Tepee structures and associated diagenetic features in intertidal carbonate sands (lower Jurassic,Morocco)

In southeastern Morocco, Early Jurassic inter- to supratidal carbonates can be followed for 200–300 km along the southern slopes of the High Atlas mountains. These beds form intervals of several tens to more than one hundred metres.Tepee structures, which are common in these beds, are confined to coarse-grained, early lithified beaches. Comparison with similar features in the Recent, and analysis of the diagenetic history of the sheetcrack-fills suggests that the formation of the tepees is an early, almost synsedimentary event.