GEOPARK PROJECT- 644015 H2020- MSCA- RISE GEOPARK SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS REPORT (3) MONTH 1 – MONTH 36 WP4 Dissemination and Management JANUARY 2018 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 644015 GEOPARK Project 644015 H2020-MSCA-RISE Scientific Progress Report (3) 1 GEOPARK PROJECT SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS REPORT (3) M1-M36 1. GENERAL PROGRESS OF THE ACTION 1.1 Please indicate the progress of the action during the period covered by this report: The action has fully achieved its objectives for the period. The action has achieved most of its objectives for the period with relatively minor deviations. The action has achieved some of its objectives but corrective action is required. The action has failed to achieve critical objectives and/or is severely delayed. 1.2 GENERAL SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS OF THE ACTION Most of deliverables anticipated for the period of first 36 months have accomplished on time, although the delayed submission of periodic report has affected implementation of secondment and certain work. 1.2.1 DELIVERABLES D1.1 Geological inventory (database) (M36): Task 1.1. Petrology, Stratigraphy and Geochemistry 100% Task 1.2. Mineralogy 100% Task 1.3. Structural geology 100% Task 1.4 Contribution to geological mappings 80% Task 1.5 Geology, including Paleontology, related with other significant goods in the case study 80% Task 1.9 Contribution for the Geopark candidature 80% A reconnaissance field survey was carried out by members of the dept. of Geology at UAB in November-December 2015 with the objective to identify the main lithologic units and tectonic structures. 30 samples were collected along a N-S profile following the valley. A second field survey was carried out in June 2016, and another 40-45 rock samples is being studied. Third field survey took place in the Zat Valley in June-July 2017, with the objective to investigate the constitution, to delimit the extent, and to remark the singularities of each geologic unit in terms of natural heritage. Results include: The Valley of the river Zat from the geological point of view as well as its biodiversity has remarkable assets, not only material but also cultural, to be able to present its candidacy to the UNESCO to, in the future, be included in the list of Geoparks, always and when the responsible Moroccan authorities take the initiative to start the process involving a long and complex work. From the point of view of geology, the River Zat Valley is located in the central part of the Moroccan Atlas chain, where the highest mountainous heights of the chain are located. Therefore, the orogeny of the chain can be applied to the River Zat Valley, as we explained in the mid-year report for 2016. However, the various missions carried out in 2016 and 2017 allow us to establish various conclusions prior to the annual report, which must be completed with the GEOPARK Project 644015 H2020-MSCA-RISE Scientific Progress Report (3) 2 missions scheduled throughout 2018 (April, June and maybe September). The following points have already been established: • A long geological history represented, from Precambrian to Cenozoic (pedagogical Atlas geology) • Diversity of rock types and processes, igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary • Pedagogic and accessible exposures of sedimentary rocks • Tectonic evolution can be uniquely deciphered by well-exposed: 1) Syn-sedimentary extensional faults of the rifting stage (Triassic) 2) Folds and thrusts of the Atlas orogeny • Well-expressed relationships geological substratum-vegetation types • Exceptional landscape value (including human-landscape interactions) In terms of geological and natural risks, the Cerdan Eng partner has identified various types, most of them associated with landslides and climatic causes. A detailed description is specified in the bi-annual report sent to the EC at the beginning of the year 2017 Specifically in the Zat River Valley we can identify numerous types of rocks, which we have selected and studied by optical microscopy, various geological structures such as faults and overhungs, geomorphological landscapes, alluvial formations, etc. all this makes the valley a good educational example for geological visits that, of course, should be shown at specific points to inform visitors, through panels in various languages, brochures, videos, etc. It is necessary to be able to collect samples of the various geological materials in order to be shown in a local museum (of the mountain museum type), the same for real geological and / or natural risks as well as their concrete effects, detailed by Cerdan Eng. A separate case is the Yaggour plateau, at more than 3,000 meters above sea level, where there are abundant petroglyphs that constitute a major point of interest that must be protected and preserved. This geological and cultural value should constitute a geo-site in a future geo-park. See below STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY and STRATIGRAPHY (cf. Annex D1.1-1): The Zat