Detrital and volcanic-detrital rocks from the Ifni Buttonhole and Lakhssas Plateau were analyzed to determine their provenance, compositional maturity, and alteration source. Geochemically, the sediments were classified as arkoses, lithic arenites, grauwackes, sandstones, lithic arenites, and Fe-rich sands, indicating low compositional and mineralogical maturity. A high average SiO₂ concentration and low Al₂O₃ were consistent with a low abundance of shale and clay components. The geochemical signatures of the detrital and volcano-detrital (RDVD) rocks indicate that they have undergone a moderate to low degree of chemical alteration. The CIA study also suggests that the granitic, granodioritic rocks represent the source provenance which, during weathering and transport, supplied the detritus to the supra-crustal units. The major trace element data suggest that these rocks are largely derived from felsic igneous rocks, namely granitoids, with a minor contribution from intermediate sources. The carbonate rocks do not represent a wide variety of facies: dolomitic limestone, calcareous limestone, and calcaro-dolomitic chert. Calcitic and dolomitic samples show a linear increase in SiO₂, regardless of their CaO/LOI ratio values, which remain relatively constant. The highest SiO₂ contents are observed in the calc-dolomitic chert. Geochemical analysis of RDVD from the Ifni buttonhole determined their origin, maturity, and alteration. Major oxides decreased with higher silica content, indicating quartz control. Samples, formed under semi-arid conditions, show maturity under stable deposition. They suggest a felsic, recycled source, with moderate alteration and zircon enrichment during recycling. In the study area, limestones and dolomites serve as materials applicable in the building sector, suitable for all types of concrete. The Taliwine Formation harbors Lower Cambrian dolomites and limestones, ideal for mosaic aggregates. Described as variable in color, compact, homogeneous, very hard, and resistant to alteration, the plutonic rocks form prominent peaks. They exhibit both subalkaline characteristics in granitoids and an alkaline trend in dolerite dykes. Most samples display minimal alteration, indicating the reliability of their major element compositions for geochemical analyses. These granitoids constitute valuable deposits for ornamental and building rock purposes.

Fragments of a new iron meteorite were found in and collected from Oglat Sidi Ali, Maatarka region, Morocco, during a series of expeditions in the years 2013–2017. The physical characteristics of recovered fragments feature typical attributes of individual samples of a unique meteorite strewnfield that originated from an iron meteorite shower via the fragmentation of a single body that broke up in the lower atmosphere. The total recovered mass of the Oglat Sidi Ali meteorite fragments was estimated to amount to more than 800 kg spread across a NE–SW oriented, 20 km-long and 5 km-wide strewnfield. Geochemical and mineralogical data achieved on Oglat Sidi Ali fragments, as well as the analysis of its microstructures obtained using electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD), suggested it should be classified as an ungrouped iron meteorite. A comparison of this meteorite with other ungrouped iron meteorites, such as NWA 859 and NWA 11010, purchased between 2001 and 2016 in various cities of Northeast Morocco show apparently similar mineralogy, geochemistry and textural features, suggesting a common origin from a single extraterrestrial body.

The Lower Anti-Atlas Supergroup (LAAS) constitutes a major Proterozoic sedimentary archive exposed along the northern margin of the West African Craton (WAC), yet its age, internal stratigraphy, and regional correlations remain controversial. This study integrates detailed sedimentological investigations, lithostratigraphic correlations, petrography, and new LA-ICP-MS U–Pb zircon geochronology from the Igherm Inlier (western Anti-Atlas, Morocco) to refine the evolution of the LAAS. Three representative stratigraphic sections allow subdivision of the succession into five lithostratigraphic units: the Coarse-Grained Quartz Sandstone, Lower Siliciclastic–Carbonate, Quartz Sandstone, Upper Siliciclastic–Carbonate, and Volcanic units. These units are correlated, from base to top, with the Tasserda Formation, Ifrane n’Taghatine Formation, Oumoula (Mimount) Formation, Tizi n’Taghatine Group, and Tachdamt Formation recognized elsewhere in the Anti-Atlas. Sedimentological data indicate deposition within a long-lived shallow-water system that evolved from tide-influenced braided fluvial channels, through mixed tidal-flat and peritidal platform environments, to extensional basaltic volcanism. Newly identified reworked volcanic tuffs from the Lower Siliciclastic–Carbonate Unit yield a maximum depositional age of 1857 ± 33 Ma, providing the first direct temporal constraint for this interval. Additional maximum depositional ages of 1880 ± 30 Ma for the Oumoula Formation and 1970 ± 29 Ma and 1904 ± 41 Ma for the Tizi n’Taghatine Group are consistent with previously published constraints. Detrital zircon populations with predominantly Paleoproterozoic and subordinate Archean dates were likely derived from the WAC. Correlation of zircon age spectra with those of the Taoudeni Basin supports the existence of extensive intracratonic depositional systems that evolved across the WAC during the Nuna and Rodinia supercontinent cycles, culminating in Tonian syn-rift magmatism represented by the ca. 883 Ma Tachdamt Formation.