Lithospheric structure in NW of Africa:Case of the Moroccan Atlas Mountains

This study presents the outcomes of the local earthquake tomography applied in the Moroccan Atlas domains. A seismic data collected by 36 seismic and a linearized inversion technics are used for determination of local velocity structure.The interpretation of tomography images results emphasizes a new and detailed lithosphere structure： a remaining subducted zone beneath the Souss Basin located from 20-to 45-km depth dipping to the North is detected and interpreted as a body that marks the border between the Moroccan Anti-Atlas and the Meseta-Atlas domains.A subduction zones is detected in the SW of the High Atlas, beneath the Hercynian Tichka massif from 10 to 50-km inclined away from Anti Atlas and in the eastern part of Anti Atlas, dipping northward from Jbel Ougnat at 15e40 km.The junction of the western and middle High Atlas is depicted by two high velocity blocks subducting from 10 to 50 km depth. The first is dipping SW beneath the High Atlas and the second is dipping SE beneath the Ouarzazate Basin.In the northern part of the southwestern High Atlas, a high velocity body dipping towards the north beneath the Essaouira Basin from 15 to 45 km depth.In northeastern part of the High Atlas in the Mougeur zone, a high velocity body is detected from 10 to 45 km depth, dipping to the Se E beneath the eastern High Atlas.The negative lithospheric anomalies found in the upper and in the lower crust are interpreted as a hot asthenospheric material upwelling from deep and gradually replacing the part of crust detached in the High Atlas. The occurrence magmatic activities in these regions testify the existence of a remaining subduction process. This paper argues the implication of these deep structures in the evolution of the Moroccan Atlas Mountain.

Attenuation of coda waves in the SW of High-Atlas area, Morocco

We investigate attenuation scattering and loss properties in Souss basin(SW of High-Atlas) as a transition zone between the High and Anti Atlas ranges. This district consists in a thinned crustal patch with shallow seismicity and loose sedimentary trenches that perform an important contribution to augment seismic attenuation. So far, no coda waves approach in our knowledge have been used to draw satisfying outputs about the attenuation properties in the region. Therefore, this update suggests to correlate the lateral changes of seismic attenuation to different characteristics and asperities i.e. seismic activity,crustal age and thickness, heat flow, and ground deformation rate. To do so, we analysed coda waves derived from waveform data of more than 23 local earthquakes from seven broadband seismometers recorded during 2010 e2012 period. As a starter, we utilized the backscattering model which defines theseismic attenuation as inversely proportional to quality factor by the equation A ?1=. QQcestimates c were deducted at various central frequency bands 1.5, 3.0, 6.0, 9.0, 12.0 and 18.0 Hz according to different lapses times. The estimated average frequency dependence quality factor gives relation Qc? 120 f1;01,while the average Qcvalues vary from 149 at 1.5 Hz to 1895 at 18 Hz central frequencies. We observed an intimate dependence between quality factor and frequency ranges, which reflects the complexity of geological/geophysical pattern in the Souss basin and the presence of a variety of heterogeneities within the underlying crust.