{"id":10099,"date":"2026-04-09T08:12:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T08:12:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.proefschriftmaken.nl\/portfolio\/remi-charton\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T07:43:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T07:43:28","slug":"remi-charton","status":"publish","type":"us_portfolio","link":"https:\/\/www.proefschriftmaken.nl\/en\/portfolio\/remi-charton\/","title":{"rendered":"Remi Charton"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":12876,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"us_portfolio_category":[45],"class_list":["post-10099","us_portfolio","type-us_portfolio","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","us_portfolio_category-new-template"],"acf":{"naam_van_het_proefschift":"Phanerozoic Vertical Movements in Morocco","samenvatting":"Ons begrip van het binnenste van de aarde wordt beperkt door de toegang die we ertoe hebben, terwijl ons beeld van haar evolutie beperkt is tot de huidige staat. We moeten vertrouwen op proxy\u2019s, fysische en numerieke modellen en observaties op het aardoppervlak. De topografie is zo'n proxy, omdat dat het resultaat is van de combinatie van processen aan de oppervlakte en in de ondergrond. Dus wanneer iemand het landschap kan lezen, kan men de geologische evolutie ervan herlezen.\n\nIn het afgelopen decennium hebben talrijke studies de opwaartse en neerwaartse verticale bewegingen in de continentale riftmarges van de Atlantische Oceaan en hun achterland op een schaal van kilometers gedocumenteerd. Deze bewegingen, omschreven als opheffing (omhoog) en daling (naar beneden), zijn aangemerkt als \u2018onvoorspelbaar\u2019 en\/of \u2018onverwacht\u2019; \u2018onvoorspelbaar\u2019 omdat de conceptuele, fysische en numerieke modellen die we gebruiken voor de evolutie van continentale marges deze relatief recente waarnemingen over het algemeen niet bevatten; 'onverwacht' omdat de verticale bewegingen onvoldoende verklaard worden door onze geologische geschiedenis. Vooralsnog blijven de mechanismen die verantwoordelijk zijn voor deze verticale bewegingen op een schaal van kilometers enigmatisch.\n\nEen van de gebruikelijke methoden die door geowetenschappers worden gebruikt om de kinematiek van de continentale korst te onderzoeken is thermochronologie bij lage temperatuur in combinatie met tijd-temperatuurmodellering. In Marokko alleen al werden ongeveer twintig studies uitgevoerd met gebruikmaking van deze benadering. De reden voor deze overvloed aan studies en het daaraan verbonden enthousiasme over de Marokkaanse geologie is te danken aan de raadselachtige landschappen en complexe geschiedenis. In dit proefschrift onderzoeken we onbekende aspecten van de verticale bewegingen die zich op een schaal van kilometers hebben voorgedaan in Marokko en omstreken (de Canarische Eilanden, Algerije, Mali en Mauritani\u00eb).\n\nHet overgangsgebied tussen stijgende en dalende domeinen wordt beschreven aan de hand van de evolutie van de Sidi Ifni-doorsnede die over de verschoven continentale marge loopt (hoofdstuk 2). Lage-temperatuurs thermochronologiegegevens uit het kustgebied van de Anti-Atlas documenteren een opheffing op een schaal van kilometers tussen het Perm en het Vroeg\/Midden Jura. De daarmee samenhangende erosie voedde sediment aan het dalende Mesozo\u00efsche bekken in het noordwesten. Sokkelgesteente langs de doorsnede werd begraven tussen het Laat Jura en het Vroeg Krijt. Vanaf het Vroeg\/Laat Krijt werd het gesteente dat aanwezig is langs de doorsnede opgeheven tot zijn huidige positie.\n\nDe post-Hercynische thermische en geologische geschiedenis van de Anti-Atlasgordel wordt vastgelegd door een doorsnede langs de as van het gebergte (hoofdstuk 3). De eerste episode vond plaats in het Laat Trias en leidde tot een opheffing van korstgesteente op een schaal van kilometers tegen het einde van het Midden Jura. De volgende fase resulteerde in daling van de sokkel gedurende het Late Jura en het grootste deel van het Vroeg Krijt. Het sokkelgesteente werden vervolgens langzaam naar de oppervlakte gebracht gedurende een opheffing op een schaal van kilometers in het Laat Krijt en het Cenozo\u00efcum. De opheffingsfasen strekten zich uit tot in het midden van de Afrikaanse tektonische plaat en misschien buiten de bemonsterde gordel zelf.\n\nDe opheffingssnelheden en sedimentaanvoer zijn gekwantificeerd vanaf het Perm (hoofdstuk 4). De hoge denudatiesnelheden zijn vergelijkbaar met waarden die geassocieerd worden met riftflanken en thermisch aangedreven koepelvormige of structurele opheffingen. Dergelijke snelheden worden gezien in de Anti-Atlas tijdens het Vroeg Jura en in de Hoge Atlas en Rif tijdens het Neogeen. Opheffingssnelheden voor andere perioden in de Meseta, Hoge Atlas, Anti-Atlas en het Reguibatschild zijn gemiddelden rond de normale denudatiewaarden. Periodes van hoge sedimentproductie in de onderzochte brongebieden zijn het Perm, het Jura, het Vroeg Krijt en het Neogeen.