New macaque fossil remains from Morocco

Altres ajuts: CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Cataluny

First small-sized Dinofelis: Evidence from the Plio-Pleistocene of North Africa

We describe small-sized specimens of the metailurine felid Dinofelis from a new Plio-Pleistocene site in North Africa. Dinofelis is a genus of saber-toothed cats mainly recorded from East and South Africa with numerous leopard to jaguar-sized species. The described specimens, clearly smaller than all the other African Dinofelis, resemble isolated remains from the Late Pliocene of France and the Early Pleistocene of Africa. Present evidence suggests that our form represents a new species and/or new lineage of Dinofelis, smaller and probably occupying a different ecological niche compared to the previously known members of the genus, and thus it adds complexity to the high intraspecific competition among large carnivorans in the Plio-Pleistocene of Africa.This work has been funded by Palarq Foundation, Spanish Ministry of Culture and Sport (Ref: 42-T002018N0000042853 and 170- T002019N0000038589), Direction of Cultural Heritage (Ministry of Culture and Communication, Morocco), Faculty of Sciences (Mohamed 1r University of Oujda,Morocco), INSAP (Institut National des Sciences de l'Archeologie et du Patrimoine), Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (Ref: CGL2016-80975-P, CGL2016-80000-P, PGC2018-095489-B-I00 and PGC2018-093925-B-C31), Agencia Estatal de Investigacion e European Regional Development Fund of the European Union (CGL2017-82654-P, AEI/FEDER-UE), the Generalitat de Catalunya (CERCA Program) which is financed by European Community Research Infrastructure Action under the FP7 “Capacities” Program and Research Groups Support (2017 SGR 836 and 2017SGR 859). R.S-R, M.G.CH., and P.S. research is funded by CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Catalunya. J.M.-M. is member of consolidated research group 2017 SGR 116 (AGAUR, Generalitat de Catalunya). A.R.-H. is the beneficiary of a postdoctoral scholar ship from the MICINN, Subprograma Juan de la Cierva (IJC-037447-I) and member of the Consolidated Research Group 2017 SGR 1040 of the Generalitat de Catalunya. A.M.A and M.F. are beneficiaries of a fellowship from the Erasmus Mundus Program to do the Master in Quaternary and Prehistory at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili (Tarragona, Spain). The Institut Catala de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolucio Social (IPHES-CERCA) has received financial support fromthe Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the ‘María de Maeztu’ program for Units of Excellence (CEX2019-000945-M).With funding from the Spanish government through the "Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence" accreditation (CEX2019-000945-M).Peer reviewe

Flood Hazard Mapping in Rural Area: Case of Ephemeral Watercourses in SidiBoulenouar Zone

The eastern region of Morocco is characterized by an arid to semi-arid climate. It is often confronted with heavy rainfall episodes that can generate floods that can cause adverse human and property damage. This work studies hydrological risk in the SidiBoulenouar area (Oujda province) to model floods and map risk areas. The method used is to determine the watersheds and their watercourses, then to calculate the flows with the mathematical formulas. Topographic data were extracted from a 12.5-m resolution DEM derived from the ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer). GDEM (Global DEM). The DEM was used to delimit the hydrographic network with ArcMap software. The use of HEC RAS 1D was necessary to delimit the flooding area. The results of the 1D hydraulic modeling of the centennial flood showed that four ephemeral watercourses landlock the rural area of SidiBoulenouar at the time of the floods

Les structurations post-orogeniques du Rif Nord-Central (Maroc) apport des donnees de la cartographie numeriques

Workshop Alboran domain and Gibraltar Arc: geological research and natural hazards, Granada (España), 16 -18 octubre (2019

The Al Hoceima seismic zone (SW prolongation of the EBSZ in the Rif): GPS evidences of deep tectonic displacements on a main active blind sinistral fault

