Assessment of the industrial utilization of scoria materials in central Harrat Rahat, Saudi Arabia

Although basaltic volcanic scoria deposits are widespread in and around the scoria cones present in the Harrats, very few occurrences have been evaluated and still fewer have been exploited. The scoria from a quarry in central Harrat Rahat was investigated and assessed for its industrial utilization. Cubes were prepared from several concrete mixes using scoria as lightweight coarse and fine aggregates in different percentages. The compressive strength values of the cubes were found to be acceptable and satisfy the ASTM (1995) requirement for structural concrete. The scoria was also assessed for its utilization as a cement additive. Pozzolanic activity was tested according to the Italian standards and found to be acceptable. The strength activity index with Portland cement and the effectiveness of scoria admixture in controlling alkali-silica reactions were tested according to ASTM (1995) standards. Mortar cubes were specially prepared for these studies using different mixes and different storage procedures. The results satisfied the ASTM (1995) requirements as cement additive. The utilization of scoria as a heat-insulating material was tested and the results were found to satisfy the ASTM (1995) requirements. This fact suggests it could be utilized in the manufacture of the building blocks. It is recommended to evaluate the other scoria deposits, exploit the economically feasible ones and utilize them for different industrial applications. The manufacturing of heat-insulating concrete or building blocks using scoria is of prime importance as an energy saver.     

Caldera-related volcanic rocks in the Shammar Group, northern Arabian Shield

Volcanic formations of the ca 630-620 Ma old Shammar Group in the Tuluhah area in the northern Arabian Shield occupy an oval area some 8×12 km. They overlie sedimentary rift-fill of the Kuara Formation and are interpreted as related to the formation of a caldera, here named the Awad Caldera. The earliest of the volcanic formations, the Dabsah Tuff, is more than 450 m thick in the south and wedges out in the north. It is composed of silicic, medial to proximal pyroclastic flow rocks that record an eruption during which an initial caldera is interpreted to have formed by probably trapdoor-style collapse. The Nijab Basalt, more than 200 m thick and present as flows overlying the Kuara Formation to the north of the caldera, is presumed to have originated outside the study area during an interval between periods of silicic volcanic activity, and to have flowed onto the Dabsah Tuff in the first-stage caldera. The succeeding Mindassa Megabreccia contains large rafts of the older Shammar rocks, mainly Nijab Basalt, in a tuff matrix, and is regarded as probably a caldera collapse and fallback megabreccia formed during a silicic eruption that led to the second stage of caldera development. The megabreccia is overlain by the post-collapse Sutayih Tuff, more than 450 m thick, composed of proximal pyroclastic flow units.     

PGE exploration in the Wadi Amarah complex,southwestern Arabian Shield

A stream sediment survey targeting PGE and their pathfinders was carried out at a gabbro/pyroxenite complex in Wadi Amarah in the SW Arabian Shield. Twenty-nine stream sediment samples were collected from wadi channels and analyzed for PGE and base metals. None of the samples contained detectable PGE except for WAS-3 and WAS-27 which returned values above 70 ppb of combined Pt and Pd; these two locations are also anomalous for Au. A follow-up survey was conducted to further investigate the anomalies at these locations. A total of 48 soil and rock samples were collected from the two anomalous localities. Unlike the initial survey, most samples contained detectable PGE and Au albeit not as high as the original anomalies. Factor analysis of the results from the initial survey returned five main factors, with the first four reflecting the effects of mineral detritus as well as adsorption onto Fe–Mn oxyhydroxides; however, the last factor is loaded only for Cu and Ni and is therefore considered an ore factor indicating the presence of Cu–Ni sulphides. Another five factors were obtained from the follow-up survey, and as was the case in the initial survey, the first four factors are detrital/adsorption-related, while factor 5 has high loadings for only Pd and Pt and is therefore interpreted as a PGE ore factor. These findings reveal different modes of dispersion of PGE and base metals in the secondary environment and, more importantly, demonstrate the effectiveness of factor analysis in detecting even faint anomalies from disseminated mineralization.     

