Professional Documents
Culture Documents
INTRODUCTION the Red Sea shelf. South of Jidda, Saudi Arabia, the shelf
merges imperceptibly with the coastal plain; north of Jidda
New concepts related to the mobility of the earth's crust it is narrower and interrupted by rather sharp topographic
have focused attention on the Red Sea area. Anyone breaks. The coastal plains broaden south of Jidda and
familiar with the geographic outline of western Arabia and widen to 50 km in Yemen and Saudi Arabia. Volcanic flows
northeast Africa is struck by the apparent jig-saw fit that cover parts of the plain in Arabia and Ethiopia. North of
appears possible in closing the Red Sea. Indeed, the modern latitude 22°N the coastal plains tend to be narrower, with
paradigm of plate tectonics would have the Arabian terraces well above the present shoreline. The general aspect
Peninsula drifting away from the African continent. Con- is one of shoreline emergence to the north and of
siderable research has been done in the Red Sea area, both submergence to the south.
from the standpoint of demonstrating plate tectonics and in Landward from the littoral zone and coastal plain, the
exploration for oil and metals. The purpose of this paper is topography varies considerably and is best described in
to consolidate some of the geologic and geophysical segments. A magnificent erosional escarpment extends
information on a generalized geologic map at the scale of unbroken southward from Taif in Saudi Arabia to Taizz in
1:2,000,000 (Plate 1). Yemen, forming the crest of the tilted Arabian block. The
Even though all original sources were not available to the crest follows an extremely irregular erosional pattern that is
author, it is felt that the present compilation will provide a subparallel to the coastline, extending inland as far as 120
basis for guiding further work. All map compilations of this km in some places and less than 50 km in others. In Yemen,
sort become anachronistic upon printing and the author altitudes of over 3700 meters have been measured, and in
would, therefore, welcome all new information or construc- Saudi Arabia the scarp crest averages more than 2000
tive criticism. Whiteman (1970) has made an appeal for the meters (U.S. Geological Survey, 1963). No major normal
construction of a Red Sea structural map, and for good faults parallel to the Red Sea or to the escarpment have
reasons. This map, however, is not considered as a been recognized between the coastal plain and the crest. In
substitute and it has many of the built-in problems Ethiopia, a similar scarp bounds the coastal plain on the
discussed by Whiteman. west, reaching altitudes of over 3000 meters. Geologic
evidence here shows a close relationship between faulting
PHYSIOGRAPHY and the scarp (Mohr, 1962). At Massawa, the scarp turns
The Red Sea occupies an elongate depression over 2000 southward and leaves the Red Sea trend, connecting with
km long. In the northern part, shorelines are only 180 km the East African rift system. South of Massawa, broadening
apart; southward, the gap widens to 360 km. At the south of the East African rift system has produced the mag-
end the flat-lying, coral-topped Farasan and Dahlak nificent Afar Depression. Extensive volcanism and block
Archipelagoes rise slightly more than 60 meters above sea faulting in the Afar Depression have produced an incredible
level and are part of a shallow shelf extending nearly to the mixture of interior basins and volcanic landscape.
center of the Red Sea (MacFadyen, 1930). The southern The coastal plains in Sudan and southern Egypt are
part of the Red Sea narrows (28 km) to the straits of Bab narrow and not bordered by scarps. Instead, the lower
el-Mandeb, where it connects with the Gulf of Aden. North slopes merge seaward as interdigitating fans and pediments
of the straits a series of volcanic islands occupies the medial broken by outliers of older rocks (Whiteman, 1971). A
part of the Red Sea (MacFadyen, 1932). The most recent similar situation exists along the coastal plain on the east
bathymetric chart of the Red Sea (Laughton, 1970) reveals side of the Red Sea at these latitudes. The northern end of
a very distinct main trough extending northward from the the Red Sea bifurcates into the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf
Zebayir Islands to the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula. of Aqaba, the former controlled primarily by normal
The main trough is cut by an axial trough varying from 30 faulting, the latter by wrench faults. The narrow coastal
km in width near 20°N and narrowing southward where it plains here climb directly into fault-bounded blocks of
may be 5 to 14 km wide (Plate 1). Selected topographic basement rock less than 5 to 10 km from the shoreline.
