--> Abstract: 3-D Evolution of Segmented Normal Faults and Their Impact on Sedimentation: Combined LIDAR, Differential Global Positioning Systems (DGPS) and Photogrammetry Analysis of the Nukhul Fault, Suez Rift, Egypt, by Rob Gawthorpe, David Hodgett, and Ian Sharp; #90039 (2005)

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3-D Evolution of Segmented Normal Faults and Their Impact on Sedimentation: Combined LIDAR, Differential Global Positioning Systems (DGPS) and Photogrammetry Analysis of the Nukhul Fault, Suez Rift, Egypt

Rob Gawthorpe1, David Hodgetts1, and Ian Sharp2
 1 University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
2 Norsk Hydro Research Center, Bergen, Norway

We apply a combination of digital terrain modelling, high resolution 3D laser scanning (LIDAR), digital photogrammetry and Differential Global Positioning Systems (DGPS) to quantify normal fault zone and folds geometry, and pre- and syn-rift stratigraphy from an exceptionally well exposed, >11 km long Nukhul Fault, Suez Rift, Egypt. These data are used to demonstrate the interaction between growth folding, fault propagation, breaching of transfer zones and migration of fault activity as fault populations evolve. During the initial 2.4 My of rifting, the Nukhul Fault was composed of two en-echelon fault segments, separated by a relay ramp and hangingwall intrabasin high that controlled the geometry of depocentres filled with continental deposits (Abu Zenima Formation). Major incised valleys, at a high angle to the fault zone also had a major influence on earliest syn-rift depositional systems. Stratigraphic patterns in the overlying Nukhul Formation indicate that the two faults hard-linked to form a single fault zone >11 km long. Hard linkage of the segments resulted in migration of the zone of maximum displacement and subsidence to the south-end of the present-day exposed fault trace. This displacement distribution, the overall southward-deepening of Nukhul Formation, and the cross-cutting relationships between the NW-SE-trending Nukhul Fault and the E-W-trending Baba-Markha Fault suggest that the Nukhul Fault died and became beheaded by the younger Baba-Markha fault sometime following deposition of the Nukhul Formation. This evolving tectono-geomorphic template causes major changes in syn-rift sediment dispersal and sequence geometries between rift initiation to rift climax stages.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90039©2005 AAPG Calgary, Alberta, June 16-19, 2005