The Carboniferous succession in Adarouch (Central Morocco, north of the Atlas Transform Fault) contains thick carbonate beds including upper Visean, Serpukhovian and basal Bashkirian rocks. Foraminifers enable precise recognition of the Visean/Serpukhovian (V/S), early/late Serpukhovian (eS/lS) and Serpukhovian/Bashkirian (S/B) boundaries.Insolentitheca horrida, Loeblichia ukrainica, “Millerella”spp. andEndostaffella? sp. 2 are regarded as regionally useful indices to the V/S boundary, whereasEostaffellinaspp.,Eostaffella pseudostruveiand some evolved species ofArchaediscusexhibit greater reliability for worldwide correlation of this level. Similarly, the eS/lS boundary is marked locally byBrenckleina rugosa, Eosigmoilinasp., andMonotaxinoidesspp. and globally byLoeblichia minima, Bradyina cribrostomata, Plectostaffellaspp.,Eostaffellina “protvae”and“Turrispiroides”, and the S/B boundary is marked locally byGlobivalulina bulloidesand globally bySeminovella elegantula, andNovella?. Occurrences of these taxa in Morocco allow correlations with the Moscow Basin, the Urals, the Donetz Basin and North America. The Moroccan assemblages share few taxa in common with Saharan basins south of the Atlas Transform Fault. Correlations with western European basins are difficult because of the paucity in the latter of foraminiferal-bearing carbonate strata.

Three Upper Viséan to Serpukhovian limestone formations from the Adarouch region (central Morocco), North Africa, have been dated precisely using foraminiferans and calcareous algae. The lower and middle part of the oldest formation, the Tizra Formation (Fm), is assigned to the latest Asbian (upper Cf6g Subzone), and its upper part to the Early Brigantian (lower Cf6d Subzone). The topmost beds of this formation are assigned to the Late Brigantian (upper Cf6d Subzone). The lower part of the succeeding Mouarhaz Fm is also assigned to the Late Brigantian (upper Cf6d Subzone). The Akerchi Fm is younger than the other formations within the region, ranging from the latest Brigantian (uppermost Cf6d Subzone) up to the Serpukhovian (E 1 -E 2 ). The base of the Serpukhovian (Pendleian Substage, E 1 ) is repositioned, to coincide with the appearance of a suite of foraminiferans including Archaediscus at tenuis stage, Endothyranopsis plana, Eostaffella pseudostruvei, Loeblichia ukrainica, Loeblichia aff. minima and Biseriella? sp. 1. The upper Serpukhovian (Arnsbergian Substage, E 2 ) is marked by the first appearance of Eostaffellina ex. gr. paraprotvae and Globoomphalotis aff. pseudosamarica. The biostratigraphical scheme used for the reassessment of the foraminiferal zones and subzones in the Adarouch area closely compares with that for the British succession in northern England (Pennine Region), where the stratotypes of the Upper Viséan (Asbian and Brigantian) and Early Serpukhovian (Pendleian) substages are located. Thus, a succession equivalent to an interval from the Melmerby Scar Limestone to the Great (or Little) Limestone is recognized. These assemblages are also compared to other foraminiferal zones proposed in other regions of Morocco. Several foraminiferans have been identified that are proposed as potential Serpukhovian markers for other basins in Western Europe, and compared to sequences in Russia and the Donets Basin, Ukraine.

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The Carboniferous succession in the Tindouf Basin of southern Morocco, North Africa, displays Mississippian to Early Pennsylvanian marine beds, followed by Pennsylvanian continental deposits. The marine beds comprise a shallow water cyclic platform sequence, dominated by shales and fine‐grained sandstones with thin but laterally persistent limestone/dolostone beds. Foraminiferal assemblages have been studied in the limestone beds in several sections from the Djebel Ouarkziz range in the northern limb of the Tindouf Syncline; they indicate that the age of the limestones range from late Asbian (late Viséan) to Krasnopolyanian (early Bashkirian). The foraminiferal assemblages are abundant and diverse, and much richer in diversity than those suggested by previous studies in the region, as well as for other areas of the western Palaeotethys. The richest assemblages are recorded in the Serpukhovian but, unusually, they contain several taxa which appear much earlier in Western European basins (in the latest Viséan). In contrast, conodont assemblages are scarce due to the shallow‐water facies, although some important taxa are recorded in the youngest limestones. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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