During the last decade, climate change has generated extreme rainfall events triggering flash floods in short periods worldwide. The delimitation of flood zones by detailed mapping generally makes it possible to avoid human and economic losses, especially in regions at high risk of flooding. The Taguenit basin, located in southern Morocco, is a particular case. The mapping of the flood zones of this basin by the method of the Flood Hazard Index (FHI) in a GIS geographic information systems environment was based on the multi-criteria analysis, taking into consideration the seven parameters influencing these extreme phenomena, namely rainfall, slope, flow accumulation, drainage network density, distance from rivers, permeability, and land use. Average annual rainfall data for 37 years (1980 to 2016) was used in this study for floodplain mapping. A weight was calculated for each parameter using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. The combination of the maps of the different parameters made it possible to draw up a final map classified into five risk intervals: very high, high, moderate, lower and very lower presenting, respectively, 8.04%, 20.63%, 31.47%, 15.36%, and 24.50% of the area of the basin. The reliability of this method was tested by a Flood susceptibility analysis. The results generated by the Flood Hazard Index (FHI) model are similar to those of previous historical events. Realistic and applicable solutions have been proposed to minimize the impact of these floods as much as possible.

An assessment of potential groundwater areas in the Ifni basin, located in the western Anti-Atlas range of Morocco, was conducted based on a multicriteria analytical approach that integrated a set of geomorphological and hydroclimatic factors influencing the availability of this resource. This approach involved the use of geographic information systems (GIS) and hierarchical analytical process (AHP) models. Different factors were classified and weighted according to their contribution to and impact on groundwater reserves. Their normalized weights were evaluated using a pairwise comparison matrix. Four classes of potentiality emerged: very high, high, moderate, and low, occupying 15.22%, 20.17%, 30.96%, and 33.65%, respectively, of the basin’s area. A groundwater potential map (GWPA) was validated by comparison with data from 134 existing water points using a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. The AUC was calculated at 80%, indicating the good predictive accuracy of the AHP method. These results will enable water operators to select favorable sites with a high groundwater potential.

Ensuring water availability for agriculture and drinking water supply in semi-arid mountainous regions requires control of factors influencing groundwater availability. In most cases, the population draws its water needs from the alluvial aquifers close to villages that are already limited and influenced by current climatic change. In addition, the establishment of deep wells in the hard rock aquifers depletes the aquifer. Hence, understanding the factors influencing water availability is an urgent requirement. The use of geographic information system (GIS), and remote sensing (RS), together with decision-making methods like analytical hierarchy process (AHP) will be of good aid in this regard. In the Tata basin, located in SE Morocco, ten factors were used to explain the groundwater potentiality map (GWPM). Five categories of potential zones were determined: very low (8.67%), low (17.74%), moderate (46.77%), high (19.95%), and very high (6.87%). The efficiency of the AHP model is validated using the ROC curve (receiver operating characteristics) which revealed a good correlation between the high potential groundwater zones and the spatial distribution of high flow wells. Geophysical prospecting, using electrical resistivity profiles, has made it possible to propose new well sites. It corresponds to conductive resistivity zones that coincide with the intersection of hydrogeological lineaments.

Groundwater potential delineation in the Akka basin, southwest Morocco, has been determined through the combination of geospatial techniques and geological data. The geometric average and expected value are two multi-criteria approaches used to integrate a set of factors–data for which the weights of each factor are assigned using the fuzzy logic function, which transforms values of factors influencing groundwater presence in a range of [0, 1]. The efficiency factors used in this study are the lineament density, node density, drainage density, distance from rivers, distance from lineament, permeability, slope, topographic witness index, plan curvature, and profile curvature. Thereafter, the groundwater potential map was generated in a GIS environment. To assess and compare the efficiency of the two models, the well data existing in the basin were used to choose the most efficient model. For that reason, the prediction area (P–A) graph, the normalized density (N_d), and its weight (W_e) were applied to estimate the capacity of each model to predict the target area. The analysis shows that the expected value model (N_d = 1.86 and W_e = 0.62) is more efficient than the geometric average model (Nd = 0.96 and We = −0.04). The results of the expected value model can be used in the future planning and management of water resources in the Akka basin.

Copper mineralization in the Lower Paleozoic sedimentary cover of the Anti-Atlas (Morocco) is continually being revised not only to improve its mining capacity, but also to determine its origin, which remains a matter of debate. As evidenced by the various models proposed, the related research is fragmented, localized, and confusing. The origin of the Anti-Atlas Lower Paleozoic copper mineralization is shared between synergistic and epigenetic processes or a superposition of the two processes. Based on new tectono-magmatic data and a reinterpretation of the ore structural arrangement, we propose a link between the last concentration of copper deposits and the Late Triassic–Early Liassic CAMP (Central Atlantic Magmatic Province) tectono-thermal event, as evidenced by the significant concentration of copper mineralization in the three NE–SW corridors affected by extensional faults, some of which are filled with dolerite CAMP magma. The heat flow generated by the mafic dykes within these reactivated corridors causes mineralized fluids to up well into the sedimentary layers, depositing material rich in juvenile or leached copper, or even a mixture of the two. In some cases, these fluids are trapped by fracture systems that accompany passive folds initiated on normal faults. In other cases, these fluids can infiltrate bedding planes, and even karst caves, formed during carbonate exhumation. Notably, extensive NE–SW faults systematically cover the early Hercynian structures, suggesting that they belong to a post-Hercynian extensional episode. During the Late Triassic, the global fragmentation of the Pangaea supercontinent was manifested by the stretching of the continental crust at the margin of northwest Africa, with the simultaneous opening of the Central Atlantic Ocean and emplacement of CAMP magmatism. This last and often overlooked tectonothermal event must be considered in the remobilization and reconcentration of copper mineralization and other mineralization in Morocco.

Water scarcity affects all continents, with approximately 1.2 billion people living in areas where water is physically lacking. This scarcity is more accentuated in countries with an arid climate, and its impact becomes more threatening when the economy depends mainly on it. The Kingdom of Morocco, with its agricultural vocation, is one of them, especially in its southern regions. Therefore, mapping areas with high groundwater potential based on available geospatial data allows for optimizing the choice of a future well in such areas. Geometric average and fractal models were used to assess and delineate potential groundwater areas in the Tissent basin, Southeast Morocco. Eight factors, including topography, geology, hydrology, and hydrogeology, influencing the distribution of water resources was used. The formation permeability factor presents the most significant impact among the others, although it is directly related to most of them. The areas located in the central and downstream part of the basin are characterized by a high water potentiality due to increased geological formations’ permeability near the drainage system, which constitutes a recharge zone, and a low slope allowing a prolonged water-formation contact time favoring a gradual infiltration of the water towards the deep aquifers. The groundwater potential map has been edited and validated by comparing it with data from 52 wells scattered throughout the basin. The favorable potential sectors cover 15.81% of the basin’s total area. The moderate ones account for 21.36% while the unfavorable areas cover 62.83%. These results aim to provide policymakers and managers with a guide map for groundwater research and reduce hydrogeological investigation costs.