Reverse Fault
Geometry in The Gulf of Suez Rift
Basin, Egypt
By
Salah Abul Karamat1, Wafik Meshref2
(1) Apache Egypt Companies, Cairo, Egypt (2) Ocean Egypt Companies, Cairo, Egypt
A structural model is proposed to account for apparent reverse fault
geometry observed in the Geisum Field, Gulf of Suez Rift Basin. The proposed
model is believed to be applicable for similar worldwide rift basins. The
authors propose that reverse
fault
geometry in extensional rifts is due to the
interaction and the geometric relationship between different superimposed normal
fault
systems and their associated
fault
blocks. Reverse
fault
geometry in the
offshore Geisum Field, in the southern Gulf of Suez, is interpreted from the
repeated pre-rift sections penetrated in the vertical wells. The present work
suggests that the reverse
fault
geometry observed in the Geisum Field is the
result of the interaction between the pre-rift (oblique to the Gulf) and the
superimposed early and syn-rift northwest trending (Clysmic) normal
fault
systems. The magnitude of throw of the different interactive faults, the dip
magnitude and dip direction of the adjacent and the interrelated normal
fault
blocks combine to create apparent reverse
fault
geometry along pre-existing
(oblique) normal faults. The proposed model does not require shear or strike
slip movement along oblique faults. The suggested model is thought to be
applicable to the Gulf of Suez subsurface geologic interpretation, but needs
surface geologic support through careful structural examination of surface
outcrops on both sides of the Suez Rift.