Significance of the E-W fault system in the geodynamic evolution of the Tunisian Alpine Chain foreland. Example of the Sbiba-Cherichira fault system in Central Tunisia

The recent sedimentary basins in Central Tunisia correspond to a set of depocenters with complex geometry which are bounded by E-W, N070 and N-S brittle structures. These bordering faults, active during Eocene and Cretaceous times, have been rejuvenated at the end of the Neogene and during Quaternary in a relay pattern system associated with compressive and extensive deformations according to the alternance of extension and compression phases (Tortonian Atlasic Phase of compression, post tectonic top Miocene-early Pleistocene extension associated to the rifting of the Tyrrhenian Basin, and Pleistocene Phase of compression). These tectonic regime changes involve subsidence inversions. Moreover, the neotectonic study carried out along the strike-slip faults corridories and their associated structures enable us : – to precise the timing of the tectonic deformations ; – to establish tectono-sedimentary relationships of Mio-Plio-Quaternary age. Introduction : geodynamical context and objectives of the study. – In Central Tunisia as in the whole Maghreb [Piqué et al., 1998 ; Piqué et al., 2002], the Mesozoic and Cenozoic evolution of sedimentary basins is largely controlled by tectonic heredity due to rejuvenation of basement discontinuities. In fact, previous studies have shown that the normal kinematics activity of The Sbiba-Cherichira fault has governed the opening and the distribution of the Cretaceous and the Eocene basins evolving in a globally extensive tectonic regime [Boltenhagen, 1981 ; El Ghali, 1993]. These old tectonics is proven, also, by the interpretation of NNE-SSW seismic profiles through this collapsed zone [Ben Ayed, 1986, fig. 3] and who reveal that subsidence had been active during the Lower Cretaceous and continued up to the Albian. In the late Miocene and early Quaternary, following the Langhian collision of Sardinia against the Northern Platform of Tunisia [Cohen et al., 1980], the Atlasic and Villafranchian Phases of compression are the most important. They were responsible for the formation of important N040° to N070°E Atlasic folds , N040° to N090°E thrusts , the opening of N120° to N150° E basins parallel to the shortening axis and E-W strike slip fault [Burollet, 1956 ; Ben Ayed, 1986]. In this paper, we present and discuss results of research carried out in the Sbiba-Cherichira area. This research combines interpretation of sedimentological observations and microtectonic or structural field studies [El Ghali et Batik, 1992] carri