibanine complex glance unconformably by low-grade metasedimentary
is dated back to  760–740 Ma (Soulaimani et al., 2013), rocks including abundant quartzites and minor stromato-
whereas the orthogneiss and meta-gabbros of the Boug- lite-bearing carbonates, and currently labeled Taghdout–
mane (Admou et al., 2013) and Tachakoucht (Thomas et al., Lkest Group (shortly, Taghdout Gp; Thomas et al., 2004).
282 A. Soulaimani et al. / C. R. Geoscience 350 (2018) 279–288

Fig. 3. Alternative interpretations of the Cryogenian evolution of the Anti-Atlas Pan-African belt. A. Two-arc hypothesis (after Admou et al., 2013, modified
by Soulaimani and Hefferan, 2017). B. One-polyphase-arc hypothesis (Triantafyllou et al., 2018, simplified).

The Taghdout Gp. was attributed to the Neoproterozoic, Upper Paleoproterozoic platform deposits that were
more particularly Tonian–Cryogenian, based on the overlying the rifted Eburnian orogen about one billion
assumption that it should be the inner platform equivalent years before the Neoproterozoic rifting of the WAC
to the passive margin series described at the southern margins. Therefore, the Neoproterozoic, Bleida–Tachdamt
border of the Bou Azzer inlier by Leblanc and Moussine- passive margin formations can no longer be classified in
Pouchkine (1994) under the name of Bleida–Tachdamt the same group as the Paleoproterozoic, Taghdout
series. The Bleida–Tachdamt series involves a platform platform formations. Moreover, the problem of their
sequence of quartzite and stromatolitic limestones over- possible relationships is open. Unfortunately, the Taghdout
lain by tholeiitic basalts, metapelites and volcano-sedi- Gp. and the Bleida–Tachdamt series are separated by the
mentary rocks. The minimum age of the Bleida–Tachdamt densely faulted AAMF zone, which juxtaposes narrow
lower series was given by the Rb/Sr method at 789  10 Ma folded units belonging to these sedimentary series
(Clauer, 1974) for the metamorphic walls of mafic dykes (Bouougri and Saquaque, 2004) in a transpressional,
intruding the metasedimentary beds. sinistral strike-slip setting. The effects of the Pan-African
Doubt began to rise about the Neoproterozoic age of the tectonics are recorded not only along the suture zone, but
Taghdout Gp. when Abati et al. (2010) showed that the also in the foreland domain. This has been locally
Taghdout quartzites (Mimount Fm. overlying the basal, demonstrated in the Kerdous (Hassenforder, 1987) and
carbonate–quartzite–metapelite formations next to Tagh- Zenaga (Ennih et al., 2001) inliers. We suggest that the
dout village at the northern border of the Zenaga inlier, see deformation of the Paleoproterozoic cover in front of the
Thomas et al., 2002) do not contain detrital zircons obducted Pan-African units is one of the Anti-Atlas
younger than  1809 Ma. Neoproterozoic detrital zircons frontiers today.
only appear in the overlying formations referred to the
Saghro or Bou Salda groups (see below) in the Siroua inlier 4. The Early Ediacaran late Pan-African times
(Abati et al., 2010).
The demonstration that the Taghdout Gp. is indeed Late 4.1. The Early Ediacaran folded units of the Anti-Atlas
Paleoproterozoic was brought by Ikenne et al. (2017)
following a line of investigation suggested by Youbi et al. Moderately deformed, weakly metamorphic clastic
(2013). A minimum age of  1710 Ma was obtained (ID- series occur in the suture zone (Siroua and Bou Azzer
TIMS U–Pb on baddeleyite) on a mafic sill intruding the inliers) and farther to the northeast (Saghro and Ougnat
Taghdout Gp. of the Igherm inlier. Mafic dykes and sills are inliers). In the current nomenclature, these series are
numerous within the Paleoproterozoic basement, and part labeled the Anezi, Bou Salda, Saghro, and Tiddiline Gps.
of them have been dated back to ca. 885, 1416–1380, 1650, (Gasquet et al., 2008). All are topped by the Ouarzazate Gp,
1750, and 2040 Ma (Kouyaté et al., 2013; Youbi et al., whose lowest dated volcanic flows have ages in the range
2013). The fact that the Taghdout Gp. is crosscut by a 575–565 Ma around the Kerdous inlier (O’Connor et al.,
 1710-Ma-old mafic intrusion allows interpreting the 2010), at Bou Azzer (Blein et al., 2014a), and in the J. Saghro
shallow-water carbonate-clastic Taghdout Gp. series as the massif (Walsh et al., 2012).