cross-sections reveal steep-sided walls in the axial trough
and a very irregular bottom topography. A line connecting GEOLOGY
the deepest parts of the axial trough reveals sharp changes
in direction, with apparent offsets. High temperature brine Stratigraphic Record
pools and hydrothermal sediments are present within the Paleogeographic reconstructions (Swartz and Arden,
axial trough. The bottom topography is shallow and flat on 1960; Said, 1962; Mohr, 1962; Brown, 1972) for the
Mesozoic show Jurassic seas spreading northward to
Massawa and Jizan, and the shoreline trending directly
1
Publication authorized by the Director, U. S. Geological Survey. across the Red Sea at latitude 17°N. To the northwest the
813
R. G. COLEMAN
Jurassic shoreline crosses the Sinai Peninsula trending continued in the Afar Depression and in western Saudi
east-west at about latitude 29°N. By the end of the Arabia. As the Red Sea depression continued to subside,
Cretaceous period the Tethyan Sea reached southward to uplift continued in the Arabian-Yemen block and the
approximately latitude 21°N (Whiteman, 1968, 1971; Ethiopian segment.
Karpoff, 1957; Carella and Scarpa, 1962). In the south, At the beginning of the Pliocene, marine oozes and
regressive Cretaceous marine facies are present in Ethiopia marginal elastics began to be deposited on the evaporite
and southern Yemen extending northward only to latitude sequence, signalling a drastic change in the sedimentary
13°N. The marine sedimentary record for the Mesozoic record. The Pliocene marine invasion is considered to have
provides no strong evidence that the Red Sea depression come from the Indian Ocean rather than the Mediterranean
existed during this time. Indirect evidence of tectonic because the latter was separated from the Red Sea during
activity during Mesozoic times in and around the Red Sea is the early Pliocene by uplift of the Isthmus of Suez (Swartz
generally lacking. However, interlayering of basaltic rocks and Arden, 1960). The lack of Miocene salt deposits in the
with Cretaceous sedimentary rocks signals the beginning of axial trough of the Red Sea has been confirmed by drilling
emplacement of the thick trap rock sequences in Yemen on Leg 23, Deep Sea Drilling Project. In the axial trough a
(Guekens, 1966). thin veneer of sediments overlies basalt that is considered to
The early Tertiary sedimentary record in the Red Sea have been extruded into the axial trough (Gass, 1970).
area is incomplete and has been the subject of debate. It is Continuous seismic reflection profiles made across the shelf
generally agreed that during Eocene time transgressive of the Red Sea confirm the presence of a strong reflector at
marine deposits developed in the northern Sinai and Egypt depths up to 500 meters, which is now considered to
and that Eocene rocks may occur as far south as Mag- represent the top of the evaporite section (Phillips and
hersum Island, Sudan (Said, 1962; Whiteman, 1968; Sestini, Ross, 1970; Ross et al., 1972). Assuming that the salt once
1965; Carella and Scarpa, 1962). Shorelines of early and extended across the axial trough, the seismic profiles reveal
middle Eocene age are shown to extend across the southern a separation of 48 to 74 km across the main trough. Rates
end of the Red Sea, and by the end of the Eocene epoch of deposition of Pliocene and Pleistocene sediments in the
the horn of Africa had completely emerged (Mohr, 1962). southern part of the Red Sea were distinctly higher than
Oligocene sediments have not been positively identified those observed at the latitude of Jidda, indicating con-
along most of the Red Sea coastal plains; however, tinued uplift and erosion along the southern margins of the
deposition of the Red Series in the Danakil Depression is Red Sea (Ross et al., 1972). Within the Afar Depression a
considered to have begun in the late Oligocene (Bannert et thick section (~975 m) of evaporites overlies the Red Series
al., 1970; Barberi et al., 1972). Oligocene sediments were (Holwerda and Hutchinson, 1968). These evaporites are
encountered in exploratory drilling for iron ore in Wadi considered to be Pleistocene in age and are probably
Fatima east of Jeddah (Shanti, 1966). Oligocene and evidence of intermittent connections with the Red Sea
Miocene marine sediments are found on the south coast of through the Zula Gulf (Hutchinson and Engels, 1970).
