Abstract Demnate commune and High-Tessaout valley are located in the Moroccan central High-Atlas. They have a great and much diversified geological and geomorphological heritage and exceptional landscapes of high mountains. The data obtained from the current work indicate that the studied area present high tourist vocation, in the fact that this territory preserves a large number of geosites linked to many witnesses fossils of extinct animals such dinosaurs footprints, outcropping rock formations of the Precambrian and Mesozoic. Further, it has many remarkable landforms and geosites such as canyons, natural bridge, spectacular waterfalls and scree slopes. The findings support that the area attracts many tourists every year. However, this number remains restricted due to the lack of tools of promotion and mediation of its geoheritage and also due to the low exploitation of the geodiversity. Regarding this situation, geotouristic routes represented on touristic map appear as an essential tool for geotourism promotion and as an efficient means of geosciences popularisation. This paper illustrates three geotouristic routes describing the main geosites in rural areas of Demnate and High-Tessaout valley. These geotourism itineraries can help to explain the high potential interest of the studied areas in geotourism terms.
This study investigates the geotechnical characteristics, mineralogical properties and physicochemical properties of sewage sludge produced by wastewater treatment plant of the Khouribga city during the wastewater treatment process of chemical coagulation, biological and sedimentation.The main aim of this paper is to characterize the composition of sewage sludge and to assess compatibility with construction materials for reuse as an addition of sewage sludge in the manufacturing of construction materials.To characterize this sewage sludge many methods were used such as: the inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy method, X-ray diffraction, Atterberg limits and the particle size distribution was determined by granulometry.The obtained results showed the physical properties of the sewage sludge materials.It consists of about 60% fine sand in grain size range 150-75 µm.Furthermore, it contains an important quantity of chemical components such as iron, calcium, silica, alumina and phosphate, while the main mineral constituents of sewage sludge are Al 2 O 3 , Fe 2 O 3 and SiO 2 .In addition, the results of the geotechnical characterization showed a very high value for a liquid limit of 315%, a plastic limit of 55% and the plasticity index of 260%.According to the classification of Casagrande, sewage sludge is similar behavior with of soils elastic, it is located in the group silts clays to high plasticity.Based on the physicochemical and geotechnical characterization and mineralogical composition of sewage sludge, it is indicated that sewage sludge has the potential to be utilized in various applications, such as in the manufactured brick, in the ceramic industry, into a cementitious material and in the making of cement is possible, because the main compounds of the sewage sludge is similar the properties of the raw material used in these materials.
ii) The GBA and GAA protoliths that have until now been regarded as the PI terranes by many previous works, belong to a Pan-African orogeny. The GBA protholith seem to be generated by the melting of the crustal or immature sedimentary rocks after crustal thinning during the earlier Pan- African orogenic events, at c. 780 to 750 Ma. GAA protolith were formed in Panafrican island arc/fore-arc basin environments, at c. 743 Ma, from an anatexie related to the mantellic injection in the juvenile continental crust. iii) The two gneissic protoliths have been affected by an amphibolite to granulite-facies metamorphism (700±50°C) during the earlier Pan-African orogenic event and by a greenschist-facies metamorphism (570±30°C), very developed in GBA protolith, during the late Pan-African orogeny. iv) The strong N-S gradient of Pan-African deformation would be thus responsible for the overlapping of the GBA on the GAA protolith as well as for the dome shape of the Ourika gneisses. The dome core corresponding to the GBA gneisses which has been srongly affected by this deformation, would have intruded, by ascending movements convectifs, in the heavy cover formed by the GAA gneiss.
The aim of this study is to assess the spatial and temporal water quality variation and to determine the main contamination sources in the Oum Er Rbia River and its main tributary, El Abid River. The water quality data were collected during 2000–2012 from fourteen sampling stations distributed along the river. The water quality indicators used were TEMP, pH, EC, turbidity, TSS, DO, NH4+, NH3–, TP, BOD5, COD and F. coli. The water quality data was analyzed using multivariate statistical methods including Pearson's correlation, PCA, and CA. The results showed that in some stations the water quality parameters were over Moroccan water standards. PCA applied to compare the compositional patterns among the analyzed water samples, identified and four factors accounting for almost 63% of the total variation in the data. This suggests that the variations in water compounds’ concentration are mainly related to point source contamination (domestic and industrial wastewater), non-point source contamination (agriculture activities), as well as natural processes (weathering of soil and rock). CA showed relatively spatial and seasonal changes in surface water quality, which are usually indicators of contamination with rainfalls or other sources. Overall, this study showed that the water was potentially hazardous to health of the consumers and highlighted the need to treat industrial and municipal wastewater and to encourage sustainable agricultural practices to prevent adverse health effects. We therefore suggest wise management of anthropogenic activities in the catchment of Oum Er Bia River and their tributaries.
