Pressure–temperature–time constraints on the Maghrebide mountain building: evidence from the Rif–Betic transect (Morocco, Spain), Algerian correlations, and geodynamic implications

The internal northern zones of the Maghrebide belt includes allochthonous massifs that define, together with those from the Betics, Sicily and Calabria, a disrupted 'Alkapeca' terrane. In the Rif transect, taking advantage of new thermobarometric and geochronologic studies, we recognize a metamorphic complex with a mostly non-Alpine upper plate (Dorsale, Ghomarides- Malaguides), and a lower plate (Sebtides-Alpujarrides) affected by HP-LT, then HT-LP Alpine metamorphism. Some eastern Rif allochthons (Temsamane area) display MP metamorphism and could represent either Sebtide inliers or slivers from the African paleomargin. The Sebtide-Alpujarride late HT event also affects the bottom of the Ghomaride-Malaguide complex and can be related to the onset of the Alboran Sea rifting at similar to 25-22 Ma, whereas their HP event is ascribed to an earlier (i