Sedimentation and Tectonics in Rift Basins Red Sea:- Gulf of Aden

Sedimentation and Tectonics in Rift Basins: Red Sea - Gulf of Aden presents new case studies and synthesises the results of recent research on the sedimentological evolution of the Red Sea - Gulf of Aden rift system. This rift basin is generally regarded as the best natural geological laboratory in the world in which to study the processes of rift formation. Uplift of the rift margins in an arid climate results in extensive three-dimensional exposures of pre- and syn-rift strata and associated structures. These serve as analogues for the understanding and hydrocarbon exploration of deeper buried rift-systems on continental margins such as the North Sea and the Atlantic margins. The Red Sea - Gulf of Aden rift is also exceptional in that its stratigraphy spans all stages from pre-rift environments, syn-rift continental to marine environments through the rift to drift transition to post-rift sea-floor spreading. The work is arranged in eight sections: following a review of the sedimentology and stratigraphy of rift basins, the magmatism and structural evolution of the Red Sea - Gulf of Aden rift is reviewed. Subsequently, new case studies are presented of the early rifting environment, syn-rift sedimentation, tectonics and diagenesis, evaporites and salt tectonics. Post-rift sediments of the axial trough are then discussed along with studies of reefs, coastal zone and shelf sediments, and the tectonic geomorphology of the rift margin escarpment. This work results from extensive new research in the rift basin largely carried out under collaborative research projects by European and Middle Eastern geologists. It will be an invaluable reference work for geoscientists in the hydrocarbon, groundwater and mineral extraction industries, as well as for researchers in university departments of earth sciences, mining and physical geography.

Table of Contents:
Section A. Introduction.- A1. Organization and scientific contributions in sedimentation and tectonics of rift basins: Red Sea—Gulf of Aden.- A2. Stratigraphic and sedimentological models of rift basins.- Section B. Geophysical, Magmatic and Structural Framework.- B1. Geophysical studies on early tectonic controls on Red Sea rifting, opening and sedimentation.- B2. Pre-, syn- and post-rift volcanism on the south- western margin of the Arabian plate.- B3. Tectonic and sedimentary evolution of the eastern Gulf of Aden continental margins: new structural and stratigraphic data from Somalia and Yemen.- B4. Structure, sedimentation, and basin dynamics during rifting of the Gulf of Suez and north-western Red Sea.- B5. Rift development in the Gulf of Suez and the north-western Red Sea: structural aspects and related sedimentary processes.- Section C. Early Rift Sedimentation and Tectonics.- C1. Pre-rift doming, peneplanation or subsidence in the southern Red Sea? Evidence from the Medj-zir Formation (Tawilah Group) of western Yemen.- C2. Sedimentary evolution of early rift troughs on the central Red Sea margin, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.- C3. The sedimentary record of the initial stages of Oligo-Miocene rifting in the Gulf of Suez and the northern Red Sea.- Section D. Syn-Rift Sedimentation and Tectonics.- D1. Rift-related sedimentation and stratigraphy, southern Yemen (Gulf of Aden).- D2. Miocene isolated platform and shallow-shelf carbonates in the Red Sea coastal plain, north-east Sudan.- D3. Stratigraphy of the Egyptian syn-rift deposits: correlations between axial and peripheral sequences of the north-western Red Sea and Gulf of Suez and their relations with tectonics and eustacy.- D4. Extensional tectonics and sedimentation, eastern Gulf of Suez, Egypt.- D5. Carbonate andsiliciclastic sedimentation in an active tectonic setting: Miocene of the north-western Red Sea rift, Egypt.- D6. The tectono-sedimentary evolution of a rift margin carbonate platform: Abu Shaar, Gulf of Suez, Egypt.- D7. Miocene coral reefs and reef corals of the south- western Gulf of Suez and north-western Red Sea: distribution, diversity and regional environmental control.- D8. Miocene periplatform slope sedimentation in the north-western Red Sea rift, Egypt.- D9. The tectonic significance of seismic sedimentary deformations within the syn- and post-rift deposits of the north-western (Egyptian) Red Sea coast and Gulf of Suez.- Section E. Syn-Rift Carbonate Diagenesis.- E1. Syn-rift diagenesis of the Middle Miocene carbonate platforms on the north-western Red Sea coast, Egypt.- E2. The dolomitization and post-dolomite diagenesis of Miocene platform carbonates: Abu Shaar, Gulf of Suez, Egypt.- Section F. Evaporites and Salt Tectonics.- F1. A review of the evaporites of the Red Sea-Gulf of Suez rift.- F2. Post-Miocene sedimentation and rift dynamics in the southern Gulf of Suez and northern Red Sea.- F3. Salt domes and their control on basin margin sedimentation: a case study from the Tihama Plain, Yemen.- Section G. Post-Rift Axial Sediments and Geochemistry.- G1. Axial sedimentation of the Red Sea transitional region (22°–25° N): pelagic, gravity flow and sapropel deposition during the late Quaternary.- G2. Sedimentation, organic chemistry and diagenesis of cores from the axial zone of the southern Red Sea: relationships to rift dynamics and climate.- G3. Metalliferous sedimentation in the Atlantis II Deep: a geochemical insight.- Section H. Post-Rift Coastal Sediments, Reefs and Geomorphology.- H1. Present-day sedimentation on the carbonate platform of theDahlak Islands, Eritrea.- H2. Quaternary marine and continental sedimentation in the northern Red Sea and Gulf of Suez (Egyptian coast): influences of rift tectonics, climatic changes and sea-level fluctuations.- H3. Post-Miocene reef faunas of the Red Sea: glacio-eustatic controls.- H4. Modern Red Sea coral reefs: a review of their morphologies and zonation.- H5. Tectonic geomorphology and rates of crustal processes along the Red Sea margin, north-west Yemen.- References.