The mafic intrusions in the High-Atlas of Beni Mellal occur as dykes, sills and flows which are interbedded with, or intruded into, middle Jurassic sedimentary rocks. In Idemran, they have gabbroic nature and are installed as a sill ithin Dogger limestone. Mafic dykes that crosscut Guettioua continental red series are mainly represented in Tagleft. Basaltic flows are largely widespread and overcome the greso-argillaceous formations in Naour, Sgat and Tabarouch. The sills with average thickness of 60m are intercalated into Bin-ElOuidane blue limestones. With a coarse grained texture and a green light colored rock, the sill of Idemran contains plagioclase, k-feldspar, amphibole, clinopyroxene and biotite with scarcely small olivine crystals. The Tagleft and Ichichi dolerites contain plagioclase, clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene. In addition to the latest minerals, euhedral olivine occurs predominately in gabbronorite small intrusion of Ait-Ouchen. Naour and Sgat basalts show a fluidal microlitic texture and contain plagioclase, olivine and clinopyroxene. All rocks contain magnetite, ilmenite, hematite and sulfide, but their abundances vary widely.
The travertines of El Ksiba forming cliffs with an extension of about 8 km and a variable height that can reach about thirty meters. They are developed on lacustrine limestones and conglomerates of Early Quaternary age. The results reveal the high scientific (≃0.88) and aesthetic (≃0.88) values related to the strong representativeness of the regional geological phenomena. The assessment also shows the high economic value (≃0.75) and cultral (≃0.81). In this work, we presented the strategies of valorization and protection of this heritage in the framework of rural socio-economic development through activities related to geo-tourism and geo-education.
Aït Bou Oulli valley is located in the heart of the Moroccan central High‐Atlas, with a height of 4,068 metres in Ighil M'goun and 3,800 metres in Rat Mountain. Mountain areas are characterised by higher geodiversity compared with other areas. The valley possesses a geoheritage that is very rich and diverse, has an exceptional landscape of high mountains and attracts tourists every year. However, the number of visitors is still restricted because of a lack of tools for promotion, valorisation and mediation of this heritage. It is with the aim to promote this rich heritage that the present work was performed. The work focuses on the inventory, selection and quantitative evaluation of the remarkable geomorphosites in order to classify them. The results reveal the presence of 81 potential sites, of which 24 are conducive to geotourism. These conducive sites included: nine fluvial landforms of which five are enviable panoramic viewpoints and four are karstic forms; four structural landforms; three glacial landforms: two gravitatives landforms; one anthropic landform; and one lake landform. Rich information provided by this study and knowledge of these new geomorphosites are important for promotion of tourism activities in the Aït Bou Oulli region and can assist planners and authorities to formulate suitable plans for sustained development of the region.
Gneissic terranes under studied are one of the various formations constituting the Ourika Old massif. They underwent a metamorphic evolution characterized by a first amphibole facies event and a second greenschist facies metamorphism. The high-grade metamorphism is related to a Pan-African orogenesis that produced subduction-related granitoids preserved as GAA and GBA gneisses. These two gneissic groups have different geochemical compositions which were likely linked to the protolith nature. Petrology and geochemical investigations reveal that the protolith of GBA gneisses is calc-alkali peraluminous S-type granodiorite and thus of GAA gneisses is calc-alkali metaluminous diorite. The GBA protolith showed a continental active margin characteristic that may belong to the earlier Pan-African event, at ~780 to 750 Ma, whereas the GAA protolith could be formed in the island arc/fore-arc event, at ~753 Ma. Both groups were ordered in two lines suggesting two different sources where the crustal intervention is more or less marked, by juvenile upper continental crust for GBA protolith, and by young lower continental crust for GAA protolith. Correlated to the anti-atlasic formations of the same age, the geochemical similarities suggest a comparable geodynamic evolution that is closely linked to a Neoproterozoic continental convergent margin in the north of West-African Craton (WAC), collided at late Pan-African orogenesis. This collision induced the strongly N-S deformation that was materialized by the overthrusting of the GAA protolith onto the GBA protolith, and by the forming of the Ourika gneissic massif as a submeridian dome. Keywords: Ourika old massif; gneissic protoliths; Pan-African orogenesis; mineralogy and geochemistry; geodynamic evolution
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