Phanerozoic tectonothermal history of the Arabian–Nubian shield in the Eastern Desert of Egypt: evidence from fission track and paleostress data

Abstract

To constrain the post-Pan-African evolution of the Arabian–Nubian Shield, macro-scale tectonic studies, paleostress and fission track data were performed in the Eastern Desert of Egypt. The results provide insights into the processes driving late stage vertical motion and the timing of exhumation of a large shield area. Results of apatite, zircon and sphene fission track analyses from the Neoproterozoic basement indicate two major episodes of exhumation. Sphene and zircon fission track data range from 339 to 410 Ma and from 315 to 366 Ma, respectively. The data are interpreted to represent an intraplate thermotectonic episode during the Late Devonian–Early Carboniferous. At that time, the intraplate stresses responsible for deformation, uplift and erosion, were induced by the collision of Gondwana with Laurussia which started in Late Devonian times. Apatite fission track data indicate that the second cooling phase started in Oligocene and was related to extension, flank uplift and erosion along the actual margin of the Red Sea. Structural data collected from Neoproterozoic basement, Late Cretaceous and Tertiary sedimentary cover suggest two stages of rift formation. (1) Cretaceous strike-slip tectonics with sub-horizontal σ1 (ENE/WSW) and σ3 (NNW/SSE), and sub-vertical σ2 resulted in formation of small pull-apart basins. Basin axes are parallel to the trend of Pan-African structural elements which acted as stress guides. (2) During Oligocene to Miocene the stress field changed towards horizontal NE–SW extension (σ3), and sub-vertical σ1. Relations between structures, depositional ages of sediments and apatite fission track data indicate that the initiation of rift flank uplift, erosion and plate deformation occurred nearly simultaneously.