Geology of Northwest Africa

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Northwest Africa encompasses a vast region from Morocco and Algeria to Tunisia and Mauritania, featuring rocks that date from the Archaean to the Quaternary. This work results from the author's extensive field studies and a thorough compilation of existing data. It offers a detailed description and analysis of the area's geological domains, including stable cratonic regions and pericratonic zones marked by significant deformation at the end of the Precambrian. The Atlas mountains, which were deformed alongside their Paleozoic basement during the Mesozoic and Cainozoic, are also discussed. To the north, the Rif-Tell chain, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, is highlighted for its ongoing deformation. The western regions transition from stable ancient basement to more recent geological formations, culminating in the passive Atlantic margin. Each domain is meticulously described, with sedimentary, magmatic, and metamorphic rocks analyzed alongside their structural development. The author also aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the geodynamic evolution of Northwest Africa, focusing on the sequence of orogenic events from Precambrian times to the latest tectonic activities. Alain Pique serves as a professor of structural geology at the Université de Bretagne occidentale in Brest, France.