GeolCarp_Vol57_No5_327

GEOLOGICA CARPATHICA, OCTOBER 2006, 57, 5, 327—336

www.geologicacarpathica.sk

Paleogeographical reconstruction of the Malaguide-

Ghomaride Complex (Internal Betic-Rifian Zone) based on

Carboniferous granitoid pebble provenance

CARLOS SANZ DE GALDEANO

, KHALIL EL KADIRI

, JOSÉ FERNANDO

SIMANCAS

RACHID HLILA

, ANGEL CARLOS LÓPEZ-GARRIDO

, ABDELASSIZ

EL MRIHI

and AHMED CHALOUAN

Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra, Facultad de Ciencias, CSIC-University Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain;

csanz@ugr.es;

Département de Géologie, Faculté des Sciences, BP 2121 Tetouan, Morocco

Departamento de Geodinámica, Facultad de Ciencias, University Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain

Département de Géologie, Faculté des Sciences, BP 1074 Rabat, Morocco

(Manuscript received May 12, 2005; accepted in revised form March 16, 2006)

Abstract:  An  outcrop  of  Carboniferous  conglomerates  is  described  in  the  Malaguide-Ghomaride  Complex  in  Ceuta,
comparable to the Conglomerate Formation of Marbella. Granite cobbles and pebbles belonging to deformed peraluminous
granites from epizonal massifs are significantly present within the conglomerates studied. Granites with these character-
istics  abound  in  the  Central  Iberian  and  Western  Asturian-Leonese  Zones  and  differ  from  those  predominating  in  the
Ossa-Morena and South Portuguese Zones of the Iberian Massif, geographically nearest the current Malaguide outcrop.
This suggests that the Malaguide-Ghomaride Domain was originally situated towards the east, thus forming the prolon-
gation of the Central Iberian or Western Asturian-Leonese Zones. This paleogeographical hypothesis is also confirmed
by stratigraphic comparisons indicating close similarities between the Devonian and Carboniferous series of the Malaguide
and of the more distant Minorca or Catalonian Coastal Range, as well as clear differences with the successions of the South
Portuguese  and  Ossa-Morena  Zones.  Furthermore,  the  correspondence  of  the  Malaguide-Ghomaride  Domain  towards
the  south  with  the  Moroccan  Meseta  is  also  discussed.  The  nature  of  the  granite  cobbles  of  the  Malaguide  is  a  new
argument that supports the contention of its westward shift of hundreds of kilometers during the Early Miocene, then
forming the Gibraltar Arc and occupying its present-day position.

Key words: Carboniferous, Betic-Rifian Internal Zone, Malaguide-Ghomaride Complex, paleogeographical
reconstruction, granitoid pebbles, Marbella conglomerates.

Introduction, geological setting and objectives

Within  the  western  Mediterranean,  the  Malaguide  Com-
plex  (Ghomaride  in  the  Rif)  containing  the  conglomerates
here  discussed,  occupy  the  highest  tectonic  position  of  the
Internal  Betic-Rifian  Zone,  together  with  the  so-called
Dorsale  Calcaire  (Figs. 1  and  2).  Beneath  lies  the  Alpujar-
ride  Complex  (or  Sebtide  in  the  Rif)  and,  in  the  lower  po-
sition,  the  Nevado-Filabride  (which  has  no  equivalent
observable  in  the  Rif).  These  two  latter  complexes  have
been  completely  affected  by  Alpine  metamorphism,  while
the  Malaguide  shows  at  the  base  traces  of  this  event,  so
that  a  great  part  of  its  Paleozoic  series  (and  the  very  dis-
continuous  Mesozoic  and  Tertiary  series)  have  practically
preserved  their  sedimentary  characters.  South  of  the
Malaguide  Complex  and  the  Dorsale  Calcaire  were  origi-
nally  situated  the  basins  of  the  Predorsale  (here  including
the  Tariquide  Domain)  and  the  Flysch  Units,  all  present-
ing  a  sedimentary  character.

