The Plio-Pleistocene evolution of the Southern Middle Atlas Fault Zone (SMAFZ) front of Morocco

The South Middle Atlas front constitutes a northeast-trending shear zone, located north of the Neogene Missour basin and east of the Taza Guercif basin. This paper analyses the Southern Middle Atlas Fault Zone (SMAFZ) deformation since the Pliocene. The set of structures observed suggests that reverse and thrust faulting along the central part of the SMAFZ are combined with left-lateral slip along N–S striking faults of its south-western termination and right-lateral faulting along E–NE striking faults of the east–northeast termination. Thrusts and oblique thrust-related anticlines of the two lateral ramps partly accommodate north-west directed motion of the African plate. The Thrusts probably resulted from rejuvenation of Jurassic normal faults; they were active during the Upper Miocene–Pliocene and the Pleistocene. The geometries of positive inversion structures and buttressing effects are clearly dependent on the geometry and sedimentology of the original basin-controlling fault system and on the presence of a décollement level. Field mapping is integrated with Landsat imagery and a digital elevation model to investigate the morphotectonic evolution of the south-eastern range front of the Middle Atlas. Geomorphological features provide significant information on the processes that govern lateral propagation of active anticlines. Both suggest that the deformation front may have been active since Pliocene.     

Geotechnical Cartographic Synthesis of Bejaia City,North East of Algeria

Geotechnics has a significant contribution in the construction engineering and natural risks, by providing for many useful data to direct the regional planning and prevent catastrophes. The geotechnical cartography became imperative to satisfy the intensive requirement of data concerning the soil and the basement, which initiated the urban development, often anarchistic. Indeed the cartography in geotechnics is a very complex task, because information concerning the soil and the basement are diverse. Due to its coastal and touristic position, Bejaia is one of the promising cities of Algeria. The site, on which the city is erected, is as an amphitheater where the sea is the scene. Indeed, Bejaia is located on a site surrounded by mountains on the three sides, north-south -west and it faces the sea on the east, its extension requires the use of lands with broken topography, and lead to appearance of new urban zones. These were built without consulting the experts in the field of the civil engineering, particularly geotechnics. This article presents the geotechnical cartography of Bejaia city; which shows the preliminary results of the zone of study, based on existing geotechnical, geological and topographic data.