\n\nDe Phanerozo\u00efsche evolutie van bron-bekken systemen in Marokko en omgeving wordt ge\u00efllustreerd in verschillende kaarten (Hoofdstuk 5). Aanzienlijke veranderingen van brongebieden zijn aangetoond tussen de Anti-Atlas en Meseta-domeinen vanaf het Midden tot Laat Krijt en tussen de Meseta en Anti-Atlas vanaf het Vroeg tot Midden\/Laat Krijt.\n\nTot slot worden de structuren die verantwoordelijk zijn voor het ontstaan en het voortzetten van de onvoorspelbare verticale bewegingen op een schaal van kilometers geanalyseerd (hoofdstuk 6). We stellen een combinatie voor van grootschalige korstvervouwing, door de mantel aangedreven dynamiek in topografie, en thermische bodemdaling, bovenop op het klimaat, zeeniveau en erodeerbaarheid van het blootgestelde gesteente, droegen bij aan de timing van verticale bewegingen, patronen en amplitudes zoals waargenomen in Marokko en omstreken.\n\nDe verticale bewegingen op een schaal van kilometers zullen nog vele jaren bestudeerd worden. Hopelijk levert dit proefschrift een solide basis voor een verdere uitwerking en ge\u00efntegreerde studies.\n\nIntroduction\n\n1.1. Scope of the Thesis\n\nThe present-day landscape is the result of a finite amount of processes operating at the surface and in the subsurface of the Earth. These processes are numerous, complex, and, perhaps more importantly, not fully understood. One of the challenges in geoscience over the last decades has been to define and quantify the evolution of continental margins (fig. 1.1).\n\nFigure 1.1. Morphology of the Central Atlantic seafloor and conjugate margins (data: GEBCO_2014_1D). The simplified plate tectonic evolution is after Stampfli and Borel (2002).\n\nIn the case of passive rifting (Allen and Allen, 2013), existing models state that the rift zone and flanks are characterised by lithospheric stretching, high surface heat-flow, seismic activity, negative Bouguer anomalies, thermal anomaly at depth, and may be affected by volcanism and flank uplift. The latter occurs along the footwall of faults of the rift. Syn-rift flank uplift may extend over 100 km into the unstretched crust, reaching up to 1 km in elevation and leading to intensified erosion (e.g. Allen and Allen, 2013). Lithosphere kinematic models characterise the post-rift stage by slow cooling following the continental break-up and thermal contraction (i.e. thermal subsidence). As observed by Japsen et al. (2012a), the continental crust adjacent to passive margins have frequently been described as shoulder uplifts during their syn-rift stage and as tectonically quiescent during their post-rift stage. Furthermore, this assumed inactivity agrees with most conceptual, physical, and numerical models that we dispose of for the evolution of passive margins (reviewed in Watts, 2012).\n\nContinental passive margins and their hinterlands, especially in the Atlantic realm, are the locus of a significant amount of studies that evidence pre-, syn-, and post-rift episodic km-scale upward (i.e. exhumation) and downward (i.e. subsidence) movements (e.g. Green et al., 2018). Pre-rift exhumation episodes are recorded in the vicinity of the future Atlantic Ocean (e.g. Juez-Larre and Andriessen, 2006; Ruiz et al., 2011; Jelinek et al., 2014; Japsen et al., 2016a). Syn-rift exhumation episodes have been described in the Atlantic rift flanks (e.g. Oukassou et al., 2013; Jelinek et al., 2014; Wildman et al., 2015; Japsen et al., 2016a), while syn-rift subsidence episodes have been documented in fewer places (e.g. Juez-Larre and Andriessen, 2006; Ghorbal et al., 2008). Post-rift km-scale vertical movements have been documented along the North (e.g. Japsen et al., 2006; Japsen et al., 2016a;b), Central (e.g. Bertotti and Gouiza, 2012; Amidon et al., 2016) and South (e.g. Jelinek et al., 2014; Wildman et al., 2015) Atlantic margins. Beyond the Atlantic realm, Australian margins have experienced similar movements (e.g. Tassone et al., 2012).\n\nAlthough all the above mentioned studies were keen to investigate the exhumation episodes, very few focused on the subsidence events. The latter are important because in many places thick sediment series have been deposited and then removed. This impacted not only the thermal history of the substratum, but also the source-to-sink systems fed by the removal of these sequences. Moreover, a link must exist between domains undergoing coeval opposite vertical movements. As several studies conducted in the margins of the Central Atlantic have already proposed (e.g. Bertotti and Gouiza, 2012), anomalous vertical movements in the exhuming domain are coeval to excessive downward movements in the subsiding domain.