the Arabian Peninsula (Beydoun, 1964). Deep wells along All along the present shorelines there are recent coral
the western margins of the Red Sea have penetrated shale reef deposits of limestone, some of which are as much as
containing Oligocene fossils and interlayered basalt that 300 meters thick. Along the east margin near Jizan, these
gives Oligocene radiometric ages (Whiteman, 1968). Further deposits are rapidly buried by the clastic debris brought
deep drilling will resolve the question of whether Oligocene into the littoral zone from the high erosional scarps.
sediments underlie the Red Sea depression. Separate great
uplifts on either side of the Red Sea during Oligocene time Structure
were accompanied by outpourings of alkaline basalts that The divergent trends of the Red Sea depression and
now form thick trap series as high plateaus behind the adjacent Precambrian basement clearly indicate that the
Arabian and Ethiopian scarps. The paucity of Oligocene Red Sea depression is not related to these early structures
marine sediments in and around the Red Sea depression has (Picard, 1970; Schürmann, 1966; Brown and Jackson,
prompted some geologists to suggest that during the 1960). Recent structural maps (Brown, 1972; Choubert,
Oligocene the Red Sea trend occupied the crest of a large 1968) further amplify the discordance and show that
Afro-Arabian dome or domes (Gass, 1970; Swartz and Paleozoic to Paleogene sediments and related structures
Arden, 1960). cannot be part of the Red Sea evolution.
Miocene sediments have been described along the coastal Uplift in Ethiopia and Arabia took place on an immense
plains of the Red Sea from the Gulf of Suez to latitude scale immediately after the late Eocene regression (Mohr,
14°N (Said, 1962; Heybroek, 1965, Brown, 1970). Num- 1962). The Hail Arch, an early Paleozoic northtrending
erous deep exploratory wells have penetrated great thick- headland in the Precambrian basement of the Arabian
nesses of Miocene elastics (2-3 km) and evaporites (3-4 km) shield was deformed during pre-Permian times and during
without reaching basement rocks (Ahmed, 1972). This new late Cretaceous time was folded parallel to its N-S axis
geologic information, combined with that obtained on Leg (Greenwood, 1972). Fractures that developed as part of the
23, Deep Sea Drilling Project, demonstrates that the Red uplift provided feeder fissures for the Oligocene Trap Series
Sea depression received marginal clastic sediments inter- in Ethiopia and Arabia. A monoclinal flexure developed
fingering with evaporites during Miocene times. The along the eastern margin of the Red Sea as the Yemen-Hail
Miocene marine invasion is considered to have come from arches formed. East of Jizan along the hinge lines of the
the Mediterranean rather than from the Indian Ocean monoclinal warp, zones of stretched, fractured rock were
(Montanaro, 1941). During the Miocene, volcanic activity invaded by tholeiitic magma, forming local differentiated
814
GEOLOGIC BACKGROUND OF THE RED SEA
layered gabbros, granophyres, and diabase dike swarms may have begun to develop during the Pliocene and may be
ranging in age from 20 to 25 m.y. (Coleman and Brown, currently forming. Present-day subsurface salt flowage has
1971). Uplift and arching in Ethiopia coincided with the been recorded at depths greater than 3000 meters (Frazier,
intrusion of granite and rhyolite (22-25 m.y.) marginal to 1970). At bottom-hole temperatures above 200°C, and
the Afar Depression (Barberi et al., 1972). In Ethiopia, under the pressure of thick overburdens, salt will act very
continued uplift duirng the Oligocene and Miocene nearly like soft butter. Salt could easily flow into the axial
produced a complex pattern of major faults that gave rise trough, and the irregular topography at latitude 16°40'N
to the downfaulted Afar.Depression, the Danakil horst, and suggests that this may well have happened. Strong deforma-
the highlands west of the depression (Tazieff et al., 1972). tion of the top surface of the evaporites, as deduced from
Deposition of the Red Series, confined to the Afar seismic profiles, clearly indicates salt flowage (Phillips and
Depression, began in the late Oligocene and marked the Ross, 1970).
