Structural Architecture and The Evolution History of Sarbut El Gamal-Abu Ideimat Area, Gulf Of Suez Rift, Sinai, Egypt
By
Ahmed F. Abu El Ennin1, Mohammed L. Abdel Khalek1, Mohamed Darwish1, Adel Sehim1
(1) Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt
The study area lies in the central dip-province of the Gulf of Suez. Excellent three-dimensional exposures enabled detailed analysis of the style and mechanics of this part of the Suez rift.
The Miocene sequences are bounded by a linked fault
system: the Miocene
Bounding
Fault
. This
fault
behaves as a Rift Bounding
Fault
in the southern part
and extends northwest as an interbasin master
fault
.
The area between Wadi El Hommur and Wadi Thal provides three comprehensively
variable structural sectors. The southern sector of Gabal Sarbut El Gamal is
characterized by thick Miocene hanging wall sequences and flat Paleozoic-Lower
Cretaceous footwall sequences. The central sector of Gabal Abu Ideimat provides
two different Miocene Bounding Fault
and Rift Bounding
Fault
with intervening
rollover anticline. The Miocene sequence in this part is thinner than its
equivalent in the northern and the southern parts. The northern sector of Wadi
Thal reveals Miocene Bounding
Fault
and a diffuse rift shoulder. This shoulder
shows a master interbasin ridge and the whole block is totally rotated to the
west making a twist zone of mixed dip regime with the central sector.
The development of the Rift Bounding Fault
in Gabal Abu Ideimat area and the
eastern flanking
fault
of the interbasin ridge in the northern part represents
younger stage of tectonics after the achievement of the Miocene Bounding
Fault
.
This provides an evidence of piggy-back rift propagation where the rift was
getting wider with
fault
propagation in the footwall of the older Miocene
Bounding
Fault
.