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Hydrographic network as a marker of Quaternary tectonics: the example of El Mencha River from the Kaous region, Jijel, Algeria

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Abstract

A river can be an excellent marker of Quaternary tectonics. This method is applied to the El Mencha River case study (Jijel), which is an active region of Northern Algeria. In the Kaous locality (wilaya of Jijel), El Mencha River shows, at some points of its course, a difference in the banks’ altitude and a sinuosity that contrasts with the gentle slope. The right bank is in a high position with respect to the left bank. Bank uplift is emphasized notably by the staging of the stepped alluvial terraces. The oldest of these terraces is found about 6 m from the current level of the riverbed. On the left bank, the floodplain is very flared, with traces of abandoned or immature channels. Prospecting by electrical imaging has highlighted (i) superficial resistant unstratified and lenticular fluvial layers above conductive stratified deposits; (ii) an abnormal contact between the resistant and the conductive layers interpreted as a NE-SW fault zone, and (iii) the evidence of filled paleovalley which manifests as a V-shaped incision in stratified deposits. Channel pattern adjustment involving a lateral migration of the riverbed and the uplifted alluvial terraces are a consequence of the fault activity during the Quaternary period.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre National de Recherche Appliquée en Génie Parasismique (CGS), Rue Kaddour Rahim prolongée, 16040 Hussein Dey, 252, Alger, BP, Algeria

    Azzeddine Benhamouche & El Hadi Oubaiche

  2. Laboratoire de Géodynamique des Bassins Sédimentaires et des Orogènes, Facutlé des Sciences de la Terre et de l’Aménagement du Territoire, Université des Sciences et de la Technologie Houari Boumdiéne, El-Alia, 32, Algiers, BP, Algeria

    Ahmed Nedjari

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  1. Azzeddine Benhamouche
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Correspondence to Azzeddine Benhamouche.

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Benhamouche, A., Nedjari, A. & Oubaiche, E.H. Hydrographic network as a marker of Quaternary tectonics: the example of El Mencha River from the Kaous region, Jijel, Algeria. Arab J Geosci 11, 644 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-018-4010-8

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