Many reconstructions of the original position of the In-

ternal  Betic-Rifian  Zone  (Andrieux  et  al.  1971;  Durand-
Delga  1980;  Durand-Delga  &  Fontboté  1980;  Wildi  1983;
Sanz  de  Galdeano  1990,  among  many  other  authors)  show

that  they  were  located  in  the  easternmost  parts  of  the  west-
ern  Mediterranean,  being  later  expelled  to  the  west  during
the  opening  of  the  Algerian-Provençal  Basin  at  the  begin-
ning  of  the  Early  Miocene.  The  original  domain  of  the  In-
ternal  Betic-Rifian  Zone  (Fig. 2)  called  with  different
names,  such  as  AlKaPeCa  (Bouillin  et  al.  1986),  referring
to  the  resulting  sectors  (Alborán,  Kabylias,  Peloritani
Mountains  and  Calabria),  Alborán  Block  or  Domain  and
South  Sardinian  Domain  (Sanz  de  Galdeano  1990).

Conglomerate deposits intercalated in Carboniferous

sediments  or  attributed  to  the  Carboniferous,  according  to
the  cases,  have  been  described  in  different  outcrops  of  the
Malaguide  Complex.  These  polymictic  conglomerates
(“Marbella  Conglomerates”)  of  Blumenthal  (1949)  con-
tain  abundant  limestone  cobbles,  at  times  boulders,  mixed
with  lydite,  metasandstone  and  granite  pebbles.  Mollat
(1968)  considered  the  conglomerates  post-Visean  on  the
basis  of  the  presence  of  cobbles  of  this  age.  Herbig  &  Ma-
met  (1983)  and  Herbig  (1984,  1986)  recognized  a  late
Visean  age  in  many  of  the  limestone  cobbles  and  indicat-
ed  that  the  deposits  were  post-Bashkirian  –  that  is,  of
Westphalian  or  Stephanian  age.  Thus,  these  rocks  were
probably  deposited  at  the  end  of  the  Variscan  deforma-

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PALEOGEOGRAPHICAL RECONSTRUCTION OF THE MALAGUIDE-GHOMARIDE COMPLEX

tions.  The  conglomerates  are  separated  from  the  lower
sediments  by  a  regional  unconformity,  as  proposed  by
Bourgois  (1978)  and  Felder  (1978)  and  as  reflected  by
the  existence  of  previously  foliated  cobbles,  although
some  authors,  as  noted  by  Mäkel  (1985),  contended  that
this  was  a  local  unconformity.  Above,  Triassic  sediments
often  appear,  and  thus  this  upper  contact  corresponds  to
a  major  regional  unconformity.  The  conglomerates  have
a  highly  variable  thickness,  generally  of  several  meters,
to  a  maximum  of  100 m.

In the Rif (Morocco) these polymictic conglomerates in

the  Malaguide-Ghomaride  have  also  been  described  and
contain  cobbles  of  lower  Carboniferous  limestones  as  well
as  of  the  underlying  Paleozoic  sequence  rocks,  including
quartzites  and  different  metamorphic  cobbles.  These  con-
glomerates  have  been  considered  indicative  of  an  orogen-
ic  event  (Michard  &  Chalouan  1978;  Mourier  1982;
Mäkel  1985).  In  the  Iberian  Massif,  upper  Carboniferous
conglomerates  are  known  in  different  localities  of  As-
turias,  the  Iberian  Ranges  and  the  Ossa-Morena  Zone.
Lower  Westphalian  deposits  are  still  syn-tectonic  in  As-
turias,  but  the  Westphalian  D  to  Stephanian  deposits  are
invariably  late  or  post-tectonic.

In addition to these Carboniferous conglomerates, there

are others much more modern, from the upper Oligocene-
Aquitanian (formations of the Ciudad-Granada/Fnideq

Fig. 3. Simplified geological map of Ceuta and nearby sectors. The position of the geological section of Fig. 4 is indicated.

type) (Martín-Algarra et al. 1993; Serrano et al. 1995),
deposited

unconformably

overlaying

the

Malaguide-

Ghomaride  Complex  and  containing  numerous  cobbles
inherited  from  the  underlying  Malaguide  succession,  as
well  as  granite  cobbles  (Olivier  et  al.  1979),  metamorphic
rocks  and  basic  igneous  rocks.  Conglomerates  with  cob-
bles  and  pebbles  of  these  types  are  intercalated  within
some  Flysch  Units  (Puglisi  et  al.  2001;  Gigliuto  et  al.
2004a),  such  as  the  Oligocene-Aquitanian  Beni  Ider  Flysch
(Zaghoul  &  Puglisi  2003;  Gigliuto  et  al.  2004a,b  and
Careri  et  al.  2004).  These  latter  are  not  sediments  formed
over  the  Internal  Zone,  but  rather  more  to  the  south,  in
nearby  realms.  These  Tertiary  deposits  will  not  be  specifi-
cally  treated  here,  although  possibly  their  cobbles  have  an
origin  similar  to  those  that  will  be  discussed,  or  they  are
inherited  from  the  same  Marbella-like  conglomerates.

