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Palaeoenvironments, Palaeoecology, and Palaeoclimate of the “Paleogene Hamadian deposits” west of Bechar (northwestern Sahara, Algeria)

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Abstract

Recent investigations of the Paleogene continental deposits exposed in the survey area of Méridja-Dermchane (southwestern Algeria), have added further information about their geological history and modified some earlier concepts. The studied and newly redefined lithostratigraphic succession is recognised here as the “Paleogene Hamadian Group” of western Bechar, which is composed of the lower Oum es Sebaa Hamada and upper Méridja Hamada formations, succeeding Upper Cretaceous lagoonal-marine strata. Both formations have yielded important and remarkable flora and fauna assemblages, including vertebrate fossils (fishes, frogs), ostracods and macro-invertebrates (freshwater and terrestrial molluscs) as well as plant remains (charophyte algae and angiosperms), ranging in age from late Paleocene (late Thanetian) to middle Eocene (early Lutetian). These Paleogene Formations outcropping at the margins of the Oum es Sebaa and Méridja Hamadas usually consist of clastic deposits capped by thick carbonate beds or crusts. They are mainly deposited in two distinct palaeoenvironments characterised by lacustrine followed by detrital fluvial sediments. The presence of freshwater facies, including abundant charophyte algae and stromatolites in association with fishes, ampullariid gastropods and limnic ostracods, generally suggests a lacustrine depositional environment for the Hamada de Oum es Sebaa Formation. At the transition from grey hard lacustrine algal-stromatolitic and oncolitic limestones to brecciated-nodular palustrine facies showing desiccation cracks at the top indicate a drying period of the lake, probably caused by regional tectonic uplift movements during the intra-Eocene orogenic phase. These uplifts and tectonic actions would also have resulted in roughly north-south fluvial systems. The overlying Hamada de Méridja Formation was deposited in a wide spectrum of depositional environments, ranging from high-energy braided river in the eastern part (Méridja region) of the study area to lower-energy braided river in the western part (Garet Dermchane). Ecologically, the faunal and floral assemblages belong to aquatic and terrestrial palaeocommunities. The former suggest a low-salinity regime comprising relatively large water bodies, such as lakes and rivers colonised mainly by charophytes, freshwater gastropods, fishes and crustaceans; its banks were sparsely vegetated (Boraginaceae) and populated by land snails (Maghrebiola). Also, the litho- and biofacies reported regionally from these strata indicate a relatively dry, probably tropical or Mediterranean semi-arid climate.

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Notes

  1. A first Hamadian carbonate slab in close proximity to the road CW-09 between Bechar to Kenadsa up to the Djorf Torba dam.

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Acknowledgements

The author wishes to express his gratitude to the authorities of the Wilaya of Bechar (Kenadsa and Méridja communes) for their help, and all the staff of laboratory No. 25 at the University of Tlemcen (Algeria) for their support. Special thanks are due to Thomas Alan Neubauer and Dietrich Kadolsky for reviewing this article and for their helpful comments. Thanks are also extended to Peter Königshof and Sinje Weber for the professional editorial handling.

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    Sid Ahmed Hammouda

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Hammouda, S.A. Palaeoenvironments, Palaeoecology, and Palaeoclimate of the “Paleogene Hamadian deposits” west of Bechar (northwestern Sahara, Algeria). Palaeobio Palaeoenv 103, 413–431 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12549-022-00545-z

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