Étapes de la structuration et de la sédimentation du bassin viséen de Mechra ben Abbou (Meseta occidentale marocaine)

The Mechra ben Abbou Visean basin is an intracontinental structure characterized by siliciclastic and carbonate sediments and tholeiitic-type volcanism. The structural evolution of the basin is subdivided into three stages: 1) an initiation stage, during which deposition took place within a platform affected by faulting that induced formation of half-graben structures; 2) a development stage, with deepening of the sedimentary environment which received pelagic deposits and submarine basic tholeiitic magmatic products; and 3) a filling stage, coeval to the initiation of the hercynian shortening. The deposits were chaotic, and the input originated by the erosion of an uprising anticlinorium, located at the south of the basin.