 A. Soulaimani et al. / C. R. Geoscience 350 (2018) 279–288 283

The Anezi Gp. (in its restricted definition by O’Connor Gp.). In the Sirwa inlier, the Sarhro Gp. is even older than
et al., 2010) of the Kerdous inlier follows upward thick 615 Ma, the age of the oldest granite (Ida Ou-llloun
felsic volcanics that unconformably overlie the folded batholith) that intrudes these rocks (Thomas et al., 2004).
platform units (Taghdout Gp.) and the eroded Eburnian In the Bou Azzer inlier, the minor Bou Lbarod Gp. is
basement. An ignimbrite flow from the basal volcanics has intruded by dioritic dykes dated back to 625  8 Ma (Blein
been dated back 614  38 Ma (U–Pb zircon; O’Connor et al., et al., 2014a). Hence, the lower part of the Saghro Gp. would
2010). The Bou Salda Gp. is a clastic and volcano-clastic series have been deposited between 620 and 610 Ma, contempora-
with both flysch and molasse features that overlies with neously with the activity of an andesitic arc system. In the
angular unconformity the Eburnian schists and their diamictites of the northern Tiddiline basin, the detrital zircon
platform cover, and also the oceanic units and the Saghro age distribution displays broad Paleoproterozoic peaks and
Gp. outcrops of the Siroua and Bou Azzer inliers (Thomas narrow Ediacaran peaks, centered at  593 Ma, thus revealing
et al., 2002). The youngest zircon population in a quartzite a younger age of sedimentation (Letsch et al., 2018b). The
cobble from a conglomerate of the Bou Salda Gp. is 610– latter authors found similar Early Ediacaran peaks in the
620 Ma, whereas most zircon grains of that sample yield distribution of the detrital zircons from the diamictites of the
Eburnian dates (Abati et al., 2010). Two rhyolitic units from Izdar Fm. at the bottom of the Saghro Gp. overlying the
the Bou Salda Gp. yielded 605  9 and 606  6 Ma ages Taghdout quartzites of the northern Zenaga inlier. In line
(Thomas et al., 2002). with Gasquet et al. (2008), they conclude that the diamictites
The Saghro Gp. is a  8-km-thick series that extends of the Saghro and Tiddiline Gps. would broadly correspond to
over 300 km in length and more than 50 km in width from the  580 Ma Gaskiers glaciation.
the Siroua to the J. Saghro and Ougnat massifs in the The Saghro Gp. is characterized by its tight folding and
eastern Anti-Atlas (Fig. 1). Dominant lithologies are the development of sub-vertical, dominantly northeast-
turbiditic greywackes with mixed volcanic and terrigenous trending axial-plane slaty cleavage. Likewise, the Tiddiline
inputs, interbedded toward the bottom with some pillow Gp. is folded and affected by a sub-vertical, axial-plane
basalts, or with andesites and rhyolites in the Siroua inlier. slaty cleavage. Based on their similar minimum age,
The basalts show calc-alkaline to subalkaline characters lithology, and structure, the Saghro and Tiddiline Gps. may
and affinities with initial rift tholeiites, continental be regarded as lateral equivalents, with the latter group
tholeiites or oceanic island alkali basalts (Fekkak et al., deposited in a more proximal and shallower basin with
2002, 2003; Thomas et al., 2002). The turbidites and respect to the Saghro Gp.
associated debris-flows and slumps suggest sliding of the
sediments along steep slopes. The base of the group is 4.2. Geodynamic interpretation
exposed nowhere in the suture zone or further to the north,
except at the very northern border of the Zenaga inlier The correlation between the Anti-Atlas Neoproterozoic
(Letsch et al., 2018b; Thomas et al., 2002). Locally in the belt and the western Hoggar ‘‘Pharusian’’ (Trans-Saharan)
Saghro massif, small serpentinite bodies associated with belt (Fig. 1, insert) has been proposed for long (Caby, 1970–
jaspers and carbonates are tectonically included in the 1983; Fabre, 1976), based on their ophiolitic remnants.
