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The Late Eocene and Late Miocene fronts of the Atlas Belt in eastern Maghreb: integration in the geodynamic evolution of the Mediterranean Domain

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Abstract

Regional cross sections at the scale of the eastern Maghreb based on subsurface and field data allow presenting the structural styles related to the Middle-Late Eocene compressional events. The structural cross sections depict that the Late Eocene front of the Atlas Belt extends far through the Northern Africa plate margin comparatively to the Late Miocene front cropping out in the Eastern Tunisian Atlas. The sections allow proposing a new subsurface front for the Atlas belt encompassing a large part of the Pelagian-Sirt basins. The consequences of this particular configuration are discussed at the scale of the south Tethys margin and replaced in the frame of the geodynamic evolution of the Mediterranean Domain.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the editor Francois Roure from IFP (Paris, France) who made very insightful suggestions and remarks allowing ameliorating the first draft of this work. We thank also our colleague Mansour. Al-Garni from KAU, Faculty of Earth Sciences (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia), for the constructive discussions and suggestions made during the different steps of this work. Anonymous reviewers made pertinent suggestions, they are acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Petroleum Geology, Faculty of Earth Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

    Sami Khomsi

  2. Département Géosciences et Environnement, Université de Cergy-Pontoise, 95000, Cergy-Pontoise, France

    Dominique Frizon de Lamotte

  3. Laboratoire Georessources, CERTE, BP: 273, Borj Cedria, Soliman, 8020, Tunisia

    Mourad Bédir

  4. ETAP, (Entreprise tunisienne des activités pétrolières) Réservoir Department, Tunis, Tunisia

    Oussema Echihi

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  1. Sami Khomsi
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  4. Oussema Echihi
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Correspondence to Sami Khomsi.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Arabian Plate: Lithosphere Dynamics, Sedimentary Basins and Geohazards

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Khomsi, S., de Lamotte, D.F., Bédir, M. et al. The Late Eocene and Late Miocene fronts of the Atlas Belt in eastern Maghreb: integration in the geodynamic evolution of the Mediterranean Domain. Arab J Geosci 9, 650 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-016-2609-1

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