The catastrophic earthquake took place to the north of the western Atlas mountains, south of Marrakesh. What do your findings tell you about this earthquake? This squeezing action is responsible for creating the tallest mountains in the area, the southern edge of where these two big plates meet. This happens because the Eurasian and African plates are moving closer to each other. The Atlas Mountains are getting pushed together at a rate of about 1 millimetre each year. It’s surprising that there aren’t more earthquakes here. The steep slopes of the mountains and the straight lines where the Earth’s crust has cracked suggest that there has been recent movement in the Earth beneath this area. It is now a mountain range that is actively rising, as evidenced by its high peaks and steep slopes. Our research shows that the Atlas Mountains were formed during the break-up of the Pangea supercontinent. This is done by regularly measuring benchmark sites with millimetre accuracy. These movements can be horizontal, vertical or diagonal, and they occur due to the immense forces acting on the Earth’s tectonic plates.įinally, using geodetic techniques (GPS recordings) we are able to determine how tectonic plates are moving. Through field geological research, we can detect and analyse faults – fractures or cracks in the Earth’s crust along which there has been movement. Studies of seismic activity, gravity and other geophysical phenomena allow us to understand the Earth’s deep structure, down to depths exceeding 100km. We want to understand this mountain range’s development and its position at the edge of a continental plate boundary. I’m part of a team of geologists, geophysicists and geodesists from various Moroccan universities and Spanish institutions carrying out research in the area. But in 1960 the Agadir earthquake caused a lot of damage and loss of life. This area doesn’t usually have a lot of earthquakes compared to other places near the edges of tectonic plates, where the movements of plates will cause intense seismic activity. They’re situated south of the main Eurasia and Africa (Nubia) tectonic plate boundary. The Atlas Mountains are a fascinating range in north-west Africa, spanning Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. What research have you been doing in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains? Moina Spooner, from The Conversation Africa, asked Jesús Galindo-Zaldivar, who has been carrying out research on the formation of the Atlas mountains and the geology of the area, about the factors which led to this situation. The epicentre of Morocco’s devastating earthquake on 8 September was in the High Atlas Mountains, about 71km south-west of Marrakesh.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |