Predictive mineral discovery in the eastern Yilgarn Craton,Western Australia: An example of district scale targeting of an orogenic gold mineral system

The eastern Yilgarn Craton (EYC) is one of the world's premier gold provinces subject to over a century of mineral exploration. Prolonged interest in the terrane has led to the assembly of multiple world-class data sets suitable for testing district scale targeting methodologies. District scale targeting is concerned with identifying a mineral camp ∼60 km × 60 km in size within a prospective region or province ∼1000 km × 1000 km in size. Exploration at the district scale necessitates the development of predictive exploration models, which can be applied to large regions. Recent advances in the study of the geodynamic evolution and 3D architecture of the EYC, together with an understanding of their interrelationship with the orogenic gold mineral system, has resulted in identification of critical mineralisation processes responsible for the region's rich gold endowment. Here we describe and map these critical processes, using them as a basis for district scale targeting. We relate gold mineralisation to three temporally constrained geodynamic periods, integrated with regional hydrothermal alteration. Unlike many targeting methodologies, this methodology does not incorporate the location of known gold deposits in the analysis, yet it predicted 75% of known gold mineralisation in 5% of the area. The methodology allows critical mineralisation processes to be identified and mapped through time and space. These critical processes are mostly generic and can be applied to other granite–greenstone orogenic gold regions, such as the Abitibi in Canada. An important outcome of this work for the EYC is the identification of a number of new target areas, not known currently for significant gold mineralisation, in what is otherwise thought to represent a mature terrane for gold exploration.     

4D architecture and tectonic evolution of the Laverton region,eastern Yilgarn Craton,Western Australia

The Laverton region, located in the eastern Yilgarn Craton (EYC) Western Australia, is second only to the Kalgoorlie region for gold endowment. The integration of high-density, potential-field data, regional- and camp-scale seismic reflection data, regional- and mine-scale structural analysis, and geochronologically-constrained stratigraphy, provided new insights into the 4D architecture and tectonic evolution of Laverton region.     

Multistage shortening in the Dauphiné zone (French Alps): the record of Alpine collision and implications for pre-Alpine restoration

Three-dimensional modelling tools are used with structural and palaeomagnetic analysis to constrain the tectonic history of part of the Dauphiné zone (external Western Alps). Four compressive events are identified, three of them being older than the latest Oligocene. Deformation D1 consists of W–SW directed folds in the Mesozoic cover of the study area. This event, better recorded in the central and southern Pelvoux massif, could be of Eocene age or older. Deformation D2 induced N-NW-oriented basement thrusting and affected the whole southern Dauphiné basement massifs south of the study area. The main compressional event in the study area (D3) was WNW oriented and occurred before 24 Ma under a thick tectonic load probably of Penninic nappes. The D2-D3 shift corresponds to a rapid transition from northward propagation of the Alpine collision directly driven by Africa-Europe convergence, to the onset of westward escape into the Western Alpine arc. This Oligocene change in the collisional regime is recorded in the whole Alpine realm, and led to the activation of the Insubric line. The last event (D4) is late Miocene in age and coeval with the final uplift of the Grandes Rousses and Belledonne external massifs. It produced strike-slip faulting and local rotations that significantly deformed earlier Alpine folds and thrusts, Tethyan fault blocks and Hercynian structures. 3D modelling of an initially horizontal surface, the interface between basement and Mesozoic cover, highlights large-scale basement involved asymmetric folding that is also detected using structural analysis. Both, Jurassic block faulting and basement fold-and-thrust shortening were strongly dependent on the orientation of Tethyan extension and Alpine shortening relative to the late Hercynian fabric. The latter’s reactivation in response to oblique Jurassic extension produced an en-échelon syn-rift fault pattern, best developed in the western, strongly foliated basement units. Its Alpine reactivation occurred with maximum efficiency during the early stages of lateral escape, with tectonic transport in the overlying units being sub-perpendicular to it.     

