Controls of mud mound formation: The Early Devonian Kess-Kess carbonates of the Hamar Laghdad, Antiatlas, Morocco

The origin and development of Early Devonian (late Pragian to late Zlichovian; predominantly uppermost Zlichovian as indicated by conodont faunas) mud mounds of the Hamar Laghdad area in the eastern Antiatlas, Morocco, are controlled by extrinsic and intrinsic factors. Extrinsic factors include the existence of a paleohigh (Lochkovian volcaniclastics), unidirectional currents and repeated storm events as well as sea level fluctuations. Intrinsic, biologically induced factors are the preferred growth of organisms on the top and the flanks of the mounds because of more favourable ecological conditions, and a rapid synsedimentary lithification of the steep mound flanks by interskeletal cementa…