Based on the interpretation of geological maps, seismic reflection and well data complemented with a bibliographic compilation and field work in the Rif, we investigate the factors that control the rift initiation, its development and the formation of oceanic crust in NW Africa. From SE to NW, we examine the Western Sahara Atlas, the Tendrara, the Guercif, and the Rif basins, to establish their geodynamic evolution in relation with the Mesozoic formation of the Central Atlantic and Maghrebian Tethys oceans, respectively. The Triassic extension was diffuse and developed over Lower Carboniferous horst-and-graben structures formed in the NW passive margin of Gondwana and involved in the subsequent late Carboniferous – early Permian Variscan orogenic system; suggesting that, at the onset of the Triassic rifting, the lithosphere was thermally re-equilibrated and replaced by more fertile lithospheric mantle. Afterwards, extension resumed in the Atlas system during middle to late Pliensbachian and finished during Toarcian. In the Rif and Guercif basins, the extension began later, mainly during the Toarcian, climaxing during Middle Jurassic times with the exhumation along low-angle extensional faults of CAMP gabbroic bodies and the final mantle exhumation during Upper Jurassic in the Rif. The study evidences the prominent role of the Variscan structural and thermal inheritance on the subsequent deformation events. Accordingly, the Paleozoic inverted basins and horsts localized the Triassic extension. From that, the opening of the Central Atlantic and Maghrebian Tethys oceans activated, respectively, the SE (Atlas) and NW (Tethys) rifted segments of the weakened continental crust where the Jurassic extension was gradually distributed. This led to the final formation of an oceanic domain in the NW paleomargin of Africa.

基于对地质图、地震反射和井数据的解释，辅以 Rif 的文献汇编和实地工作，我们调查了控制裂谷起始、其发展和西非西非洋壳形成的因素。从东南到西北，我们研究了西撒哈拉阿特拉斯、滕德拉拉盆地、格尔西夫盆地和里夫盆地，以确定它们分别与中大西洋和马格里布特提斯洋的中生代地层相关的地球动力学演化。三叠纪伸展在冈瓦纳西北被动边缘形成的下石炭纪地堑构造上扩散和发育，并参与了随后的晚石炭世-早二叠世瓦利斯干造山系统；表明，在三叠纪裂谷开始时，岩石圈在热力上重新平衡，取而代之的是更肥沃的岩石圈地幔。此后，阿特拉斯系统在普连斯巴阶中后期恢复了延伸，并在托阿尔阶结束。Rif和Guercif盆地的伸展活动开始较晚，主要发生在托阿尔纪，在中侏罗世达到顶峰，沿CAMP辉长体低角度伸展断层出露，最后在上侏罗世地幔出露。该研究证明了 Variscan 结构和热遗传对后续变形事件的突出作用。因此，古生代倒置盆地和地垒定位了三叠纪伸展。由此，中大西洋和马格里布特提斯洋的开放分别被激活，侏罗纪伸展逐渐分布的弱化大陆地壳的东南（阿特拉斯）和西北（特提斯）裂谷段。这导致在非洲西北古边缘最终形成一个海洋域。