The Tafraout Group (Also Tafraoute Group or Zaouiat Ahançal Group) is a geological group of formations of Toarcian-Aalenian (Lower Jurassic-Middle Jurassic) age in the Azilal, Béni-Mellal, Imilchil, Zaouiat Ahansal, Ouarzazate, Tinerhir, Tinejdad and Errachidia areas of the High Atlas (with the Tagoudite Fm reaching areas near Khenifra or Talghemt in the Middle Atlas) of Morocco.[3][4] The Group represents the remnants of a local massive Siliciclastic-Carbonate platform ("Tafraout Platform"), best assigned to succession W-E of alluvial environment occasionally interrupted by shallow marine incursions (tidal flat setting) and inner platform to open marine settings, and marks a dramatic decrease of the carbonate productivity under increasing terrigenous sedimentation.[5][6][7] Fossils include large reef biotas with richness in "lithiotid" bivalves and coral mounts ("Patch reef", Tafraout Formation[8]), but also by remains of vertebrates such as the sauropod Tazoudasaurus and the basal ceratosaur Berberosaurus, along with several undescribed genera.[9] While there have been attributions of its lowermost layers to the Latest Pliensbachian, the current oldest properly measured are part of the Earliest Toarcian regression ("MRST10"), part of the Lower-Middle Palymorphum biozone.[3]
This group is composed of the following units, which extend from west to east: the Azilal Formation (continental to subtidal, including its synonyms the "Aït Hani Formation", "Wazzant Formation" and the "Continental Series of Toundoute", as well includes part of the "Aguerd-nˈTazoult Formation"); the "Amezraï" Formation (intertidal environment); the Tafraout Formation (deposited in a subtidal to inner platform environment, includes part of the "Aguerd-nˈTazoult Formation") & the Tagoudite Formation (including the "Tamadout Formation", shallow subtidal to open pelagic).[8] They are connected with the offshore Ait Athmane Formation and the deeper shelf deposits of the Agoudim 1 Formation.[10] Overall, this group represents a mixed carbonate-siliciclastic system of several hundred meters thick, dominated by deposits of shallow marine platforms linked to a nearby hinterland dominated by conglomerates.[11] The strata of the group extend towards the central High Atlas, covering different anticlines and topographic features along the mountain range.[12]
The after-effects of the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event are also very present in the marginal marine strata of the Tafraout Group, with the Toksine Section recording a dramatic collapse on the scale of the Tethys of the neritic carbonate system.[13]
Geology
The Central High Atlas of Morocco is part of a mountain belt formed by the inversion of a rift from the Triassic-Jurassic periods, due to Cenozoic tectonic activity.[14] The region's structure comes from four main tectonic phases: the pre-rift phase tied to the formation of Pangaea, the syn-rift phase during the Late Permian to Late Triassic, influenced by the opening of the Atlantic Ocean and Tethys Ocean, and the post-rift phase, where Jurassic-Cretaceous carbonate platforms formed.[15][16] The High Atlas has thrust and oblique-slip faults from W-E to NE-SW. It is an intracontinental mountain range resulting from the uplift of a large Mesozoic rift system. Triassic to Cretaceous layers are confined within basins, controlled by extensional rift structures. Sedimentation in these basins varied, with marine shales and limestones in the east and fluvial deposits in the west. Several tectonic events during the Triassic-Jurassic boundary reactivated normal faults, leading to the dominance of marls during the Middle Liassic to Toarcian.[17][18][19]
Description
Aguerd-nˈTazoult Formation
This informal unit represents on reality the youngest continental-coastal layers of the Azilal Fm, and marginal to open marine ones of the Tafraout Fm.[8] It represent the most recent marginal marine layers in the Amezraï minibasin, dating from the Upper Toarcian-Aalenian periods and mark the E expansion of the Azilal Formation. It begins with layers that have many conglomerate lenses and ends with coral patch reefs. Sandstones, oolitic, and biodetritic limestones are also found throughout. Red and green marls appear in several layers.[20] In the Talmest-Tazoult area, is made of yellow limestones and marls, hybrid sandstones, micritic limestones, having reef ledges in the upper part and red sandstones and marls in the lower part. Here the formation is part of a large +200 m thick yellowish limestone bar, with the transgressive "S10", whose end marks the major post Middle Toarcian transgressive event, composed of bioclaetic or oncolithic limestones, poorly developed low-marine-level prisms & marly limestones with oblique stratifications, while oolitic limestones mark smaller transgressive events, and then the major one towards the Bajocian with the Aït Abdi/Bin el Ouidane Formation, flooding again all the sector.[21]
