Abstract:
The region of Sidi Maarouf and its surroundings in north-eastern Algeria is distinguished by the presence of a number of massive carbonates of Jurassic age (Kef Sidi Marouf, Kef oulehmame and Kef Derdja). These massives carbonates, belonging to the external domain of maghrebide range are located in the transition zone between the external and the internal domain, represented by metamorphic formations of the Kabyle plinth.
The mountains of Kef Sidi Marouf and Kef Boulehmame present an interest economic region, because they contain iron deposits and carbonate rocks that can be used for steel, cement and aggregates, while Kef Derdja contains only one index of a copper-iron-baryte mineralization and a quarry for the extraction of limestone blocks to rockfill.
These carbonate mountains occupying a peridiapiric position are formed mainly by carbonate rocks of jurassic age. The formations of these massifs show traces of several tectonic events (fracturing, grinding, rebound layers in the vertical).
The intense fracturing of the carbonate rocks greatly promoted the circulation of fluids and led the development of dissolution phenomena of karst, dolomitization, silicification and mineralization.
The ore bodies form the ore deposits of study area have variable morphologies and volumes. However, cluster and lode are the most common.
Mineralization of carbonate masses of the region of Sidi Marouf is composed mainly of iron oxides and hydroxides (hematite, goethite and limonite), plus a barium-copper mineralization.
The geological and gîtological data of mineralizations hosted in carbonate mountains formations in the region of Sidi Marouf reveal a set up of these mineralizations by hydrothermal solutions.
