A strike‐slip core complex from the Najd fault system,Arabian shield |
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| Authors: | Sven Erik Meyer Cees Passchier Tamer Abu‐Alam Kurt Stüwe |
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| Institution: | 1. Institute of Earth Sciences, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, , Mainz, 55128 Germany;2. Institut für Geowissenschaften, Karl‐Franzens‐Universit?t Graz, , Graz, A‐8010 Austria;3. Norwegian Polar Institute, , Troms?, NO‐9296 Norway;4. Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Tanta University, , Tanta, Egypt;5. Egyptian Institute of Geodynamics, , Cairo, Egypt |
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| Abstract: | Metamorphic core complexes are usually thought to be associated with regional crustal extension and crustal thinning, where deep crustal material is exhumed along gently dipping normal shear zones oblique to the regional extension direction. We present a new mechanism whereby metamorphic core complexes can be exhumed along crustal‐scale strike‐slip fault systems that accommodated crustal shortening. The Qazaz metamorphic dome in Saudi Arabia was exhumed along a gently dipping jog in a crustal‐scale vertical strike‐slip fault zone that caused more than 25 km of exhumation of lower crustal rocks by 30 km of lateral motion. Subsequently, the complex was transected by a branch of the strike‐slip fault zone, and the segments were separated by another 30 km of lateral motion. Strike‐slip core complexes like the Qazaz Dome may be common and may have an important local effect on crustal strength. |
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