Opaque Mineralogy as a Tracer of Magmatic History of Volcanic Rocks:an Example from the Neogene-Quaternary Harrat Rahat Intercontinental Volcanic Field, North Western Saudi Arabia

The Neogene-Quaternary Harrat Rahat volcanic field is part of the major intercontinental Harrat fields in western Saudi Arabia.It comprises lava flows of olivine basalt and hawaiite,in addition to mugearite,benmorite,and trachyte that occur mainly as domes,tuff cones and lava flows.Based on opaque mineralogy and mineral chemistry,the Harrat Rahat volcanic varieties are distinguished into Group I(olivine basalt and hawaiite) and Group II(mugearite,benmorite and trachyte).The maximum forsterite content(~85) is encountered in zoned forsteritic olivine of Group I,whereas olivine of Group II is characterized by intermediate(Fo=50),fayalitic(Fo=25) and pure fayalite in the mugearite,benmorite and trachyte,respectively.The more evolved varieties of Group II contain minerals that show enrichment of Fe2+,Mn2+and Na+that indicates normal fractional crystallization.The common occurrence of coarse apatite with titanomagnetite in the benmorite indicates that P5+becomes saturated in this rock variety and drops again in trachyte.Cr-spinel is recorded in Group I varieties only and the Cr#(0.5) suggests lherzolite as a possible restite of the Harrat Rahat volcanics.The plots of Cr# vs.the forsterite content(Fo) suggest two distinct trends,which are typical of mixing of two basaltic magmas of different sources and different degrees of partial melting.The bimodality of Harrat Rahat Cr-spinel suggests possible derivation from recycled MORB slab in the mantle as indicated by the presence of high-Al spinel.It is believed that the subcontinental lithospheric mantle was modified by pervious subduction process and played the leading role in the genesis of the Harrat Rahat intraplate volcanics.The trachytes of the Harrat Rahat volcanic field were formed most probably by melting of a lower crust at the mantle-crust boundary.The increase in fO2 causes a decrease in Cr2 O3,and Al2 O3,and a strong increase in the proportion of Fe3+and Mg# of spinel crystallizing from the basaltic melt at T ~1200°C.The olivine-pyroxene and olivine-spinel geothermometers yielded equilibrium temperature in the range of 935-1025°C,whereas the range of <500-850°C from single-pyroxene thermometry indicates either post crystallization reequilibrium of the clinopyroxene,or the mineral is xenocrystic and re-equilibrated in a cooling basaltic magma.     

Aeromagnetic map constrains cratonization of the Arabian Shield

A new aeromagnetic map together with new geological and geochronological data has led to a reinterpretation of the geological history of the Arabian Shield.
The magnetic anomalies outline an orogenic complex containing a network of mostly left-lateral strike-slip faults, including the Nabitah Belt and several peripheral mountain ranges. Oblique accretion resulted in obliteration of early volcanic-arc magnetic fabrics, which were almost completely replaced by a NW–SE magnetic fabric in the northern Shield; the southern Shield, however, reveals extensive E–W anomalies related to post-accretion magmatic intrusions. This complex web of orogenic zones is intimately associated with synchronous molasse basins that formed 680–610 Ma.
The distribution and chronology of orogenic zones, related to the closing of East and West Gondwana, brings into question several earlier assumptions, such as high continental growth rates, palaeogeodynamic reconstructions, the definitions of the Nabitah and Najd faults, and the significance of molasse basins.     

