Journal of Maps (Dec 2020)

The Tachrift channel-levée turbidite complexes (Tortonian) of the Taza-Guercif basin (South Rifian Corridor, NE Morocco)

  • Fabrizio Felletti,
  • Mattia Marini,
  • Imad El Kati,
  • Hassan Tabyaoui

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/17445647.2020.1844088
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 16, no. 2
pp. 902 – 917

Abstract

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This contribution reports on the field mapping of 9 exceptionally well-exposed channel-levée complexes from Taza–Guercif Basin (NE Morocco), belonging to the Late Miocene Tachrift turbidite system. Separated from each another by hemipelagic marlstones, the mapped channel-levée complexes exhibit thicknesses in the range of 5–25 m. Four main sedimentary facies associations were mapped, including channel-fill sandstones, levée thin-bedded heterolithics, chaotic mass transport deposits, and hemipelagic marlstones. In addition, two end-member styles of channel-fills spatial stacking were recognized, reflecting different modes of channel belt development and/or location along the slope profile, namely: (a) a lateral-migration pattern, resulting from lateral migration of high-sinuosity levéed channel belts, as opposed to (b) a vertically stacked pattern, interpreted to reflect the vertical aggradation of levéed channel belts with a relatively low sinuosity. The geological map accompanying this contribution provides the basis for more in-depth sedimentological investigations on the channels of the Tachrift turbidite system.

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