Abstract
At the northern edge of the Saharan platform, the late Permian marine sequence and the detrital formation of the early-middle Triassic form a palaeogeographic high from Middle Carnian to Vraconian. From late Carnian to Aptian, marine transgressions alternated with detrital episodes associated with major unconformity outlining regional tectonic events. A detailed analysis of fault-slip data sets and joint sets allow us to propose the following succession of tectonic events in southern Tunisia: (1) a NE-SW trending late Permian extension, (2) a 160 late to middle Triassic extension, (3) a NNW-SSE trending Middle Carnian compression, and (4) a major N-S extensional event ranging in age from late Norian to Aptian. These events, mainly extensional are related to the rifting that originated the opening of the Tethyan ocean.
