Abstract
Seismic investigations in the Sudanese and Yemeni sections of the
Red Sea showed contrasting structural styles across the two surveyed
areas of the opposing flanks. Off Sudan, seaward of an about 50 km
broad zone of stretched continental crust, different domains of oceanic
crust were identified. The oldest of these domains was found under
an up to 6 km thick cover of sediments which include a 1 to 2 km
thick pre-evaporite sequence. These sediments are interpreted to
be part of a pull apart basin generated during the initial stages
of Red Sea evolution. Towards the Red Sea axial trough, a structural
boundary separates this from younger oceanic crust which is covered
only by post-evaporite sediments. This sequence thins progressively
from about 800 m at the boundary to zero at the axial trough.Off
Yemen, in contrast, oceanic crust is confined to the axial trough
zone, which terminates southward of 16N. Further south to 14N, no
oceanic crust has yet been formed. Stretched continental crust was
found across the entire flank of the southern Red Sea and at the
Tihama coastal plain. Further inland, beginning at the escarpment,
the crust thickens in several major steps to a thickness of 35 km
in central Yemen.
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