In Ceuta, a small, poorly exposed outcrop of conglom-

erates  of  the  Marbella  type  appears  near  the  western  edge
of  the  port,  in  the  Benítez  beach,  at  the  beginning  of  what
was  Bazurko  beach.  Furthermore,  another  new  outcrop,
large  and  well  exposed,  is  found  in  the  Tarajal  sector,  the
name  of  the  border  between  Ceuta  territory  (belonging  to
Spain)  and  Morocco  on  the  Mediterranean  coast  (Figs. 3
and  4).  There,  the  talus  of  a  new  highway  shows  the  out-
crop,  situated  roughly  between  800  and  1200 m  from  the
border.

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SANZ DE GALDEANO, EL KADIRI, SIMANCAS, HLILA, LOPÉZ-GARRIDO, EL MRIHI and CHALOUAN

These conglomerates enable the comparison and possi-

ble  correlation  of  the  lithology  of  the  cobbles  with  that
found  at  other  points  of  the  Malaguide-Ghomaride  and
with  the  domains  of  the  Iberian  Massif  and  of  the  Moroc-
can  Paleozoic.  Moreover,  the  comparison  of  the  Devo-
nian-Carboniferous  sedimentation  of  the  Malaguide  with
that  of  these  last  domains  strengthens  the  conclusions
drawn  from  the  analysis  of  the  nature  of  the  cobbles.  These
topics  are  the  focus  of  this  study,  with  the  aim  of  contribut-
ing  to  the  paleogeographical  reconstruction  of  the  region.

Description of the conglomerates of Tarajal

(Ceuta)

In this area, dark brown slates and meta-arenites, bluish

in  fresh  sections,  attributed  to  the  Carboniferous  of  the
Malaguide-Ghomaride,  crop  out.  In  the  Tarajal  sector,
conglomerate  levels  occur  at  the  top  of  the  succession,
well  exposed  in  the  talus  of  the  highway,  with  a  thickness
of  about  5 m.  These  conglomerates,  locally  medium-bed-
ded,  show  abundant  centimeter-sized  pebbles,  rare  cob-
bles  more  than  20 cm  in  diameter  and  boulders  up  to  1 m
in  size  arranged  in  levels  at  times  exceeding  2 m  in  thick-
ness.  Pebbles  of  5 cm  abound,  but  also  cobbles  surpassing
20 cm  in  diameter  and  some  boulders  that  can  reach  nearly
1 m  in  diameter.  There  is  also  fine  gravel  of  1—2 cm  and
even  smaller.  The  matrix,  generally  arenaceous,  is  scarce.
The  stratification  is  not  always  evident,  although  there  are
some  thinner  levels,  even  formed  by  sandstones,  showing
a  lenticular  geometry,  enabling  the  polarity  of  the  succes-
sion  to  be  established.  This  is  a  fining-upward  sequence,
ending  with  levels  of  sandstones  and  lutites.  There  is  no
evidence  of  channelized  facies  suggesting  mass  transport,
possibly  linked  to  a  delta.  These  conglomerates  reach  at
least  40 m  in  thickness.

Unconformably above, there are some levels, several

meters  thick,  of  Triassic  red  conglomerates,  clays  and  lutites
and,  at  the  top,  Burdigalian  sediments  containing  numerous
spillages  of  Triassic  and  Paleozoic  rocks.  The  conglomer-
ates  crop  out  in  a  practically  N-S  anticlinal,  located  to  the  E
of  the  great  synclinal  of  Fnideq  (Kornprobst  &  Durand-Del-

Fig. 4. Geological section of the study outcrop of the Carboniferous conglomerates in the Tarajal sector.

ga 1985), with the same N-S axial direction, showing Oli-
gocene-Lower Miocene successions (Figs. 3 and 4).

