The Afro-Arabian rift system—an overview

Abstract

The Afro-Arabian rift system is reviewed beginning with the Dead Sea transform and Gulf of Suez in the north, followed by the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea and ending with a brief mention of rifting through eastern and southern Africa. A consistent interpretation is obtained for geophysical data from the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea and geological data for the Dead Sea transform, Suez graben and Red Sea and Gulf of Aden margins. Geophysical data are used to estimate the locations of the ocean-continent boundaries in the northern Red Sea; these are found to coincide when the total 107 km shear along the Dead Sea is restored. The Red Sea is therefore reconstructed in stages beginning with the 45 km post-Miocene shear and 62 km early-Miocene shear along the Dead Sea transform followed by estimates for extension in the early Red Sea-Suez graben. When this is done, there is a remarkable alignment of various features revealed on Landsat TM imagery for both sides of the northern Red Sea. North-south differences in the Red Sea and west-east differences hi the Gulf of Aden are discussed and found to be best explained by a propagating rift model.