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Comptes Rendus

About the dating of Upper-Pleistocene fluvial deposits in the arid zone of Morocco: comparative data of radiocarbon, optic stimulation luminescence and uranium/thorium methods
Comptes Rendus. Géoscience, Volume 335 (2003) no. 3, pp. 277-278.
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DOI: 10.1016/S1631-0713(03)00048-8

André L. Weisrock 1

1 Université Nancy-2, BP 33-97, 54015 Nancy cedex, France
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     author = {Andr\'e L. Weisrock},
     title = {About the dating of {Upper-Pleistocene} fluvial deposits in the arid zone of {Morocco:} comparative data of radiocarbon, optic stimulation luminescence and uranium/thorium methods},
     journal = {Comptes Rendus. G\'eoscience},
     pages = {277--278},
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André L. Weisrock. About the dating of Upper-Pleistocene fluvial deposits in the arid zone of Morocco: comparative data of radiocarbon, optic stimulation luminescence and uranium/thorium methods. Comptes Rendus. Géoscience, Volume 335 (2003) no. 3, pp. 277-278. doi : 10.1016/S1631-0713(03)00048-8. https://comptes-rendus.academie-sciences.fr/geoscience/articles/10.1016/S1631-0713(03)00048-8/

Version originale du texte intégral

In South Morocco Quaternary studies, one of the major tasks is to date the so-called ‘Soltanian’ alluvial terrace, which occurs widely and lies for its most part beyond the 14C limit [4]. This terrace was well identified in the Atlantic Atlas [7], in the Souss Basin [1,2,9], on the northern border of the Anti-Atlas [8], and more recently at its southern border [6,10] and also at its eastern side [3]. However, dates were limited at ca 35 kyr, often at the upper or at the middle part of the deposits, lock of adequate dating methods; a subsequent important question was the disagreement between the dating results and the presence of a Prehistoric industry of Mousterian tools throughout the sediments [8,11].

A first response is given by Thorp et al. [6] with recourse at the OSL dating method applied to alluvial quartz grains, which give an age of 45.0±3.7 kyr for the bottom silts of the Soltanian terrace of Agadir Tissint and by Weisrock et al. [10]: OSL age of 49.1±4.3 kyr for silts in a comparable stratigraphic section, and U/Th age of 55.9+9.3–8.6 kyr for an underneath travertine. New dating results, by OSL and U/Th, of the basal units underneath the bottom silts (calcreted alluvial conglomerates at Agadir Tissint, other silts and travertine sequences at Oued Noun) will be soon available [5,6]. Another important challenge in the Atlantic coastal area is to make reliable the bottom of the Soltanian terrace and the base level of the high marine terrace of OIS stage 5e. These new results will allowed us to make significant progress into three main topics: isotopic dating methods of new material such as alluvial series, calcretes and travertines; knowledge of the duration of alluviation and erosion phases in the fluvial systems of arid countries of Southern Morocco since 120 kyr; correlation between the North Atlantic Upper Pleistocene palaeoclimatic well-known events and the corresponding climate changes related to the fluvial processes on the northern Sahara border during the same time.


References

[1] A. Aı̈t Hssaı̈ne, Géomorphologie et Quaternaire du piémont de Taroudant–Ouled Teı̈ma, Maroc, thèse, géographie, université de Montréal, 1994, 240 p

[2] N. Bhiry; P. Rognon; S. Occhietti Origine et diagenèse des sédiments quaternaires de la vallée moyenne du Souss, Mém. Sciences géologiques, Strasbourg, Volume 84 (1989), pp. 136-144

[3] L. Boudad, L. Kabiri, A. Weisrock, L. Wengler, M. Fontugne, M. El Maataoui, A. Makayssi, J.-L. Vernet, Sédimentation fluviatile du Pléistocène supérieur et de l'Holocène dans la plaine de Tazoughmit (Haut Atlas, piémont de Goulmima, Maroc), Quaternaire, Paris (soumis)

[4] G. Delibrias; P. Rognon; A. Weisrock Datations de plusieurs épisodes à limons roses dans le Quaternaire récent de l'Atlas atlantique marocain, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. D, Volume 282 (1976), pp. 593-596

[5] N. Mercier, H. Valladas, J.-L. Reyss, M. Fontugne, L. Wengler, A. Weisrock, J. Mathieu, La vallée de l'oued Noun, Sud-Ouest marocain : chronologie des dépôts alluviaux et implications sur le peuplement humain au Pléistocène supérieur (soumis)

[6] M. Thorp; P. Glanville; S. Stokes; R. Bailey Preliminary optical and radiocarbon age determinations for Upper Pleistocene alluvial sediments in the southern Anti-Atlas Mountains, Morocco, C. R. Geoscience, Volume 334 (2002), pp. 903-908

[7] A. Weisrock; P. Rognon Évolution morphologique des basses vallées de l'Atlas atlantique marocain, Géologie Méditerranéenne, Marseille, Volume IV (1977) no. 4, pp. 313-334

[8] A. Weisrock; M. Fontugne; A. Ouammou Le Soltanien supérieur de l'oued Tamdroust, province de Tiznit, Maroc atlantique, Revue de Géographie du Maroc, Rabat, Volume 1–2 (1994), pp. 351-371

[9] A. Weisrock; B. Adele; A. Charif; S. Tannouch-Bennani Dunes littorales et dunes continentales au Maroc atlantique semi-aride (29°–30°N) du Pléistocène supérieur à l'Actuel, Revista Cuaternario y Geomorfologia, Madrid, Volume 16 (2002) no. 1–4, pp. 43-56

[10] A. Weisrock, L. Wengler, J. Mathieu, A. Ouammou, M. Fontugne, N. Mercier, J.-L. Reyss, H. Valladas, Upper-Pleistocene U/Th, OSL and 14C comparative dating and correlative morphodynamical implications in the southwestern Anti-Atlas (Oued Noun, 29°N, Morocco), Quaternaire, Paris (soumis)

[11] L. Wengler, A. Weisrock, J.-E. Brochier, J.-P. Brugal, M. Fontugne, F. Magnin, J. Mathieu, N. Mercier, A. Ouammou, J.-L. Reyss, F. Senegas, H. Valladas, L. Wahl, Enregistrement fluviatile et paléoenvironnements au Pléistocène supérieur sur la bordure sud-ouest de l'Anti-Atlas, Quaternaire, Paris (sous presse)


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