Amezraï Formation
Another Informal unit found in the Amezraï minibasin and linked to the Tazoult Ridge, dates to the Earliest Toarcian and is identified by brachiopod fossils. It includes sandstones, marls, and biodetrital or oolitic limestones, with layers varying from centimeters to up to 6 meters thick. The lower part consists of conglomerates, sandstones, and clays, transitioning to limestones and marls at the top.[22] Ripple structures and cross-bedding are common in sandstone layers, while reworked horizons appear in the limestone. The formation reflects a subtidal to supratidal environment, with some layers suggesting lagoonal conditions and reduced carbonate content compared to older formations.[8] Local tectonic activity, mainly due to seismic events in the Tethyan region, influenced the formation, causing erosion of older Paleozoic layers.[23]
Azilal Formation
Informally know as "Marnes chocolat" in the Azilal region, and represents a continental to marginal marine unit made up of red-brown marls, silts (microsandstones) and conglomerates with centimetric quartz dragees. More marine-influenced sections near Beni Mellal are composed by a succession of reddish-brown tints with terrigenous dominance: sandstone, clays with paleosols and sandstone limestones sometimes dolomitized, with marmorized levels in paleosols towards the N. Here, it evolves from lower sections with transition from sandstone to limestone and/or sandstone to clay, with a thin level of green marls locally rich in ostracods. Then is followed by subtidal term, represented by an oolitic limestone with fine lamellibranch bioclasts and variable percentages of quartz and sandstone with calcareous cement and rare oolites drawing on the surface mega-ripples of 3 to 5 m in wavelength.[24] It ends with supratidal deposits made of coarse sandstone gradually changing to red Marls with "fluer" structures and locally to paleosols with fluvial decametric channeling lenses.[24]
On the south-southwest edge of the basin towards west of Azilal (Jbel Til-Jbel Amersiaz basin and part of the M'Goun syncline), Guettioua, Demnate, Telouet, Toundoute & Marrakesh, under the Bajocian limestones or directly under the Bajocian?-Bathonian Guettioua Formation, develops a thick a red detrital section in which pelites, sandstones and conglomerates with centimeter-sized quartz balls alternate and breccias (locally called " Wazzant Formation") with non dissolved Liassic limestone elements.[7] This sector reaches 800 m thickess in the Wazzant subasin, being very reduced to the south of it in Aït-Toutline or Aït-Iouaridène, recovering a variation of the sedimentary process formed by a complex sedimentary unit, terrigenously dominated, composed by the abundance of conglomeratic channels with quartz dragees and Paleozoic basement elements, sandstones organized in bars channeled lenticulars and red clays, the whole part of the facies is organized in metric sequences of filling and alluvial channels.[7]
In the Dadés area the formation is present asynchronously, seen in the W in the Earliest Toarcian, yet in some areas like Boumardoul n’Imazighn doesn´t reach until the Middle Toarcian onwards, here recovered under the "Tidrite section", made of fine terrigenous deposits interbedded with dolomitized limestone.[13][25] In the In the Ait Hani area at Tinejdad, the "Aït Hani formation" represents the upper part of the Azilal formation, dominated by shallow marine to intertidal carbonates with coral patch reefs and intercalated or subordinated terrigenous sediments.[26]
Tafraout Formation
The Tafraout Formation consists of oolitic and biodetrital limestones with cross-stratifications, found in channels and bars, alongside greenish marls and micro-conglomerates.[8] These layers were deposited on a coastal platform. The formation is mainly made of sandstones, marls, and ooid limestones, different from older layers. Common fossils include bivalves, brachiopods, gastropods, corals, and echinoderms, with plant remains in some sandstones. The rocks formed in environments ranging from supratidal to subtidal, characterized by tropical conditions akin to those observed on Andros, Bahamas.[24] The upper part of the formation shows sediments filling an old Pliensbachian basin, moving from deeper marine conditions to a supratidal coastal plain. Fossils and sediment features suggest a challenging environment, with alternating sandstone and marl layers indicating changes in water depth and sedimentation patterns.[8]