\n\nExhumation and subsidence episodes occur in regions characterised by both stretched and non-stretched lithosphere, demonstrating that other processes extrinsic to the rifting are at work, or that the effects of the rifting and drifting outreached their margins. Several authors have qualitatively tested aspects of these vertical movements with numerical models (e.g. Leroy et al., 2008; Gouiza, 2011; Yamato et al., 2013). However, to better constrain the models, a quantification of these movements over geological time and, more importantly, at the scale of the margin is required.\n\nVast regions along rifted continental margins are characterised by the exposure of pre-rift rocks (e.g. in Norway, Canada, Greenland, Morocco, Mauritania, Brazil, Australia\u2026). Low-Temperature Thermochronology (LTT) and time-Temperature (t-T) modelling techniques provide understanding of the thermal history of geologically ill-constrained areas characterised by no or little sedimentary records (e.g. Gallagher et al., 1998; Ghorbal et al., 2008; Japsen et al., 2009; Teixell et al., 2009; Japsen et al., 2012b; Jelinek et al., 2014). These techniques are commonly employed as proxies to reconstruct vertical movements (e.g. Teixell et al., 2009). Recent Ph.D. dissertations nicely elaborated on the LTT method (Sehrt, 2014; Lepr\u00eatre, 2015; Dom\u00e8nech, 2015). Because the LTT ages record the cooling of rock samples, they are linked either to thermal relaxation and\/or exhumation (also called denudation; e.g. Pagel et al., 2014). Hence, LTT ages are recorded shortly after magmatic events, during\/after processes linked to the creation of topography (e.g. orogenies, shoulder uplift, thermal doming), and\/or during processes leading to enhanced erosion (e.g. climatic and sea level changes).\n\nLTT has been used in many regions around the globe, resulting in very dense data sets for regions characterised by puzzling landscapes such as the elevated continental passive margins (e.g. Japsen et al., 2012a), the Himalaya and Alps mountains, and Morocco for instance. Over thirty LTT and time-Temperature (t-T) modelling studies have been conducted in Morocco and its surroundings. There, the large majority of the produced LTT ages spanned the period between the Variscan and Atlas orogenies (ca. 300-40 Ma). They were described as resulting from vertical movements, and have sometimes been labelled as km-scale \u201cunexpected\u201d exhumation and \u201cunpredicted\u201d subsidence episodes, remaining enigmatic to-date (fig. 1.2; e.g. Ghorbal et al., 2008). The elements of the above-described exhumation and subsidence episodes that are yet to be investigated are: the link between the onshore and offshore movements, their extent away from the rifted margin, their rates, the resulting source-to-sink systems, and the responsible mechanism(s). This Thesis is a contribution to bridge these gaps in our knowledge of the Moroccan, NW African, and Central Atlantic geological evolutions.","summary":"Our understanding of the Earth\u2019s interior is limited by the access we have of its deep layers, while the knowledge we have of Earth\u2019s evolution is restricted to harvested information from the present state of our planet. We therefore use proxies, physical and numerical models, and observations made on and from the surface of the Earth. The landscape results from a combination of processes operating at the surface and in the subsurface. Thus, if one knows how to read the landscape, one may unfold its geological evolution.\n\nIn the past decade, numerous studies have documented km-scale upward and downward vertical movements in the continental rifted margins of the Atlantic Ocean and in their hinterlands. These movements, described as exhumation (upward) and subsidence (downward), have been labelled as \u201cunpredicted\u201d and\/or \u201cunexpected\u201d. \u2018Unpredicted\u2019 because conceptual, physical, and numerical models that we dispose of for the evolution of continental margins do not generally account for these relatively recent observations. \u2018Unexpected\u2019 because the km-scale vertical movements occurred when our record of the geological history is insufficient to support them. As yet, the mechanisms responsible for the km-scale vertical movements remain enigmatic.\n\nOne of the common techniques used by geoscientists to investigate the past kinematics of the continental crust is to couple \u2018low-temperature thermochronology\u2019 and \u2018time-temperature modelling\u2019. In Morocco alone, over twenty studies were conducted following this approach. The reason behind this abundance of studies and the related enthusiasm of researchers towards Moroccan geology is due to its puzzling landscapes and complex history. In this Thesis, we investigate unconstrained aspects of the km-scale vertical movements that occurred in Morocco and its surroundings (Canary Islands, Algeria, Mali, and Mauritania).