Geodynamic Evolution of the Atlas Mountains

The Atlas Mountains of north-western Africa represent a classic case of intracontinental mountain building, driven by the convergence of the African and Eurasian plates. Originating in Mesozoic times as a rifted margin during the opening of the Central Atlantic, the region underwent episodic subsidence and exhumation linked to thermal relaxation and salt tectonics. From the Miocene onwards, far-field compressional stresses reactivated earlier rift structures, giving rise to a double-vergent belt of thrusts, folds and oblique-slip faults. This transpressional regime led to rapid crustal shortening of some 25 km in the High Atlas and produced pulses of surface uplift and erosion. Deep processes, including slab rollback of the Tethyan lithosphere and mantle flow beneath the range, have been implicated in sustaining long-wavelength topography and generating unusually deep seismic rupture. Thermochronological studies document multiple exhumation phases, while geodetic and seismological observations reveal ongoing deformation at crustal and lower-crustal depths. Together, these findings illuminate how inherited rift architecture, lithospheric dynamics and plate-boundary interactions combine to build a major intracontinental orogen with significant implications for seismic hazard, landscape evolution and hydrocarbon prospectivity in analogous settings worldwide.

Research from Nature Portfolio

No recent Nature Portfolio content available.

Geodynamic Evolution of the Atlas Mountains publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in geodynamic evolution of the atlas mountains across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Transpression: A deformation regime combining horizontal shortening and strike-slip motion, producing uplifted, sheared structures.

Thermochronology: The study of thermal histories of rocks through time, using mineral cooling ages to infer rates of exhumation and burial.

Oblique convergence: Plate interaction at an angle to a major structural trend, causing both compressional and lateral displacement.

Mantle upwelling: The ascent of hotter mantle material toward the base of the lithosphere, which can drive uplift and influence seismicity.

Mohorovičić discontinuity (Moho): The boundary between Earth’s crust and the underlying mantle, often offset by deep seismic ruptures.

Seismogenic depth: The range of depths within the crust or upper mantle where brittle failure produces earthquakes.

References

1. Post-rift vertical movements and horizontal deformations in the eastern margin of the Central Atlantic: Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous evolution of Morocco. International Journal of Earth Sciences (2012).
2. Salt tectonics of the offshore Tarfaya Basin, Moroccan Atlantic margin. Marine and Petroleum Geology (2022).
3. Tectonic Evolution of the Western High Atlas of Morocco: Oblique Convergence, Reactivation, and Transpression. Tectonics (2020).
4. Fault-Slip Potential near the Deadly 8 September 2023 Mw 6.8 Al Haouz, Morocco, Earthquake. The Seismic Record (2023).
5. The 2023 Mw 6.8 Morocco Earthquake: A Lower Crust Event Triggered by Mantle Upwelling?. Geophysical Research Letters (2024).