Discussion of “Petrography and geochemistry of granitoid pebbles from the Oligocene-Miocene deposits of the Internal Rifian Chain (Morocco): a possible new hypothesis of provenance and paleogeographical implications” by L.G. Gigliuto, A. Ouazani-Touhami, D. Puglisi, G. Puglisi & M.N. Zaghloul.

The Betic-Rifian Chain is the westernmost part of the Mediterranean Alpine orogenic system. In the marine sedimentary successions of the Malaguide-Ghomaride and Rondaide-Rifian (Internal Domain) and of the Mauretanian Units (internal units of Flysch Complex) a marked increase in terrigenous supply occurs from the Late Oligocene. The Oligo-Miocene sediments of the Internal Domain are arranged into two sedimentary cycles: the Oligo-Aquitanian Ciudad Granada-Fnideq Group and the lower middle Burdigalian Viñuela-Sidi Abdeslam Group. At the same time, turbidite successions were deposited in the Mauretanian Zone of the Flysch Complex. These Oligo-Miocene deposits include magmatic (granitic) and metamorphic (orthogneissic) pebbles. The source of which represents an intriguing problem because similar plutonites are lacking in the outcropping Betic-Rif Orogen. In the analyzed magmatic and metamorphic pebbles, Martín-Algarra et alii (2000) recognized lithological and structural characters similar to those known for lithotypes of some units of the Calabria-Peloritani Arc. A lost realm similar to the Calabria-Peloritani Arc, successively destroyed by erosion, or buried under the Alboran Sea, has been hypothesized for the source area of the pebbles. Gigliuto et alii (2004) proposed two new alternatives about the source areas of the granitoid pebbles: i) they come from a lost realm similar to the Iberian Massif rather than the Calabria-Peloritani Arc-Kabylias, ii) they come directly from the Iberian Massif. The present paper represents a precise confutation of the petrographic and paleogeographical interpretations proposed by Gigliuto et alii (2004). On the basis of the comparison between the Rifian Chain peraluminous plutonic pebbles and the Calabria-Peloritani Arc late-Hercynian peraluminous plutonites, all new petrographic and geochemical data agree with a continental crust realm similar to the whole Calabria-Peloritani Arc-Kabylias in which the same successions of the Ghomaride-Malaguide Units occurred. This realm can also be suggested for the conglomerate levels of the Mauretanian Units.