The Bassaride Orogen

The Bassarides of eastern Senegal and northern Guinea constitute a segment of a continuous orogenic terrane which borders the western edge of the West African craton. The name, given by Villeneuve (1984), refers to the NNE-SSW Bassaris mountain ridge that runs across eastern Senegal and northern Guinea. We distinguish two tectonic branches. The eastern one, called the Bassaris branch, has a NNE-SSW trend, while the eastern one, called the Koulountou branch, has a NE-SW trend. These two branches were separated by the triangular Youkounkoun Basin (Fig. 1). The Bassaris branch is separated from the West African craton, represented here by the Kedougou inlier and the Madina-Kouta Basin, and by the Faleme and the Komba Basins. All of these geological elements are overlain by the Bové Basin which represents the Paleozoic cover of the Bassaride orogen.