Geosites, Sites of Special Scientific Interest, and Potential Geoparks in the Anti-Atlas (Morocco) - From Geoheritage to Geoparks - page 63

Table 1 (continued)
Geological feature Category of

site (from
Fig. 1 )

Signi cance Rationale Geosite/SSSI, geopark

Ediacarian Iknioun granodiorites Geohistorical National The granodiorite is a particularly useful tectonic marker

for the Ediacaran evolution of this part of the Anti-
Atlas along the northern border of the WAC; thus the
area is Nationally signicant

The area hosting the contacts is limited in size and would
function as a SSSI or could be included in a thematic
magmatic geopark covering the eastern Saghro Inlier
with its rich and varied magmatic rocks

Late Neoproterozoic stromatolites Geohistorical National The late Neoproterozoic stromatolites (Fig. 8 i), witness

of the oldest life in Morocco (Lottaroli et al. 2009 ),
crop out 25 km south of Ouarzazate on the road to
Agdz. Proterozoic stromatolites are relatively
common globally; as such, this deposit is Nationally
signi cant

The area hosting the Precambrian stromatolites is limited
in size and would function as a SSSI.

Contacts between three Pan-African
Groups: Saghro, Mgouna and
Ouarzazate Groups

Geohistorical International The contacts record the Pan-African geological history of

the African crust superposition and orogenies with a
variety of lithologies; this sequence is globally
important

The area hosting these didactic contacts is limited in size
and would function as a SSSI

Contacts between Palaeoproterozoic
Zenaga complex, late
Neoproterozoic Ouarzazate
Supergroup and the Cambrian Tata
Group

Geohistorical National The contact between the Palaeoproterozoic (Eburnean)

Zenaga complex (ca 2 Ga), the Late Neoproterozoic
Ouarzazate group volcano-clastic series (580-
560 Ma) and the contact between the Ouarzazate
Group and the Cambrian Tata Group are well
exposed along the road to Bou-Azzer 5 km from
Tazenakht village (Fig. 10 ). These contacts are
lithologically distinct and is an interface of National
signi cance

The area hosting the contacts would function as a SSSI

Appalachian type folding in western
AA

Geohistorical International Appalachian-type folding is not common globally and, in

a context of arid-zone weathering/erosion, the
Appalachian-type folding in the Anti-Atlas is
globally well-preserved; it is also distinct in folding
style; as such, it is globally signicant

Global Geopark

Large Cambrian trilobite Paradoxides Geohistorical

Cultural

International The occurrence of this large trilobite in abundance is

rare, and so this deposit assumes global signicance

The area hosting the Paradoxides is limited in size and
would function as a SSSI or could be included in the
Alnif-Erfoud area to form a thematic geopark based
on Palaeozoic fossils

Ordovician outcrop of Jbel Kissane Geohistorical National Jbel Kissane is famous as it shows an impressive cliff of

Ordovician sedimentary rock of sandstone, shale, and
siltstone; it is nationally signi cant

Geosite

Large Ordovician trilobites ( Asaphus )
death assemblages

Geohistorical
Cultural

International The death assemblages of the large trilobite Asaphus

occur in Ordovician shales (Fig. 2 ) in the eastern AA.
The trilobite occurs in rippled sandstone in what
appears to be a tidal sand deposit. Death assemblages
of large trilobites are rare, and so this deposit assumes
global signi cance

The area hosting the Asaphus is limited in size and would
function as a geosite of SSSI included in the Alnif-
Erfoud area in order to form a thematic geopark based
on Palaeozoic fossils