ATLANTIS: Atlantic-North-Africa lithosphere three-dimensional imaging study

The main challenge of the ATLANTIS project, coordinated by ATLANTIS, is to develop a self-consistent three-dimensional model of the crustal and upper mantle structure of the Atlas mountain belt, from the westernmost part in the Atlantic Ocean to its easternmost end in Tunisia. Two new temporary seismic networks will be deployed during this project to cover the unmonitored areas. On the one hand, a marine seismic survey will be carried out in the Atlantic margin of the westernmost Atlas and, on the other hand, a temporary land seismic network will be deployed in Tunisia, at the easternmost end of the Atlas Mountains. The proposal will also take advantage of the extensive seismic waveform data sets available in North Africa from several projects and surveys, as well as from permanent stations in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. The proposed leading-edge methodologies are based on earthquake and ambient noise tomography, receiver function analysis, and seismic attenuation imaging. Using those highly improved observations and the integrated analysis of geological and other geophysical observables of continental and marine areas, we will update the characteristics of the lithospheric-scale structures and the geological domains. We aim at refining the existing conceptual models that define the contacts among geological domains in the current kinematic framework of collision between the Eurasian and African plates.