Tagoudite Formation
The Tagoudite Formation marks a major shift in Liassic sedimentation, replacing the carbonate turbidites of the Ouchbis Formation with mostly siliciclastic layers. These layers alternate between gray and green sandstone, sandy marls, and siltstones, forming sequences up to 20 meters thick.[8] They show a decrease in grain size and an increase in marl content from bottom to top, with features like ripple marks and laminations. Microscopically, the turbidites are mainly fine silt, with varying amounts of quartz, feldspar, and carbonate detritus, and occasional pyrite. This formation suggests an open marine environment with sediment interruptions and materials coming from distant areas. It is widespread in the Central High Atlas, with thicknesses reaching up to 320 meters, and varies across different regions like Tounfite and Beni Mellal. In the Central Middle Atlas, sedimentation was interrupted by emersion before the formation's deposition.[8]
Hydrogeology
The Azilal Formation constitutes a depressed zone, often intensely cultivated, rich in springs and wells. This is explained by the alternation of permeable and impermeable levels. Springs spring up at the top of this unit, under limestones (Tanant or Bin-el-Ouidane Formations), as in Bernat. The numerous wells dug on the northern edge of Guettioua testify to this unit aquifer qualities, with water accumulated in the sandstone-conglomeratic levels interstratified in the pelites.[7]
Paleogeography
Early Jurassic Paleogeography of the Sahara Craton, including source Highlands, Jurassic basins and CAMP outcrops and Paleogeography of N Gondwana & the European Arquipelago
Early Jurassic Paleogeography of the Sahara Craton, including source Highlands, Jurassic basins and CAMP outcrops and Paleogeography of N Gondwana & the European ArquipelagoThe Tafraout Group was formed on the Moroccan Carbonate Platform during a sea-level rise in the Early Toarcian, linked to the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event, at a palaeolatitude between 19°-20°N, around the same latitude as modern Mauritania or Cuba, situated between ancient geological regions like the West Moroccan Arch, the Anti-Atlas and the Sahara craton, developed after a major sea regression, with red clays and conglomerates filling small basins in the Atlas region.[27][28]
Two main stages mark the area's evolution: during the Lower Toarcian, deposition patterns from the earlier Pliensbachian continued, followed by terrigenous materials filling the basins and stopping temporally the carbonate production.[3] It evolved along several depocenters and associated accidents, the southern edge of the Tilougguit Syncline in the north to the axis of the Aït Bouguemmez Basin in the south, showed that the depocenter zone corresponded to the disposal area located between the Talmest-Tazolt Ridge to the North and the North-Atlasic accident to the South. This terrestrial lithology is mostly found in the small basins in tearing in the Atlas of Telouet, Toundoute, Afourer and Azilal, having the Demnat Accident as the major structural element in this last sector. While at this W areas it became fully terrestrial/intertidal, at other areas like Beni Mellal, Dadès Gorges or Zaouiat Ahansal marine influences are seen in a carbonate-siliclastic regime.[24] By the Middle Toarcian-Aalenian, the Azilal Formation expanded eastward, with isolated carbonates forming in the Amezraï basin, surrounded by terrigenous sediments.[3][24] This period is marked by the individualization of thein the center of the basin and by a relative tectonic calm in the other coeval sectors.[24]