Petrographic description

The conglomerates studied are formed mainly by cobbles

of  quartzites  and  of  fossiliferous  limestones  and,  subordi-
nately,  by  granite,  rhyolite,  pegmatite,  phyllite  and  lydite
cobbles.  These  cobbles  present  foliations,  evidently  linked
to  deformational  events  prior  to  the  sedimentation  of  the
conglomerates.  The  cobbles  of  limestone  or  lydite  have  not
been  studied  microscopically  because  it  is  well  known  that
they  derived  from  older  levels  of  the  Malaguide  Complex;
thus  the  attention  has  been  focused  on  the  igneous  or  meta-
morphic  cobbles  (Fig. 5A,B).

Twelve samples of granite cobbles studied under the mi-

croscope  present  a  moderate  mylonite  deformation,  re-
sponsible  for  their  gneissic  appearance.  The  quartz  shows
undulatory  extinction  and,  at  times,  a  polycrystalline  as-
pect,  without  the  development  of  ribbons.  There  is  textural
evidence  of  grain-boundary  migration,  but  the  develop-
ment  of  dynamically  recrystallized  new  grains  is  scarce.
Feldspars  often  appear  somewhat  fractured  and  the  micas
are  oriented  according  to  the  foliation  or  have  kinked
folds  (Fig. 5C—F).  These  observations  imply  that  the  folia-
tion  of  these  granites  developed  under  low-grade  meta-
morphic  conditions  and,  given  the  scant  development  of
the  dynamic  recrystallization,  they  can  be  qualified  as
proto-mylonite  granites.  In  terms  of  mineralogical  com-
position,  there  are  some  biotitic  granites,  but  the  great
majority  are  two-mica  granites,  frequently  leucocratic,
with  almost  pure  albite  and  variable  microcline  perthite
and,  locally,  with  garnet  or  cordierite.  Thus,  their  prove-
nance  is  closely  linked  to  plutonic  sources  formed  by
peraluminous,  two-mica,  cordierite-bearing  granite/leu-
cogranite,  which  have  been  affected  by  a  penetrative  de-
formation  under  low-grade  metamorphic  conditions.

Furthermore, four metasandstone cobbles have also been

studied.  These  are  represented  by  arkoses  and  arkosic  wack-
es,  with  grains  of  quartz  (predominant),  plagioclase,  potassi-
um  feldspar,  micas,  metapelite  fragments,  and  zircon,
apatite  and  tourmaline  as  heavy  mineral  accessories.  This

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SANZ DE GALDEANO, EL KADIRI, SIMANCAS, HLILA, LOPÉZ-GARRIDO, EL MRIHI and CHALOUAN

crop  out  characteristically  in  the  Central  Iberian  and  West-
ern  Asturian-Leonese  Zones  of  the  Iberian  Massif  (Fig. 1).
Thus,  the  presence  of  these  types  of  granite  cobbles  in  a
conglomerate  of  the  Malaguide-Ghomaride  Complex  is
indicative  of  a  north-western  origin  of  the  detritus,  related
mainly  to  the  erosion  of  those  terrains,  as  discussed  below.

Discussion

Main  features  of  the  Variscan  organization  in  Iberia
and  in  Morocco,  some  being  useful  for  comparisons
with  the  Malaguide-Ghomaride  Complex

Three structural domains form the northern part of the

Iberian  Massif.  Apart  of  the  allochthonous  Galicia-Trás-
Os-Montes  Zone,  these  are,  from  the  south-west  to  the
north-east  (Figs. 1  and  6):  a  –  an  internal  domain  charac-
terized  by  lower  Paleozoic  shelf  deposits  (the  Central  Ibe-
rian  Zone),  b  –  an  early  Paleozoic  graben  that  trapped
thick  sedimentary  deposits  (the  Western  Asturian-Leonese
Zone)  and  c  –  an  external  shelf,  evolving  into  a  foreland
basin  during  late  Carboniferous  times  (the  Cantabrian
Zone).  To  the  ESE,  Mesozoic  and  Tertiary  successions  be-
longing  to  the  Iberian  Chain  and  to  part  of  the  External
Zone  of  the  Betic  Cordillera  transgressively  covered  these
zones.  However,  patchy  outcrops  of  Paleozoic  rocks
emerged  in  some  parts  of  the  Iberian  Chain  and  the  Coast-
al  Catalonian  Range.  Variscan  granitoids  are  particularly

diverse  and  abundant  in  the  Central  Iberian  Zone  and  in
the  westernmost  border  of  the  Asturian-Leonese  Zone.  The
first  tectonometamorphic  event  occurred  as  early  as  the
Early  Devonian  in  the  western  allochthonous  units.  Its  de-
formational  contraction  migrated  eastwards  and  reached
the  easternmost  regions  in  Westphalian  times.  The  orogen-
ic  vergence  in  northern  Iberia  is  towards  the  E/NE,  where-
as  the  southern  Iberia  transect,  formed  by  the  Ossa-Morena
and  the  South  Portuguese  Zones  (Figs. 1  and  6),  shows  a
southward  vergence  (Simancas  et  al.  2002).

In Morocco (Figs. 1 and 6), the Anti-Atlas chain, which

formed  the  northern  margin  of  the  Western  African  Craton,
shows  a  Precambrian  basement  (in  the  so-called  “bouton-
nières”)  that  was  partly  involved  in  the  Proterozoic  Pan-
African  orogeny.  Its  Paleozoic  cover  underwent  a
relatively  weak  Variscan  deformation,  with  respect  to  its
deepest  northern  prolongation:  the  Meseta  domain.  The
latter  corresponds  to  the  true  Variscan  chain,  usually  di-
vided  into  a  Western  and  an  Eastern  Meseta  (Piqué  1994).
The  Western  Meseta  shows  a  thick  siliciclastic  Paleozoic
sequence  and  a  variety  of  late-orogenic  granites  that  make
it  closely  correlate  to  the  Central  Iberian  Zone  (Martínez-
Poyatos  et  al.  2004;  Simancas  et  al.  2005).  The  transition
to  the  Eastern  Meseta  occurs  at  the  Kenifra-Bouagri  Nappe
zone  (the  so-called    Central  Meseta),  which  presents  a  dis-
tinctive  Devonian  succession  of  calcareous  flysch  and
olistoliths  (Zahraoui  1994).  The  Eastern  Meseta  bears  the
records  of  different  sedimentary  environments:  the  Siluri-
an  being  represented  by  pelagic  deposits  and  the  Lower—

Fig. 6. Paleogeographical reconstruction showing the location of Iberia and of Morocco at the end of the Paleozoic and the approximate
location of the future sedimentary basin during the Mesozoic evolution of the AlKaPeCa Domain.

333

PALEOGEOGRAPHICAL RECONSTRUCTION OF THE MALAGUIDE-GHOMARIDE COMPLEX

Middle  Devonian  by  turbidites  (Hoepffner  1987;  Zahraoui
1994).  Later,  during  the  Early—Middle  Devonian,  the
Eastern  Meseta  evolved  into  a  deep  trough  receiving  tur-
biditic  sediments,  which  announced  a  Late  Devonian  de-
formation.  It  is  noteworthy  that,  although  no  Devonian
rocks  outcrop  to  the  east  of  the  Eastern  Meseta,  the  exist-
ence  of  Devonian  blocks  in  Carboniferous  deposits  sug-
gest  that  a  carbonate  platform  would  have  existed  east  of
the  turbiditic  trough  (Hoepffner  1987).  A  similar  observa-
tion  has  been  reported  by  Herbig  (1985)  in  Spanish  out-
crops  of  the  Malaguide-Ghomaride  Complex.

On the basis of regional tectonic data (correlation of the

sutures  of  the  Variscan  orogeny),  together  with  strati-
graphic  affinities  and  similarities  in  the  granite  plutonism,
it  can  be  suggested  that  (Simancas  et  al.  2005):  a  –  the
Western  Moroccan  Meseta  with  the  Central  Iberian
Zone  and  the  Eastern  Moroccan  Meseta  with  the  West-
ern  Asturian-Leonese/Cantabrian  Zones,  respectively,
were  approximately  equivalent  paleogeographical  do-
mains  during  early  Paleozoic  times  belonging  to  the  same
margin  of  the  Gondwana  continent.  b  –  On  the  contrary,
there  are  no  counterparts  in  Morocco  for  the  Ossa-Morena
and  South  Portuguese  Zones.  Thus,  only  the  paleogeo-
graphical  zones  of  central  and  northern  Iberia  would  ex-
tend  into  the  Moroccan  Meseta  (Fig. 6).  In  this  broad
context,  the  original  location  of  the  Malaguide-Ghomar-
ide  Complex  is  discussed  below.

