Evidence for a 6000 km length NW-SE-striking lineament in northern Africa:the Tibesti Lineament

Satellite images of Africa and Digital Elevation Models exhibit a c. 6000 k m length NW-SE-striking lineament extending from southwestern Algeria to Ke nya, This lineament often corresponds to a 200 to 300 km wide fault swarm, including faults sporadically interrupted, with a possible late Proterozoic origin, We name it the Tibesti Lineament as it is the most obvious and bes t documented massif along this structure. Some plate-scale geophysical stud ies substantiate the connection of this tectonic lineament with a major dis continuity affecting the deep lithosphere, The existence of other lithosphe ric fault zones crosscutting the African plate and/or the neighbouring plat es of the Gondwana is underlined.