Carbonate mounds of the Moroccan Mediterranean margin: Facies and environmental controls |
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| Institution: | 1. Group of research ODYSSEE, Materials Nanotechnologies and Environment Laboratory (LMNE), Materials Sciences Research Center, Faculty of Sciences of Rabat, Mohammed-V University Rabat, BP 1014 Rabat, Morocco;2. Department of Geosciences, University of Fribourg, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland;3. ENSET, Mohammed-V University of Rabat, BP 6207 Rabat, Morocco;4. Department of Geology & Soil Science, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium |
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| Abstract: | Sedimentological and geochemical studies of boxcores from the Brittlestar Ridge I and Cabliers carbonate mounds, along the Moroccan Mediterranean margin, show that sediments are composed of cold water scleratian corals and micritic mud, muddy micrite or muddy allochem limestone matrix, outlining seven different facies that can be attributed to “cluster reefs”. The mixed siliciclastic/carbonate sediments have been derived from both extra- and intrabasinal sources. Extra-basinal sources may be the geological formations outcropping in the Moroccan hinterland and Sahara, the latter including corals and associated bioclasts. Sediments were transported by wind and rivers and redistributed by bottom currents and local upwelling. Our results confirm the role of tectonics in the genesis of these carbonate mounds and reveal that their developments during the Holocene (10.34–0.91 ka BP) was controlled by climatic fluctuations (e.g. Holocene Climate Optimum and Little Ice Age), eustatic sea level change, and hydrodynamic regime. |
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| Keywords: | Carbonate mounds Cold water corals Sedimentology Sedimentary geochemistry Moroccan Mediterranean margin |
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