Abstract
The analysis of a sedimentary succession on the northern side of the western High Atlas, from Essaouira to Amizmiz, has enabled us to identify, and describe, thirteen formations ranging in age from Tithonian to Clansayesian. The collection and determination of ammonite and echinoid faunas has allowed us to attribute a precise age to most of these units. Lower Cretaceous formations are organized into six main depositional sequences: Late Jurassic-Berriasian; Valanginian; Hauterivian-Barremian; Bedoulian; Gargasian; Clansayesian-Albian. This organization, the characteristics of the major discontinuities and the geometry of sedimentary succession allows recognition of the following events: a Late Berriasian distensive phase; a period of sea-level change and basin infilling during Valanginian, Hauterivian, Barremian and Bedoulian times under essentially eustatic control; an intra-Aptian tectonic phase; and a period of relative sea level rise and topographic levelling during Gargasian-Albian. This is essentially linked to the evolution of the North Atlantic ocean during the Early Cretaceous.
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