Marine fossils like brachiopods and ammonites help date the sediment layers and confirm the transition from marine to expansive E terrestrial environments during the Middle Toarcian. The deposition starts with a marked break of the Carbonate production and a major regression in the Lowermost Toarcian, then oscilated Transgresive/Regresive cycles in the Laevisoni-Bifrons substages, followed finally by a post Bifrons major regression and full return to the Carbonate production.[3][28] The Tafraout Platform deepened over time, signaling a shift to transgressive conditions even with the expansion of W continental facies.[24] On the Amezraï Formation basin the fauna is composed by brachiopods such as Soaresirhynchia bouchardi, S. babtisrensis and Pseudogibbirhynchia jurensis that corroborate the Earliest Toarcian age for it and adjacent layers.[24] Meanwhile, the presence of Aalenian (Bradfordernsis-Murchinsonae) Branchiopods in the "Aguerd-nˈTazoult Formation" coeval with Ammonites of the same age at the Ikerzi Area confirms the marine delimitation in the last stages of deposition.[8] The "Tafraout Platform" saw then a deepening towards the uppermost layers, teasing the transition to the Bin El Ouidane transgressive Carbonate Platform facies, while the lower sequences, with fine conglomerate layers and plant remains indicate a proximal delivery area and the peak of the regression, with many microlagoons that formed between the large coral patch reefs are documented by micrite and partially leached micrite.[8]
Paleoenvironment
Modern analogues of the Tafraout Group Paleoenvironments: Highlands with Tundra or Moist forests and midland topophilous forests (Ex. Araucaria moist forests); Shabkas; Mangrove-like lagoons (ex. with modern flora from Bay of Islands); Shallow Carbonate Sea with bivalve or coral reefs (ex. modern extant fauna reef in Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary)
Paleoenvironment reconstruction of the Tafraout Group (Azilal & Tafraout Formations) as an storm-influenced coast within the W Tethys. Increased local hurricane presence is seen along the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event.[29]
The Tafraout Group covers most of the W High Atlas, surrounded by highlands that probably hosted dry cool (10.6 °C) to humid climate (12.30 °C), with a succession rain tundra to wet forest environments, as proven by samples from coeval layers in the External Rif Chain.[30] The Continental/Tidal Flat Azilal Formation was deposited in coastal environments influenced by rivers, tidal flats, and paralic settings, rwith reworked material and in Toundoute unique interbedded Explosive eruption-type volcanic material, generally constituting more than half of the detrital components, showing clear carbonate recrystallization, suggesting that these fragments were still at high temperature during deposition and, therefore, contemporaneous with the sedimentation, probably as a result of early activity in the local South-Atlasic Fault.[31] The environment shifted from coastal facies in the north to fluvial facies in the south, and tectonic activity affected sediment deposition.[28][24] The flow of the fluvial-washed sediments take place in a E-NE direction, being moved to the layers of the Amezräi, Tagoudite & Tafraout Formations and other coeval marine units, as well are found on fluviatile channels inside the own rocks of this unit.[3] The Azilal Fm also saw high plant activity, with remains such as wood, charcoal, and rhizoliths, indicating nearby vegetated soils.[32] Sedimentary features include raindrop impacts and ripple marks indicating channel/floodplain type fluvial system, with sand-filled channels abundant in plant roots (mostly located in fine limestone, probably from the channel margins), along with evidence of ephemeral Palustrine (Sabkhas, Chotts) episodes in the form of carbonate bodies (Caliche or Calcrete levels), intercalated with conglomerate under an arid environment, as marks the development of gypsum, particularly in areas like Azilal, Toundoute and Telouet.[31][32]
The "Tafraout Platform" was the major marine unit withing the area, developed during a major drowning episode linked to the Toarcian Anoxic event. Initially, a shift to siliciclastic deposits occurred, marked by storm events and increased plant debris, indicating a warm, humid climate, were local laguno-marine facies were overlain by terrigenous deposits of the Azilal & "Amezraï" Fm, filling small basins in the Atlas of Afourer and Azilal and leaving a major marine siliclastic environment (Tagoudite Fm).[3][28] In Demnate and nearby areas, conditions became fully terrestrial, while to the east the sea regression occurred later. Latter in the Early Toarcian Beni Mellal, the Amezraï minbasin or the Dadés area evolved first as an carbonate environment within the Tafraout Formation, with diverse marine fauna, including coral reefs and "lithiotid" (Plicatostylidae aberrant reef-forming) bivalves.[33] Then within the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event carbonate production stopped, causing local extinctions.[28] A major regression happened in the Middle Toarcian-Aalenian, marked by tectonic calm and sedimentation of terrigenous and carbonate layers of the Upper Tafraout Fm, reactivating the carbonate factory and the recovery of coral reefs (this time without "lithiotids").[3]
The Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event (T-OAE) intensified Tropical storms, destroying older carbonate platforms and increasing siliciclastic deposits, which contributed to the formation of the Tafrout environment.[29][34] Additionally, after the T-OAE, ecosystems in areas like Jebel Toksine began to recover with new carbonate activity and diverse marine life, including bivalves and other reef organisms.[3][13]
The aftermath of the T-OAE is visible in the lower Azilal Formation, showing a slow recovery of marine environments. There is also evidence of a Middle Toarcian cold snap, followed by a return to warmer conditions.[25] The eastern and northeastern High Atlas saw the development of carbonate sedimentation, with reefs and marine fossils indicating tectonic activity during the Late Toarcian.[3][25]
The central High Atlas region features long diapir and minibasins formed during early Jurassic rifting, with the Tazoult Ridge being a key example.[35] Diapir movement shaped the surrounding rock layers, while local sedimentation reflects changes in climate, including wetter periods linked to increased erosion. Sharp geological boundaries mark the closure of salt walls during diapir growth, and ancient environments here resembled modern shallow waters like the Red Sea.[36] Charcoal remnants suggest coastal forests or mangroves existed during wetter times.[37]
The formation also shows evidence of erosion from nearby highlands,as indicates abundant pebbles of metamorphic and igneous rocks, implying that the material must have been derived from the Paleozoic or Proterozoic from a hinterland frequently emerged and subject to erosion and the effects of diagenesis, locally either to the south in the Anti-Atlas, to the west in the Massif Ancien and Jebilet, and to the north in the Central Meseta, all places that were subaerially exposed during the Jurassic.[38] Specifically, the Anti-Atlas shows processes of tectonic uplift, overburden erosion, which, combined with the concentration of coarse siliciclastic material in the western part of the central High Atlas (absent in the east), suggest that this area was the source of the altered Lower Toarcian sediments, allowing the tracing of the fluvial channels that developed towards the Azilal Formation.[28]
In the Dadés area and in the Tafraout type locality large Coral patch reefs rarely occur in the middle of the unit with associated echinodems (Sea urchin spines, Crinoid fragments) lamellibranchs, gastropods, bryozoans, serpulids annelids, branchiopods, solitary corals and algae.[8] Gastropods have been discovered in several places, but none of the specimens have been studied nor identified.[44] Beds with large accumulations of unidentified Ostracod valves on an endemic thin level of green marl are found at the Beni-Mellal area (Adoumaz & Col de Ghnim outcrops).[45][46] The tubes of serpulid worms are known from Jbel Toksine, in relation to the bivalve pavements.[33]
The platform patch reefs in the Tafraout area are notable for their biodiversity, with some reaching heights of up to 40 m and lengths of up to 80 m, representing massive biostromes with a varied associated fossil assemblage, including bivalves, gastropods, echinoderm fragments, solitary corals, and bryozoans, found among the coral patchs.[8][48] Massive reef pinnacles are recovered at Anergui and northern flank of Tassent, while rarer ones are know from Bou Zemou.[41][48]
A brachiopod of the family Lissajousithyrididae. Mostly benthonic specimens are known. The presence of this species indicates an upper Toarcian-Aalenian age for the layers where was discovered.
A brachiopod of the family Lobothyrididae. Relatively abundant on seashore deposits. Includes juvenile forms of Telothyris jauberti, present on benthic deposit strata.
A brackish/marine member of Plicatostylidae. A large bivalve, with a subequivalent shell, reaching 60–70 cm high. It is one of the three main bivalves found on the Lithiotis Facies, whose accumulations generally cover megalodontid coquinas.
A brackish/marine member of Plicatostylidae. This genus was founded to be a bivalve with a byssate juvenile stage that developed different lifestyles as adults depending on the density of the individuals and the firmness of the bottom
A brackish/marine member of Astartidae. Is considered a genus that evolved from shallow-burrowing ancestors, secondarily becoming an edge-prone semi-fauna adapted to photosymbiosis.
