Facies architecture, modal analysis and geochemistry of the Early Ediacaran turbiditic series in the Skoura inlier (Central High Atlas, Morocco): Implications for provenance and geotectonic setting.

A multidisciplinary approach based on lithostratigraphy, petrography, modal composition and geochemistry was performed for the first time, to study the Early Ediacaran Skoura Turbidites (EEST) of the Skoura inlier, Central High Atlas. It represents widely distributed turbidite successions up to 8 km in thickness. A total of twelve lithofacies types have been distinguished, spread in four profiles, and grouped in three major depositional environments: shallow delta complex (FA1), submarine channel (FA2), and deep-sea fan (FA3). The paleogeographic distribution of the EEST may indicate basin depth changes related to the onset of convergence.