"Structure de l'Algérie" by E. F. Gautier is a geological and geographical treatise written in the early 20th century. It synthesizes Algeria’s topographic and geological records to explain the country as a segment of the Atlas within the wider Alpine system. The work emphasizes how a resistant Tyrrhenian block to the north, the Saharan platform to the south, and major north–south tectonic accidents shaped the relief, basins, and even cultural regions.The opening of this treatise states its aim—a first synthesis made possible by Algeria’s exceptional mapping—then frames the land as “a piece of the Atlas” tied to Alpine folding and deflection around the Tyrrhenide. It argues for the Tyrrhenide’s role using coastal crystalline outcrops, volcanic chains, seismicity, and biogeographic clues, and turns to north–south structures that cut the east–west chain: a Touat-to-Roussillon line revealed by the oasis “street,” the Zousfana gorge at Figuig, the Tamlelt breach, and offshore alignments toward Alboran. It next traces a Hoggar–Laghouat–Médéa dorsal ridge that continues into the Tell, marking the frontier between the Kabylian mountains and the western sublittoral plains and anchoring historic centers like Achir, Médéa, Miliana, Cherchell, and Algiers. The text then presents the Biskra breach linked to the Igharghar syncline, and the Djerid crossroads in Tunisia, to show an orthogonal grid where strong north–south accidents intersect Alpine east–west folds with notable human consequ…
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