Guest Editors:

• Mohamed Gharbi, (Laboratory of Georesources, Water Researches and Technologies Centre (CERTE, Tunisia; mohamed.gharbi@certe.rnrt.tn; gharbim.mohamed@gmail.com)
• Hakim Gabtni (Laboratory of Georesources, Water Researches and Technologies Centre (CERTE, Tunisia; hakim.gabtni@gmail.com)
• Mohamed Soua (Saudi Aramco Camp – Dhahran, Saudi Arabia; elmohology@yahoo.fr)
• Kevin Mickus (Department of Geosciences, Missouri State University, Springfield, MO, 65897, USA; KevinMickus@missouristate.edu)
• Abderrezek Bouzid (Centre de Recherche en Astronomie, Astrophysique et Géophysique (CRAAG), Alger, Algeria; a.bouzid@craag.dz)
• Abdelaziz Mridekh (Department of Geology, Ibn Tofail University, Kénitra, Morocco; abdelaziz.mridekh@gmail.com)

In northwestern Africa, the Cenozoic Maghrebian fold-and-thrust belt extends about 2000 km from Morocco to Tunisia. This orogenic belt, which defines the Atlas orogen, is acknowledged as one of the typical examples of intraplate orogeny. This belt results from a polyphase tectonic history from the Late Cretaceous to the Quaternary tectonic inversion of multiple basins. Detailed tectonic analyses within this special issue are on the predominant role of inherited extensional structures of the southern Tethyan margin, and their influence on the geometry of the Atlassic thrust belt.

The proposed Special Issue aims to present the different scenarios of tectonic inversion to explain the orogenic construction, focusing on the geodynamic, kinematic, and structural evolution of the orogenic construction across the Northern African margin.

This Special Issue gathers studies and topical works in relation to the deformation of the Alpine orogenic belt across North Africa, dealing with different fields such as structural geology, geochemistry, stratigraphy, and geophysics that must be integrated for further understanding the building of the major structures and georesources.

The call for papers on this Special Issue will therefore encourage investigations and collaborations aimed at providing a broad forum for all disciplines interested in the formation of Alpine orogenic belts.

Key words: Northern Africa, Tethyan margin, alpine orogeny, structural geology, geochemistry, geophysics.
 
Possible topics:

The selected papers in this proposal issue of "From the Tethyan Margin to Alpine Orogeny" is organized into three research themes:

1. Tectonic deformation and geodynamic evolution of the southern Tethyan margin;
2. Structural style and regional-scale deformation;
3. Georesources systems.

We dedicate this Special Issue to Pr. Mourad Bédir, a former director of the Georesources Laboratory, Center for Water Research and Technologies (CERTE) and former Executive Officer of the Center. Pr. Mourad Bédir (1956-2022) studied the subsurface reconstruction of basin frameworks and petroleum/deep aquifers exploration in Tunisia using seismic stratigraphy, seismic mapping, and basin geodynamics. His research is conducted in cooperation with petroleum, mining, and water societies operating in Tunisia. His main focuses were subsurface geology, geophysics, basin geodynamics, seismic stratigraphy, basin modelling and tectonics. He has published more than 70 research papers in international journals.
 

Timeline
Call for abstracts: 15 July 2023
Call for full papers: 31 January 2024