Comparison  of  the  petrological  characteristics  of  the
Tarajal  conglomerates  with  those  of  the  domains  of  the
Iberian  Massif  and  of  Morocco:  original  location  of  the
Malaguide-Ghomaride  Complex

Carboniferous granitoids crop out in all zones of the Ibe-

rian  Massif  and  in  the  Western  and  Eastern  Mesetas  of  Mo-
rocco  and  their  abundance  and  petrographic/geochemical
features  markedly  differ  along  these  areas.  The  Central  Ibe-
rian  and  the  Asturian-Leonese  Zones  have  far  greater  diver-
sity  and  volume  of  granitic  magmatism  (Bea  2004).  The
granitoid  cobbles  of  the  Malaguide  conglomerate  of  Tarajal
correspond  to  peraluminous,  two-micas,  cordierite-bearing
granite/leucogranite.  Furthermore,  their  source  areas  should
be  represented  by  epiplutonic  massifs  because  the  exclusive
presence  of  cobbles  of  low-grade  metamorphism  indicates
that  only  the  highest  crustal  levels  were  eroded  at  that  time.
Granites  with  these  characteristics  crop  out  abundantly  in
the  northern  half  of  the  Central  Iberian  Zone  and  in  the
Western  Asturian-Leonese  Zone,  being  extremely  rare  in
other  zones  of  the  Iberian  Massif  (Bea  2004).  The  Central
Iberian  and  Western  Asturian-Leonese  Zones  form  a  wide
belt  extending  from  Galicia  through  the  central  area  of  the
Iberian  Peninsula  and  must  continue  towards  the  ESE
(Figs. 1  and  6),  where  its  outcrops  are  hidden  by  the  Tertiary
sediments  of  the  Duero  Basin,  of  the  Iberian  Chain  and  of
the  Betic  Cordillera  in  its  easternmost  sector.

An original location of the Internal Betic-Rifian Zone to

the  very  ENE  of  its  present-day  position,  to  the  south  of
Sardinia,  still  in  crustal  continuity  with  the  European
Plate,  has  been  argued  from  different  geological  evidence

(see  López  Casado  et  al.  2001).  Thus,  at  the  end  of  the  Pa-
leozoic,  the  Malaguide-Ghomaride  terrains  could  have
been  located  in  the  easterly  prolongation  of  the  Central
Iberian/Western  Asturian-Leonese  belt  and  they  could
have  been  fed  from  the  erosion  of  these  areas.  The  finding
of  granitic  cobbles  in  the  Malaguide  Complex  is  a  further
argument  in  favour  of  situating  this  complex  several  hun-
dred  kilometers  to  the  east,  specifically  in  the  ESE  contin-
uation  of  the  aforementioned  zones  of  the  Iberian  Massif.
This  agrees  well  with  the  opinion  of  Bourrouilh  &
Gorsline  (1979),  Bourrouilh  et  al.  (1980)  and  Henningsen
&  Herbig  (1990),  who  indicate  that  the  Carboniferous  sed-
iments  of  Minorca  (Balearic  Islands)  formed  the  continua-
tion  of  the  Malaguide  Carboniferous  Basin,  and  even  the
Minorcan  conglomerate  of  Binifaillet  is  thought  to  be
equivalent  to  the  Malaguide  Marbella  Conglomerates.  At
the  same  time,  the  Carboniferous  of  Minorca  is  linked
with  that  of  the  Catalonian  Coastal  Range.

In the same line, it should be noted that Herbig (1985)