Structural and mechanical controls on intrusion-related deposits of the Tombstone Gold Belt,Yukon, Canada,with comparisons to other vein-hosted ore-deposit types

Intrusion-related gold deposits at the Clear Creek, Scheelite Dome and Dublin Gulch properties of the Tombstone Gold Belt (TGB), Yukon Territory have dominantly E-striking, steeply dipping, auriferous quartz extension veins within intrusions. In adjacent metasedimentary rocks gold is hosted in subvertical NW- to NNW-striking sinistral faults as veins and breccias, in E-striking extension veins and locally in E- to ENE-striking fault veins. These structural relationships indicate low magnitude, broadly E–W-directed shortening and N–S extension during stock emplacement and gold mineralisation at ∼92 Ma.The lack of any deviation or deflection of the extension vein orientations in the country rocks, with respect to their orientation within the stocks, indicates consistent stress trajectories in both rock types. These TGB deposits formed at 5–8 km depth, where mean and differential stresses may be greater in magnitude than in shallower porphyry environments. Many porphyry systems feature magmatic-related stresses that dominated the local stress field, with more variable vein orientations the result. Conversely, orogenic gold systems usually exhibit strong dimensionality in vein orientations. Fault-hosted mineralisation in metasedimentary rocks of the TGB deposits in this study is comparable in geometry, but generally smaller in size than in many orogenic gold systems. Intrusion-related systems of the TGB exhibit intermediate structural styles of mineralisation that provide a useful bridge in understanding the diversity of mechanically controlled structural styles in otherwise mostly unrelated gold deposit types.     

Brittle tectonic structures and palaeostress analysis in the Isle of Wight,Wessex basin,southern U.K.

Brittle tectonic analysis of Cretaceous–Paleogene sediments at a total of 17 sites located in the Isle of Wight (U.K.) enables four main tectonic events that occurred prior to and after the folding to be identified and successive palaeostress tensors to be determined using the inversion method. Three of the events can be shown to have occurred prior to the folding: (1) a syn-sedimentary extension of Upper Cretaceous age; (2) a strike-slip faulting regime with an ESE–WNW direction of compression; (3) a compressional regime, marked by strike-slip faulting, with an NNE–SSW to N–S direction of compression. The fourth and last compressional event took place after the folding and is characterised both by reverse and strike-slip faulting, with a dominant N–S direction of compression. Syn-folding faults also developed between the third and fourth events. All four events can be connected to the extensional tectonics and different steps of structural inversion, both of which were integral to the development and evolution of the Wessex basin.     

Geodynamics of the eastern Yilgarn Craton

Over the last decade there have been significant advances in our understanding of the stratigraphy, magmatism, deformation, metamorphism and timing of mineralisation, in the eastern Yilgarn Craton (EYC) of Western Australia. The integration of these disciplines has enabled a holistic review of the tectonic history of the EYC which favours a paraautochthonous tectonic model.     

Active faults, seismicity and stresses in an internal boundary of a tectonic arc (Campo de Dalías and Níjar, southeastern Betic Cordilleras, Spain)

The Betic-Rif Cordilleras, formed by the interaction of NW–SE convergence between the Eurasian and African plates and the westward motion of their Internal Zones, provide a good example of an active tectonic arc. The Campo de Dalías and Campo de Níjar constitute outcropping sectors of Neogene and Quaternary rocks located in the southeastern border of the Betic Cordilleras and allow us to study the recent deformations developed in the internal border of this tectonic arc.The main active faults with related seismicity, representing a moderate seismic hazard, associated to the southeastern Betic Cordilleras boundary, include high-angle NW–SE-oriented normal faults that affect, at least, the upper part of the crust, a main detachment located at 10 km depth, and probably another detachment at 20 km as well. Seismite structures, recent fault scarps with associated colluvial wedges that deform the drainage network and the alignment of the coastline, indicate that the high-angle faults have been active at least since the Quaternary.Paleostresses determined from microfault analysis in Quaternary deposits generally show an ENE–WSW trend of extension. Present-day earthquake focal mechanisms include normal, strike-slip and reverse faulting. Normal and strike-slip focal mechanisms generally indicate ENE–WSW extension, and strike-slip and reverse focal mechanisms are related to NNW–SSE compression.The maximum horizontal compression has a consistently NNW–SSE trend. The deep activity of detachments and reverse faults determines the NNW–SSE crustal shortening related to the Eurasian–African plate convergence. At surface, however, the predominance of normal faults is probably produced by the increase in the relative weight of the vertical stress axis, which in turn may be related to relief uplift and subsequent horizontal spreading. The internal mountain front boundary of the Betic Cordilleras developed through the activity of a set of structures that is more complex than a typical external mountain front, probably as a consequence of a vertical variable stress field that acted on previously deformed rocks belonging to the Internal Zone of the cordilleras.     