Tectonic effects of sea-floor spreading on the Arabian Shield

Paleogeographic evidence shows that the series of broad E-W anticlines and synclines on the Arabian Shield (Southern Hadramawt Arch, Wadi Hadramawt Syncline, Northern Hadramawt Arch, Rub Al Khali Syncline, Tuwaiq Homocline, Nafud Basin) are not old, inherited structures, but were formed in late Eocene and Oligocene times, as indicated by the warping of Middle Eocene sediments. The fold axes of these structures trend parallel to the Gulf of Aden, and their separation increases from S to N, i. e., with increasing distance from the Gulf of Aden. The most pronounced orogenic phase of the Toros mountain belt and the folding of the foreland belt (Lebanon, Antilebanon, Palmyra Arch, Jebel Sinjar, etc.) took place simultaneously with the warping of the shield. Furthermore, the early Tertiary Trap Volcanism occurs only in the neighborhood of the Gulf of Aden (Yemen, W-Aden Protectorate, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somaliland). Geophysical-oceanographic research in the Gulf of Aden suggests that emplacement of basic magmatic material forms a quasi-oceanic crust (sea-floor spreading) in that rift trough. This apparently causes the displacement of the continental blocks. The close connections in time as well as in directional trends of epirogenic, orogenic and volcanic activities on the Arabian Shield to the sea-floor spreading in the Gulf of Aden indicates tectonic interrelations.This impression is still emphasized, if one considers the younger tectonic development on the shield. The young Tertiary Aden-Volcanics Belt (Miocene-Recent) extends from the East African Rift system over the West Arabian Shield all the way up to Turkey, that is to say its trend is more or less parallel to the Red Sea. Warping effects (Ras en Naqb Uplift, Jafr Depression, Bayir Uplift, Wadi Sirhan Depression, Rutba Dome and the Mesopotanian Basin) on the northern part of the Arabian Shield, where the earlier developed (Aden Gulf-related) structures die out, can be related in time and direction to the rifting in the Red Sea. Faulting along the Aqaba-Dead Sea System is of the same age and cuts the foreland belt. Finally the folding of the Zagros mountain belt is of Miocene age too.The Arabian Shield, bounded by still-active rifting structures of different direction and age, provides a classical example of the effect of sea-floor spreading on a shield area itself, and on its surrounding instable belt. The correct interpretation of these tectonic connections eventually may allow far reaching, basic conclusions.

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Zusammenfassung Die känozoische tektonische und vulkanologische Entwicklung auf und um den Arabischen Schild ist relativ jung und im Vergleich zu anderen Gegenden in ihrer Gesamtheit noch verhältnismäßig gut überschaubar. Sie bietet daher ein Beispiel, dessen Verständnis möglicherweise von grundlegender Bedeutung für die Interpretation gebirgsbildender Vorgänge werden kann.Der Arabische Schild ist im Süden und Südwesten umrahmt von den Rift-Systemen des Golfes von Aden und Roten Meeres, deren zentrale Teile durch quasi-ozeanische Kruste gekennzeichnet sind. Die Einschübe basischen magmatischen Materials (sea-floor spreading) in die Rifttröge verursachten offenbar eine Verdrängung der kontinentalen Blöcke (Bewegungssinn senkrecht zum Streichen der Zonen des aktiven sea-floor spreading). Jedenfalls läßt sich ein solcher Beanspruchungsplan von den verschiedenen tektonischen Teilvorgängen auf dem Arabischen Schild ableiten.Die Entwicklung des Golfes von Aden ist älter als die des Roten Meeres, und das gilt dementsprechend für die Eo- bis Oligozänen vulkanischen, epirogenen und orogenen Vorgänge, die räumlich und zeitlich Beziehungen zum Geschehen im Golf von Aden aufweisen (Trap-Vulkanismus, Verbiegungen des Süd- und Zentral-Arabischen Schildes und Auffaltung des Taurusgebirges und Palmyra-bogens). Alle Ereignisse, die räumliche Beziehungen zur Rotcn-Meer-Streichrichtung zeigen (Aden-Vulkanismus, epirogene Verbiegung des Nord-Arabischen Schildes und Auffaltung des Zagrosgebirges) sind jünger, d. h. seit dem Miozän besonders aktiv.

