The Cretaceous marine onlap on Palaeozoic deposits (Smara–Lâayoune Basin, South Morocco). Comparison with neighbouring regions

Abstract

The Cretaceous marine transgression proceeded through successive steps from the Albian to the Turonian (dated with ammonites). The onlapping wedge begins with coastal transgressive–regressive short-term sequences on massive, probably fluvial sandstones to be correlated with the very thick continental Lower Cretaceous succession found in the Puerto Cansado well in the Tarfaya sub-basin to the north. A second step, of probable Cenomanian age, reached the Palaeozoic basement. A third, more pronounced step occurred during the earliest Turonian with platy laminated limestone overlain by marlstone bearing pyritized ammonites. At early Turonian peak transgression, a marine connection was possibly established between the Atlantic and the Tethyan margins, between the Anti-Atlas and the Reguibat Shield. From large-scale correlation integrating what occurred along the southwestern shoulder of the Atlas rift, the South Moroccan Atlantic margin may have undergone a short-lived tectonic uplift around the Cenomanian–Turonian boundary.