Valley represents a SE – NW deep incision in the northern slope of the High Atlas mountain belt, originated by the Zat river long-lasting erosion that allows the outcropping of a complete series of materials ranging from the Proterozoic (~ 2500 Ma), throughout the Mesozoic (~ 250 Ma) up to the Late Terciary ( ~4 Ma). The begining of the Mesozoic records the individualisation of elongated extensional basins that were filled with thick series of red sandstones supplied by the erosion of the preexisting basement crystalline materials. These red sandstones (Oukaimeden formation) are expectacularly shown as dramatic cliffs in several parts of the valley. All the Mesozoic and Terciary materials are folded and faulted by Atlasic (Alpine)-age deformation plus upwelling of the mantle during the Late Terciary (~ 30-10 Ma). This deformational event produced the local thrusting of the Proterozoic crystalline materials (f.i. the Meltsene thrust) onto those of the Mesozoic and has been responsible for the present more-than-4000 mts high relief of the High Atlas mountain belt. GEOPARK Project 644015 H2020-MSCA-RISE Scientific Progress Report (3) 3 PETROLOGY AND MINEALOGY (c.f. Annex D1.1-1): Overall, a detailed sampling has been made of the pre-Mesozoic basement crystalline rocks collected along a transect following the ZAT Valley. The sampling has been carried out in three different campaigns during 2016 and 2017 which have supplied a total of 108 samples. On collecting samples, we have payed particular attention to sites showing contact (intrusive) relations between the different outcropping rock types; within these sites we have collected all the appearing rock varieties, and it is worth noting that in several occasions we have collected single samples that contain the contact between two different rock types. For these particular samples we have made more than one single standard petrographic thin section or even a large petrographical in section in order to work out the precise nature of this contact. All the samples have been studied under the petrographic microscope at the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona -description of each of the samples plus accompanying microphotographs of some of them together with field photos and UTM coordinates of the sampling sites will be supplied and presented at due moment. GEOPARK Project 644015 H2020-MSCA-RISE Scientific Progress Report (3) 4 Petrological description of geological samples plus field relationships between different igneous rocks of the Zat Valley are finished following the 3rd field collecting samples campaign (June 2017) with 37 field photos taken and 10 microphotographs taken. PALAEONTOLOGY (cf. Annex D1.1-2) : In November 2016, three missions of prospecting and inventory of the paleontological heritage were carried out within the framework of the Geopark Project H2020. The first two one-day missions each in the region of Larbat Tighadwine (3/11/2016 and 5/11/2016) and a third mission of ten days in the Argana basin in the Western High Atlas (8 to 18/11). These missions were aimed at: searching for Palaeozoic fossil plants, Permian and Triassic vertebrate remains and visiting a site with footprints of dinosaurs. Main results: o Over 20 specimens of fossil plants have been collected and deposited in the collections of the Museum of Natural History of Marrakech. These specimens, after analysis, will be used for the exhibition project as part of the collection (geological history and paleoenvironments of the Zat Valley). GEOPARK Project 644015 H2020-MSCA-RISE Scientific Progress Report (3) 5 o More than a dozen localities with remains of tetrapods were located. Around 50 remains of fossil vertebrates were collected and deposited at the Museum of Natural History of Marrakech. Preliminary examination of some remains allows us to attribute them to groups of vertebrates unpublished in Permian of Morocco, procolophonides and gorgonopsiens. If their presence is confirmed, it will be the first mention of these faunas in North Africa. Besides, methodological research advanced through the international colloquium in Toulouse (France) on 22-26 September 2015 Geoheritage Inventories: Challenges, Achievements and Perspectives leaded by Prof. Patrick de Wever(MNHN). (cf. Annex D1.1-3) D1.2 Report on environmental aspects (M36): Task 1.6 Environment and pollution 75% Task 1.7 Pollution: state of the Art and Needs (Analytical control) 75% Task 1.8 Evaluation of Geology-Environment and Pollution in the case study 75% Based on existing literature and fieldwork, a collaborative team of CERDANE/UAB has identified multiple geological and hydrogeological risks due to the weather, geological sediments and civil works (roads) in progress. Major geological risks include rock falls, slopes of roads under construction, small mines (barite), as well as frequent small earthquake in the area that may affect the geological formations and the topography of the region. In addition, the team reveals the danger of water accumulation and unexpected overflow due to sudden weather changes and multiple rockslides.