Architecture and geodynamic evolution of the St Ives Goldfield,eastern Yilgarn Craton,Western Australia

A new structural evolution consisting of both extensional and contractional events has been defined for the St Ives Goldfield in the south-central Kalgoorlie Terrane of the eastern Yilgarn Craton in Western Australia. These events shaped the development of the fault architecture, which controlled the location of the regional anticlines, the magmatic centres, and the deposition of the Archaean greenstone successions. The fundamental grain of the St Ives Goldfield is north-northwest-trending. This trend is marked by faults which developed during D₁ extension, which was oriented east-northeast–west-southwest. Across these faults we map major stratigraphic changes in the thickness and composition of units, especially of the previously undivided Black Flag Group volcaniclastic rocks. The centre of the St Ives Goldfield is dominated by the Kambalda Anticline. This north-northwest-trending regional fold was likely established early during the D₁ extensional history, and was fully established during subsequent east-northeast-oriented D₂ contraction. The regional anticline is an important architectural element because (1) magmatism and gold mineralising fluids were focussed into this domed region, and (2) deformation was partitioned across the limbs and crest of this structure. The D₃ event involved regional uplift and extension, resulting in the formation of late basins (Merougil Conglomerate locally) and the emplacement of granitoids sourced from a metasomatised mantle wedge (Mafic-type porphyries). The most significant gold event in terms of endowment occurred during D_4b sinistral strike-slip shearing and associated thrusting (e.g., Tramways and Republican thrusts). These thrusts were previously interpreted as the first contractional structures to deform the area (‘D₁’), but are here reinterpreted as relatively late (D_4b). In this D_4b event, the north-northwest-trending faults underwent sinistral strike-slip shearing and were linked across the Kambalda Anticline by accommodation structures represented by generally east- to east-northeast-trending thrusts. Reactivation of D₁ transfer structures may have influenced the location of these later accommodation structures. Late-stage mineralisation during D₅ was the result of dextral strike-slip brittle shearing.     

Tectonic and structural setting for active mesothermal gold vein systems,Southern Alps,New Zealand

The Southern Alps of New Zealand is an active oblique collisional mountain belt with extensive regional tectonically driven fluid flow. There is no evidence for igneous activity, and fluids consist of varying proportions of meteoric water and mid-crustal fluid derived from dehydration reactions. Fluid flow is controlled by fracture porosity, particularly in damage zones along faults and fault intersections. Gold and arsenic bearing veins exposed at the surface indicate two principal zones of gold mineralisation at depth. One of these is in the highest mountains, near to, but not in the region of maximum uplift. Deformation is dominated by reverse faulting, but some normal and strike-slip faults occur as well. The other zone of gold mineralisation is at and near the intersection of regional oblique dextral reverse faults and regional strike-slip faults. Both zones are characterised by small discontinuous vein systems, locally accompanied by ankeritic alteration of host rock. Veins occur in extensional and shear veins, and in dilational jogs with implosion breccias. Gold mineralisation occurred at many structural levels between the brittle–ductile transition and the near-surface region. The Southern Alps hydrothermal system represents an active roof zone to a mesothermal gold deposition system at depth. As such, this is a modern analogue for mesothermal gold terranes elsewhere in New Zealand and around the world. Observations on the regional distribution of fluid flow in active orogens can give insights into fluid flow at depth where gold mineralisation is occurring now. Comparison of these observations with ancient gold-bearing belts allows construction of three-dimensional concepts of orogenic fluid flow and gold mineralisation.     

Extent,kinematics and tectonic origin of the Precambrian Aswa Shear Zone in eastern Africa

The Aswa Shear Zone (ASZ) is a fundamental Precambrian lithospheric structure that has been shaped by many tectonic events in eastern Africa. It separates the Saharan Metacraton in the northeast from the Northern Uganda terrane (which represents part of the Northeastern Congo block of the Congo craton) to the southwest. Nonetheless, its tectonic evolution is not fully understood. We used high-resolution airborne magnetic and radiometric data over Uganda integrated with Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) Digital Elevation Model (DEM) in South Sudan to assess the extent, kinematics and contribute to the understanding of the tectonic origin of the ASZ. (1) Our results showed that the ASZ extends in a NW–SE direction for ~ 550 km in Uganda and South Sudan. (2) The airborne magnetic and radiometric data revealed a much wider (~ 50 km) deformation belt than the 5-10 km of the exposed surface expression of the ASZ. The deformation belt is defined by three NW-trending sinistral strike-slip shear zones bounding structural domains with magnetic fabric showing splays of secondary shear zones and shear-related folds. These folds are tighter close to the discrete shear zones with their axial traces becoming sub-parallel to the shear zones. A similar fold pattern is observed in South Sudan from the SRTM DEM. We interpreted these folds as due to ENE–WSW contraction associated with the sinistral strike-slip movement. (3) To the northeast, the magnetic patterns and radiometric signatures suggest the presence of a series of W-verging nappes indicative of strong E–W to NE–SW contraction deformation. (4) We relate the evolution of the ASZ to E–W to NE–SW Neoproterozoic oblique collision between East and West Gondwana. The deformation related to this collision was partitioned into E–W to NE–SW contraction resulting in W-verging thrusts in the east and a sinistral strike-slip movement along the NW-trending ASZ with the strain localized at the boundary between the Saharan Metacraton and the Northern Uganda terrane.     

Tectonic stress regimes,rift extension and transform motion: the South Iceland Seismic Zone

Abstract

The South Iceland Seismic Zone (SISZ) is located at the junction of three rift segments in southwestern Iceland. The presence of different types of faulting and of differently orientated subgroups in Upper Pliocene to Holocene formations indicate polyphase tectonism. We measured 736 minor faults at 25 sites. Two types of relationships between stress regimes are represented. The first type, named IDS (inhomogeneous data set), is characterized by the presence of two types of fault mechanisms, normal and strike-slip, consistent with a single direction of extension. The second type, named OSR (opposite stress regimes), is characterized by the presence of perpendicular directions of extensions for a single type (normal or strike-slip) of faulting. Because of contradictory chronological criteria, we infer that the OSR alternated during the brittle tectonic activity of the SISZ. Two stress regimes, primary and secondary, are characterized by directions of extension NW-SE and NE-SW, respectively. The general fracture pattern characterized for the primary stress regime in the SISZ includes NNE-SSW trending right-lateral strike-slip faults, conjugate ENE-WSW trending left-lateral faults and NE-SW normal faults. This distribution is quite consistent with a Riedel- type model of fault pattern in a left-lateral shear zone. The stress states characterized based on analysis of both the earthquake focal mechanisms and the recent faulting sow great similarity in terms of stress directions. The main difference is the larger ratio of strike-slip motions representing 71% of the total population in the case of earthquake focal mechanisms, whereas for the whole set of faults the proportion of strike-slip faulting was 50 %. We explain that a témpora evolution of the tectonic regime in the SISZ region, accompanied by a gradual change in stress field, starts with rift-type pure extension and progressively leads to development of preferentially strike-slip structures in the kinematic context of left- lateral transform motion. © Elsevier, Paris     

Tectonic stress regimes,rift extension and transform motion: The South Iceland Seismic Zone

The South Iceland Seismic Zone (SISZ) is located at the junction of three rift segments in southwestern Iceland. The presence of different types of faulting and of differently orientated subgroups in Upper Pliocene to Holocene formations indicate polyphase tectonism. We measured 736 minor faults at 25 sites. Two types of relationships between stress regimes are represented. The first type, named IDS (inhomogeneous data set), is characterized by the presence of two types of fault mechanisms, normal and strike-slip, consistent with a single direction of extension. The second type, named OSR (opposite stress regimes), is characterized by the presence of perpendicular directions of extensions for a single type (normal or strike-slip) of faulting. Because of contradictory chronological criteria, we infer that the OSR alternated during the brittle tectonic activity of the SISZ. Two stress regimes, primary and secondary, are characterized by directions of extension NW-SE and NE-SW, respectively. The general fracture pattern characterized for the primary stress regime in the SISZ includes NNE-SSW trending right-lateral strike-slip faults, conjugate ENE-WSW trending left-lateral faults and NE-SW normal faults. This distribution is quite consistent with a Riedeltype model of fault pattern in a left-lateral shear zone. The stress states characterized based on analysis of both the earthquake focal mechanisms and the recent faulting show great similarity in terms of stress directions. The main difference is the larger ratio of strike-slip motions representing 71 % of the total population in the case of earthquake focal mechanisms, whereas for the whole set of faults the proportion of strike-slip faulting was 50 %. We explain that a temporal evolution of the tectonic regime in the SISZ region, accompanied by a gradual change in stress field, starts with rift-type pure extension and progressively leads to development of preferentially strike-slip structures in the kinematic context of leftlateral transform motion.     

Evolution of paleostress fields and brittle deformation of the Tornquist Zone in Scania (Sweden) during Permo-Mesozoic and Cenozoic times

The NW-SE oriented Sorgenfrei–Tornquist Zone (STZ) has been thoroughly studied during the last 25 years, especially by means of well data and seismic profiles. We present the results of a first brittle tectonic analysis based on about 850 dykes, veins and minor fault-slip data measured in the field in Scania, including paleostress reconstruction. We discuss the relationships between normal and strike-slip faulting in Scania since the Permian extension to the Late Cretaceous–Tertiary structural inversions. Our paleostress determinations reveal six successive or coeval main stress states in the evolution of Scania since the Permian. Two stress states correspond to normal faulting with NE-SW and NW-SE extensions, one stress state is mainly of reverse type with NE-SW compression, and three stress states are strike-slip in type with NNW-SSE, WNW-ESE and NNE-SSW directions of compression.The NE-SW extension partly corresponds to the Late Carboniferous–Permian important extensional period, dated by dykes and fault mineralisations. However extension existed along a similar direction during the Mesozoic. It has been locally observed until within the Danian. A perpendicular NW-SE extension reveals the occurrence of stress permutations. The NNW-SSE strike-slip episode is also expected to belong to the Late Carboniferous–Permian episode and is interpreted in terms of right-lateral wrench faulting along STZ-oriented faults. The inversion process has been characterised by reverse and strike-slip faulting related to the NE-SW compressional stress state.This study highlights the importance of extensional tectonics in northwest Europe since the end of the Palaeozoic until the end of the Cretaceous. The importance and role of wrench faulting in the tectonic evolution of the Sorgenfrei–Tornquist Zone are discussed.     

珠江口盆地多期走滑构造与叠合型拉分盆地:以阳江东凹为例

珠江口盆地的成盆机制和构造演化过程探讨是该地区烃源岩研究中不可缺少的环节,也是大家广泛关注的焦点问题.本文以阳江东凹为例,通过整体与局部相结合的分析方法,从整体上确定了研究区走滑断裂的发育特征和展布框架,明确了区域构造运动与走滑断裂的成因联系;并将整体划分成局部,聚焦于阳江东凹古近纪盆地构造演化阶段逐步分解与精细检验,...     

