Resumen
Plate interiors show complex distribution of deformation processes in space and time. As anexample, we show a series of balanced cross sections across the northern border of the Ouarzazate basinillustrating the geometry and structural evolution of the southern margin of the High Atlas intraplateorogen of Morocco. The study of the tectonic-sedimentation relationships and recently obtained magnetostratigraphicand paleontological dating of synorogenic sediments enable us to unravel the tectonichistory of the Atlas Mountains. These results indicate a discontinuous record of foreland basin developmentin the southern Atlas domain from mid Eocene to late Miocene times. Thrusting in the Sub-Atlas frontal thrust belt began before the Aït Ouglif and Kandoula formations, probably during theOligocene, and has continued until recent times. The alternation of periods of deposition with otherslacking any sedimentary record, which does not coincide with specific tectonic events, probably resultsfrom the interference of intraplate orogenic deformation and the mantle-related thermal uplift eventsthat have been described for the Moroccan Atlas.