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Résumé L'évidence paléogéographique montre que, comme l'indique le gauchissement des sédiments de l'Eocéne Moyen, les séries des grands géanticlinaux et synclinaux, orientés est-ouest, sur le craton arabique (S. Hadramawt Arc, Wadi Hadramawt syncline, N. Hadramawt géanticline, Rub Al Khali syncline, Tuwaiq homocline, Nafud bassin) ne sont pas des vieilles structures antérieures, mais ont été formés durant l'Eocéne et l'Oligocène. Les axes de plissement de ces structures ont tendance à être parallèles au Golfe d'Aden. Leur séparation augmente du sud vers le nord, c'est à dire de la même manière que leur distance du Golfe d'Aden augmente. La phase orogénique la plus prononcée de la ceinture montagneuse de Toros et les prémontagnes de l'Arabie septentrionale (Lebanon, Antilebanon, Palmyra Arc, Jebel Sinjar) eurent lieu au même moment que le gauchissement du craton arabique. Bien plus, le «Trap»-volcanisme du Tertiaire Inférieur n'a lieu que dans le voisinage du Golfe d'Aden (Yemen, W-Aden Protectorat, Éritrea, Ethiopia, Somali). Des recherches géophysiques et océanographiques dans le Golfe d'Aden et la Mer Rouge suggèrent que des emplacements de matériaux d'origine magmatique forment une croûte quasi-océanique («Sea-floor Spreading») dans le fossé d'effondrement. Ceci est apparement la cause du déplacement des blocs continentaux. Les proches coïncidences aussi bien en époque qu'en direction des activités épirogéniques, orogéniques et volcaniques entre le craton arabique et le «Sea-floor Spreading» du Golfe d'Aden indiquent des correspendances tectoniques.Cette impression est encore plus renforcée, si l'on considère les développements plus récents du craton arabique. La jeune ceinture Tertiaire d'«Aden»-Volcanisme (Miocène-Recent) s'étend depuid le rift d'Afrique de l'est jusqu'en Turquie au travers du craton arabique de l'ouest. Elle se trouve de ce fait être plus ou moins parallèle à la Mer Rouge. Les gauchissements (Ras En Naqb, Jafr dépression, Bayir hautes plaines, Wadi Sirhan bassin, Rutba dome, Bassin Mésopotanien) de la partie septentrionale du craton arabique, où disparaissent des structures (identiques à celles du Golfe d'Aden) dévelopées au paravent, peuvent être associées en temps et direction au « rifting » de la Mer Rouge. Les failles le long du système Aquaba-Mer Morte sont du même âge et coupent les prémontagnes de l'Arabie septentrionale. Finalement le plissement de la ceinture montagneuse de Zagros appartient aussi au Miocène.Le craton arabique délimité par des structures d'âge et de directions différentes et toujours en cours de séparation, est un example classique de l'effet de la «Sea-floor Spreading» sur un craton et sur sa ceinture instable environnante. L'interprétation correcte de ces effets tectoniques resultera, le cas échéant, en des conclusions fondamentales très importantes.

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Formerly Southwest Center for Advanced Studied P. O. Box 30 365 Dallas Texas 75 230(Contribution No.81).     

Utilizing image processing techniques in lithologic discrimination of Buwatah area, Western Arabian Shield

The main task of this article is the evaluation of the IHS color transformation fusion, color composite ratios, and principal component analysis techniques for lithologic discrimination of the basement rocks exposed at Buwatah area, Western Arabian Shield, Saudi Arabia. Landsat ETM+ images were prepared and used to perform this task using PCI Geomatica software. IHS fusion technique was conducted through four main processing steps: (1) registration of the multispectral image (7, 4, and 2 in RGB) to the panchromatic image and then resample it to the same spatial resolution as that of the panchromatic image; (2) transformation of the three multispectral bands from RGB to IHS space; (3) substitution of the intensity value from the high spatial resolution panchromatic band; and finally (4) back transformation to RGB. The band ratios 5/7, 3/1, and 4/3 displayed in RGB, respectively, were used to produce the color composite ratio image. The first principal component (PC1), the second principal component (PC2), and the third principal component (PC3), displayed in RGB, respectively, were used to construct the color composite principal component image. The resultant images successfully discriminated the exposed rock units in the study area and a lithologic map has been constructed that is subjected to precise field verification. The stratigraphy of the area under consideration starts with metavolcanics and associated volcaniclastics as an oldest rock unit, followed by granodiorite–diorite, pink granite, biotite granite, acidic and basic dykes, and Cenozoic volcanics. A new rock unit (biotite granite) has been introduced that was not represented in previous mapping of the considered sector. The biotite granite is verified by field and petrographical studies.     

