[First Hit]

Datapages, Inc.Print this page

Normal Previous HitFaultNext Hit Population Evolution and Stratigraphic Response: An Example from the Hammam Faraun Previous HitFaultNext Hit Block, Suez Rift, Egypt

By

Rob Gawthorpe1, Ian Sharp2, Adel R Moustafa3, Chris Jackson1, Chris Leppard1, Mike Young1

(1) University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom (2) Norsk Hydro ASA, Bergen, Norway (3) Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt

 The evolution and linkage of Previous HitfaultNext Hit segments to form continuous, basin-bounding normal Previous HitfaultNext Hit zones is recognised as a first-order control on the size, shape and stratigraphy of sedimentary basins within areas of continental extension. We present results of an integrated structural and sedimentological study of the late Oligocene-Recent evolution of the Hammam Faraun Previous HitfaultNext Hit block, Suez rift that allows the temporal evolution of Previous HitfaultNext Hit populations to be investigated. Initial Previous HitfaultNext Hit activity was distributed across the Previous HitfaultNext Hit block on short (1-4 km long), low displacement (<1 km) segments, with most faults attaining their maximum length soon after the onset of rifting. Over the first 6-8 Myr of rifting, these initial segments either linked to form longer, segmented Previous HitfaultNext Hit zones, or became inactive and died. Following this rift initiation phase, displacement became progressively localised onto >25 km long border Previous HitfaultNext Hit zones bounding the Previous HitfaultNext Hit block and many of the early intra-block Previous HitfaultNext Hit zones became inactive. The locus of Previous HitfaultNext Hit activity continued to migrate following linkage, with post Middle Miocene displacement focused on the western margin of the Previous HitfaultNext Hit block. The dynamics of Previous HitfaultNext Hit population evolution illustrated here are comparable to those suggested by analogue and numerical modelling studies and have important implications for the tectono-stratigraphic evolution of rifts and for understanding complex and often subtle syn-rift plays and structural compartmentalization of major Previous HitfaultTop blocks.