\n\nThe transition area between generally subsiding domains and mostly exhuming domains, yet poorly understood, is discussed via the evolution of a profile, running across the rifted continental margin (chapter 2). Low-temperature thermochronology data from the central Morocco coastal area document a km-scale exhumation between the Permian and the Early\/Middle Jurassic. The related erosion fed sediments to the subsiding Mesozoic basin to the northwest. Basement rocks along the transect were subsequently buried between the Late Jurassic and the Early Cretaceous. From late Early\/Late Cretaceous onwards, rocks present along the transect were exhumed to their present-day position.\n\nThe post-Variscan thermal and geological history of the Anti-Atlas belt in central Morocco is constrained with a transect constructed along strike of the belt (chapter 3). The initial episode occurred in the Late Triassic and led to a km-scale exhumation of crustal rocks by the end of the Middle Jurassic. The following phase was characterised by basement subsidence and occurred during the Late Jurassic and most of the Early Cretaceous. The basement rocks were then slowly brought to the surface after experiencing a km-scale exhumation throughout the Late Cretaceous and the Cenozoic. The exhumation episodes extended into the interior of the African tectonic plate, perhaps beyond the sampled belt itself.\n\nExhumation rates and fluxes of material eroded from the hinterlands of the Moroccan rifted margin were quantified from the Permian (chapter 4). The high denudation rates, obtained in central Morocco during the Early to Middle Jurassic and in northern Morocco during the Neogene, are comparable to values typical of rift flank, domal, or structural uplifts. These are obtained in central Morocco during the Early to Middle Jurassic and in northern Morocco during the Neogene. Exhumation rates for other periods in northern to southern Morocco average around \u2018normal\u2019 denudation values. Periods of high production of sediments in the investigated source areas are the Permian, the Jurassic, the Early Cretaceous, and the Neogene.\n\nThe Phanerozoic evolution of source-to-sink systems in Morocco and surroundings is illustrated in several maps (chapter 5). Substantial shifts in the source areas were evidenced between the central and northern Moroccan domains during the Middle-Late Jurassic and between the Meseta and the Anti-Atlas during the Early-Late Cretaceous.\n\nFinally, the mechanisms responsible for the onset and subsistence of the unpredicted km-scale vertical movements are discussed (chapter 6). We propose that a combination of the large-scale crustal folding, mantle-driven dynamic topography, and thermal subsidence, superimposed to changes in climates, sea level and erodibility of the exposed rocks, were crucial to the timing, amplitude, and style of the observed vertical movements.\n\nThe km-scale vertical movements will continue to be studied for years to come. Expectantly, this Thesis will deliver sufficiently robust grounds for further elaborated and integrated studies in Morocco and beyond.","auteur":"Remi Charton","auteur_slug":"remi-charton","publicatiedatum":"22 mei 2018","taal":"EN","url_flipbook":"https:\/\/ebook.proefschriftmaken.nl\/ebook\/remicharton?iframe=true","url_download_pdf":"","url_epub":"","ordernummer":"FTP-202604090809","isbn":"978-94-6186-913-5","doi_nummer":"","naam_universiteit":"Overig","afbeeldingen":12876,"naam_student:":"","binnenwerk":"","universiteit":"Overig","cover":"","afwerking":"","cover_afwerking":"","design":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.proefschriftmaken.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/us_portfolio\/10099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.proefschriftmaken.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/us_portfolio"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.proefschriftmaken.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/us_portfolio"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.proefschriftmaken.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.proefschriftmaken.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10099"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.proefschriftmaken.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/us_portfolio\/10099\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10102,"href":"https:\/\/www.proefschriftmaken.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/us_portfolio\/10099\/revisions\/10102"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.proefschriftmaken.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.proefschriftmaken.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"us_portfolio_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.proefschriftmaken.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/us_portfolio_category?post=10099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}