4th Fault2SHA Workshop, Fault Complex Interaction: Characterization and Integration into Seismic Hazard Assessment (SHA), 3-5 June 2019, BarcelonaThe Al Hoceima seismic zone is located at the southwestward prolongation of the Eastern Betic Shear Zone that crosses the Alboran Sea and reaches up to the Rif. This region was affected by the 1994, 2004 and 2016 onshore and offshore seismic crisis and constitutes one of the most active areas of the westernmost Mediterranean. The January 24, 2004 (M= 6.4, depth 7 to 10 km) earthquake was related to a NNE-SSW sinistral or a WNW-ESE dextral vertical fault, but in spite of its shallow origin, no tectonic field ruptures were recognized. Anyway, the epicentral region evidences NE-SW to E-W brittle extensional structures: Quaternary fractured pebbles, conjugate normal faults and open joints. The main normal and transtensional faults in the region are located eastwards of the zone affected by seismicity, onshore and offshore of the Nekor bay. A non-permanent GPS network composed by 6 sites and measured since June 2007 evidence very moderate or absent activity of the main outcropping faults surrounding the Nekor Basin. However, very high rates (up to 2- 3mm /yr) of ENE-WSW extension have been detected in the epicentral zone. These field data are in agreement with those obtained on the analysis of the 2016 seismic series in the Alboran Sea, that evidence a westward migration of the deformation in the region. While the main sinistral EBSZ propagates southwestward up to the Rif affecting the basement, shallow tectonics units probably are detached and only being affected by the extensional deformation above the deeper main crustal fault. This complex setting may constitute a key area to advance in paleoseismological and seismic hazard assessment studies because the main recent outcropping faults have become inactive and the new main active structures are blind strike-slip faultsPeer Reviewe

GPS tectonic displacements on a main active sinistral blind fault tip: a key to integrate seismic and geological evidences in a collisional setting (Al Hoceima area, Rif belt, western Mediterranean)

European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly, 7-12 April 2019, Vienna, Austria.-- 1 pageThe NW-SE Eurasian-African plate convergence formed the Rif and Betic Cordilleras around the Alboran Sea in the westernmost Mediterranean. Seismicity in this region is notably concentrated along a NE-SW band crossing from the Campo de Dalías, in Betics (Spain), to the Al Hoceima region in the Rif (Morocco), an area affected by the 1994, 2004 and 2016 onshore and offshore seismic series. This deformation zone has been proposed to be a main segment of the plate boundary and corresponds to the northwestern limit of a rigid basement spur of the African plate in a setting of indentation tectonics. The onshore Al Hoceima region was affected by the catastrophic earthquake of January 24, 2004 (M= 6.4, depth 7 to 10 km) and the related seismic series is characterized by strike-slip focal mechanisms supporting the presence of NNE-SSW sinistral or WNW-ESE dextral faults. However, there is not any evidence of surface strike-slip faults in the epicentral area, which instead was affected by minor NE-SW extensional structures evidenced by fractures in Quaternary pebbles, minor conjugate normal faults, and vertical open joints. Geological researches evidence that main normal and transtensional faults are located eastward of the epicentral area, onshore and offshore of the Nekor bay, and westward in the Bokoya Massif. A non-permanent GPS network consisting of 6 sites has been installed since June 2007, and we have obtained yearly measurements. They provide an accurate result of the present-day deformation field that is helping to solve the apparent disagreement between seismological and geological observations. The three sites located east of the 2004 series epicentral area have motions roughly consistent with the Nubia (African) plate and evidence the very low activity of the prominent Plio-Quaternary Nekor basin faults. Contrasting, the three sites located on the epicentral and western region undergone a very fast motion (between 2 and 3 mm/yr) towards the WSW with respect to stable Nubia. This result supports an ENE-WSW surface extension and is in agreement with the subtle very recent geological deformation and the extensional stress of the earthquake focal mechanisms. The analysis of the 2016 seismic series that occurred in Alboran Sea provide similar results, suggesting a recent westward migration of the deformation. The integration of all these results support that the main sinistral fault zone crossing the Alboran Sea propagates up to the Al Hoceima region basement, while the shallow tectonic units are detached and their deformation and displacement are mainly determined by the orientation of the ENE-WSW extensional stresses. This is a complex setting for paleoseismological studies and seismic hazard assessment because the main recent outcropping faults have become inactive and the new main active structures are blind strike-slip faults. The integration of geodetic data have been proven essential to integrate the apparently disharmonious seismic and geological dat

First small-sized Dinofelis : evidence from the Plio-Pleistocene of North Africa

We describe small-sized specimens of the metailurine felid Dinofelis from a new Plio-Pleistocene site in North Africa. Dinofelis is a genus of saber-toothed cats mainly recorded from East and South Africa with numerous leopard to jaguar-sized species. The described specimens, clearly smaller than all the other African Dinofelis, resemble isolated remains from the Late Pliocene of France and the Early Pleistocene of Africa. Present evidence suggests that our form represents a new species and/or new lineage of Dinofelis, smaller and probably occupying a different ecological niche compared to the previously known members of the genus, and thus it adds complexity to the high intraspecific competition among large carnivorans in the Plio-Pleistocene of Africa

New macaque fossil remains from Morocco

Altres ajuts: CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Cataluny