STRUCTURAL CONFIGURATION ANALYSIS FROM MIOCENE TO RECENT TIME IN THE SOUTH RIFIAN RIDGES, RIF BELT, NORTHERN MOROCCO

The South Rifian Ridges in the front of the Moroccan Rif Cordillera are characterized by complicated structures, controlled by the ongoing shortening between Eurasia-Africa plates motion and the westward collision of the Alboran domain in between.

To explain its geodynamic evolution and kinematics, an integrated study comprising morpho structural and field data was performed to recognize the distribution of structures controlled by neotectonic stress during Plio-quaternary and their relationship with the local lineaments.

Morphotectonic information compared with the documented late tectonic shortening phases and field data confirms the recent tectonic activity signals left by the observed structures and sheds new light on their reactivation. The main structural features inferred are NW-SE deep faults and frontal morpho structures, which might be activated since the Late Tortonian shortening. On the contrary, the N-S-oriented basement lineaments were not activated.

The Late Messinian to present-day N-S to NNW-SSE shortening has a direct effect on NE-SW oriented basement lineaments producing the reactivation of the NW-SE and the N-S ones. The result supports, also, the presence of new masked fault systems.