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The Archaean granite‐greenstone rocks of the Marymia Inlier outcrop within Proterozoic rocks forming the Capricorn Orogen. Five major deformation events are recognised in the rocks of the Plutonic Well and Baumgarten greenstone belts. The first two events were Late Archaean and synchronous with major epithermal gold mineralisation in the belts. Palaeoproterozoic extensional faulting was probably related to the early stages of the Capricorn Orogeny. The fourth event records a compressional phase of the Capricorn Orogeny associated with greenschist‐facies metamorphism, whereas the last major event involved wrench faulting associated with minor folding. The Archaean tectonic history, rock types and timing of mineralisation strongly suggest that the Marymia Inlier is part of the Yilgarn Craton, and that each of the provinces in the craton experienced the same geological history since 2.72 Ga. The inlier is now interpreted to include two components; one is the eastern or northern extension of either the Narryer Terrane, Murchison Province or Southern Cross Province, and the other is the northwestern extension of the Eastern Goldfields Province. The Jenkin Fault, which was active in Proterozoic times, separates these two components.     

Ore-bearing duplexes at the Malomyr orogenic gold deposit, Amur Region

This study made it possible to reconstruct three stages of the structure formation at the large Malomyr gold deposit in the Amur Region: (1) premineral folding and left-lateral strike-slip faulting; (2) synmineral thrust faulting, and (3) postmineral dike and neotectonic stage. The study has shown that the formation of the Malomyr deposit was related to the system of duplexes as the structural traps that are the most favorable for ore deposition. The left-lateral duplex hosts the major orebodies composed of refractory ore at the Central site of the deposit, whereas the highest-grade and readily processable ore from the Quartzitic site is localized in the right-lateral duplex. The development of both duplexes during the same stage of thrust faulting indicates that readily processable and refractory ores were formed almost simultaneously. The type of mineralization depends on structural conditions of ore deposition. Refractory ore with invisible gold was formed under compression, whereas the readily processable ore with free gold was deposited in the extension setting.     

Main tectonic features of the Little Qinling Gold Belt (Central China)

We discuss main tectonic features of the Little Qinling gold belt in Central China, located along the northern border of the eastern Qinling E-W tectonic zone, which hosts hydrothermal lode gold deposits. The distribution of deposits and the strike of ore bodies are controlled by the Dayueping-Jinluoban anticlinorium and the related faults, namely large ductile-shear faults on its flanks striking parallel to the uplift axis and some large faults in the north and south. Mineralization is associated with smaller-scale mylonite zones of brittle-ductile deformation. The Dayueping-Jinluoban dome went through several stages of tectonic evolution (compression → folding → doming → strike-slip faulting → extensional faulting → reshearing) accompanied by regional deformation, metamorphism, migmatizition and mineralization.     

西秦岭北缘断裂带漳县—车厂断层的结构及构造演化

西秦岭北缘断裂带是青藏高原东北缘主要构造边界断裂带之一, 其构造变形历史和运动学特征研究可以为西秦岭中新生代构造过程和印度—亚洲板块碰撞动力学的远程构造响应提供约束。漳县—车厂断层是西秦岭北缘断裂带的重要组成部分, 通过对工程开挖所揭露的断层带内丰富构造现象的观测与分析, 至少可以辨别出3期性质、规模、运动学特征各异的构造变形事件。第一期为向北北东陡倾的伸展正断层作用; 第二期为向南南西倾的由南向北的逆冲断层作用; 第三期为沿近直立断面左旋走滑作用。尽管每期变形的时代尚缺乏构造物质测年的约束, 但根据其与白垩系、新近系的空间关系以及已有第四纪以来沿断层地貌位错和相关沉积物测年以及地震活动历史研究对断层左旋走滑作用的时代约束, 认为第一期伸展正断层作用起始于早白垩纪, 可能持续到渐新世; 第二期向北逆冲断层作用起始于渐新世初, 可能持续到早第四纪; 第三期左旋走滑断层作用起始于晚第四纪, 持续至今。漳县—车厂断层是一条典型的多期变形的脆性断层, 其变形特征与历史, 如果代表了西秦岭北缘断裂带特征与构造变形过程, 那么现今西秦岭北缘断裂带仅是起始于早白垩纪、新生的脆性断裂带, 并非是印支主造山期大规模韧性逆冲推覆作用的边界断层。     

