A strike-slip core complex from the Najd fault system, Arabian shield

Terra Nova ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 387-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sven Erik Meyer ◽  
Cees Passchier ◽  
Tamer Abu-Alam ◽  
Kurt Stüwe
Keyword(s):  
Strike Slip ◽  
Fault System ◽  
Arabian Shield ◽  
Core Complex ◽  
Najd Fault System

Genesis of gabbroic intrusions in the Arabian Shield, Saudi Arabia: mineralogical, geochemical and tectonic fingerprints of the Neoproterozoic arc magmatism

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Shehata Ali ◽  
Abdullah S. Alshammari
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Fault System ◽  
Geochemical Data ◽  
Stability Field ◽  
Arabian Shield ◽  
Red Sea Rift ◽  
Nubian Shield ◽  
Najd Fault System ◽  
Garnet Stability Field ◽  
Arabian Nubian Shield

Abstract The Arabian Shield of Saudi Arabia represents part of the Arabian–Nubian Shield and forms an exposure of juvenile continental crust on the eastern side of the Red Sea rift. Gabbroic intrusions in Saudi Arabia constitute a significant part of the mafic magmatism in the Neoproterozoic Arabian Shield. This study records the first detailed geological, mineralogical and geochemical data for gabbroic intrusions located in the Gabal Samra and Gabal Abd areas of the Hail region in the Arabian Shield of Saudi Arabia. Geological field relations and investigations, supported by mineralogical and geochemical data, indicate that the gabbroic intrusions are generally unmetamorphosed and undeformed, and argue for their post-collisional emplacement. Their mineralogical and geochemical features reveal crystallization from hydrous, mainly tholeiitic, mafic magmas with arc-like signatures, which were probably inherited from the previous subduction event in the Arabian–Nubian Shield. The gabbroic rocks exhibit sub-chondritic Nb/U, Nb/Ta and Zr/Hf ratios, revealing depletion of their mantle source. Moreover, the high ratios of (Gd/Yb)N and (Dy/Yb)N indicate that their parental mafic melts were derived from a garnet-peridotite source with a garnet signature in the mantle residue. This implication suggests that the melting region was at a depth exceeding ∼70–80 km at the garnet stability field. They have geochemical characteristics similar to other post-collisional gabbros of the Arabian–Nubian Shield. Their origin could be explained by adiabatic decompression melting of depleted asthenosphere that interacted during ascent with metasomatized lithospheric mantle in an extensional regime, likely related to the activity of the Najd Fault System, at the end of the Pan-African Orogeny.

scholarly journals Late Ediacaran to early Cambrian (Infracambrian) Jibalah Group of Saudi Arabia

GeoArabia ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 69-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moujahed Al-Husseini
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Fault System ◽  
Arabian Shield ◽  
Early Cambrian ◽  
Stratigraphic Position ◽  
Geologic Time Scale ◽  
Najd Fault System ◽  
Sandstone Formation ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Polymictic Conglomerate

ABSTRACT This paper is one of a series that document the Neoproterozoic – Cambrian rock units in the Middle East Geologic Time Scale. It is focused on the oldest sedimentary succession in Saudi Arabia, the late Ediacaran – early Cambrian (Infracambrian) Jibalah Group (ca. 585 to 530–520 Ma). The group crops out in disconnected, pull-apart basins (ca. 10–100 km long and up to 20 km wide) along the NW-trending, strike-slip Najd Fault System in the Arabian Shield. It was described and mapped in the 1960s to 1980s, and several formations were defined and named in two areas separated by ca. 400 km. The stratigraphic successions in these two areas have not been correlated, nor has their relationship to the subsurface been resolved. This paper reviews the nomenclature, type sections, lithologies and ages of the formations and members (sometimes units and/or facies) of the Jibalah Group. The Jibalah Group unconformably overlies the Ediacaran Shammar Group (ca. 620–585 Ma, consisting mainly of rhyolite or granitic plutons), or older Proterozoic rocks. The age of the intervening Sub-Jibalah Unconformity is here estimated at ca. 585 Ma based on radiometric data and regional correlations. The lower part of the Jibalah Group is defined in the northern Arabian Shield in the Mashhad area, where it consists of three formations, in ascending order: (1) undated Rubtayn Formation, divided informally into the “Volcanic Conglomerate Member” (up to ca. 700 m thick), “Polymictic Conglomerate Member” (up to ca. 1,500 m thick) and “Sandstone Member” (up to ca. 1,000 m thick); (2) poorly dated Badayi Formation consisting of andesite-basalt flows (ca. 150 m thick); (3) undated Muraykhah Formation (330–370 m thick) consisting of the informal “Cherty Limestone Member” (ca. 135 m thick), “Siltstone and Mudstone Member” (ca. 20 m thick) and “Dolomitic Limestone Member” (ca. 135–175 m thick). The Rubtayn, Badayi and Muraykhah formations in the northern Arabian Shield, by stratigraphic position and lithology, correspond to the Umm Al ‘Aisah Formation in the Najd pull-apart basins of the central Arabian Shield. In particular, the Cherty Limestone unit (300–500 m thick) of the Umm Al ‘Aisah Formation is correlated to the Muraykhah Formation, which represents a marine flooding event. Above the Muraykhah Formation, the uppermost part of the group is defined in the central Arabian Shield by the undated Jifn Formation (up to ca. 2,500 m thick). The Jibalah Group is unconformably overlain by the lower Cambrian Siq Sandstone Formation (Asfar Sequence), and the intervening Sub-Siq Unconformity (Angudan Unconformity) has an estimated age between ca. 530–520 Ma.

scholarly journals Spatio-temporal position of the Ediacaran Thalbah Basin in the Najd Fault System, Arabian Shield