warping of the depression (Bannert et al., 1970; Barberi et Formation of the axial trough at the beginning of the
al., 1972). The normal faults bounding the depression are Pliocene appears to have been related to a major rift, a
still active (Gouin, 1970). During Oligocene and Miocene marked departure from the Oligocene and Miocene develop-
time, uplift was sustained in the Yemen-Hail arches with ment of the Red Sea depression. The physiography of the
continued monoclinal flexuring and gentle downwarping of trough, a steep-walled depression with a floor of new
the coastal plain. The thick Miocene clastic sections basaltic crust, bears out the similarity to other active
discovered in deep wells along the coastal plains were mid-ocean spreading centers. Concentration of seismic
deposited unconformably on older downwarped units and epicenters within the axial trough and alignment of active
demonstrate rapid erosion of the Yemen-Hail and Ethi- volcanoes along the trough axis also indicate present-day
opian arches (Gillmann, 1968). Steep dips of Jurassic rifting. Solution of first motions on recent epicenters in the
and early Miocene sedimentary rocks towards the Red Sea axial trough indicates movement along northeast-southwest-
axis along the monocline indicate downwarping of the Red trending transform faults (Fairhead and Girdler, 1970;
Sea depression (Coleman and Brown, 1971; Gass and McKenzie et al., 1970). These first-motion solutions,
Gibson, 1969). Major normal faults have not been found combined with geologic studies, have shown that current
along the eastern margin of the Red Sea, even though they left-lateral shear along the Dead Sea rift fits in with the
are shown on numerous generalized maps (see, for instance, general northeast movement of the Arabian plate away
Mohr, 1962, p. 160; Picard, 1970; Holmes, 1965). from Africa. In summary, synthesis of the present struc-
Whiteman's (1968, p. 235) comments on a presumably tural knowledge on the evolution of the Red Sea indicates
fault-bounded Red Sea are appropriate. "It is not possible at least two stages of development—pre-Miocene down-
here to give all the details relating to the nature of the warping with crustal thinning and post-Miocene rifting.
bounding escarpments but analysis reveals that many of the
faults shown on general maps do not exist on the ground Volcanology
and have, in fact, been put in on the assumption that most Distribution of Tertiary volcanic rocks provides further
of the escarpments are of fault origin. It is indeed curious clues as to the origin of the Red Sea depression. One of the
that almost every map of the Red Sea Depression showing largest areas of alkaline basalts in the world is centered over
faults shows a different pattern." Important to this Ethiopia, Yemen, and western Saudi Arabia. Eruption of
argument is the recognition that the contacts between the these lavas accompanied the development of the Ethiopian
Mesozoic and Tertiary sediments and the Precambrian and Arabian swells, probably starting in early Eocene in
basement are unconformities, and that the sediments dip Yemen and culminating in the Oligocene in both Ethiopia
steeply toward the axis of the depression. Perhaps some and Arabia (Baker et al. 1972). The Ethiopian Trap Series
geologists hold to the veiw that the Red Sea is bounded by near Asmara has been dated as 36 m.y., and the Sirat
faults because the Suez and Aqaba grabens and the Afar plateau basalts of Arabia have been bracketed between 25
Depression are all well-documented fault-bounded struc- to 29 m.y. (Brown, 1970). These flood basalts are
tures. The matching shorelines of the northern Red Sea predominately alkaline olivine basalt, with some inter-
along with the subparallel southern erosional scarps in the bedded silicic lavas, agglomerates, and pyroclastics (Baker
Arabian Peninsula and Ethiopia give quasitectonic evidence et al., 1972). In the Ethiopian plateau the Trap Series
that permits this interpretation. Minor normal faults are reaches a thickness of 3500 meters; in Yemen, 1000 meters.
associated with the monoclinal flexures along the Red Sea, The Yemen Trap Series extends northward into Saudi
and continued exploratory drilling may reveal major normal Arabia, where these rocks are called the Sirat plateau
faults concealed by the thick Miocene evaporite-clastic basalts and thin to about 400 meters. No evidence has been
deposits (Lowell and Genik, 1972). However, the Oligocene discovered that shows whether the Ethiopian and Arabian
and Miocene development of the Red Sea depression Peninsula plateau basalts were coextensive across the
deduced from the stratigraphic and structural record southern part of the Red Sea; however, deep drilling there
indicates that the northwest-southeast trending depression would resolve this question. The Yemen Trap Series forms
developed as a trough between the Arabian and African an anticlinal swell, with the western margin dipping under
swells, rather than as a downfaulted block (Brown and the coastal plain (Brown, 1971). On the Danakil horst,
Coleman, 1972). pre-Miocene basalts cover Mesozoic deposits and appear to
Mobility of the Miocene evaporites is indicated by the dip toward the Red Sea axis, but these basalts may not be
numerous salt domes developed in the marginal parts of the equivalent to the Eocene and Oligocene Trap Series. In
Red Sea south of latitude 18°N (Brown, 1972). Salt domes both Ethiopia and Arabia the basal flows have been
815
R. G. COLEMAN
extruded upon an extensive laterite that is considered to be Mantle xenoliths have also been reported from these rocks.
