Outline and results of the CYAMAZ Cruise (Mazagan Escarpment, West-Morocco)

In September-October 1982, a joint German-French project to explore the Mazagan (El Jadida) escarpment and plateau was carried out with the French submersible sp 3000 Cyana . The main purpose of CYAMAZ cruise was to observe and sample the steepest part of the escarpment where previous works suggest that the oldest series (since Jurassic) of the infilling of the Central Atlantic Ocean are outcropping. In this paper the authors present the main outline and results of the eighteen dives operated during the CYAMAZ cruise. These results essentially concern the stratigraphy and structure of the sedimentary series outcropping along the Mazagan escarpment. The age of the sedimentary sequence ranges from Late Jurassic-Lower Neocomian until Plio-Pleistocene. Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous sediments constitute the carbonate platform. They are covered with post platform sediments of differents ages and facies. Observations from the submersible allow us to define two main directions of faulting and fracturation, N 20 degree and N 90 degree .