and  Herbig  &  Stattegger  (1989)  described  in  Malaguide
outcrops  large  blocks  of  Devonian  limestones  inside
Visean  deposits,  correlating  them  with  those  existing  in
Minorca  in  identical  positions,  and  concluding  that  they
derive  from  different  sectors  of  a  common  primary  sedi-
mentary  shelf  located  just  east  of  the  Malaguide  Basin.
Herbig  (1990)  correlated  the  Carboniferous  and  Devonian
of  the  Malaguide  with  Minorca  and  with  the  Chenoua
Massif,  situated  70 km  to  the  west  of  the  Algiers.  In  turn,
Chalouan  (1986)  and  Chalouan  &  Michard  (1990)  de-
scribed  the  Paleozoic  series  of  the  Ghomaride  Units  and
indicated  the  presence  of  Devonian  limestones  in  all  of
the  series,  highlighting  the  presence  of  reef  limestones  in
the  Talembote  Unit,  the  highest  tectonic  slice  of  the
Ghomaride  Complex.  This  same  unit  also  presents  large
Devonian  limestone  boulders  included  in  the  Carbonifer-
ous.  Devonian  limestone  boulders  in  Visean  deposits  have
also  been  pointed  out  in  the  Eastern  Moroccan  Meseta
(Hoepffner  1987).  Furthermore,  there  are  noticeable  similar-
ities  in  the  Silurian/Devonian  stratigraphy  of  the  Malagu-
ide-Ghomaride  and  the  Nappe  Zone/Eastern  Meseta.  Thus,
these  now  dispersed  regions  may  have  been  in  a  similar
paleogeographical  domain,  bounded  to  the  east  by  a  De-
vonian  carbonate  platform.  In  the  Iberian  Massif  (Fig. 1),
the  Cantabrian  Zone  has  a  Devonian  shelf  of  carbonates,
including  some  reef  limestones  (Aramburu  et  al.  2004).  Fi-
nally,  on  a  broad  tectonic,  stratigraphic  and  petrologic  ba-
sis,  Simancas  et  al.  (2005)  have  indicated  that  it  is  not
possible  to  correlate  these  domains  with  the  Ossa-Morena  or
South  Portuguese  Zones,  as  indicated  also  by  Henningsen
&  Herbig  (1990)  on  sedimentological  grounds.

Summarizing all the above data, we conclude that the

Malaguide-Ghomaride  Complex  belonging  to  the  Betic-
Rifian  Internal  Zone  may  have  been  located  in  connection
with  the  Central  Iberian  Zone/Western  Asturian-Leonese
Zone  (by  the  type  of  granites  in  conglomerates),  with  the
Western  Asturian-Leonese  Zone  (by  the  existence  to  the
east  of  a  common  Devonian  carbonate  shelf,  cropping  out
in  the  Cantabrian  Zone),  or  with  the  Catalonian  Coastal
Range/Minorca  (by  the  similarities  observed  within  the

334

SANZ DE GALDEANO, EL KADIRI, SIMANCAS, HLILA, LOPÉZ-GARRIDO, EL MRIHI and CHALOUAN

Carboniferous  successions).  To  the  south,  the  Malaguide-
Ghomaride  Complex  shows  some  stratigraphic  and  petro-
logic  affinities  with  the  Nappe  Zone/Eastern  Meseta.
Accordingly,  all  these  regions  were  probably  in  approxi-
mate  paleogeographic  continuity  during  Paleozoic  times.
This  correlation  can  probably  be  extended  to  the  Chenoua
Massif  and  even  to  another  sector  farther  east,  as  some  in-
ternal  units  of  the  Calabrian  area  in  southern  Italy.  Cer-
tainly,  the  above-mentioned  correlations  and  attributions
are  only  approximate  because  the  characteristics  of  a  pa-
leogeographical  pre-orogenic  or  orogenic  zone  usually
change  laterally.  Fig. 6  shows  a  reconstruction  of  this
former  continuity,  indicating  the  mutual  relationships  be-
tween  the  domains  involved.  The  results  of  Gigliuto  et  al.
(2004a,b)  relating  the  granitoid  pebbles  of  the  Oligocene-
Miocene  Beni  Ider  Flysch  and  of  the  coeval  successions
unconformably  overlying  the  Internal  Rifian  sectors  with
the  granites  of  Central  Iberia  agree  with  our  conclusion.
Careri  et  al.  (2004),  in  the  discussion  of  the  Gigliuto  et  al.
(2004a),  relate  the  granitic  pebbles  with  the  Calabria  re-
gion,  without  considering  the  geochemical  differences  indi-
cated  by  Gigliuto  et  al.  (2004a)  between  the  Calabrian
plutonites  and  the  granitoid  pebbles  of  the  Oligocene-Mi-
ocene  Rifian  successions.  In  any  case,  if  Calabria  was  the
source  area  of  the  plutonic  pebbles,  it  is  very  probable  that
this  sector  was,  broadly,  in  the  prolongation  of  the  Central
Iberian  and  Western  Asturian  Leonese  Zone,  as  we  propose.