Portlandian to Eocene in age (Mohr, 1962). The chemical This volcanic activity has continued until the present, with
and petrographic continuity of the Yemen and Ethiopian historical eruptions reported near Medina, Saudi Arabia,
Trap Series has been demonstrated by Mohr (1971) and and in Yemen.
recent work by Coleman and Brown (1971) on the Sirat Within the Afar Depression, the Pliocene rifting of the
plateau basalts extends the area of this great effusion of axial part of the Red Sea was accompanied by a great
alkali olivine basalts. Northward on both sides of the Red outpouring of flood basalts—the Stratoid Series (Barberi et
Sea depression there are no extensive areas of trap rock of al., 1972). This volcanism is considered to have extended
this age. Tromp (1950) reports minor but widespread from the late Miocene to Quaternary and is represented by
Oligocene basalt flows within the marine sediments of transitional basalts and peralkaline silicic rocks (Barberi et
eastern Egypt; however, no petrographic details are al., 1972). Continuing up to the present, volcanism in the
available. axial trough of the Afar Depression produces what are
In Miocene time (~22 m.y.), differentiated layered considered to be transitional basalts with affinities toward
gabbros and tholeiitic dike swarms invaded the hinge line of subalkaline oceanic basalts and including some silicic
monoclinal downwarps along the south Arabian coast welded ash-flow tuffs and lavas. Marginal vents from which
(Coleman and Brown, 1971). East of Jizan a canoe-shaped silicic rocks have erupted remain active today. In the Red
layered gabbro approximately 300 meters thick is Sea depression, within the straits of Bab el-Mandeb and
associated with diabase dikes cutting Jurassic sandstones. northwards to Jabal Tair, Holocene volcanic islands have
Dike swarms several hundred meters across trend parallel to developed along the axial rift. Rock types progress from
the Red Sea in this area, and linear magnetic anomalies oceanic tholeiite at Jabal Tair southward to alkali basalt,
associated with sporadic dike outcrops have been traced as trachybasalts, and trachyandesites within the Zukur-Hanish
far north as Jidda (Brown, 1971). Within the Afar Depres- Islands (Gass et al., 1965). Basaltic and peralkaline eruptive
sion, mainly along its margins, small granitic intrusive and centers extend eastward along the south coast of Aden.
silicic volcanic rocks (22-25 m.y.) are considered to be Individual small submarine peaks within the axial trough
related to the downwarping and marginal faulting that are also considered to be extinct volcanoes.
created the Afar Depression (Barberi et al., 1972).
Geophysics
As the Miocene evaporite and clastic deposits accumu-
lated in the Red Sea depression, great volumes of alkali Many geophysicists have worked in the Red Sea area,
olivine lavas erupted along the crest of the Hail Arch north but mostly in conjunction with Oceanographic expeditions
of Jidda. These flows are generally less than 50 meters rather than land surveys. Political problems have prevented
thick; nonetheless, they spread over vast areas, some even a complete magnetic or gravity survey of the whole region.
extending westward over the coastal plain. The bulk of Most geophysical interpretations are therefore made from
these flows lies approximately 150 to 200 km inland from local surveys and provide only partial ansv/ers.
