A LARGE SUBMARINE MIDDLE ALBIAN SALT GLAC IER IN NORTH-WESTERN TUNISIA (250 KM(2)) - THE TRIASSIC ROCKS OF BENGASSEUR DIAPIR AND OF ELKEF ANTICLINE

Close to El Kef in Tunisia, the large masses (approximately 165 km2) o f Triassic rocks of the Ben Gasseur-El Kef anticline area are included within the middle Albian formations and show, underneath and on top, two originally horizontal sedimentary limits. Several Albian reefs, al ong the upper limit, allow estimation of a large lenticular saliferous body of probably 250 km(2), after straightening the two Tertiary fold ings. This framework is interpreted as a large submarine ''salt glacie r'', emplaced over a previously marine slope, within a hot rifted sett ing, following a scenario similar to the ''salt glacier'' Ouenza (Alge ria) emplacement. This new interpretation allows considerable simplifi cation of the regional tectonic features. The large Triassic outcrops of nearby north-central Tunisia should be interpreted similarly, takin g into account the several mining and petroleum drillings.