Detection of structural setting that controlling Hammam Faroun area, using aeromagnetic and seismicity data, Gulf of Suez, Egypt

Abstract

Hammam Faroun is one of the prominent hot springs; it is situated on the central zone of Gulf of Suez on the western side of Sinai Peninsula, Egypt. The main objective of the present study is to assess the structural setting controlling Hammam Faroun, using the available airborne magnetic and seismicity data, beside other ancillary geological information data. The interpretation of airborne magnetic data of the study area revealed that Hammam Faroun area appeared as a small down-lifted block, pulled down to its confinement between faults given in what is known as half graben and then pulled to the southeast direction and still in a depth of 2.0 km. The main structures controlling the study area mainly trend in the NNE-SSW, NW-SE, NE-SW and WNW-ESE directions. The analyses of the available seismic events ascertained the existence of the NW structural trend, parallel to the Gulf of Suez. These analysis revealed the existence of three seismic clusters, each of them is characterized by micro to light/small earthquakes, of magnitudes in the range of, (0.5 ≥ Ml ≤ 4.3) at the study area. Most events have focal depths that range between 2.0 and 40 km, within the upper Earth crust. The fault plane solutions of six recent events exhibit the variability of focal mechanism from site to site. It's characterized by strike-slip and oblique-slip motions with predominant dip-slip normal component. The stress pattern is convenient, with those of the Gulf of Suez events.