Desert truffles have traditionally been used as food in Libya. Desert truffle grows and gives fruit sporadically when adequate and properly distributed rainfall occurs with existence of suitable soil and mycorrhizal host plant. The present study aimed to identify and characterize two kinds of wild desert truffles from ecological and nutritional points that were collected from the studied area. The truffle samples were identified as (known as red or black truffle) and (known as white truffle). The nutritional values (protein, lipid and carbohydrate) of both Libyan wild truffle ( and were determined on a dry weight basis and result showed that and contained 16.3 and 18.5% protein, 6.2 and 5.9% lipid, 67.2 and 65% carbohydrate, respectively, in ascocarp biomass. The soil pH of the upper and lower regions of the Hamada Al-Hamra ranged between 8.2 and 8.5 giving suitable conditions for fructification. The plants, and were the dominant plants in Hamada Al-Hamra region found to form a mycorrhiza with desert truffles. The phylogenetic analysis of the genomic rDNA ITS region showed that, out of five collections three represented (Maire) Malencon, one (Desf.) Trappe, and one Chatin.

Mediterranean basin exposed to ongoing processes of erosion and deformation. Neotectonics is the study of the geological processes involved in the deformation of the Earth’s crust. The topography of the terrain is greatly impacted by these neotectonic events, which has a considerable impact on the drainage pattern and general geomorphology of the region. In this work, the active tectonics were evaluated using the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and several Geomorphic Indices in the Ain Zerga region of Northeast Algeria. Asymmetry factor, basin form, the ratio of valley floor width to valley height, the sinuosity of mountain fronts, hypsometric integral, hypsometric curve, and transverse topographic symmetry factor were some of the indices used. These findings emphasize the tremendous tectonic activity that exists in the study area. In comparison to sub-watershed N°2, sub-watersheds N°1, N°3, and N°4 had stronger tectonic activity, according to the examination of these geomorphic indicators. The Relative Tectonic Activity Index (Iat) distribution pattern, which concurred with other pieces of information such as stream deflection and lineament analysis, corroborated these conclusions. We were able to learn a lot about the different levels of tectonic activity in the sub-watersheds by using traditional geomorphic indices. The tectonic activity-exhibiting basins consistently displayed connections with structural disturbances, basin geometry, and field research. Geomorphic indices and morphometric characteristics were used to identify tectonically active zones in a portion of the Mellegue transboundary basin, which shows a considerable influence of neotectonic activity in a portion of the Neogene basin.

The neo-tectonic research is interested in the study of the movements of Earth’s crust in recent geological times. It could explain the deformation mechanisms that lead to the structuring of drainage catchments. The Morsott-Tebessa-Youkous (Chabro) collapsed basin corresponds to a subsiding depression framed by brittle structures and filled with thick deposits. Our work aims to unveil the neo-tectonic activity and reconstruct the morphometric evolution of the landscape and the drainage network of the basin. For this task, our investigation applies a quantitative analysis of geomorphic indices extracted from the DEM of the study area. We used a GIS-based approach to compile seven morphometric factors namely Integral Hypsometry (HI), the Sinuosity of mountain fronts (Smf), the Valley Floor width to height ratio (VF), the Asymmetry Factor (AF), Basin Shape index (BS), and the topography (T). All these thematic parameters were processed in a Geo-database to calculate the study area’s Relative Tectonic Activity Index (IRAT) as a result. The IRAT map was categorized into three classes. The result highlighted the distribution of relative tectonic activity in the region and unveiled some unknown faults. It associated the sinuosity of rivers and the deformation of the substratum with active tectonic anomalies. This research work succeeded in drawing up a new scheme of the neo-tectonic activity and morpho-structural evolution in the collapsed basin.

A neo-tectonic analysis was published using remote sensing technical and a geographical information system (GIS) to better understand the characteristics and evolution geomorphometric of the immense Morsot-Tebessa-El Hammamet watershed. This study extracted geomorphometric indices such as integral hypsometry (HI), the sinuosity of mountain fronts (Smf) and the valley width index. (Vf), and drainage anomalies by defining the Asymmetry Factor (Af) and the topographic factor (T) to analyze tectonic activity and its implications for the development of relief and flow characteristics.The extracted index data was aggregated and integrated into a GIS to create a new index named the Relative Tectonic Activity Index (IRAT). The mean of these geomorphometric indices was used to estimate the distribution of relative tectonic activity in the study area. Thus, the relative distribution of tectonic activity in this zone to determine the degree of IRAT, we created four classes: class 1 very high (1 IRAT 1.5); class 2 high (1 IRAT 1.5); class 2 medium (1.5 IRAT 1.9); and class 3 low (IRAT > 2).We were able to identify the highly deformed areas associated with active tectonic anomalies and conclude that the reactivation of underground faults, which coincides in space with the mapped faults in the outcrops activated from the since Miocene, influences the migration of sub-basin hydrographic systems in two dominant directions.The geographic correlation between these faults and subbasin geometry, the change in river sinuosity when crossing these limits, and a high concentration of tectonic lineaments along these limits all support this explanation. As a result of this research, iIt was possible to (1) determine the regions morphotectonic evolution and the correlation between the increase in this index and the degree of accentuated terrain deformation, (2) provide geometric details for some previously unknown tectonics. and (3) present a new diagram on the spatial evolution of morpho-structural structures in close relation to recent tectonic activity in the region.