Skip to main content

Geochemical Elements of Continental and Marine Surface Sediments in Southern Morocco as an Indicator of Environmental and Climate Change

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Technical and Technological Solutions Towards a Sustainable Society and Circular Economy

Part of the book series: World Sustainability Series ((WSUSE))

  • 32 Accesses

Abstract

Like other regions of Morocco, southern Morocco is presently subject to severe drought, desertification and socio-economic stress. Studies on climate change, landscape and vegetation have mainly focused on north of the country. In contrast, climatic and environmental history in the south of the country is largely unknown. In this study, we have chosen the characterization of southern Morocco based on geochemical parameters (trace and major elements). Marine and continental samples are collected along the south of Morocco (~31°N and 29°N). The concentrations of chemical elements are obtained by XRF (X-ray fluorescence scanning) with the aim of defining the effects of climate change and rainfall on the local environment and natural resources. The integration of the different results has allowed us to reconstruct climate, ocean and environmental changes. That has enabled us to provide data for land–ocean correlations.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Balsam, W.L., McCoy, F.W., Jr.: Atlantic sediments: glacial/interglacial comparisons. Paleoceanography 2(5), 531–542 (1987)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Bonatti, E., Gartner, S.: Caribbean climate during Pleistocene ice ages. Nature 244(5418), 563–565 (1973)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Boyle, E.A.: Chemical accumulation variations under the Peru Current during the past 130,000 years. J. Geophys. Res. 88, 7667–7680 (1983)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Engelstaedter, S., Tegen, I., Washington, R.: North African dust emissions and transport. Earth Sci. Rev. 79(1–2), 73–100 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Futterer, D.K.: The solid phase of marine sediments. In: Marine Geochemistry, pp. 1–22. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Holz, C., Stuut, J.-B.W., Henrich, R.: Terrigenous sedimentation processes along the continental margin off NW Africa: implications from grain-size analysis of seabed sediments. Sedimentology 51(5), 1145–1154 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Jullien, E., et al.: Low-latitude “dusty events” versus high latitude “icy Heinrich events”. Quat. Res. 68(3), 379–386 (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Kuhlmann, H., Meggers, H., Freudenthal, T., Wefer, G.: The transition of the monsoonal and the N Atlantic climate system off NW Africa during the Holocene. Geophys. Res. Lett. 31, L22204 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Kuss, J., Kremling, K.: Spatial variability of particle associated trace elements in near-surface waters of the North Atlantic, derived by large volume sampling. Mar. Chem. 68, 71–86 (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Martín, J.A., Barceló, C., Pawlowsky, V.: Measures of difference for compositional data and hierarchical clustering methods. In: Buccianti, A., Nard, G., Potenza, R. (eds.) Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Conference of the International Association for Mathematical Geology, pp. 526–531 (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  11. McGregor, H.V., Dima, M., Fischer, H.W., Mulitza, S.: Rapid 20th-century increase in coastal upwelling off northwest Africa. Science 315, 637–639 (2007)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Miller, J.R., Russell, G.L.: The impact of global warming on river runoff. J. Geophys. Res. 97(D3), 2757–2764 (1992)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Milliman, J.D., Syvitski, J.P.M.: Geomorphic/ tectonic control of sediment discharge to the ocean: the importance of small mountainous rivers. J. Geol. 100(5), 525–544 (1992)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Moore, B.R., Dennen, W.H.: A geochemical trend in silicon-aluminum-iron ratios and the classification of clastic sediments. J. Sediment. Res. 40(4), 1147–1152 (1970)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Peterson, L.C., Haug, G.H., Hughen, K.A., Rohl, U.: Rapid changes in the hydrologic cycle of the tropical Atlantic during the last glacial. Science 290(5498), 1947–1951 (2000)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Peucker-Ehrenbrink, B.: Land sea database of river drainage basin sizes, annual water discharges, and suspended sediment fluxes. Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 10, Q06014p (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Plewa, K., Meggers, H., Kuhlmann, H., Freudenthal, T., Zabel, M., Kasten, S.: Geochemical distribution patterns as indicators for productivity and terrigenous input off NW Africa. Deep-Sea Res. I 66, 51–56 (2012)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Sarnthein, M., Thiede, J., Pflaumann, U., Erlenkeuser, H., Fütterer, D.K., Koopmann, B., Lange, H., Seibold, E.: Atmospheric and oceanic circulation patterns off Northwest Africa during the past 25 million years. In: Seibold, E. (ed.) Geology of the Northwest African Continental Margin, pp. 545–604. Springer, Berlin (1982)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Schutz, L., Rahn, K.A.: Trace-element concentrations in erodible soils. Atmos. Environ. 16, 171–176 (1982)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Weltje, G.J., Tjallingii, R.: Calibration of XRF core scanners for quantitative geochemical logging of sediment cores: theory and application. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 274(3–4), 423–438 (2008)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Yarincik, K.M., Murray, R.W., Peterson, L.C.: Climatically controlled eolian and hemipelagic deposition in the Cariaco Basin, Venezuela: results from Al/Ti and K/Al. Paleoceanography 15, 210–228 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Zabel, M., Schneider, R., Wagner, T., Adegbie, A.T., Kolonic, S.: Late quaternary climate changes in Central Africa as inferred from terrigenous input to the Niger Fan. Quat. Res. 56(2), 207–217 (2001)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jawad E. L. Hawari .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Hawari, J.E., Ghachi, M.E. (2024). Geochemical Elements of Continental and Marine Surface Sediments in Southern Morocco as an Indicator of Environmental and Climate Change. In: Mabrouki, J., Mourade, A. (eds) Technical and Technological Solutions Towards a Sustainable Society and Circular Economy. World Sustainability Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-56292-1_17

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics