Middle Tertiary continental rift and evolution of the Red Sea in southwestern Saudi Arabia

Schmidt, D.L.; Hadley, Donald G.; Brown, Glen F.

doi:10.3133/ofr83641

Cited by 40 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…In the southern Red Sea, the oldest-known basinal deposits, in which the Thio-1 well bottomed, contain Late Oligocene (c. 25 Ma) fossils (Wyn-Hughes et al 1991 ), but on its margin in Southern Sudan faulting began c. 28 Ma ago (Kenea et al 2001). Another early rift structure is evidenced by nearly 1 km of lake sediments and volcanics along a c. 600km long narrow belt inland of the coast of Saudi Arabia that were interpreted as the fill of an embryonic continental rift (Schmidt et al 1982;Bohannon 1986: Brown et al 1989. They were strongly faulted and then intruded by sills and dikes with 4°Ar/39Ar ages of 24 Ma to c. 20 Ma (Sebai et al 1991), so here too rifting was under way a few My after the end of the flood volcanism.…”

Section: Continental Break-up Stagementioning

confidence: 99%

Constraints on the structural development of Afar imposed by the kinematics of the major surrounding plates

Garfunkel

Beyth

2006

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The development of the Afar rift-rift-rift triple junction is analysed from the viewpoint of the Nubia, Arabia and Somali plate kinematics. A variety of constraints allow definition of a range of kinematic models that approximate well to the plate motions with a resolution of a couple to tens of kilometres. Rigid plate kinematics probably cannot resolve smaller motions. The size and location of the new area that opened between the major plates is inferred from plate kinematics and this provides a framework in which to assess the structural development that accommodates plate separation.The development of the Afar region was complicated by the presence of microplates -the Danakil and Aisha blocks -which results in a complex plate boundary geometry. This led to local deformation that does not directly reflect the divergence of the major plates, e.g. rotations of microplates and of minor blocks about vertical axes and strike-slip faulting. The opening of new area was accommodated by various crustal growth and accretion mechanisms, e.g. building of thick new igneous crust, normal seafloor spreading, and/or crustal stretching. Thus, plate motions by themselves do not determine the development of the plate boundaries, as this is strongly influenced by other factors such as lateral variations of the rates of magma supply (e.g. away from, and over, the Afar plume).The plate boundaries changed -e.g. the Gulf of Aden spreading centre propagated westward c. 2 Ma ago and normal seafloor spreading began along portions of the Red Sea axis since c. 5 Ma ago -while there were no resolvable changes in the plate motions. Such changes therefore signify a reorganization of the way in which plate divergence and addition of new area is accommodated: diffuse extension may give way to separation along a narrow spreading centre, or new plate boundaries may form at the expense of other boundaries that became inactive. et al.

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Section: Continental Break-up Stagementioning

confidence: 99%

Constraints on the structural development of Afar imposed by the kinematics of the major surrounding plates

Garfunkel

Beyth

2006

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“…have been determined. These suggest that the Liyyah/Baid formations are either older than the As Sirat volcanics or coeval The lack of tuff layers between As Sirat basaltic flows may have other reasons, such as a predominantly east-to-west paleo-winddirection (ScHMIDT et al 1982).…”

Section: Magmatic Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Geochemical data so far have been reported for the Bald-and Liyyah formations of the Jizan Group (SCHMIDT et al 1982). Liyyah volcanics are mainly rhyotites and alkali-feldspar rhyolites equilibrated at COLEMAN et al 1979) for a basalt flow covering the Shumaysi formation therefore also provides a limit for the age of the Bald-and Liyyah formations, i.e.…”

Section: Magmatic Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

Red Sea related history of extension and magmatism in the Jizan area (Southwest Saudi Arabia): indication for simple-shear during early Red Sea rifting

1988

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“…It was deposited during a major rifting phase, which created the horst and graben structures visible today, and records the first major rapid uplift of the red Sea escarpment. Bathan Formation lies unconformably over the Khulays Formation, and it is thought to have formed as alluvial cones against the rising escarpment along fairly rapidly developing faults in climatic conditions that are difficult to be understood (Schmidt et al 1982;Spencer 1987). These sediments of Bathan Formation are of lacustrine origin during probably Middle to Late Miocene (Schmidt et al 1982;Ghandour and Al-Washmi 2013).…”

Section: Geologic Setting Of the Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Bathan Formation lies unconformably over the Khulays Formation, and it is thought to have formed as alluvial cones against the rising escarpment along fairly rapidly developing faults in climatic conditions that are difficult to be understood (Schmidt et al 1982;Spencer 1987). These sediments of Bathan Formation are of lacustrine origin during probably Middle to Late Miocene (Schmidt et al 1982;Ghandour and Al-Washmi 2013). On the other hand, similar deposits in the southwestern side of Wadi As-Suqah were interpreted by Khallaf et al (1980) as a part of the Usfan Formation.…”

Section: Geologic Setting Of the Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Efficiency of quicklime in reducing the swelling potential of pulverized expansive shale, Northern Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Seif

2014

Bull Eng Geol Environ

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Expansive shale has been found extensively all over the world, especially in tropical and sub-tropical regions. The ground heave that results from shale swelling potential is a multi-factorial phenomenon. Remarkably, the expansive shale of Saudi Arabia varies considerably due to variations in its ancient environmental climatic conditions. The studied shale of Bathan Formation at Al-Rehaili northeastern Jeddah is considered a problematic expansive material and classified as clayey shale of high plasticity (CH). Clay mineral species of these lacustrine sediments are composed mainly of smectite, kaolinite, and smectiteillite mixed layered. Exchangeable sodium percentage values of the Bathan Formation, northern Jeddah are very low. Addition of quicklime (up to 3 %) decreases consistency limits. The destructive effect of quicklime addition (up to 3 %) on the swelling potentiality of these clayey-rich sediments is due to the formation of highly swell ettringite. Mechanical properties, such as unconfined compression strength, have been improved due to the cementation effect of lime as well as the creation of new crystalline compounds such as calcium silicates and ettringite. Adding quicklime percent should not exceed 3 % to prevent increasing pH value and to avoid formation of ettringite which has higher ability to swell.

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Middle Tertiary continental rift and evolution of the Red Sea in southwestern Saudi Arabia

Cited by 40 publications

References 6 publications

Constraints on the structural development of Afar imposed by the kinematics of the major surrounding plates

Constraints on the structural development of Afar imposed by the kinematics of the major surrounding plates

Red Sea related history of extension and magmatism in the Jizan area (Southwest Saudi Arabia): indication for simple-shear during early Red Sea rifting

Efficiency of quicklime in reducing the swelling potential of pulverized expansive shale, Northern Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

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