GPS Coordinates: N 33° 25’ E 10° 25’
Governorate: n.d.
Delegation: n.d.
Site Highlights
-
The only witness of marine Permian in Africa
-
Oldest outcrops in Tunisia
-
Permian-Cretaceous angular unconformity
-
Trilobite Pseudophilipsia azzouzi.
Access Route
Accessible via the Medenine-Gabès road. Turn left toward Oum Ettamer and continue on the Dkhilet Toujane-Matmata road which crosses the Permian outcrops after Oum el Afia village.
Site Description
In Tunisia, the oldest outcrops date to the Upper Permian, 260 million years ago. At that time, this region was part of the northern margin of Gondwana.
South-eastern Tunisia was then covered by a shallow sea. Reef facies made of sponges, algae, and fusulines are attributed to the Tebaga Formation, witnessing a warm sea and tropical climate. Jebel Tebaga of Médenine is the only witness of the life and sedimentary dynamics of the young Tethys ocean at the end of the Paleozoic era. It is a national geological reserve and a world heritage site. The outcrop is a 12km long monoclinal, covered by the unconformity of the Dhahar range Cretaceous levels. The most remarkable fossil is the trilobite Pseudophilipsia azzouzi.