the Red Sea, and north-south alignment of vents on the Interpretations of magnetic surveys (Girdler, 1970b;
flows parallels the Hail Arch, an early Paleozoic headland of Kabbani, 1970; Drake and Girdler, 1964; Allan, 1970)
Precambrian crystalline rocks (Greenwood, 1972). Con- within the Red Sea provide a consistent picture. Strong
temporaneous with these inland flows are other alkali magnetic anomalies associated with the axial trough have
olivine basalt extrusions along the same north-south trend been correlated with the geomagnetic polarity history and
situated between Amman in Jordan and Turayf in northern are considered to represent a time span of approximately
Saudi Arabia, more than 250 km from the Red Sea. 4 m.y. (Vine, 1966). Displacement of the magnetic
Exploratory deep drilling in the Miocene evaporite and anomalies of the axial trough between latitude 19° and
clastic section has penetrated interlayered basalts in the 23°N suggests the presence of active transform faults
southern Red Sea (Lowell and Genik, 1972), and (Allan, 1970). Away from the axial trough, magnetic
interlayered Miocene basalts are reported to the Red Series expressions are diffuse and fail to provide clear correlations
of the Afar Depression (Bannert et al., 1970), indicating the with geomagnetic polarity history. These axial trough
possibility of discontinuous rifting in the Red Sea anomalies do not extend even to the northernmost part of
depression during Miocene time the Red Sea or southward into the straits of Bab el-Mandeb.
As the axial rift in the Red Sea began to form, sometime Seismic events recorded in this area since 1953 reveal a
early in the Pliocene (~5 m.y.), subalkaline oceanic consistent but incomplete pattern related to rifting. Most of
tholeiites began filling the axial trough and numerous the epicenters are along the axial trough, but surprisingly
submarine volcanoes contributed pryoclastic rocks and lava few are in the northern Red Sea (Fairhead and Girdler,
(Chase, 1969). While this was happening, many small 1970). Most of the events appear to be shallow (< 100 km)
alkaline olivine basalt eruptive centers developed along the and related to the development of the axial trough.
hinge line of the flexure zone of the eastern margin of the Epicenters within the Afar Depression are mostly along the
Red Sea south of latitude 19°N. Mantle xenoliths common margins of the depression, rather than in the axial part
to these basaltic eruptions indicate a source much different (Gouin, 1970). Fault-plane solutions in the Red Sea axial
from that of the rift basalts filling the axial trough some trough indicate a strike-slip motion directed NE-SW,
170 km to the west. Additional widespread alkaline olivine perhaps indicative that the axial trough is offset by a
basalts were erupted along the crest of the Yemen and Hail transform fault. A strong recent quake (March, 1969) in the
Arches from Yemen northwards to Tabuk in Saudi Arabia. northern Red Sea, at the opening of the Gulf of Suez,
816
GEOLOGIC BACKGROUND OF THE RED SEA
817
R. G. COLEMAN
818
GEOLOGIC BACKGROUND OF THE RED SEA
Geukens, F., 1966. Geology of the Arabian Peninsula, , 1932. On the volcanic Zebayir Islands, Red Sea:
Yemen: U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 560-B. Geol. Mag.,v. 69, p. 63-66.
Gillmann, M., 1968. Preliminary results of a geological and Mohr, P. A., 1962. The geology of Ethiopia: Univ. College
geophysical reconnaissance of the Gizan coastal plain in of Addis Ababa Press.
Saudi Arabia: AIME Symp. Khahran, Saudi Arabia, , 1971. Ethiopian rift and plateaus: some volcanic
p. 198-208. petrochemical differences: J. Geophys. Res., v. 76,
Girdler, R. W., 1969. The Red Sea - a geophysical p. 1967-1984.
background. In Degens, E. T. and Ross, D. A. (eds.), Hot Montanaro, G. E., 1941. Foraminiferi, posizione strati-
brines and recent heavy metal deposits in the Red Sea: grafica e facies di un calcare a "operculina" dei Colli di
New York (Springer-Verlag), p. 38-58. Ebud (Sahel Eritreo): Palaeontogr. ItaL, v. 40 (n.s. 10),
., 1970a. A review of Red Sea heat flow: Phil. p. 67-75.
Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond., A., v. 267, p. 191-203.
Girdler, R. W., 1970b. An aeromagnetic survey of the Phillips, J. D. and Ross, D. A., 1970. Continuous seismic
junction of the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Ethiopian reflexion profiles in the Red Sea: Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc.
rifts — A preliminary report: Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond., A., v. 267, p. 143-152.
Lond., A., v. 267, p. 359-368. Picard, L., 1970. On Afro-Arabian graben tectonics: Geol.