GeoArabia ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-44
Author(s):  
Richard Al-Husseini
Keyword(s):  
Fault Zone ◽  
Fault Zones ◽  
Suture Zone ◽  
Detrital Zircons ◽  
Radiometric Dating ◽  
Fault System ◽  
Arabian Shield ◽  
Temporal Position ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
Najd Fault System

ABSTRACT This paper starts with a bibliographic review of the lithostratigraphy and radiometric dating of the Ediacaran Thalbah Group in the northwestern Arabian Shield, Saudi Arabia. It seeks to establish the spatio-temporal position of the group in the ongoing compilation and correlation of Ediacaran–Cambrian sedimentary time-rock units in the Middle East Geologic Time Scale (Al-Husseini, 2010, 2011, 2014). The group is defined and described in the Thalbah Basin, which crops out in the Al Wajh Quadrangle, and is approximately 100 km (NW-SE) by 40 km (SW-NE) in extent (Davies, 1985). The basin is situated within the approximately (ca.) 300 km-long, NW-trending Qazaz Fault Zone of the Najd Fault System. The Thalbah Group consists of three siliciclastic units: Hashim Formation (ca. 1,050–1,300 m thick) and likely coeval Zhufar Formation (ca. 600–1,400 m thick), and the younger Ridam Formation (ca. 1,000 m thick). Recently published U-Pb dating of detrital zircons gave ages of ≤ 596 ± 10 Ma for the Hashim Formation, and ≤ 612 ± 7 Ma for the Zhufar Formation (Bezenjani et al., 2014). The maximum depositional ages of the Hashim and Zhufar formations indicate they are approximately coeval to the lower part of the sedimentary and volcanic rocks of the Jibalah Group (≤ 605 ± 5 and ≥ 525 ± 5 Ma). The latter group was deposited in pull-apart basins along the ca. 600 km-long Rika and several other extensive fault zones of the NW-trending Najd Fault System in the northern and eastern parts of the Arabian Shield. The Qazaz Fault Zone left-laterally dislocated ophiolites of the NE-trending Yanbu Suture Zone (≥ 700 Ma) by about 100 km. The strike of the Qazaz Fault Zone projects into the Rika Fault Zone, along which five major pull-apart basins contain the Jibalah Group. The Rika Fault Zone dislocated by about 100 km the NS-trending ophiolite outcrop belts of the Ad Dafinah and Hulayfah fault zones (sometimes interpreted as parts the Nabitah Suture Zone, 680–640 Ma). Based on the time correlation of the Thalbah and Jibalah groups, and the highlighted structural features, the Rika and Qazaz fault zones are interpreted as a continuous 30 km-wide, 1,200 km-long, N63°W-striking fault zone, the “Rika-Qazaz Fault Zone”, which left-laterally dislocated the Arabian Shield by approximately 100 km after 605 ± 5 Ma and before 525 ± 5 Ma.

scholarly journals Mapping Main Structures and Related Mineralization of the Arabian Shield (Saudi Arabia) Using Sharp Edge Detector of Transformed Gravity Data

Minerals ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 71
Author(s):  
Ahmed M. Eldosouky ◽  
Reda A. Y. El-Qassas ◽  
Luan Thanh Pham ◽  
Kamal Abdelrahman ◽  
Mansour S. Alhumimidi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Gold Mineralization ◽  
Gravity Data ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
Fault Zones ◽  
Gold Deposits ◽  
Fault System ◽  
Arabian Shield ◽  
Potential Field Data ◽  
Najd Fault System

Saudi Arabia covers most of the Arabian Peninsula and is characterized by tectonic regimes ranging from Precambrian to Recent. Using gravity data to produce the lateral boundaries of subsurface density bodies, and edge detection of potential field data, a new subsurface structural map was created to decipher the structural framework controls on the distribution of gold deposits in Saudi Arabia. Moreover, we detected the relationships between major structures and mineral accumulations, thereby simultaneously solving the problem of edge detectors over complex tectonic patterns for both deeper and shallower origins. Analytic signal (ASg), theta map (TM), TDX, and softsign function (SF) filters were applied to gravity data of Saudi Arabia. The results unveil low connectivity along the Najd fault system (NFS) with depth, except perhaps for the central zones along each segment. The central zones are the location of significant gold mineralization, i.e., Fawarah, Gariat Avala, Hamdah, and Ghadarah. Moreover, major fault zones parallel to the Red Sea extend northward from the south, and their connectivity increases with depth and controls numerous gold mines, i.e., Jadmah, Wadi Bidah, Mamilah, and Wadi Leif. These fault zones intersect the NFS in the Midyan Terrane at the northern part of the AS, and their conjugation is suggested to be favorable for gold mineralization. The SF maps revealed the boundary between the Arabian Shield and Arabian Shelf, which comprises major shear zones, implying that most known mineralization sites are linked to post-accretionary structures and are not limited to the Najd fault system (NFS).

Microstructural analyses of the Najd Fault System in Midyan Terrane, NW Arabian Shield, Saudi Arabia

2019 ◽  
Vol 109 (1) ◽  
pp. 301-316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdelhamid El-Fakharani ◽  
Wadee A. AlKashghari ◽  
Haitham M. Baggazi ◽  
Mohamed K. El-Shafei ◽  
Mohamed Matsah
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Fault System ◽  
Arabian Shield ◽  
Najd Fault System

Is the North Altyn fault part of a strike-slip duplex along the Altyn Tagh fault system?

Geology ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Cowgill ◽  
An Yin ◽  
Wang Xiao Feng ◽  
Zhang Qing
Keyword(s):  
Strike Slip ◽  
Fault System ◽  
Altyn Tagh Fault ◽  
The North ◽  
Altyn Tagh
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