Cornell Morocco Project

The Cornell Morocco Project

The Cornell Morocco research project has been an ongoing collaborative effort between Cornell University and institutions in Morocco and Spain to improve the understanding of the structure and geodynamics of the western Mediterranean (Alboran) region and the intracontinental development of the Atlas mountain system, using geophysical and geological methods. On these pages you will find information about the research conducted including papers, abstracts, figures, and posters from recent investigations.

This project is a very comprehensive one. Considerable diversified data are used, including earthquake seismology, well data, surface geologic mapping, gravity, remote sensing and digital topography, and GPS observations. The results shed new lights on strategy for oil exploration and provided significant new knowledge on how to better assess and evaluate earthquake hazard in Morocco.

See our Morocco Project publications

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Current Research Activities:

GPS measurements of plate interactions in the western Mediterranean (collaborative research with MIT and Moroccan institutions)

Research Accomplished (see publications):

Propagation of regional seismic phases (Lg and Sn) and Pn velocity structure along the Africa-Iberia plate boundary zone: Tectonic implications

Geodynamic Evolution of the Lithosphere and Upper Mantle Beneath the Alboran Region of the Western Mediterranean: Constraints from Travel Time Tomography

Geodynamics of the Alboran Sea and Rif - Betic Mountains

Late Cenozoic and Neotectonics in the Middle Atlas

Tectonic Evolution of the Atlas Mountains, North Africa

Active deformation of Morocco based on GPs observations

Collaborating Institutions

We sincerely thank our colleagues at the institutions listed below for making this project a success.

Office National de Recherches et d'Exploitations Petrolieres (ONAREP), Rabat, Morocco
Moroccan Geological Survey,Ministere de l'Energie et des Mines Direction de la Geologie, Rabat, Morocco
Universite Mohammed V, Institute Scientifique, Rabat, Morocco
Ecole Mohammadia de Ingenieurs, Rabat, Morocco
Abdelmalek Essaadi University, Department of Geology, Tangier, Morocco
Centre National de Coordination et de Planification de la Recherche Scientifique et Technique, Rabat, Morocco
Instituto Andaluz Geofisica, Granada, Spain
Instituto Geografico Nacional, Madrid, Spain
Earth Resources Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri