Age of the Taishu Group,southwestern Japan,and implications for the origin and evolution of the Japan Sea

The Taishu Group, a marine formation with a thickness of >5400 m, crops out on Tsushima Island, located in the southwestern Japan Sea. The group, which is generally regarded as early Eocene to early Miocene in age, provides important information about the tectonic setting of the Japan Sea. In this study, we present new SHRIMP U–Pb dates for igneous zircons from the Kunehama Tuff, which is in the basal part of the Taishu Group, and the Oobaura Tuff, which is in the uppermost part of the group. Results show that the Taishu Group was deposited rapidly, during the short interval of 17.9–15.9 Ma (early–middle Miocene), and is equivalent to other early–middle Miocene strata found in the Japan Sea region. Our results provide new constraints on the geological history of the Japan Sea and its islands.     

Rifting and basin inversion in the eastern margin of the Japan Sea

Abstract Extensional basin formation and subsequent basin inversion in the southern area of the eastern margin of the Japan Sea were studied on the basis of the interpretation of seismic profiles (total length approximately 15 000 km) and the fossil analyses of 77 sea-bottom samples. Rift (Early to Early Middle Miocene), post-rift (Middle to Late Miocene), pre-inversion (Late Miocene to Pliocene) and inversion stages (Pliocene to Quaternary) were differentiated by the extension and contraction of the crust. Many small-scale rifts were formed in the Sado Ridge and the Mogami Trough during the rift stage, simultaneous with back-are spreading of the Japan Sea. Most of the rifts were east- or southeast-facing, rotational half-grabens bounded by west-dipping normal faults at their eastern boundaries. The syn-rift sequence can be divided into lower and upper units by an erosional surface. The sequences are presumed to be composed mainly of fining-upward sediments. The trend of most rifts is north-northeast with the remainder being of east-northeast-bias. The north-northeast trending rifts are distributed widely in the Sado Ridge and Mogami Trough and do not show an en échelon arrangement, suggesting that they were formed mainly by pure extension nearly perpendicular to the arc. The east-northeast trending rifts are presumed to have been developed by a north-northwest extension in the late rift stage, which may have accompanied a right-lateral movement in the eastern margin of the Japan Sea. During the post-rift stage, the rifts and adjacent horsts subsided and became covered by the post-rift sequence, characterized by parallel and continuous reflections. This suggested no significant tectonic movements in this period. In the pre-inversion stage many of the rifts subsided again, presumably because of down-warping due to weak compressional stress. The normal faults reactivated as reverse faults during the inversion stage due to an increase in compressional stress. Many of the rifts have been uplifted and transformed into east-vergent asymmetric anticlines. The basin inversion is greatest in the Sado Ridges and in the Dewa Bank Chain, while it is least developed in the Mogami Trough and in the western slope of the Sado Ridge, in which some normal faults have not been reactivated. The increase and decrease of the inversion corresponds to the peak and trough of undulation at an interval of about 50 km trending parallel to the arc.     

褶皱陡坎中相关断层在缩短量计算中的作用——以东秋里塔格背斜为例

通过对东秋里塔格背斜地区内与褶皱陡坎伴生的次级断层进行的地质调查,确定了该次级断层属于伸出向斜的逆冲断层,也给出了次级断层的发生时间晚于褶皱作用起始时间的1个变形实例。褶皱陡坎中发育的次级断层使得陡坎上盘地层沿断层面整体向上迁移,不仅次级断层使得阶地面发生掀斜并增大褶皱陡坎的坡度,而且直接影响了区域缩短增量计算的真实性。计算结果显示,当不考虑次级断层对褶皱陡坎高度的影响时,计算所得缩短增量为51.42m,考虑次级断层对褶皱陡坎高度的影响时,计算得到的地壳缩短量为45.23m。二者相差6.19m,偏差占总缩短增量的13.7%,是一个不可忽视的量值。东秋里塔格背斜北翼和南翼的褶皱陡坎发育于相同岩性的基岩中而且具有相同的形成机制。但是背斜北翼在水平距离不足300m的范围内发育了3级褶皱陡坎,这表明北翼相对于南翼,其活动枢纽带更为紧闭。这是由于北翼存在更加强烈的挤压应力及更加快速的隆升作用。因此,次级断层的研究对于正确认识区域构造演化、了解褶皱与断层相互作用关系具有重要意义。但是仍存在很多问题:1)受观察剖面范围有限、次级断层分布不连续和断距沿延伸方向不断增大等因素的制约,次级断层对缩短增量造成的影响可能被低估,计算结果应为缩短量的最小值。2)次级断层增加的陡坎高度与断层的断距、倾角具有怎样的定量关系?3)若次级断层只发育于活动枢纽带内,又会产生怎样的影响?这些问题还需更多的研究实例来进行更加深入的研究。     

文莱-沙巴盆地深水褶皱冲断带构造变形特征及成因机制

为揭示活动陆缘深水褶皱冲断带的特征及成因,本文利用地震和区域地质资料的综合分析,系统阐述了文莱—沙巴盆地深水褶皱冲断带的构造变形特征,并结合盆地演化动力学特点,探讨其构造变形机制及其对深水区油气成藏的影响.研究结果表明,文莱—沙巴盆地深水褶皱冲断带具有"垂向分期、平面分段"的特点,垂向上,以中中新统底界面为界可划分为下部（始新世-早中新世）和上部（中中新世-现今）两套逆冲褶皱冲断体系,其中下部逆冲褶皱冲断带的形成与古南海的俯冲作用密切相关,上部逆冲褶皱冲断带是中中新世以来三角洲前缘重力滑动与苏禄海扩张造成的区域挤压应力远程效应共同作用的结果,且苏禄海扩张造成的远程挤压效应主控平面上南北段褶皱冲断带变形的差异性,导致北段褶皱变形强度大于南段,具有背斜褶皱数量多、褶皱间距离短、逆冲断层倾角陡的特点,南段反之;且晚上新世以来北段深水区地层缩短量大于陆架区伸展量,两者之差为2~6 km,而南段两者相当,仅受三角洲前缘重力滑动影响.整个褶皱冲断带发育断弯、断展、断滑褶皱等3种断层相关褶皱以及叠瓦扇和冲起构造2种逆冲构造组合,是多期NW向挤压应力作用下形成的大型逆冲推覆构造,以前展式向盆地扩展.此外,由于中中新世以来逆冲断层的持续活动,研究区深水褶皱冲断带发育众多构造圈闭,油气成藏条件优越,且南段优于北段,靠近陆坡的近端优于远端,可作为勘探部署重点.     

塔里木西缘明尧勒背斜的弯滑褶皱作用与活动弯滑断层陡坎

塔里木西缘明尧勒活动背斜两翼河流阶地面上多处发育活动弯滑断层陡坎。这些断坎主要分布在活动轴面附近较陡的等斜岩层(地层倾角分别为74°~89°、18°~20°和45°~60°)一翼,往往成排发育在距活动轴面50~1 200m范围内,宽90~1 000m,长40~950m,随着离活动轴面的距离加大弯滑断层陡坎规模渐小。同一阶地面上发育的弯滑断层陡坎几乎以等间距或间距倍数关系产出。这些断坎走向与下伏基岩地层走向一致,基岩地层大多为中-厚层块状砂岩或粉砂岩互层,岩层间力学性质差异较小。明尧勒背斜南翼克孜勒苏河北岸T3阶地面废弃以来,单条弯滑断层的地表最大缩短速率为0.31mm/a,地表最大抬升速率为0.34mm/a。这些弯滑断层的活动具有重复性和新生性。     

Evolution of the Komiji Syncline in the North Fossa Magna, central Japan: Paleomagnetic and K–Ar age insights

Abstract We carried out paleomagnetic measurements and K–Ar dating on Neogene andesitic lavas and sills of the Shigarami Formation in North Fossa Magna, central Japan. The Shigarami Formation is distributed in the axial part of the Komiji Syncline in the folding zone of the southwestern North Fossa Magna. Results of the present study indicate that the Komiji Syncline was formed shortly after 4.42 ± 0.12 Ma during the Pliocene. The sedimentary rocks of the Shigarami Formation consist of shallow marine and fluvial deposits. Intrusions of andesitic sills are found in the shallow marine deposits and two andesitic lava flows are present in the fluvial deposits. Oriented samples were taken from the sills at four sites and from the lavas at three sites. The samples produced stable remanent magnetization through stepwise alternating field and thermal demagnetizations. Results of a positive fold test indicate that the stable remanent magnetizations concentrate around a mean reversed polarity of declination = 169.0°, inclination = ?58.5° and 95% confidence limit = 9.0° after corrections have been made according to the direction of the bedding of the sedimentary rocks. Four fresh samples were selected for K–Ar dating from the samples used for paleomagnetic measurements. The groundmass of three samples taken from the sills yield ages of 4.42 ± 0.12, 4.49 ± 0.22 and 4.69 ± 0.13 Ma, whereas the one taken from the lower lava has an age of 5.91 ± 0.26 Ma. We believe that the Komiji Syncline was formed after the emplacement of lavas and sills in the area, because the descending Miocene strata were folded concordantly with the Shigarami Formation. The Pliocene and Pleistocene strata rest unconformably on the folded strata. The deformation might have progressed during the Pliocene, then slowed down in the Early Pleistocene. Our results suggest that the northwestward motion of the Philippine Sea Plate and the collision of the Tanzawa Block affected not only the South Fossa Magna, but also the North Fossa Magna.     

Miocene to Quaternary deformation in NE Slovenia: complex paleomagnetic and structural study

Combined paleomagnetic and structural research was carried out in the Mura-Zala Basin including the western and southern surrounding hills in northeastern Slovenia. The Mura-Zala Basin was formed due to ENE–WSW trending crustal extension in the late Early Miocene (18.3–16.5 Ma). First, marine sedimentation took place in several more or less confined depressions, then in a unified basin. During thermal subsidence in the late Miocene deltaic to fluvial sediments were deposited. After sedimentation, the southernmost, deepest depression was inverted. Map-scale folds, reverse and strike-slip faults were originated by NNW–SSE compression. This deformation occurred in the latest Miocene–Pliocene and is reflected also in the magnetic fabric (low field susceptibility anisotropy). After this folding, the Karpatian sediments of the Haloze acquired magnetization, then suffered 30° counterclockwise rotation relative to the present north (40° counterclockwise with respect to stable Europe). This Pliocene (Quaternary?) rotation affected a wide area around the Mura-Zala Basin. The latest Miocene to Quaternary folding and subsequent rotation may be connected to the counterclockwise rotation of the Adriatic microplate.     

A middle Miocene post‐rift stress regime revealed by dikes and mesoscale faults in the Kakunodate area,NE Japan

Significant advances were made in the last century in the investigations of the Neogene stress history of the NE Japan arc. However, previous studies have failed to fully resolve middle Miocene post‐rift stress conditions owing to their assumption of Andersonian faulting and an inability to determine maximum and intermediate stress axes from dike orientations. We applied the latest methods of paleostress analysis in this study to igneous dikes and mesoscale faults in the Kakunodate area of the NE Japan arc to elucidate post‐rift stress conditions. Stratigraphic constraints and U–Pb dating indicate that the doleritic and dacitic dikes were formed at 16–12 Ma and 15–12 Ma, respectively. Dolerite and dacite dikes yielded NW–SE extensional stresses with intermediate and low stress ratios, respectively. Mesoscale faults in the middle Miocene formations of the studied area indicated similar stresses. We suggest the sluggish deformations resulting in the dike intrusion and faulting in the normal‐faulting stress regime after the termination of intra‐arc rifting at ca. 15 Ma.     

Fault tectonic analysis of Kii peninsula,Southwest Japan: Preliminary approach to Neogene paleostress sequence near the Nankai subduction zone

The southern part of the Outer Zone of Southwest Japan including the Kii peninsula belongs to the tectonic ‘shadow zone’, where fewer conspicuous active faults and less Quaternary sediments develop than in the Nankai subduction zone and Inner Zone of Southwest Japan. In order to study the paleostress sequence of the Kii peninsula, we analyzed fault‐slip data and tension gashes at pilot sites of Early–Middle Miocene forearc sediments and Late Cretaceous accretionary complex. According to the results, six faulting events are reconstructed in sequence: (i) east–west extension (normal faulting); (ii) east–west compression and north–south extension (strike‐slip faulting); (iii) NNW–SSE compression and ENE–WSW extension (strike‐slip faulting); (iv) northeast–southwest compression and northwest–southeast extension (strike‐slip faulting); (v) WNW–ESE compression (strike‐slip or reverse faulting); and (vi) NNE–SSW extension. The north–south to NNW–SSE trending dyke swarm of Middle Miocene age in the Kii peninsula is thought to be related to Event 3, implying that Event 3 was active at least during the Middle Miocene. Because Event 6 is recognized solely at a site, the overall latest faulting event seems to be Event 5. Assuming that the compression results from the motion of the crust or plate, the compression direction of Event 5 is in good accordance with the present‐day WNW crustal velocity vectors of the Kii peninsula. The stress trajectory map of Southeast Korea and Southwest Japan reveals that the current compression directions of the Kii peninsula correspond to the combinatory stress fields of the Himalayan and Philippine Sea tectonic domains.     

Contemporary tectonics in the Tien Shan region

New fault plane solutions of recent earthquakes, along with previously published fault plane solutions, field geologic data, and faults interpreted from LANDSAT imagery indicate thrust faulting in the Tien Shan region. For most of the fault plane solutions compressive stress axes are nearly horizontal and trending approximately north-south, perpendicular to the trend of the Tien Shan fold belts. Contemporary tectonics of the Tien Shan region can be interpreted as resulting from convergence of the Indian and Eurasian plates.     

南海北部潮汕坳陷上白垩统盆地原型及其大地构造背景分析

潮汕坳陷MZ-1井揭示的中生界为深入分析南海北部晚中生代的构造演化提供了关键性的资料.基于MZ-1井的标定,开展了系统的地震剖面构造-地层解释,在中生代地层内识别出Tm30区域性不整合面,同位素定年确定该界面发育于早白垩世末至晚白垩世初,落实了潮汕坳陷上白垩统的分布.此外,在研究区西南部识别出大型的兴宁—东沙逆冲推覆带,主要由多条NW—SE向延伸、西倾的叠瓦状逆冲断层及其伴生的不对称褶皱组成,其明显控制了上白垩统厚度分布.由此可见,上白垩统构造层不具有张裂盆地的典型特征,因此南海北部主动陆缘向被动陆缘的转换不会早于晚白垩世末.研究认为,在南海地区特提斯残留洋盆关闭的总背景下,在约80 Ma时期,南海地块与华南陆块强烈碰撞挤压,在靠近碰撞带处的礼乐滩、潮汕坳陷西南部形成褶皱冲断构造体系,进而控制了潮汕坳陷晚白垩世周缘前陆盆地的发育.     

ACTIVE FAULTS AND THEIR FORMATION MECHANISM IN THE EAST SEGMENT OF QIULITAGE ANTICLINE BELT,KUQA DEPRESSION

Based on geological and geomorphologic characteristics of the surface faults acquired by field investigations and subsurface structure from petroleum seismic profiles, this paper analyzes the distribution, activity and formation mechanism of the surface faults in the east segment of Qiulitage anticline belt which lies east of the Yanshuigou River and consists of two sub-anticlines:Kuchetawu anticline and east Qiulitage anticline. The fault lying in the core of Kuchetawu anticline is an extension branch of the detachment fault developed in Paleogene salt layer, and evidence shows it is a late Pleistocene fault. The faults developed in the fold hinge in front of the Kuchetawu anticline in a parallel group and having a discontinuous distribution are fold-accommodation faults controlled by local compressive stress. However, trenching confirms that these fold-accommodation faults have been active since the late Holocene and have recorded part of paleoearthquakes in the active folding zone. The fault developed in the south limb near the core of eastern Qiulitage anticline is a low-angle thrust fault, likely a branch of the upper ramp which controls the development of the eastern Qiulitage anticline. The faults lying in the south limb of eastern Qiulitage anticline are shear-thrust faults, which are developed in the steeply dipping frontal limb of the fault-propagation folds, and also characterized by group occurrence and discontinuous distribution. Several fault outcrops are discovered near Gekuluke, in which the Holocene diluvial fans are dislocated by these faults, and trench shows they have recorded several paleoearthquakes. The surface anticlines of rapid growth and associated accommodation faults are the manifestations of the deep faults that experienced complex folding deformation and propagated upward to the near surface, serving as an indicator of faulting at depth. The fold-accommodation faults are merely local deformation during the folding process, which are indirectly related with the deep faults that control the growth of folds. The displacement and slip rate of these surface faults cannot match the kinematics parameters of the deeper fault, which controls the development of the active folding. However, these active fold-accommodation faults can partly record paleoearthquakes taking place in the active folding zone.     

Japan Sea: a pull-apart basin?

Recent field work in the Hokkaido Central Belt and marine geology studies along the eastern margin of Japan Sea in addition to previously published data lead us to propose a new model of opening of the Japan Sea. The synthesis of both on-land and offshore structural data gives new constraints about the structural evolution of the system. The rhombohedral shape of the Japan Basin and the particular tectonic behaviour of the margins on both east and west sides can be explained by an early Eo-Oligocene rifting of a pull-apart basin accommodated along two large right-lateral shear zones, east of Korea and west of northeast Japan and Sakhalin. It is followed, during Upper Oligocene/Lower Miocene, by the main opening of the Japan Basin as a mega pull-apart. Then a back-arc spreading probably related to the subduction process, induced the creation of the Yamato and Tsushima Basins at the end of Lower Miocene and in Middle Miocene. Clockwise rotation of southwest Japan larger than 20° or major bending of Honshu mainland deduced from paleomagnetic studies is unlikely at this time. Since 1 or 2 My B.P. to Present, compression prevails along the eastern margin of the Japan Sea. The generation of marginal basins as pull-apart basins along intracontinental strike-slip faults is a mechanism which has been proposed by other authors concerning the South China Sea, the question then is whether the fragmentation of the Asiatic continent is an intracontinental deformation related process as proposed here or a subduction related one.     

西宁市活断层地震构造模型初步研究

在西宁市城市活断层探测的基础上,对城市活断层与地层褶皱变形的关系进行了研究,认为湟水河断层和NW向的湟水河北岸断层为背斜顶部张性断层,南川河断层为褶皱不均匀变形形成的横向撕裂断层,北川河东岸断层为向斜核部或翼部发育的挤压断层。并根据褶皱变形平衡剖面和重力资料反演,推测了褶皱变形滑脱面深度,初步建立了西宁市城市活断层的地震构造模型。依据地震构造模型,对城市活断层的发震能力进行了讨论     

南黄海和东海地区现代构造应力场特征的研究

分析研究了南黄海和东海地区18口石油勘探钻井的井孔崩落特征，结合对琉球岛弧和冲绳海槽地区浅源地震震源机制解的分析，确认了南黄海地区与我国华北地区有类似的现代构造应力场特征；并得出东海地区的最大水平压应力方向为NEE-SWW，最小水平压应力方向为NNW-SSE，它们分别与冲绳海槽地区的最大和最小主压应力方向接近;东海地区地壳上层的水平差应力可能不强，这与该地区没什么地震活动的特点是一致的．根据应力场特征推断，我国东部地区并未受到菲律宾海板块俯冲的推挤作用，而是可能受到垂直于冲绳海槽走向的拉伸作用的影响．     

Preliminary Study on Cenozoic Group and Fault Activity in the Sea Area Near the Yangtze River Mouth

By shallow seismic prospecting, the Cenozoic Group in the sea area near the Yangtze Rver Mouth can be divided into five seismic sequences. They correspond to the Quaternary,Pliocene, Upper Miocene, Lower Miocene and Eocene respectively. The Quaternary System covers all the detecting area. The Tertiary System overlaps and thins out from NE to SW. The sedimentary basement mainly consists of volcanic rock (J3) and acidic rock (r35). Paleogene or Late Cretaceous basins are not found there. The faults that have been detected are all normal faults. They can be divided into three groups (NE, NW, near EW) by their trend. The NE and NW-trending faults are predominant, and agree with aeromagnetic anomaly. Their length and displacement are larger than that of the EW-trending faults. The activity of the NEtrending faults is different in different segments. The SW segment is a Quaternary fault, the middle segment is a Neogene fault, The NE is Paleogene. But the segment of the NW-trending fault is not obvious. The average vertical displacement rate is about 0.015mm/a.     

Structural origin of large gas cavities in the Big Obsidian Flow, Newberry Volcano

Mesoscopic structures in four large cavities on the Big Obsidian Flow, OR, USA, provide evidence of links between large-scale surface folding, cavity formation, and hazardous explosive activity originating from within the flow. Stereographic analysis of flow banding, stretched bubble lineation, striations, and mesoscopic fold axes indicates that three of the cavities are near-cylindrical folds. Cavity fold axes are oriented parallel to large-scale compressional flow ridge axes, suggesting that cavities form in response to shortening during flow advance. Large surface folds develop as the upper 10 m of the cooler flow surface buckles when the flow front cools, slows, and stalls against topographic barriers. Void space is created in fold hinges as obsidian layers shear past each other and pull apart. The resultant cavities may serve as reservoirs for exsolved volatiles or surface water which may later vent explosively to form explosion craters on the flow surface.     

Experimental remolding on the caprock''s 3D strain field of the Indosinian-Yanshanian epoch in Tongling deposit concentrating area

Based on field observations and rheology analysis, we perform one analogue experiment and remold the 3D structural frame of Tongling deposit concentrating area firstly. Then we disassemble and dialyze the 3D structures of the model using the methods of "slicing" and "stripping". A series of sliced planes vertical to the fold hinges show similar landscapes of that in the drill hole profiles. Meanwhile, layer stripping analysis indicates that the deformation features of each layer in the model are qualitatively analogical to those obtained from field observations.Through contrasting the 3D structure between the experimental model and the field phenomena,we verify the following 3D deformation features of the caprock in this area: (1) the Tongling area mainly consists of three series of NE S-typed fold groups; (2) in the uniform stress field, the incoherent folds universally develop in different positions, along different axes as well as in different strata; (3) the faults propagate upward which are mostly inter-bedded detachment faults,while the fold amplitudes decrease while going deeper; and (4) the folds and cleavages are highly developed in the Silurian System indicating that the deformation effect of the Indosinian-Yanshanian structural layer terminates at this layer, which suggests that the Silurian System is the crucial layer for the inversion between brittle and plastic deformation domains and the underlying strata are subject to the control of another deformation system with distinct properties.     

渤海海域主要新构造活动断裂带

渤海位于渤海湾盆地的东部,是我国华北地区新构造活动最强烈的地区之一,盆地内的沉积盖层(N-Q)中断裂极为发育。许多研究者从不同角度对渤海新构造进行过研究,但认识不一。笔者基于以往的工作,对该区新构造作了较深入的分析,确定渤海新构造运动起始于中新世晚期(12~10Ma BP)。从三维空间分析盖层断裂,并按其与盆地基底断裂的成因关系,将新构造活动的断裂分为继续活动断裂和新生断裂,并划分出3条主要的新构造活动断裂带:北东(偏北)向营口-潍坊断裂带北段是继续活动构造带,右旋逆平移活动,活动性弱;北西西向北京-蓬莱断裂带亦为继续活动构造带,左旋正平移活动,活动性较强;北东向庙西北-黄河口断裂带为新生构造带,右旋平移活动,活动性强。后两者组成一对以庙西北-黄河口断裂带为主的偏共轭活动构造带,该区域地震活动与之关系密切。最后探讨了渤海地区新构造期北东东-南西西至近东西向水平挤压的构造应力场及其与新构造活动断裂带发育的关系。提出新构造应力场与古近纪盆地裂陷阶段的应力场截然不同,新构造为地壳共轭剪切破裂系统,古近纪盆地构造是发育于地壳上部的伸展构造系统,这是两期不同体制的构造系统。     

Thermochronological data from Sudan in the frame of the denudational history of the Nubian Red Sea margin

Low‐temperature thermochronology provides information on the timing of rifting and denudation of passive margins, and the Red Sea with its well‐exposed, young rift margins is a suitable setting for its application. Here we present new apatite fission‐track (AFT) data from Sudan northern hinterland and Red Sea coastal areas. From the former region we obtained ages between 270 ± 2 Ma ad 253 ± 53 Ma, and from the coastal belt between 83 ± 8 Ma and 39 ± 7 Ma. These data prompted a review and comparison with low‐temperature thermochronological data from the whole Nubian Red Sea Margin, and a discussion on their implication in assessing the margin evolutionary style. AFT data are available for Egypt and Eritrea as well as apatite (U‐Th)/He (AHe) ages for two transects transversal to the margin in Eritrea. Both in Egypt and Eritrea AFT data record a cooling event at about 20–25 Ma (Early Miocene) and an earlier, more local, cooling event in Egypt at about 34 Ma (Early Oligocene). The thermal modeling of the Sudan samples provides an indication of a rapid cooling in Miocene times, but does not support nor rules out an Early Oligocene cooling phase. The re‐assessment of new and existing thermochronological data within the known geological framework of the Nubian and conjugate Arabian margins favours the hypothesis that early rifting stages were affecting the whole Gulf of Suez–Red Sea–Gulf of Aden system since the Oligocene. These precocious, more attenuated, phases were followed by major extension in Miocene times. As to the mode of margin evolution, AFT age patterns both in Egypt and Eritrea are incompatible with a downwarp model. The distribution of AHe ages across the Eritrean coastal plain suggests that there the escarpment was evolving predominantly by plateau degradation. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.