Neotectonic evolution of the Central Betic Cordilleras (Southern Spain)

Paleostress orientations were calculated from fault-slip data of 36 sites located along a traverse through the Central Betic Cordilleras (southern Spain). Heterogeneous fault sets, which are frequent in the area, have been divided into homogeneous subsets by cross-cutting relationships observed in the field and by a paleostress stratigraphy approach applied on each individual fault population. The state of stress was sorted according to main tectonic events and a new chronology is presented of the Miocene to Recent deformation in the central part of the Betic Cordilleras. The deviatoric stress tensors fall into four distinct groups that are regionally consistent and correlate with three Late Oligocene–Aquitanian to Recent major tectonic events in the Betic Cordilleras. The new chronology of the neotectonic evolution includes, from oldest to youngest, the following main tectonic phases:

(1) Late Oligocene–Aquitanian to Early Tortonian: σ₁ subhorizontal N–S, partly E–W directed, σ₃ subvertical; compressional structures (thrusting of nappes, large-scale folding) and strike-slip faulting in the Alborán Domain and the External Zone of the Betic Cordilleras;

(2) Early Tortonian to Pliocene–Pleistocene: σ₁ subvertical, σ₃ subhorizontal NW–SE, partly N–S directed or E–W-directed (radial extension); large-scale normal faulting in the Central Betic Cordilleras and in the oldest Neogene formations of the Granada Basin related to the gravitational collapse of the Betic Cordilleras and the exhumation of the intensely metamorphosed rock series of the Internal Zones, at the same time formation of the Alborán Basin and intramontane basins such as the Granada Basin;

(3) Pleistocene to Recent: (3a) σ₁ subvertical, σ₃ subhorizontal NE–SW with prominent normal faulting, but coevally; (3b) σ₁ subhorizontal NW directed, σ₃ NE–SW subhorizontal with strike-slip faulting. Extensional structures and strike-slip faulting are related to the ongoing convergence of the Eurasian and African Plates and coeval uplift of the Betic Cordilleras. Reactivation of pre-existing fractures and faults was frequently observed. Phase 3 is interpreted as periodic strike-slip and normal faulting events due to a permutation of the principal stress axes, mainly σ₁ and σ₂.

A new tectonic model for Abu-Dabbab seismogenic zone (Eastern Desert,Egypt): evidence from field-structural,EMR and seismic data

Abu-Dabbab area is the most active seismic zone in the central Eastern Desert of Egypt, where seismic activities are daily recorded. The reported earthquakes are microearthquakes of local magnitudes (ML < 2.0). A spatial distribution of these microearthquakes shows that the earthquakes of the area follow an ENE–WSW trending pattern, which is nearly perpendicular to the Red Sea Rift. Focal mechanisms of different fault styles were recognized with dominant normal faulting (with a strike-slip component) events characterized by focal depths greater than 7 km and reverse ones of shallower focal depths. Several lines of evidence indicating that the brittle-ductile transition zone underlies the Abu-Dabbab area occurs at a relatively shallow depth (10–12 km) and it is acting as a low-angle normal shear zone (LANF). Field-structural, EMR and seismic data (this study) reveal that the maximum compressive stress (σ1) in the area is perturbed from the regional NW–SE direction to ENE–WSW orientation. This stress rotation is evidently akin to the reactivation of the crustal scale Najd Fault System (NFS), where such reactivation is attributed to the ongoing activity/opening of the Red Sea. Our tectonic model proposes that the continuous activity on the brittle-ductile transition zone including the LANF led to stress localization, which triggering a brittle deformation in the upper crustal-levels and associated shallow dipping thrusts. Such bimodal tectonic model suggests that the deep earthquakes are owing to the tectonic movement on the LANF (transtension), whereas the shallow earthquakes are related to a brittle deformation inside the fault blocks of the upper crust (transpression). Deformation creep along this zone didn’t permit continuous accumulation of strain and hence reduce the possible occurrence of large earthquakes.