Relation between continental rifting and uplifting: evidence from the Suez rift and northern Red Sea

Z. Garfunkel*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

96 Scopus citations

Abstract

The Suez rift and the northern Red Sea are flanked by high standing shoulders with elevations often exceeding 2 km and with a structural relief reaching 4-5 km. In this area pre-rifting erosion was small, not more than a few hundred meters. There is no evidence that a precursory uplift formed along the site of future rifting. Uplifting and erosion began essentially at the same time as rift faulting and magmatism in Late Oligocene and Early Miocene limes. In the Gebel Serbal area, Sinai, where the uplifting history is resolved best, the tectonic relief reached about 800 m by the end of the Early Miocene and a similar amount of tectonic uplifting developed in later times. Other parts of the rift shoulders probably had a similar uplifting history, but the total uplifting was often less. Considerable erosion, in places more than 3 km, occurred mainly since Middle Miocene times and caused considerable isostatic rebound. This magnified the uplifting and caused the structural and topographic relief to be considerably greater than the tectonic uplifting. Initial uplifting and contemporaneous magmatic activity were probably caused by rising of deep hot material which thinned the lithosphere and heated it. Such deep seated processes probably continued to operate also during the later stages of tectonic uplifting, though igneous activity no longer occurred on the surface. Stretching of the lower lithosphere under the rift shoulders could have also contributed to their uplifting. The features of uplifting history of the studied region may well be typical of other active rifts.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)33-49
Number of pages17
JournalTectonophysics
Volume150
Issue number1-2
DOIs
StatePublished - 20 Jul 1988

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