turbidites, and the hypothesis of a deep-water basin Michard et al. (2017) pointed to the occurrence of another
formed above the thinned crust of the ocean-continent correlation between the Saghro Gp. and the ‘‘Série verte’’
transition is likely (Fekkak et al., 2002). The arkosic upper (Caby, 1970–1983; Caby et al., 2010) or ‘‘Pharusian II’’
part of the Saghro Gp. suggests a decrease in water depth (Bertrand and Caby, 1978) of the western Hoggar, via the
related to the continuation of convergence (Thomas et al., southern Ougarta belt. Thus, following Michard et al. (2017),
2004). Reworked marine diamictites have been recognized we may assume that the Saghro Gp. and the ‘‘Série verte’’
in the Siroua inlier (Thomas et al., 2002). In the Bou Azzer accumulated within a large subsiding basin extending along
inlier, the Bou Lbarod Gp., consisting of volcanic rocks of the northeastern WAC. Subsidence and closure of this basin
andesitic composition, overlies unconformably the Tichi- occurred during the last stages of the Pan-African orogeny,
banine arc formations, and could be correlated with the with some along-strike differences both in timing and
lower part of the Saghro Gp. (Blein et al., 2014a). deformation mode. In the Anti-Atlas, the basin subsided
The Tiddiline Gp. is exposed in two folded (sub-) basins from  620 to 580 Ma and closed before  570 Ma, as
of the Bou Azzer inlier, i.e. the northern (Tiddiline s. str.) reported above. In the western Hoggar, the ‘‘Série verte’’
and southern (Trifya) sub-basins (Fig. 2; Letsch et al., sedimentation began after 680 Ma (Caby et al., 2010), and
2018b; Soulaimani et al., 2013). They both expose a clastic, the basin closed before 620–610 Ma. Besides this dia-
coarsening upward succession of turbidites and siltstones chronism, folds trend differently in Saghro-Ougnat and the
with diamictites (interpreted as marine tilloids with western Hoggar, suggesting a difference in the direction of
dropstones), and eventually arkoses and conglomerates convergence of the colliding continental blocks: NW–SE in
with andesitic cobbles. This group unconformably overlies the Anti-Atlas, and ENE–WSW in the western Hoggar.
Cryogenian rocks deformed by the main Pan-African Two questions arise concerning the Saghro Gp.–‘‘Série
obduction phase. verte’’ basin, i.e. (i) the nature of its crust, and (ii) the
The age of the Saghro and Tiddiline Gps. is younger than location of the andesitic arc responsible for part of its
620–610 Ma, based on detrital zircons dating (Abati et al., infilling. In the western Hoggar, Caby (2003) and Caby et al.
2010; Liégeois et al., 2006, in Gasquet et al., 2008). Their (2010) interpret the ‘‘Série verte’’ as the sedimentary prism
age is therefore bracketed between  620 Ma and 570– formed on the eastward-subducting Pharusian oceanic
580 Ma (the age of the base of the overlying Ouarzazate crust. They locate the volcanic arc on the active margin of
284 A. Soulaimani et al. / C. R. Geoscience 350 (2018) 279–288

the continental block east of the subducting ocean; in Hefferan et al. (2014) and Michard et al. (2017). After this
contrast, they describe the WAC margin as a typical passive early evolution, the (proto-) Cadomian terranes were rifted
margin. Yet, this cannot be extrapolated to the Anti-Atlas. and drifted off the Gondwana margin during the Cambrian
There, Early Ediacaran andesitic and rhyolitic volcanism is and Ordovician opening of the Paleozoic oceans (Iapetus and
important in some parts of the orogen foreland (e.g., Anezi Rheic, respectively; Murphy et al., 2006; Nance et al., 2012),
Fm. and underlying volcanics of the Kerdous inlier), and then they come back toward Gondwana during the
showing that the WAC margin was not a typical passive Pangea amalgamation. This is the same evolution as that of
margin at that time. So, in line with Triantafyllou et al. the Moroccan Meseta, except that the Meseta did not drift
(2018), we may consider the possibility of an incipient away from the proximal WAC margin. The (Cadomian)
south-dipping subduction beneath the WAC margin at ‘‘Northern Block’’ would not be labeled as an Avalonian block
about 640–620 Ma (see Fig. 3B). (Hefferan et al., 2000; Liégeois et al., 2006, in Gasquet et al.,
2008), since in contrast to Cadomia, Avalonia have a 1.3–
4.3. The Cadomian ‘‘Northern Block’’ of the Anti-Atlas Pan- 1.0 Ga crustal basement (Linnemann et al., 2014; Murphy
African belt et al., 2013).

The Pan-African orogeny of the Anti-Atlas resulted from

the collision of a northern continental block against the 5. The Late Ediacaran post-orogenic times
WAC. Which was this ‘‘Northern Block’’? The continental
units observed today north of the Anti-Atlas Pan-African 5.1. The Ouarzazate Group
suture zone correspond to the Atlas–Meseta domain
(shortly: Meseta) of the Variscan belt. The boundary The Ouarzazate Gp. (Thomas et al., 2002) refers to the
between the Meseta and the Anti-Atlas is a system of generally undeformed, subaerial clastic and volcanic series
intracontinental, Paleozoic, and Mesozoic–Cenozoic re- that overlie unconformably the folded and stacked units of
verse-dextral faults (Atlas Paleozoic Transform Fault or the Anti-Atlas Pan-African orogen, as well as the Paleo-
South Meseta Fault, and South Atlas Fault, respectively; proterozoic units of its foreland domain. The Ouarzazate
Fig. 1). So, it is currently admitted that the Moroccan Gp. thus surrounds all the Anti-Atlas inliers (Fig. 1), being
Meseta did not move over large distances since the followed upward by Cambrian deposits. It is worth noting
Cambrian-Ordovician, when the earliest rifting events that the term ‘‘Ouarzazate Supergroup’’ (Thomas et al.,
affected the northwestern WAC (Letsch et al., 2018a; 2004) is frequently used improperly instead of ‘‘Ouarza-
Michard et al., 2010; Ouanaimi et al., 2016). This implies zate Group’’, as it refers to both the latter and the (folded)
that the Neoproterozoic ‘‘Northern Block’’ corresponds to Bou Salda and Saghro Gps.
the Precambrian basement of the Meseta. The Ouarzazate Gp. is a pile of subaerial, volcano-
Knowledge of the Meseta basement has recently made sedimentary sequences,  2 km in thickness, next to
great progress. The occurrence of Late Precambrian Ouarzazate city. The sequences mainly consist of coarse
rhyolites was known for long in the Coastal Block at El volcanic conglomerates, ignimbrites, rhyolites, trachytes,
Jadida (Fig. 1). Ediacaran rhyolites are now accurately andesites, basaltic trachyandesites and tuffites in varied
dated back to 593–584 Ma (Baudin et al., 2003; El Houicha proportions. Coeval gabbro intrusions are also observed
et al., 2018). Some granites at the very base of the Paleozoic locally (e.g., minor gabbro of Tagmout in central Saghro
series also yielded Ediacaran ages in the western High Atlas massif, 556  5 Ma; Walsh et al., 2012). Rare interbedded
(625 Ma, Eddif et al., 2007) and the central Meseta (605– stromatolitic layers occur, probably developed around alka-
610 Ma, Tahiri et al., 2010; 625–600 and 552 Ma, Ouabid line lakes (Álvaro et al., 2010). A number of U–Pb zircon
et al., 2017). On the other hand, metarhyolites have been datings have been obtained, mostly from the rhyolite domes
dated to 2050  3 Ma beneath the unconformable Lower or flows, spanning from ca. 580 to 540 Ma (Blein et al., 2014b;
Cambrian marbles of southwestern Meseta (Pereira et al., Gasquet et al., 2005; O’Connor et al., 2010; Walsh et al., 2012).
