Controls on dryland mountain landscape development along the NW Saharan desert margin: Insights from Quaternary river terrace sequences (Dadès River, south-central High Atlas, Morocco)

Consistent altitudinal spacing of terraces and their distribution throughout the orogen suggests sustained base-level lowering linked to uplift-exhumation of the High Atlas. Low incision rates (<0.2 mm a−1) and general absence of terrace deformation suggests dominance of isostatically driven base-level lowering with relief generation being Early Pleistocene or older.