Formation of the Red Sea Depression

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Abstract
SUMMARY: Various views have been expressed about the origin of the Red Sea Depression. Many earth scientists favour large-scale crustal separation and rotation of Arabia with respect to Africa—the paar theory; whereas a minority believe in a simple tensional origin. In the writer's view the almost “timeless” models presented by Drake & Girdler (1964) and Laughton (1966) are unacceptable because little of the available stratigraphic, structural and geo-morphological data was utilized in their construction. A tension system may have existed in the Red Sea area in late Pre-Cambrian and early Palaeozoic times. A depression existed in the northern part of the region in Carboniferous times and during Cretaceous times a tongue of Tethys occupied the northern and central portions of the depression. In Miocene times an extensive evaporite basin developed occupying most of the depression. The sill was situated in the Gulf of Suez Ayun Musa area.The main and central troughs developed as a result of tension in Pliocene and later times. The Gulf of Aqaba Depression was formed by a fault system continuous with Dead Sea System which originated in (?) early Cretaceous times. The northern and central parts of the gulf were invaded by the sea in Pleistocene times.The escarpments which bound the Red Sea Depression are in very few places fault or fault line scarps. Primarily they appear to be erosional features developed by pediplanation across the downwarped margins of the depression. In places, the shoulders and flanks were faulted later. In this way the uncon-formable nature of the contact, between the Mesozoic-Tertiary sediments and the Basement Complex (mainly Pre-Cambrian) which occurs at the foot of the escarpments, is best explained.