Isli and Tislit: The First Dual Impact Crater Discovered in Morocco
- 1 Geoheritage and Geomaterials Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences, University of Ibn Zohr, Agadir, Morocco
- 2 Geoheritage and Geomaterials Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences, University of Ibn Zohr, Agadir, Morocco
- 3 Geoheritage and Geomaterials Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences, University of Ibn Zohr, Agadir, Morocco
- 4 Department of Earth Sciences, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
- 5 Department of Earth Sciences, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
Abstract
Isli and Tislit, the Moroccan “Romeo and Juliette” according to a popular legend gave their name to a twin lakes in Imilchil. There we show evidences that these two lakes are impact craters. The proof as follow: 1 ) the fragments of iron meteorites found on both sides of Isli and Tislit lakes belong to the same parent meteorite and siderite type ; 2 ) the sedimentary formations which are almost tabular in the area of the lakes become tilted with a centripetal sloping all around and towards Isli lake ; 3 ) the circular shape of the Tislit lake is similar to that of the Isli lake ; 4 ) the impact breccias found on the south of the Isli lake contain shocked quartz crystals ; 5 ) the radial fractures of high pressure affect some sedimentary beds. All these observations give evidence of the presence of an impact crater due to the fall of meteorites.
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