Tectonostratigraphic development of the Interior Sudan rifts, Central Africa

Abstract

In the Muglad, Melut and Blue Nile rift basins of Interior Sudan three major episodes of rifting, concomitant subsidence and nonmarine/nonvolcanic sedimentation are recognized. These three rifting cycles, which spanned 140 to 95 Ma (Fl), 95 to 65 Ma (F2), and 65 to 30 Ma (F3), resulted in the accumulation of up to 5400, 4200 and 5400 m of sediments, respectively. In the Muglad Basin, the best known and largest of the Sudan rift basins, each rifting cycle consists of (1) a basal sandstone unit (at least near rift margins), that is followed by (2) an upward coarsening section of lacustrine shale grading through marginal lacustrine mudstone and sandstone into fluvial mudstone and sandstone, and (3) a capping blanket of fluvial and alluvial sandstone. The shale-dominated portions of these cycles were deposited in a closed-drainage basin during active faulting. The fluvial and alluvial blanket sands were deposited in an open-drainage basin during the thermal sag phase following each tectonic cycle. The Early Cretaceous F1 intracontinental rifts of Interior Sudan were linked to major rifts/spreading centres in the Proto-South Atlantic by the dextral WSW-trending Central African Shear Zone and to the Indian Ocean via the NW-trending Anza rift in Kenya. In the Muglad Basin, F1 deformation involved high strain rates, rapid syn-rift crustal stretching and subsidence, and the formation of deep, fault-bounded tensional and transtensional pull-apart basins. During the F2 and F3 deformations, the rates of subsidence and stretching were much lower and were focused within smaller geographic areas. Structural elements include asymmetric half-grabens and less common full-grabens with central highs. The three superimposed tectonic episodes resulted in the subsidence of NNW- to NW-trending rift sub-basins; this gave rise to a wide variety of normal fault geometries, displacements, and growth histories. Planar domino-style and listric normal F1 fault arrays are modeled. The rotated F1 basement blocks typically are asymmetric and low-standing, and favour NE-directed growth and material transport. The F2 and F3 normal faults, which have both NE- and SW-directed polarities, often are listric and decouple younger syn-rift strata from older F1 rotated and locked planar basement faults. Palinspastic restorations and forward modeling of three regional cross-sections suggest that F1 faults account for 65–80% of total crustal extension. Stretching factors across the Interior Sudan rifts vary between 1.25 and 1.40. This range is considered to be a minimum since restored sections do not cross F3 depocenters. Total crustal extension across the Muglad plus the Melut rift basins exceeds 75 km.