## 4 Results and Discussion
### Spatial Analysis  
For each rock outcrop mapped and classified according to both standards (Figure 6A,B), we assigned one of four potential classifications (Figure 7). These classes have values of 4, 3, 2, 1, and 0, respectively, in the attribute table of the geotechnical potential map (Table 4). Table 6 presents the results of the calculation of the area by assigned classification for each rock outcrop in the study area. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c} \hline \hline \begin{tabular}{c} **Classification** \\ **Scores** \\ \end{tabular} & \begin{tabular}{c} **Geotechnical Classification Code** \\ **According to French Classification** \\ \end{tabular} & \begin{tabular}{c} **Geotechnical Classification Code** \\ **According to Moroccan Classification** \\ \end{tabular} & **Area (km\({}^{2}\))** \\ \hline \hline \begin{tabular}{c} 4 \\ \end{tabular} & (A) & (1A) & 339.456 \\ \hline \hline \begin{tabular}{c} 3 \\ \end{tabular} & (B)-(A and B)- & \begin{tabular}{c} (2B)-(1A and 2B) \\ -(A and C) \\ \end{tabular} & 264.469 \\ \hline \begin{tabular}{c} 2 \\ \end{tabular} & (C)-(B and C)- & \begin{tabular}{c} (3C)-(2B and 3C)- \\ (A, B, C, D and E) \\ \end{tabular} & 1276.1 \\ \hline \begin{tabular}{c} 1 \\ \end{tabular} & (D)-(E)-(F)- & \begin{tabular}{c} (4C)-(5D)-(6D) - \\ (C and D) \\ \end{tabular} & 422.629 \\ \hline \
\begin{tabular}{c} 0 \\ \end{tabular} &
\begin{tabular}{c} Unclassified rock \\ \end{tabular} & 315.54 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 6: The assigned area by classification for each rock outcrop in the study area. According to the results, the following points can be deduced:  
* This facilitates the identification of the classes for the two standards (French and Moroccan standards) for the appropriate area for any new quarries. * The almost total similarity between the two classifications (French and Moroccan standards) is confirmed. * The absence of classes 4 and 3 in the Lakhssas Plateau. * The geotechnical class C or 3C, according to French and Moroccan standards, is the most dominant by an area of about 455.28 Km\({}^{2}\); this class is composed of a majority of carbonate rocks concentrated around the Ifni inlier (Figure 6a,b) and some Ignimbrite. * Class 2, which is assigned to a mixture of several geotechnical classes, is the most dominant by an area equal to 1276.1 Km\({}^{2}\), and according to Figure 7, this class is located at the plateau of Lakhssas and has an important presence at different parts around the Ifni inlier. * Class 1, which is a very low geomechanical quality, has an area of about 422.29 km\({}^{2}\), and according to Figure 7, it is always glued to class 2. * Class 4, which is assigned to geotechnical class 1A according to the Moroccan standard or A according to the French standard, is composed mainly of magmatic rocks. This class is favorable in all fields of use, has an equal area of 339.456 km\({}^{2}\), and is concentrated in the center of the study area with a slight presence in the north and south of the Ifni inlier. * Class 3, which is assigned to a mixture of several geotechnical classes (Table 6), has an area of about 264.469 km\({}^{2}\) and is located around class 4. * Class 0, which is assigned to unclassified rocks, has an area of 315.54 km\({}^{2}\). This class is mainly composed of quaternary rocks (biocalcarenite, alluvium, sand, etc.). According to the spatial analysis, the compilation of the data of the results of geotechnical analysis and the geographical data made it possible to identify five classes of different qualities and to calculate their exact surface. In addition, high geotechnical quality rocks (Class 4) were found to be concentrated in the center of the study area (Figure 7) and this quality decreases when moving towards the four directions (east, west, north, and south). Figure 6: _Cont._  
Figure 6: Geotechnical classification map: (**a**) According to the Morocan standard. (**b**) According to the French standard. Figure 7: Geotechnical Resource Classification Map.