Volcanogenic mineralization and a rhyolite dome in the Arabian Shield

The district of Mahawiyah in the Proterozoic shield of Arabia contains a group of Zn-Cu-Au-Ag-Ba mineral prospects in folded meta-sedimentary, volcanoclastic and volcanic rocks, ranging in composition from basalt to rhyolite. The mineralization occurs in veins and as strata-bound, disseminated orebodies associated with intense argillic alteration of adjacent rocks. An intrusive rhyolite dome or laccolith is situated at the centre of an eight square kilometre area of slight but pervasive alteration whose outline can be traced from aerial photographs and within which many of the ore mineral occurrences lie. A model is proposed to explain the pattern of alteration in the volcano-sedimentary pile and formation of the volcanogenic mineralization, based on a concept of the dome acting as a heat source to drive a geothermal "cell". Circulating connate-hydrothermal fluids could have caused alteration and redistribution of trace metals within the volcanics and sediments which mantle the sub-volcanic, rhyolite intrusion. The ore genetic model implies that clusters of veins, disseminated strata-bound and stratiform massive sulphide orebodies occur in distinct areas of the shield, marked by tracts of pervasive alteration which can be identified in aerial photographs and satellite images.     

综合物探方法在隆起型地热田找矿中的应用

以厦门香山湾地热田勘查成果为例,综合运用可控源音频电磁测深法、视电阻率联合剖面法及视电阻率测深法,寻找与断裂有关的地热水富集地段,并根据异常解释圈定钻孔靶区.结果表明:可控源音频电磁测深法可高效地解译、推测研究区断裂的空间分布特征,分析并确定可能的地热水富集地段;垂直推测断裂走向布设视电阻率联合剖面及视电阻率测深剖面,...     

Chemical homogeneity of high-Cr chromitites as indicator for widespread invasion of boninitic melt in mantle peridotite of Bir Tuluha ophiolite,Northern Arabian Shield,Saudi Arabia

The Bir Tuluha ophiolite is one of the most famous chromitite-bearing occurrences in the Arabian Shield of Saudi Arabia, where chromitite bodies are widely distributed as lensoidal pods of variable sizes surrounded by dunite envelopes, and are both enclosed within the harzburgite host. The bulk-rock geochemistry of harzburgites and dunites is predominately characterized by extreme depletion in compatible trace elements that are not fluid mobile (e.g., Sr, Nb, Ta, Hf, Zr and heavy REE), but variable enrichment in the fluid-mobile elements (Rb and Ba). Harzburgites and dunites are also enriched in elements that have strong affinity for Mg and Cr such as Ni, Co and V. Chromian spinels in all the studied chromitite pods are of high-Cr variety; Cr-ratio (Cr/(Cr + Al) atomic ratio) show restricted range between 0.73 and 0.81. Chromian spinels of the dunite envelopes also show high Cr-ratio, but slightly lower than those in the chromitite pods (0.73–0.78). Chromian spinels in the harzburgite host show fairly lower Cr-ratio (0.49–0.57) than those in dunites and chromitites. Platinum-group elements (PGE) in chromitite pods generally exhibit steep negative slopes of typical ophiolitic chromitite PGE patterns; showing enrichment in IPGE (Os, Ir and Ru), over PPGE (Rh, Pt and Pd). The Bir Tuluha ophiolite is a unimodal type in terms of the presence of Ru-rich laurite, as the sole primary platinum-group minerals (PGM) in chromitite pods. These petrological features indicates that the Bir Tuluha ophiolite was initially generated from a mid-ocean ridge environment that produced the moderately refractory harzburgite, thereafter covered by a widespread homogeneous boninitic melt above supra-subduction zone setting, that produced the high-Cr chromitites and associated dunite envelopes. The Bir Tuluha ophiolite belt is mostly similar to the mantle section of the Proterozoic and Phanerozoic ophiolites, but it is a “unimodal” type in terms of high-Cr chromitites and PGE-PGM distribution.     

