Marine Quaternary of Cap Ashakar (Tangier, Morocco): Neotectonics and lithostratigraphy

The lithostratigraphy of the Quaternary deposits of Cap Ashakar (Tangier, Morocco) is made up of three marine Pleistocene formations: i) the oldest indicates an upper shoreface depositional environment and has suggested a "cold fauna" with two common Mediterranean species so far unknown on the Moroccan Atlantic coast: Buccinum undatum and Neptunea contraria; ii) the youngest indicates a foreshore depositional environment and is dated from the last interglacial period; iii) between them, a very thick marine Precambrian formation took place, which indicates an upper shoreface environment followed by a foreshore depositional environment. The morphostructural analysis illustrates the role played by the recurrent epeirogenic phenomena in the morphogenesis of the north Moroccan Atlantic coast and underlines the occurrence of areas with differential motions compared to the general uplift of the Gibraltar Strait. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Limited.