African continental margins of the Mediterranean Sea
Djerba, Tunisia, 22-25 November 2000,
116 p. (218 ref.)
The north African and Levant continental margins are quite contrasted, representing either segments of an old Mesozoic passive margin, or more recent and tectonically active continental borderlands. In spite of their scale and importance, they remain surprisingly poorly known, at least from an academic point of view, and poorly understood. These continental margins have never been studied by academic drilling and no real synthesis exists concerning their morphology, history, structure and sedimentation. Currently many questions are a matter of debate. For instance what is the timing and process of continental break-up and spreading of the Tethys ocean? Is the north African margin of volcanic- or non-volcanic-rifted type, or both? When did ocean spreading begin? Is the Levant margin segment of transform, or orthogonally rifted type? To what extents are parts of the margin now affected by collisional tectonics? During the course of their four-day meeting, the participants extensively covered such ground, reviewing current knowledge of the structural and geodynamic evolution of the region and identifying the best ways (and the best tools) to further our understanding of the structural and sedimentary processes at work.
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Contents:
I - Executive summary
by Alastair Robertson and Neil Kenyon, edited by Jean Mascle and Frédéric Briand
1. Introduction
2. Outline of geodynamic evolution
3. Research needed on structural framework and geodynamic evolution
4. Sedimentary processes on the north African margin
II - Workshop communications
1 - Activated Maghreb margins (Western Mediterranean)
- Evolution of the Mediterranean continental margin of northern Morocco.
Ahmed Chalouan and André Michard
- Mécanismes sédimentaires et structuration récente de la marge méditerranéenne marocaine (partie occidentale).
El Moumni, H. Semlali, A. Ammar, A. El Hmaidi et B. Gensous
- Synthèse des connaissances géologiques et géodynamiques de la Méditerranée occidentale et de la marge algérienne en particulier
Djamal Braik
- Evolution structurale de la partie orientale du bassin d´Alboran au cours du Néogène (offshore occidental, Algérie).
L.H. Kheidri, M.S. Benabdelmoumen, et R.S. Zazoun
- Paleozoic to Cenozoic crustal and basin structuring of the Tunisian north African margin.
Mourad Bedir, Mohamed Soussi and Chedly Abbes
- Le canal de Sardaigne, à la croisée des bassins algéro-provençal et tyrrhénien de la Méditerranée et des segments kabylo-tunisien et siculo-calabrais de la chaine des Maghrébides.
Jean-Pierre Bouillin
- Cenozoic collisional and extensional structures among Sardinia, Sicily and Tunisia (Central Mediterranean): examples and constraints from seismic reflection profiles.
L. Torelli, G. Carrara, R. Sartori and N. Zitellini
- Overview on the stratigraphy, paleogeography and structural evolution in southern Tunisia, during the Mesozoic, as part of the African margin.
Mohamed Dridi
2 - North African/Levant passive margins (Eastern Mediterranean)
- Crustal structure of the Libyan margin.
Marco Brönner and Jannis Makris
- Evidences for tectonic reactivation along the African continental margins from Egypt to Libya.
Jean Mascle, Caroline Huguen and Lies Loncke
- Recent depositional pattern of the Nile deep-sea fan from echo-character mapping: interactions between turbidity currents, mass-wasting processes and tectonics.
Loncke L., Gaullier V., Bellaiche G., Mascle J.
- Evolution of sedimentation patterns on the north African margins: an update from studies of recent mud volcanic deposits.
G.G. Akhmanov, M.K. Ivanov, J.M. Woodside, M.B. Cita, N.H. Kenyon
- Tectonic setting of the Levant margin.
Zvi Ben-Avraham
3 - General
- Tectonic setting of the north African/Arabian continental margin in relation to the bordering Tethys ocean.
Alastair Robertson
- Channelised deep sea depositional systems in the Mediterranean: the value of sonar backscatter mapping.
Neil H. Kenyon
III - Bibliographic references
IV - List of participants
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