Intérêt morphogénétique et paléoclimatique des travertins des Aurès (Algérie)

Jean-Louis Ballais (1, 2) , Jacqueline Cohen (2)

1 UNICAEN - Université de Caen Normandie
2 Paléoenvironnements et paléoclimats en régions arides

Travertines can occupy two different positions, in succession of forms and formations which appear during a morphoclimatic sequence on the southern side of Aurès mountains (Algerie). Travertines are placed either at the base of the major accumulation (terrace, alluvial fan), it means, after a major cutting, or, like calcareous crusts, they mould a minor cutting grown hollow at the expense of a pediment, at the end of the accumulation. Studies of paleaofauna and especially palaeoflora (prints of leaves and principally pollen grains) which are present in these travertines permit to imagine that the conditions of their deposition were little more humid than in the present. It seems, with the combination both of morphogenetic and paleoclimatic indications, that the travertines of Aurès mountains had been formed at the end of the small cutting of Catapluvial and particularly at the end of the major cutting of the Arid, during the Anapluvial.

Mots clés: travertin; entaille; glacis; paléoflores; paléofaunes; morphogénèse

Domaines: Sciences de l'environnement

Jean-Louis Ballais, Jacqueline Cohen. Intérêt morphogénétique et paléoclimatique des travertins des Aurès (Algérie). Formations carbonatées externes, tufs et travertins, 1981, Paris, France. pp.23-34. ⟨hal-01543274⟩