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Stratigraphy of the logs reconstructed near Amtoudi agadir and village. a, brownish silicified and dolomitized limestones (wackestones/grainstones); b, micaceous argillites (claystones/siltstones); c, thin greenish quartzarenites; d, probably tuffaceous marker bed; e, homogeneous silicified limestones (wackestones/grainstones); f, micaceous arenites (arkosic sandstones); g, blackish schists
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Medieval fortified granaries known as “agadirs” are very common in southern Morocco, being catalogued as world cultural heritage by United Nations. These Berber buildings (made of stones and tree trunks) usually located on rocky promontories, constitute historical testimonials related to the origin of Morocco, and, as tourist attractions, have a po...
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Context 1
... Amtoudi Agadir is located in a subtropical dry semiarid climate with a bimodal precipitation distribution. The most negative climatic influence is the possibility of an extreme daily rainfall event of around 50 mm, providing additional loads to the ground and lubrication, favouring gravitational processes (landslides) and/or erosion in the substratum. b. The sector of the Anti-Atlas considered shows low seismic activity, making it necessary to consider a seismic acceleration of 0.06 g to calculate the stability. c. The geological study reveals that the rocks of the underlying substratum of the agadir (Interval C; Fig. 3) and the stones used for its construction are good-quality arkosic sandstones. Nevertheless, certain geological risks due to the spatial distribution of the geological bodies, geometric arrangement of the beds, and kind and arrangement of the jointing affecting the substratum should be considered. d. Amtoudi Agadir is built on a rocky promontory with vertical cliffs with fallen blocks and affected by gullies of the secondary drainage network. Both elements indicate that risks for the substratum must be expected from gravitational and fluvial-alluvial processes. e. The mechanical tests made on the rocky matrix from the underlying massif reveal appropriate quality but the effect of three sub-vertical jointing systems (J1, J2 y J3) and stratification dipping 12° towards N213E. The orientation of such unconformities mainly individualize minor blocks with slabs or pin morphologies (used in the ceiling structures) but when the strata are thick, blocks show prismatic morphologies (used in the walls). f. Due to the shape and orientation of slopes, and characteristics of the jointing systems, and stratification affecting the massif, landslides of large rock blocks or wedges are unlikely. Only Slope 1, when analyzed with software of an equilibrium limit (RockPlane v2.0 from Rocscience Inc., licensed no. 4416A), evidenced risk of instability under water saturation (corresponding to an extreme rainfall event) giving safety factors of below 1. g. The materials used for Amtoudi Agadir construction are rocks (arkosic sandstones), argan logs, palm trunks, clay, and lime, all provided by the surrounding environment. The building techniques are ancestral and common in the region. These traditional techniques should be safeguarded but in some cases need some ...
Context 2
... study area belongs to the western Anti-Atlas Chain that characterizes the Atlas system in Morocco (Fig. 2a). The Anti-Atlas fold belt is located between the northern portion of the West African Craton (WAC), the High Atlas Chain to the northern, and the Tindouf Fig. 2 a, Geological sketch map of the western Anti-Atlas Chain in the Moroccan Atlas system; b, geological map and cross sections of the Amtoudi area; c, satellite image of the Amtoudi village and agadir area with location of the studied logs represented in Fig. 3 ...
Context 3
... lithostratigraphic study was deemed necessary to characterize the construction materials and the geologic basement of the agadir because the stones used for its building and fortification come from the local succession. The lithostratigraphy in the Amtoudi area was reconstructed by three logs (Fig. 3). Logs were measured and sampled to identify the main rocks used to build the agadir (Table ...
Context 4
... results from petrographic analyses of samples taken in Log 1 are reported in Table 2. The synthetic succession has been subdivided into four main stratigraphic intervals characterized by different lithopetrofacies associations: Fig. 3) is prevalently detected inside of the agadir for a thickness over 12 m. It starts with blackish and purple stratified schists, with schistosity evidenced by diffusion of the brightest flakes of mica surfaces, fine-grained, and centimetric in thickness; pyrite is quite common. This is followed by an alternation of previous petrofacies as: wackestones/grainstones, claystones/siltstones, and arkosic ...
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This study concerns the Franciscan monastery, situated in the historic centre of Cagliari (Sardinia, Italy). It was founded in the 13th century, and transformed up to the present day. Its historical-stratigraphical complexity and the lack of data about its evolution led us to carry out an interdisciplinary inquiry. The investigation began with the...