An Ammonite of the family Dactylioceratidae. The basis of this series is based on a regional discontinuity marked by a remarkable abundance of Eodactylites from the Lower Toarcian
A marine Ostracodan of the family Polycopidae. Present with large accumulations of specimens
Echinodermata
Multiple echinoderm remains, including Crinoid articulated and fragmentary specimens and indeterminate echinoid fragments, are know from several localities, usually associated with large coral bioherms or sea trangressions.[8][11][24][59]
Several scales & teeth of fishes (Lepidotes?) are know from several locations, coming from freshwater/lagoonal layers.[60] Indeterminate dinosaurian & other vertebrates are know from Mizaguène Hill, Taouja Ougourane, Aït Ouaridène, Oued Rzef & Jbel Remuai in the Azilal Province. Some of them are recovered in a "Bone bed" and others are associated with abundant plant remains.[61]
Holotype: Neck vertebra, part of the sacrum, a metacarpal, a femur, and parts of a tibia and both fibulae. Part of another femur has been assigned to the genus as well.[62]
The axis, a postorbital, the endocranium and teeth are currently being studied.[63]
Two adults and one recently hatched juvenile: At least the posterior half of the skeleton is present: caudal, sacral, dorsal vertebrae, pelvis and both hind legs[67]
A possible coelophysidcoelophysoid. Mickey Mortimer Assigned it to Coelophysidae based on the "apparent fusion between distal tarsal III and metatarsal III". Was proposed as a possible tetanuran or a Coelurosaur, even compared with the Australian genus Kakuru, but latter was actively dismissed.[68][69][70]
Segisaurus, a coeval or older genus of the same family from North America
Described as a "large theropod of uncertain affinities", "enigmatic theropod" or as Theropod showing "a size larger than any of the know theropods of the Triassic-Early Jurassic know, indicating that Toarcian theropods had sizes rivaling that of late Jurassic allosaurs".[62][72][71]
Around 10 different specimens:Partially articulated skeleton and cranial material including complete left mandible with teeth, quadrate, jugal, postorbital, parietal, frontal and exoccipital. Associated remains of a juvenile skeleton.
The vegetation in the Toundoute area is compared to that of the Isle of Pines.[81] Paleosols in these regions show many plant roots (Rhizoliths) and heavily disturbed layers.[82] Plant remains include coal, leaves, woody roots, rhizoliths, fossil wood, and other plant debris. In Toundoute, small plant fragments, mostly fern leaflets and some cycad leaves, were found, with wood debris resembling conifers like Pinaceae or Taxaceae.[31][83] Ferns seem to have dominated the vegetation, likely in wetlands, followed by cycads and conifers.[31] Similar plants have been found in the coeval Egypt's Mashabba Formation.[84]
At the top of the Azilal Formation at the Idemrane geosite, unidentified pieces of wood fossils of variable sizes were recovered (largest over 20 cm in length) showing traces of iron oxides. This woody pieces are considered root fragments.[85] Plant remains are very abundant in places such as the north of Jbel Akenzoud and partly impregnated and/or carbonized by malachite.[8] At Jebel Toksine, woody plant debris, including charcoal, suggests vegetation in a humid, marginal marine environment, maybe a reef-influenced mangrove.[33] Jebel Azourki has layers of shales with coal streaks and plant fragments, possibly representing a marsh in a lagoon area.[59] At M'Semrir Pass, samples dominated by Pollen have been recovered in the Tafraout & Azilal Fms.[13]
Phytoclasts, spores, pollen and Tasmanites algae indicate that the palaeoenvironment of the lower Toarcian Amellago area was likely proximal continental shelf with a high terrestrial input, and notorious influence of brackish water in the depositional environment.[43]
Affinities with Cheirolepidiaceae inside Coniferae. This interval is numerically dominated by Classopollis, which usually accounts for more than 60.95% of the palynomorphs present
Affinities with Podocarpaceae inside Pinales. Probably built evergreen tropophilous forests in alluvial plains together with Agathoxylon. A genus convergently evolved with extant Dacrydium and Dacrycarpus.[88]
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