A lead isotope study of mineralization in the Saudi Arabian Shield

New lead isotope data are presented for some late Precambrian and early Paleozoic vein and massive sulfide deposits in the Arabian Shield. Using the Stacey Kramers (1975) model for lead isotope evolution, isochron model ages range between 720 m.y. and 420 m.y. Most of the massive sulfide deposits in the region formed before 680 m.y. ago, during evolution of the shield. Vein type mineralization of higher lead content occurred during the Pan African event about 550 m.y. ago and continued through the Najd period of extensive faulting in the shield that ended about 530 m.y. ago. Late post-tectonic metamorphism may have been responsible for vein deposits that have model ages less than 500 m.y. Alternatively some of these younger model ages may be too low due to the mineralizing fluids acquiring radiogenic lead from appreciably older local crustal rocks at the time of ore formation.The low²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb ratios found for the deposits in the main part of the shield and for those in north-eastern Egypt, indicate that the Arabian craton was formed in an oceanic crustal environment during the late Precambrian. Involvement of older, upper-crustal material in the formation of the ore deposits in this part of the shield is precluded by their low²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb and²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb characteristics.In the eastern part of the shield, east of longitude 44°20E towards the Al Amar-Idsas fault region, lead data are quite different. They exhibit a linear²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb-²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb relationship together with distinctly higher²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb characteristics. These data imply the existence of lower crustal rocks of early Proterozoic age that apparently have underthrust the shield rocks from the east. If most of the samples we have analyzed from this easterly region were mineralized 530 m.y. ago, then the age of the older continental rocks is 2,100±300 m.y. (2).The presence of upper crustal rocks, possibly also of early Proterozoic age, is indicated by galena data from Hailan in South Yemen and also from near Muscat in Oman. These data are the first to indicate such old continental material in these regions.     

苏中及其南部地区地热勘查物探方法

苏中及其南部是江苏地热能主要分布区,区内地热类型多、水量大、温度高、分布广、开发滞后,因此,对苏中及其南部地区开展不同深度的地热勘查与研究工作,尤其是在地热资源勘查中起重要作用的物探方法研究非常必要。通过对区域地热地质、区域地球物理场特征、时空及温度对岩石物性参数影响的分析,对区内浅层地温、中浅层地热、深成干热岩物探勘查方法进行了研究。分析认为：浅层地温能勘查应以电（磁）类方法为主;中浅部地热资源勘查以电磁法为主,地震微动技术为辅;干热岩资源勘查应以重力和磁法勘查为基础,以大地电磁法和地震微动法为主要勘查方法。通过2个有代表性的成功勘查实例,说明浅层地温能和中浅层地热物探勘查方案的可行性。     

Late Neoproterozoic adakitic magmatism of the eastern Arabian Nubian Shield

Late Neoproterozoic adakitic magmatism within the Eastern Arabian Nubian Shield has been dated at633.2±9.0 Ma(2σ).These magnas intrude the forearc Ad Dawadimi Basin,which is composed of metapelitic schists and greywacke along with ophiolitic melanges of boninitic affinity which underwent inversion and deformation by~620 Ma.This adakitic magmatism,while intruding parts of the Ad Dawadimi Basin,predates this deformation,but is possibly coincident with basin closure.As adakitic magmatism requires melting of an amphibolite or eclogitic source,empirical and experimental constraints require anomalously hot supra-subduction zone mantle.Considering that this magmatism immediately predates basin inversion,these magmas possibly pinpoint the timing of the slab breaking,marking the terminal stages of arc magmatism,terrane accretion and the influx of hot oceanic asthenospheric mantle.This influx of hot asthenospheric mantle may also be responsible for postcolltsional A-type magmatism.     

