Anti-Atlas

The Anti-Atlas is a chain of Montagne S in the south-west of the Morocco, directed south-western and north-eastern towards nearly 600 km, located between the High Atlas central and of the the Atlantic Sahara at the Tafilalet. This chain belongs to the massive of the Atlas, and more precisely, with the one of the three elements of the Moroccan Atlas - the two others being the High Atlas and the Moyen Atlas.

Geography

The Anti-Atlas is fragmented in several solid masses: in the west the Anti-Atlas of Tafraout, in the east the Jbel Saghro (or djebel Sagho) and the old volcano of the Jbel Sirwa (or Siroua) culminating with 3305m.

Geology

The Anti-Atlas is an old assembly line, folded approximately 300 million years ago during the assembly of the super-continent of the Pangée, which joined together the Africa then, two Americas and the Eurasia.

It is a vast convexity of old rocks, especially Paléozoïque S. Relevé at the time of the movements tertiary and notched imposing throats, it is separate into two by the large cut of the wadi Draâ. The first top culminates in Imgout (2530 m) and the second in Amalou-n-Mansour (2712 m).

It is about an area little known, which dominates the rich person Oasis of the valleys of the Draâ and the Dadès. The tops culminate there between: 2000 and: 3300 meters, but the landscapes announce the the Sahara. Astonishing contrast, in this chaos of rocks of a large variety (basalts, granite, pink granite, quartz, trachyte). It is the most arid mountain of Morocco, water runs with some rare places, formant of invaluable clear water basins. The rare villages are reduced to a handle small houses surrounded by palm trees.

Paleontology

This solid mass became a paleontological site of international repute, following the surprising discovery of the bones of a completely unknown Dinosaure, the Atlasasurus , which populated Morocco 180 million years ago. This dinosaur of approximately nine meters length is baptized Tazoudasaurus naïmi , of the name of the village of Tazouda where it was discovered (to 70 km of the town of Ouarzazate). It could be well the “ancestor” of the Sauropode S of North America, which them, have only 140 million years - one time when North Africa and the American continent were welded.

Water resources

Most of subterranean water of the Anti-Atlas is used with the periphery of the plains of the Under and Tiznit. Of long time, the population exploits the majority as of these sources by using the technique of collecting called Khettara (or Qanat in Iran, Foggara in Algeria): underground drains of collecting of water by gravity.

Tourism

It is the mountain of the great excursion of winter and spring, pedestrian or equestrian, in an astonishing mineral environment and under a immutably limpid sky.

External bonds

Web site of Morocco
Tafraout

Random links: