TRANSGRESSIONS, FAULTING AND REDEPOSITION PHENOMENON DURING THE VISEAN IN THE KHENIFRA AREA, WESTERN MOROCCAN MESETA

The Visean transgression is well known in the main part of northern Mo rocco, where it was synchronous with faulting. At that time the Khenif ra area, divided into pre-Visean blocks, was covered with a shallow se a, making an opportunity for developing this transgression in stages. Here, the Visean overlies the pre-Visean terrains through a major unco nformity during at least four transgressive phases: (1) V-1: limestone s, then flysch, onto an anchizonal Ordovician series (N of Ba Moussa); (2) V-2a: carbonated platform onto anchizonal Devonian series (Assif bou Imezdaoun sedimentary klippes); (3) V-2b-V-3a: detrital platform o nto an epizonal Cambro-Ordovician series (Jebel Hadid Horst); (4) V-3b : detrital submergence, in places carbonated, along the sides of the h orsts, where the transgression accompanied fault movements, an Fe meta llogeny and a resedimentation phenomenon. The Devonian klippes could o riginate from the grabens during these movements. (C) 1997 Elsevier Sc ience Limited.