Grand Atlas

a mountain chain in the Atlas system in northwestern Africa, in Morocco. It extends about 700 km from Cape Guir on the Atlantic Ocean to the eastern border of the country. The western section of the Grand Atlas Mountains is mostly a limestone plateau surrounding a central massif of granites and shales 3,000-4,000 m high (Mount Toubkal, 4,165 m). Elevation drops sharply (1,500 m) to the east. The eastern section of the Grand Atlas is composed of short marl-like limestone ridges broken by faults and separated by depressions. In the northwest, the moist windward slopes have forests of evergreen, hard-leaved, olive, and carob trees and oleanders with mixtures of thuja up to 1,500 m, forests of holly oaks up to 1,800 m, and juniper groves up to 3,000 m. Meadows that have turned to steppe are found higher. On the drier southern and eastern slopes there are growths of ’’Berber thuja” (sandarac) and juniper.