Citations
... The study area (Fig. 1b) belongs to the western segment of the Anti-Atlas Chain from the West-African Craton (Burkhard et al., 2006). In the Wadi des Argan basin, the Anti-Atlas belt outcrops as buckle folding of the contact between Precambrian basement and Palaeozoic sedimentary cover, with the following synthetic succession from bottom to top: (1) a Precambrian basement composed by a complex of 2070 Ma metasediments intruded by 2050-2032 Ma granitoids attributed to the Eburnean orogeny (Walsh et al., 2002); (2) a coarse siliciclastic conglomerate linked to the pan-African rifting unconformably deposited over folded Precambrian assemblages at around 680 Ma (Inglis et al., 2004); (3) an Early Cambrian metasedimentary formation composed of schists and slates, massive dolostones, and marls; and (4) a Middle Cambrian metasedimentary formation composed of limestones and dolostones, archaeocyate bioherms, and schists and slates (Walsh et al., 2002;Burkhard et al., 2006;Robles-Marín et al., 2015). Late Quaternary alluvial deposits fill the valleys. ...
... Besides the ecological interest, the Amtoudi Oasis also hosts one of the best-conserved medieval fortified granaries or 'agadirs' of southern Morocco (Fig. 1f). This is one of the main tourist attractions of the area for its architectural and historic value (Naji, 2003;Robles-Marín et al., 2015;Raffaelli et al., 2015). The Amtoudi Agadir was constructed around the 12th century by the Berber Iznaguen tribe to store resources. ...
... The frequency of groundwater data monitoring was based on a preliminary evaluation of G T around 0.5 years after the alluvial aquifer geometry was defined by Robles-Marín et al. (2015). Average g K = 33 m day − 1 and g S = 0.11 were deduced after two pumping tests performed in pumping wells W1 (29°14′28″N, 9°11′46″W, 851 m a.s.l.) and W2 (29°14′25″N, 9°10′49″W, 865 m a.s.l.). ...
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Geological–geotechnical risks studies are a traditional approach in Earth Sciences and Engineering areas. Its main focus is understood the environmental dynamics related to risk situations and the consequences of these environmental dynamics for the well-being. This article focuses on discussing the probability of the occurrence of an environmental phenomenon that endangers population and considering how socioeconomic and political factors are associated with such occurrences. The proposed analysis shows how geological–geotechnical risk studies consider basic principles of sustainability in their applications and the potential of these studies in demonstrate how effective risk monitoring and management can contribute to socially responsible policies. The bibliometric research presented allowed us to identify tendencies and emerging knowledge; specific related journals; people and institutions acting and the mean life of scientific literature in this area. We could establish a proper relationship between this contribution and the recent context of research conducted in these areas. However, limitations of data access resulting from journals and congress proceedings not being fully open access remain as barriers to deeper analysis.
An interdisciplinary archaeometric study concerning the
Amtoudi Agadir, declared World Cultural Heritage (northern border
of the Sahara Desert, southern Morocco), was performed consisting
in lithostratigraphic reconstruction of the bedrock, diagnosis of constitutivematerials (stones, mortars, and wooden elements), and
analyses of constructive techniques and architectonic elements
(load-bearing and supported structural elements). The medieval
agadir (fortified granary) was built directly on a rocky piton with
rocks of the substratum with traditional materials and ancestral
techniques. The stones have been identified and classified into four
petrofacies. Degradation such as biological attacks, chromatic alteration, erosion, exfoliation, and fissuration on the stones have been
characterized. Recommendations for conservation and maintenance
of the rocks have been proposed in compatibility with the environment. Load-bearing (masonry walls) and supported structural elements (ceiling structures) have also been studied in order to define
their stability. Worst cases of 1- and 2-height walls, together with
worst cases of the wooden or stone ceiling structures have been
analyzed. Materials, techniques, and dimensions have been characterizedfor possible failures to shearing, bending, and flexural buckling as guide for maintenance of the agadir. The main problems of the walls derive from excessively thin construction with a lack of interlockingof the rocks and a diminished proportion or quality of
mortar joining the rocks due to washing. It has been recommended
to avoid thicknesses lower than 0.4 m for 2-height walls and lower
than 0.3 m for 1-height walls. A nominal load has been estimated
in the worst case (with wooden elements) for the ceiling structures
of about 7.0 KN/m2. The calculations have indicated that a 25%
increase over the nominal load would imply a risk of failure, the use
of stone elements being preferable over wooden ones. With these
propositions for the Amtoudi Agadir, new management and prospects
for cultural tourism are feasible.
