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The Eastern Tell of North Africa: structural styles, wedge geometry and tectonics

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Abstract

The structure of the Tell Fold-and-Thrust Belt (FATB) and its South Front (STF) is deeply influenced by (1) Triassic evaporites abundance underneath the forwarding Tellian wedge and (2) surface processes, such as syntectonic erosion and sedimentation. Erosion and deposition parameters controlling the Tell deformation style are estimated for the first time, as well as shortening rates along a transect across the imbricate zone of Northern Tunisia. The Tell FATB is compared to other FATBs worldwide. The restored cross-section gives an overall view of the deformation kinematics patterns with a total shortening of 27% for the Late Eocene and Late Miocene-Quaternary shortening events. Shortening rates of 0.82 mm.y-1 are comparable to those of the Algerian Tell. Syntectonic sedimentation rates range between 0.08 and 0.15 mm.y-1, while syntectonic erosion is estimated at 0.08 mm.y-1. The topographic slope (α) and the basal slope (β) of the Tell tectonic wedge were quantified through different transects across Tunisia, resulting in low angles between 0.3° and 4°. These values are roughly comparable to FATBs issued from the Tethyan Sea margins during subduction and collision, as the Betics, the Apennines and the Pyrenees.

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Acknowledgements

This work has benefited from fruitful discussions with Dominique Frizon de Lamotte and Rémi Leprêtre.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire Géoressources, LGR, CERTE, Soliman, Tunisia

    Mannoubi Khelil

  2. Faculty of Sciences of Tunis, Tunis El Manar University, Tunis, Tunisia

    Mannoubi Khelil & Fouad Zargouni

  3. Lab. Desalination and Natural Water Valorisation (LaDVEN), CERTE, Soliman, Tunisia

    Sami Khomsi

  4. IFP Energies Nouvelles, Ruel Malmaison, France

    François Roure

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Correspondence to Mannoubi Khelil.

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Khelil, M., Khomsi, S., Roure, F. et al. The Eastern Tell of North Africa: structural styles, wedge geometry and tectonics. Med. Geosc. Rev. 5, 237–253 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42990-023-00113-3

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