The middle neoproterozoic sidi flah group (Anti-Atlas, Morocco) : synrift deposition in a Pan-African continent-ocean zone.

Abstract : The Middle Neoproterozoic (Cryogenian) Sidi Flah Group rocks are located in the Saghro inlier of the Eastern Anti-Atlas and consists of siliciclastic detrital sediment, interbedded basaltic lavas and small ultramafic bodies. Sediment deposition occurred in three turbiditic formations of a deep-sea fan environment and was controlled by synsedimentary collapses. The composition of sandstones and typological study of zircons indicate that detrital material came from the gneisses and granites of a proximal craton. The lavas are synsedimentary subaqueous flows. They show chemical signatures of initial rift tholeiites and of plume-related alkaline intraplate basalts. The ultramafic rocks are serpentinized peridotites that were emplaced along N160° synsedimentary faults as numerous bodies 20–50 m in size. Their petrographical (Cr-spinel signature) and chemical features correspond to intracontinental ultramafic cumulates. The emplacement of the ultramafic rocks was associated with hydrothermal activity that generated calcareous and siliceous rocks such as ophicalcites and jaspers. All the features of the sediments, the lavas and the ultramafic bodies strongly suggest a continent–ocean transition geotectonic context, in an advanced stage of continental rifting that we attribute to the pre-Pan-African ocean passive margin extension.