Gouin, P., 1970. Seismic and gravity data from Afar in Rundschau, v. 59, p. 337-381.
relation to surrounding areas: Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. Ross, D. A., Whitmarsh, R. B., Ali, S., Boudeaux, J. E.,
Lond., A., v. 267, p. 339-358. Coleman, R. G., Fleischer, R. L., Girdler, R., Manheim,
Greenwood, W. R., 1972. The Hail Arch: a key to the F., Matter, A., Nigrini, C , Stoffers, P., and Supko, P.,
Arabian shield during evolution of the Red Sea Rift: 1972. Deep sea drilling project in the Red Sea:
Geol. Soc. Am. Absts. with Programs, v. 4, p. 520. Geotimes, v. 17, p. 24-26.
Heybroek, F., 1965. The Red Sea evaporite basin. In Salt Said, R., 1962. The geology of Egypt: Elsevier Pub. Col,
basins around Africa: London (Inst. Petroleum), 377 p.
p. 17-40.
Schürmann, H. M. E., 1966. The Precambrian along the
Holmes, A., 1965. Principles of physical geology: London
Gulf of Suez and the northern part of the Red Sea:
(Nelson).
Holwerda, J. G. and Hutchinson, R. W., 1968. Leiden (Brill).
Potash-bearing evaporites in the Danakil area, Ethiopia: Sestini, J., 1965. Cenozoic stratigraphy and depositional
Econ Geol., v. 63, p. 124-150. history, Red Sea coast, Sudan: Am. Assoc. Petrol. Geol.
Hutchinson, R. W. and Engels, G. G., 1970. Tectonic Bull., v. 49, p. 1453-1472.
significance of regional geology and evaporite lithofacies Shanti, M. S., 1966. Oolitic iron ore deposits in Wadi
in northeastern Ethiopia: Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond., Fatima between Jeddah and Mecca, Saudi Arabia: Saudi
A., v. 267, p. 313-329. Arabia Min. Res. Bull. 2, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Kabbani, F. K., 1970. Geophysical and structural aspects of
Swartz, D. H. and Arden, D. D., Jr., 1960. Geologic history
the central Red Sea rift valley: Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc.
of Red Sea area: Am. Assoc. Petrol. Geol. Bull., v. 44,
Lond., A., v. 267, p. 89-97.
Karpoff, R., 1957. Sur L'esistence du Maestrichtien au nord p. 1621-1637.
de Djeddah (Arabie Sedouite): Compt. Rend. Acad. Sci., Tazieff, H., Varet, J., Barberi, F., and Giglia, G., 1972.
v. 245, p. 1322-1324. Tectonic significance of the Afar (or Danakil) depres-
Knott, S. T., Bunce, E. T., and Chase, R. L., 1966. Red Sea sion: Nature, v. 235, p. 144-147.
seismic reflection studies. In The world rift system: Tromp, S. W., 1950. The age and origin of the Red Sea
Canada Geol. Surv. Paper 66-14, p. 33-61. graben: Geol. Mag., v. 37, p. 385-392.
Laughton, A. S., 1970. A new bathymetric chart of the Red U. S. Geological Survey, 1963. Topographic map—Arabian
Sea: Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond., A., v. 267, p. 21-22. Peninsula 1:2,000,000: U. S. Geol. Surv. Misc. Geol. Inv.
Lowell, J. D. and Genik, G. J., 1972. Sea-floor spreading Map 1-270, B-2.
and structural evolution of southern Red Sea: Am. Vine, F. J., 1966. Spreading of the ocean floor: New
Assoc. Petrol. Geol. Bull., v. 56, p. 247-259. evidence: Science, v. 154, p. 1405-1415.
McKenzie, D. P., Davies, D., and Molnar, P., 1970. Plate Whiteman, A. J., 1968. Formation of the Red Sea
tectonics of the Red Sea and East Africa: Nature, v. 226, depression: Geol. Mag., v. 105, p. 231-246.
p. 243-248. , 1970. The existence of transform faults in the
MacFadyen, W. A., 1930. The geology of the Farsan Red Sea depression: Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. Lond., A.,
Islands, Gizan, and Kamaran Island, Red Sea, Part I - v. 267, p. 407^08.
General geology: Geol. Mag., v. 67, p. 310-315. Oxford (Clarendon
., 1971. Press). of the Sudan Republic:
The geology
819