Tectonics from topography: two examples from the Pyrenees and the High Atlas

Resumo

The Pyrenees are characterised by remnants of a smooth topography dissected by deep valleys of ~1000 m in the Axial Zone. Babault et al. (2005) argue that the piedmont sedimentation in Oligo-Miocene times allowed the inhibition of the erosion at high elevation and the development of a smooth and highly elevated topography before the late Miocene, i.e. after the end of the main stage of shortening. We suggest that the model of inhibition of erosion in altitude must also be taken in consideration in order to explain the whole elevation of low-relief surface remnants in other orogens such as the Moroccan Atlas.