综合物探方法在天津地区地热勘查中的应用

在常用物探方法分析天津地热勘查的基础上, 建立了适宜天津地区地热勘查的物探方法组合: 对砂岩孔隙型热储层, 宜采用重力勘探、人工地震勘探和大地电磁测深的物探方法组合; 对基岩岩溶裂隙型热储层, 宜采用重力勘探、磁法勘探、人工地震勘探和大地电磁测深的物探方法组合, 建立的物探方法组合在天津周良庄地区的实际应用中取得了良好效果, 同时探讨了深部地热勘查的有效物探方法, 大地面波(微动) 测深在深层基岩地层勘探中具有较好的效果。     

合山平阳勘探区地下水与地温关系探讨

根据平阳勘探区实测资料,按地温曲线形态划分出4种类型,并粗浅地分析了各类型与地下水、岩溶发育程度间的关系。

     

Transpressional regime in southern Arabian Shield: Insights from Wadi Yiba Area, Saudi Arabia

Detailed field-structural mapping of Neoproterozoic basement rocks exposed in the Wadi Yiba area, southern Arabian Shield, Saudi Arabia illustrates an important episode of late Neoproterozoic transpression in the southern part of the Arabian-Nubian Shield (ANS). This area is dominated by five main basement lithologies: gneisses, metavolcanics, Ablah Group (meta-clastic and marble units) and syn- and post-tectonic granitoids. These rocks were affected by three phases of deformation (D₁–D₃). D₁ formed tight to isoclinal and intrafolial folds (F₁), penetrative foliation (S₁), and mineral lineation (L₁), which resulted from early E-W (to ENE-WSW) shortening. D₂ deformation overprinted D₁ structures and was dominated by transpression and top-to-the-W (?WSW) thrusting as shortening progressed. Stretching lineation trajectories, S-C foliations, asymmetric shear fabrics and related mylonitic foliation, and flat-ramp and duplex geometries further indicate the inferred transport direction. The N- to NNW-orientation of both “in-sequence piggy-back thrusts” and axial planes of minor and major F₂ thrust-related overturned folds also indicates the same D₂ compressional stress trajectories. The Wadi Yiba Shear Zone (WYSZ) formed during D₂ deformation. It is one of several N-S trending brittle-ductile Late Neoproterozoic shear zones in the southern part of the ANS. Shear sense indicators reveal that shearing during D₂ regional-scale transpression was dextral and is consistent with the mega-scale sigmoidal patterns recognized on Landsat images. The shearing led to the formation of the WYSZ and consequent F₂ shear zone-related folds, as well as other unmappable shear zones in the deformed rocks. Emplacement of the syn-tectonic granitoids is likely to have occurred during D₂ transpression and occupied space created during thrust propagation. D₁ and D₂ structures are locally overprinted by mesoscopic- to macroscopic-scale D₃ structures (F₃ folds, and L₃ crenulation lineations and kink bands). F₃ folds are frequently open and have steep to subvertical axial planes and axes that plunge ENE to ESE. This deformation may reflect progressive convergence between East and West Gondwana.     

Ophiolite belts and the collision of island arcs in the Arabian Shield

The Arabian Shield is divided into several segments by ophiolite zones. The segments display features of island arcs with respect to their magmatic evolution as well as their mineralization.The northern part of the “Hulayfah—Hamdah ophiolite belt” which cuts the Arabian Shield in a north—southerly direction, has been sampled and described. Serpentinized ultramafics, gabbros, doleritic dike rocks and basalts are the most important members. The ophiolite belt is marked by magnetic anomalies with amplitudes of 200–500 gammas.In conclusion, the Arabian Shield is considered to be built up of several generations of juxtaposed volcanic arcs of Late Proterozoic age. The arcs have been closely swept together squeezing out the trench-fill sediments in the case of the Hulayfah—Hamdah belt. Cratonization was completed by the end of the Precambrian.