Journal of Geology & Geophysics
Open Access

Abstract

Halocinese and Halotectonics in the Northern Atlas: Case Study of the Triassic Outcrop of J. El Matria (Oued Zarga Area)

Amira Ayed-Khaled, Mohamed Sadok Ben Salem, Ines Ezzine and Mohamed Ghanmi

Apart from the Triassic salt bodies, there are several structural elements that characterize the Oued Zarga area. The new field data allowed us to deduce that the structural evolution of this region is essentially based on two generations of dextral strike-slip faults: an E-W direction to WNW-ESE and a later NW-SE second trend. In the study area, the Triassic material of J. El Matria is framed by two sedimentary contacts. Lower contact in clansayesian clays characterized by a glauconic to Triassic insoluble conglomerates and an upper contact where the Triassic material is covered by a thick pelagic series attributed to the lower Albian. This configuration results from a rapid lateral outpouring during the Lower Cretaceous in an extensive tectonic context and re-folded during the tertiary compressive phases, interpreted like most Triassic structures in northern Tunisia, in terms of the "salt glacier" with Lower Cretaceous age.