The North Atlantic coast of Morocco has been historically affected by marine submersion events resulting from storms or tsunamis and causing economic losses and human fatalities. To establish adaptation and mitigation strategies, it is essential to study these events in terms of spatial and temporal variability. Using a geological archive (sediment core) retrieved from this coastal area of Morocco, we present a reconstruction of past marine submersion events over the last 4000 years.
The North Atlantic coast of Morocco has been historically affected by marine submersion events...
Review status: this discussion paper is a preprint. It has been under review for the journal Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences (NHESS). The manuscript was not accepted for further review after discussion.
Reconstruction of past marine submersion events (storms and
tsunamis) on the North Atlantic coast of Morocco
Otmane Khalfaoui1,2,Laurent Dezileau1,Jean-Philippe Degeai3,and Maria Snoussi2Otmane Khalfaoui et al.Otmane Khalfaoui1,2,Laurent Dezileau1,Jean-Philippe Degeai3,and Maria Snoussi2
1M2C ‒ Morphodynamique Continentale et Côtière, UMR 6143, Université de Caen, 24 rue des tilleuls, 14000, Caen, France
2LGRN ‒ Laboratoire de Géophysique et Risques Naturels, Centre de Recherche GEOPAC, Institue Scientifique, Université Mohammed V de Rabat; Avenue Ibn Battouta, B.P. 703 Agdal, 10090, Rabat, Morocco
3ASM ‒ Archéologie des Sociétés Méditerranéennes, UMR 5140, Université de Montpellier3, CNRS, MCC, 34000, Montpellier, France
1M2C ‒ Morphodynamique Continentale et Côtière, UMR 6143, Université de Caen, 24 rue des tilleuls, 14000, Caen, France
2LGRN ‒ Laboratoire de Géophysique et Risques Naturels, Centre de Recherche GEOPAC, Institue Scientifique, Université Mohammed V de Rabat; Avenue Ibn Battouta, B.P. 703 Agdal, 10090, Rabat, Morocco
3ASM ‒ Archéologie des Sociétés Méditerranéennes, UMR 5140, Université de Montpellier3, CNRS, MCC, 34000, Montpellier, France
Received: 18 Apr 2019 – Accepted for review: 26 May 2019 – Discussion started: 03 Jun 2019
Abstract. The North Atlantic coast of Morocco has been affected historically by marine submersion events resulting from both storms and tsunamis and causing human and economic losses. The development of proactive adaptation strategies requires the study of these events over centennial to millennial timescales. Using a 2.7 m sediment core sampled from the Tahaddart estuary, we have been able to reconstruct past marine submersion events on this coastal area of Morocco over the last 4000 years. The high-resolution sedimentological and geochemical analysis conducted on this core allows us to identify 14 sediment layers attributed to marine high-energy events. The core was dated with isotopic techniques (137Cs, 210Pbex, 14C) and the outcomes reveal that three sediment layers are in connection with two major historical marine submersion events. The first layer mentioned as E1 seems to fit with the great Lisbon tsunami in 1755 CE (Common Era), an event dated for the first time on the Atlantic coast of Morocco. The other two layers referred as E13 and E14 were dated between 3464 and 2837 cal BP and correlated with marine submersion deposits found on Spanish and Moroccan coasts, which confirms the existence of a major high-energy event (around 3200 BP) similar to the one in 1755 CE.
The North Atlantic coast of Morocco has been historically affected by marine submersion events resulting from storms or tsunamis and causing economic losses and human fatalities. To establish adaptation and mitigation strategies, it is essential to study these events in terms of spatial and temporal variability. Using a geological archive (sediment core) retrieved from this coastal area of Morocco, we present a reconstruction of past marine submersion events over the last 4000 years.
The North Atlantic coast of Morocco has been historically affected by marine submersion events...