Nevertheless, the former paleogeographical continuity

among  all  these  sectors  does  not  exist  at  present,  their  dis-
tribution  is  the  result  of  the  Alpine  deformations  and  in
particular  is  due  to  the  opening  of  the  Algero-Provençal
Basin,  during  the  Early  Miocene,  which  radially  expelled
the  domain  bearing  the  Betic-Rifian  Internal  Zone  (Boil-
lot  et  al.  1984;  Sanz  de  Galdeano  1990):  the  Kabylide  in
Algeria  migrated  to  the  south,  and  the  Betic-Rifian  Inter-
nal  Zone  to  the  west,  as  indicated  in  Fig.7.  The  reconstruc-

tion  of  the  former  position  of  the  Malaguide  Complex  is  a
new  argument  to  support  the  strong  westward  tectonic
transport  undergone  by  the  Betic-Rifian  Internal  Zone
during  the  very  late  Oligocene,  Early  Miocene,  and  even
Middle  Miocene.

Conclusions

The new outcrop of Carboniferous conglomerates of the

Malaguide-Ghomaride  Complex  of  the  Tarajal  sector  of
Ceuta  in  the  Gibraltar  Arc  is  comparable  to  other  equiva-
lent  ones  related  to  the  Marbella-like  conglomerates  (Blu-
mental  1949;  Herbig  1984).

The petrographic characters of the plutonic cobbles oc-

curring  within  these  conglomerates  suggest  that  they  can
be  ascribed  to  the  peraluminous  two-mica  granite  group,
relatively  young  (syntectonic)  and  similar  to  other  grani-
toid  rocks  of  the  Central  Iberian  Zone.  In  constrast,  their
characteristics  do  not  admit  a  correlation  with  the  granites
of  the  Ossa-Morena  and  South  Portuguese  Zones,  al-
though,  at  the  present,  they  are  geographically  nearer  to
the  outcrop  analysed  here.

An original situation of the Internal Betic-Rifian Zone

more  to  the  east,  and  consequently  of  the  Malaguide,  to
the  south  of  Sardinia,  places  this  domain  roughly  in  the
extension  of  the  Central  Iberian/Western  Asturian-Leo-
nese  Zones.  In  this  paleogeographical  scenario  the  prod-
ucts  of  the  erosion  of  these  domains,  assumed  to  be  the
source  areas  of  the  granitoid  pebbles  described  here  could
easily  reach  the  Malaguide-Ghomaride  sedimentary  basin.
This  situation  is  also  supported  by  the  correlations  already
performed  by  various  authors,  showing  similarities  be-
tween  the  Carboniferous  successions  of  the  Malaguide
and  that  of  Minorca  and  in  the  correlations  based  on  tec-
tonic  and  petrological  criteria,  between  the  Iberian  Massif

Fig. 7. Paleogeographical reconstruction of the western Mediterranean during the late Oligocene-early Aquitanian and the Burdigalian—Lang-
hian times, indicating the strong westward displacement of the Betic-Rifian Internal Zone, which explains the present very westerly position of
the Malaguide-Ghomaride Complex (modified from Sanz de Galdeano et al. 2001).

335

PALEOGEOGRAPHICAL RECONSTRUCTION OF THE MALAGUIDE-GHOMARIDE COMPLEX

and  the  Moroccan  Meseta.  These  correlations  should  be
considered  in  a  broad  sense,  as  the  zones  must  have
changed  laterally.

The original location inferred for the Internal Betic-Rifi-

an  Zone  to  the  south  of  Sardinia  fully  supports  the  paleo-
geographical  evolution  of  the  Lower  Miocene  of  the
Betic-Rifian  Chain,  showing  that  during  the  opening  of
the  Algerian-Provençal  Basin,  the  Internal  Betic-Rifian
Zone  was  expelled  hundreds  of  kilometers  towards  the
west,  to  its  present  geographical  position  forming  the
Gibraltar  Arc.

Acknowledgments:  This  paper  is  a  contribution  of  Groups
217  and  148  of  the  Junta  de  Andalucía  and  the  Projects
AECI  65/03/P,  65/04/R/E  and  A49/02  (M).  We  are  grate-
ful  to  Prof.  M.  Durand-Delga  for  his  kind  corrections  and
suggestions  as  well  as  those  made  by  Drs.  D.  Puglisi  and
D.  Vaslet  that  clearly  improved  the  paper.

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