2015). Neoproterozoic and Paleoproterozoic zircon xeno- Granitoid plutons or dykes emplaced within the lower
crysts are frequently found in the late Variscan dykes and Ouarzazate Gp. or underlying units during the same time
plutons (Dostal et al., 2005; Oukemeni et al., 1995; Tahiri span. All the Ouarzazate plutonic and volcanic rocks belong to
et al., 2010). Hence, the Meseta basement displays the high-K calc-alkaline, to alkaline, and eventually to shoshonitic
geochronological signature of northwestern Gondwana, magmatic series (Gasquet et al., 2005, 2008). Most of the high-
which is also that of the Cadomian terranes included in K calc-alkaline intrusions yield U–Pb ages close to 580 Ma
the Variscan belt of central and western Europe (Drost et al., (Askaoun granodiorite in the Siroua inlier: 575  8 Ma; Bleida
2011; Linnemann et al., 2014). Cadomian terranes (or granodiorite in the Bou Azzer inlier: 579  1 Ma). Magmatism
Cadomia) have a polycyclic evolution. They first formed by became more and more alkaline with time. For example, in the
rifting of the northwestern Gondwana margin in a Western Kerdous inlier, the Tarçouate gabbro-diorite and granodiorite
Pacific tectonic style. A volcanic arc developed on the rifted laccolith yielded a U–Pb age at 581  11 Ma, whereas the
crust, which then moved back to Gondwana and collided at Tafraoute and Tazoult alkaline granites were dated back to
ca. 540 Ma (e.g., Linnemann et al., 2014, their figs. 1, 5). This 549  6 and 548  11 Ma, respectively (Gasquet et al., 2008,
evolution corresponds to the Cadomian orogeny as defined in and references therein). In the J. Saghro, the Iknioun
northern Armorica (Ballèvre et al., 2009). In that sense, the granodiorite, which intrudes the Saghro Gp. and is uncon-
Cadomian orogeny is coeval with the whole Pan-African formably overlain by an upper member of the Ouarzazate Gp,
orogeny, and not only with its latest phase, as suggested by yielded an age of 563.5  6.3 Ma (Tuduri et al., 2018).
 A. Soulaimani et al. / C. R. Geoscience 350 (2018) 279–288 285

5.2. Tectonic setting and geodynamic interpretation Neoproterozoic (Bitencourt and Nardi, 2000; Eyal et al.,
2010), Variscan (Couzinié et al., 2016; Moyen et al., 2017;
The tectonic context of the Ouarzazate Gp. accumulation Seltmann et al., 2011), and Alpine belts (Dilek and
may be approached through the examination of its bounding Altunkaynak, 2007; Lustrino and Wilson, 2007).
unconformities and synsedimentary faults. The unconfor- On the other hand, the large distribution of the Late
mity at the bottom of the group is everywhere an angular Ediacaran high-K calc-alkaline to shoshonitic magmatism
unconformity, which implies significant erosion and change is a critical observation to approach its origin (Fig. 4).
of strain regime from compressional to extensional. For Gasquet et al. (2008) emphasized that ‘‘geodynamic
example, the Ouarzazate (Tanalt) Gp. unconformity on top of behavior of SW and NE Anti-Atlas are similar: Ediacaran
the J. Lkest quartzites implies that the latter have been high-K calc-alkaline rhyolites and granites have similar
exhumed after their folding in chloritoid-bearing green- ages and the same Sr–Nd isotopic ratios, indicating the
schist-facies conditions (Hassenforder, 1987) at  6–8 km presence at depth of the Eburnian basement even if it is
depth. The basal unconformity of the Ouarzazate Gp. is most cropping out only to the SW of the AAMF.’’ In fact, those
often marked by diamictites, by place exposed above a rocks extend not only in the whole Anti-Atlas, but also in
glacial floor (Vernhet et al., 2012). In the Agadir Melloul the Atlas–Meseta ‘‘Northern Block’’ of the Pan-African belt,
inlier, extremely coarse conglomerates with boulders up to as well as in the Ougarta belt (Bouima and Mezghache,
3 m3 in size occur at the bottom of the Ouarzazate Gp, 2002). Abundant high-K calc-alkaline to shoshonitic
showing the characters of fluvio-glacial or lahar deposits granite intrusions are also scattered in the Trans-Saharan
accumulated next to steep slopes (Soulaimani et al., 2013). In belt from western Hoggar to Niger (in the SE continuity of
the same inlier, the J. Iguiguil quartzites are bounded to the the area shown in Fig. 4), as well as farther to the east in the
south by a tilted paleofault associated with monogenic scarp central Hoggar (Azzouni-Sekkal et al., 2003; Liégeois et al.,
breccias that form the very base of the coarse conglomerates 1998). Such a large distribution of the Late Ediacaran
mentioned above (Ouanaimi and Soulaimani, 2011, their fig. magmatism makes the hypothesis of an Andean-type WAC
4.12). A few kilometers farther to the east, several growth margin at that time unrealistic.
