Late Cretaceous-Paleogene Formation of the Bekrit Syncline, Middle Atlas, Morocco: Sedimentology, Geochemistry, Palynology and Paleoenvironments

Abstract

Globally, the Paleogene period experienced several events marking the Paleocene-Eocene transition which is especially to one of the hottest periods that the Earth has ever known (Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, PETM), followed by the biological crisis that affected benthic foraminifera. The Bekrit Syncline, subject of this study, shows three Formations of range from the Cretaceous to the Eocene ages (the El Koubbat, Irbzer and Bekrit-Timahdite Formations). Sedimentological, palynological and geochemical analyses of collected samples, in the Bekrit syncline, were studied to determine the paleogeographic and paleoenvironmental conditions of the Middle Atlas. The carbonate rocks were analyzed by microscopic study and geochemical analysis by X-ray Fluorescence (XF) and Inductively Coupled Plasma Spectrometry (ICP). The results obtained highlight the sedimentary events that took place during the Paleogene. Thus, the Maastrichtian is characterized by a closed euxinic marine environment shared by a more open and oxidizing environment. On the other hand, the Paleocene was a restricted marine environment with evaporitic sedimentation, while the Eocene sees the installation of a carbonate platform with a bioclastic Shoal.