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Eolian dynamics and palm grove encroachment in the sand dunes of the Tafilalet (Morocco) Volume 14, issue 2, Avril 2003

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Authors
Université Mohammed V‐Agdal, Faculté des sciences, Département des sciences de la terre, Avenue Ibn Batouta, BP 1014, Rabat RP, Maroc <benallamansouryahoo.fr> <mehdialemyahoo.com>. Université Pierre et Marie‐Curie, Case 114, 4 Place Jussieu, 75252 Paris Cedex 05 France. Université du Québec à Montréal, Département de géographie, BP 8888, Succursale Centre‐ville Montréal, QC Canada H3C 3P8. Ministère de l‘agriculture et du développement rural et des eaux et forêts Direction de la protection des végétaux MADREF, Rabat, Maroc. Office régional de mise en valeur agricole du Tafilalet (ORMVAT), Errachidia, Maroc

In order to explain the diversity of sand dune forms in the Tafilalet, where almost all dune formations related to wind directions and forces can be found, the anemometric data recorded and field observations carried out over many years are analysed. The interpretation of this data for four representative sites of these dune forms, associated with field observations led to the determination of the direction of sand migration, etc. Thus in the North of the Tafilalet (Erfoud, Jorf) the dominant wind directions are SW‐NE and NE‐SW, corresponding respectively to the Saheli and the Chergui, while in the South (Merzouga) there appears a new component with a SE‐NW direction.