faults active during the accumulation of the Ouarzazate Gp. The high-K calc-alkaline, to alkaline to shoshonitic
are exposed (Soulaimani et al., 2014). In the Bou Azzer inlier, magmatic series of the Ouarzazate Gp. evolved eventually
Azizi-Samir et al. (1990) recognized sinistral strike-slip towards alkaline and minor tholeiitic lavas at the beginning
movements along the east–west-trending AAMF system, of the Cambrian anorogenic extensional period (Gasquet
associated with a NW–SE extension recorded by hectome- et al., 2008; Pouclet et al., 2007; Toummite et al., 2012). This
tric-sized grabens with fanned growth strata in the volcanic- reinforces the idea, already stressed by Soulaimani et al.
clastic sequence. Likewise, in the Saghro massif, local (2003), of a continuous, post-collisional geodynamic setting
observations along the east–west-striking Imiter fault characterized by extensional collapse of the Pan-African belt,
suggest that it evolved from a pure extensional regime to combined with transcurrent movements and evolving into
a sinistral transtensional regime (Levresse, 2001; Ouguir passive margin rifting. Ganne et al. (2016) stressed that the
et al., 1996). Transpressional conditions occur locally in amalgamation of supercontinents results in the warming of
relation with plutonic emplacement, as illustrated by the
563-Ma-old Iknioum intrusion, 20 km south of Imiter
(Errami and Olivier, 2012; Tuduri et al., 2018).
Based on discrimination diagrams applied to the
geochemistry of the volcanic rocks, it was proposed that
the Ouarzazate Gp. would be linked to an Andean-type arc
(Bajja, 1998; El Baghdadi et al., 2003; Walsh et al., 2012), a
model involving the subduction of the oceanic crust
beneath the WAC margin. Likewise, Hefferan et al.
(2014) adopt basically the Walsh et al.’s model and
suggest a flip of subduction from outboard to inboard
between 640–620 Ma. In contrast, taking into account the
extensional-transtensional tectonic setting of the Ouarza-
zate Gp, most authors defined the Late Ediacaran
magmatism as post-collisional or post-orogenic (Gasquet
et al., 2005, 2008; Pouclet et al., 2007; Thomas et al., 2002;
Toummite et al., 2012), and explained the apparent arc-
related signature of part of the volcanic rocks of the group
by geochemical inheritance from the oceanic arc rocks
previously subducted in the mantle from which the
Ouarzazate Gp. magmas were sourced.
In fact, it was recognized that conventional geochemi-
cal discrimination diagrams are not highly informative in
the case of post-collisional granitoids (Liégeois et al., 1998;
Pearce, 1996). This idea has been repeatedly stressed for a Fig. 4. Regional extension of the Late Ediacaran high-K calc-alkaline
number of chronological and geographical settings from magmatism on both sides of the Pan-African suture zone.
286 A. Soulaimani et al. / C. R. Geoscience 350 (2018) 279–288

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Yvette Kuiper (Colorado School of Mines). We thank Blein, O., Baudin, T., Soulaimani, A., Cocherie, A., Chèvremont, P., Admou,
H., Ouanaimi, H., Hafid, A., Razin, P., Bouabdelli, M., Roger, J., 2014b.
sincerely Delphine Bosch (Montpellier University) and New Geochemical, Geochronological and Structural Constraints on
Julien Berger (Toulouse University) who provided thor- the Ediacaran Evolution of the South Sirwa, Agadir Melloul and
ough reviews of an early draft of this paper. We warmly Iguerda Inliers, Anti-Atlas, Morocco. J. Afr. Earth Sci. 98, 47–71.
Bouima, T., Mezghache, H., 2002. Les formations « infracambriennes » des
thank Moha Ikenne (Agadir University) and Nasser Ennih monts de l’Ougarta (Algérie) et leur corrélation avec celles de l’Anti-
(El Jadida University) for their thoughtful reviews, and Atlas central (Maroc). Mem. Serv. Geol. Nat. Algerie 11, 33–44.
Isabelle Manighetti (Nice University) for her careful Bouougri, E.H., Saquaque, A., 2004. Lithostratigraphic framework and
correlation of the Neoproterozoic northern West African Craton
editorial handling and numerous comments.
passive margin sequence (Siroua–Zenaga–Bou Azzer-El Graara
inliers, Central Anti-Atlas, Morocco): an integrated approach. J. Afr.
Earth Sci. 39, 227–238.
Burkhard, M., Caritg, S., Helg, U., Robert-Charrue, C., Soulaimani, A., 2006.
Tectonics of the Anti-Atlas of Morocco. C. R. Geoscience 338, 11–24.
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