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Geological Evolution of the Red Sea: Historical Background, Review and

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-662-45201-1_3
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Geological Evolution of the Red Sea: Historical
Background, Review, and Synthesis
William Bosworth
Abstract
The Red Sea is part of an extensive rift system that includes from south to north the oceanic
Sheba Ridge, the Gulf of Aden, the Afar region, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aqaba, the Gulf of
Suez, and the Cairo basalt province. Historical interest in this area has stemmed from many
causes with diverse objectives, but it is best known as a potential model for how continental
lithosphere first ruptures and then evolves to oceanic spreading, a key segment of the Wilson
cycle and plate tectonics. Abundant and complementary datasets, from outcrop geology,
geochronologic studies, refraction and reflection seismic surveys, gravity and magnetic surveys,
to geodesy, have facilitated these studies. Magnetically striped oceanic crust is present in the
Gulf of Aden and southern Red Sea, active magma systems are observed onshore in the Afar,
highly extended continental or mixed crust submerged beneath several kilometers of seawater is
present in the northern Red Sea, and a continental rift is undergoing uplift and exposure in the
Gulf of Suez. The greater Red Sea rift system therefore provides insights into all phases of rift-to-
drift histories. Many questions remain about the subsurface structure of the Red Sea and the
forces that led to its creation. However, the timing of events—both in an absolute sense and
relative to each other—is becoming increasingly well constrained. Six main steps may be
recognized: (1) plume-related basaltic trap volcanism began in Ethiopia, NE Sudan (Derudeb),
and SW Yemen at *31 Ma, followed by rhyolitic volcanism at *30 Ma. Volcanism thereafter
spread northward to Harrats Sirat, Hadan, Ishara-Khirsat, and Ar Rahat in western Saudi Arabia.
This early magmatism occurred without significant extension or at least none that has yet been
demonstrated. It is often suggested that this “Afar” plume triggered the onset of Aden–Red Sea
rifting, or in some models, it was the main driving force. (2) Starting between *29.9 and
28.7 Ma, marine syn-tectonic sediments were deposited on continental crust in the central Gulf
of Aden. Therefore, Early Oligocene rifting is established to the east of Afar. Whether rifting
propagated from the vicinity of the Sheba Ridge toward Afar, or the opposite, or essentially
appeared synchronously throughout the Gulf of Aden is not yet known. (3) By *27.5–23.8 Ma,
a small rift basin was forming in the Eritrean Red Sea. At approximately the same time
(*25 Ma), extension and rifting commenced within Afar itself. The birth of the Red Sea as a rift
basin is therefore a Late Oligocene event. (4) At *24–23 Ma, a new phase of volcanism,
principally basaltic dikes but also layered gabbro and granophyre bodies, appeared nearly
synchronously throughout the entire Red Sea, from Afar and Yemen to northern Egypt. The
result was that the Red Sea rift briefly linked two very active volcanic centers covering 15,000–
25,000 km2 in the north and >600,000 km2 in the south. The presence of the “mini-plume” in
W. Bosworth (&)
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Cairo, Egypt
e-mail: [email protected]
N.M.A. Rasul and I.C.F. Stewart (eds.), The Red Sea, 45

Springer Earth System Sciences, DOI 10.1007/978-3-662-45201-1_3,
© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015
46 W. Bosworth
northern Egypt may have played a role somewhat analogous to Afar vis-à-vis the triggering of
the dike event. The 24–23 Ma magmatism was accompanied by strong rift-normal extension and
deposition of syn-tectonic sediments, mostly of marine and marginal marine affinity. The area of
extension in the north was very broad, on the order of 1,000 km, and much narrower in the south,
about 200 km or less. Throughout the Red Sea, the principal phase of rift shoulder uplift and
rapid syn-rift subsidence followed shortly thereafter. Synchronous with the appearance of
extension throughout the entire Red Sea, relative convergence between Africa and Eurasia
slowed by about 50 %. (5) At *14–12 Ma, a transform boundary cut through Sinai and the
Levant continental margin, linking the northern Red Sea with the Bitlis–Zagros convergence
zone. This corresponded with collision of Arabia and Eurasia, which resulted in a new plate
geometry with different boundary forces. Red Sea extension changed from rift normal (N60°E)
to highly oblique and parallel to the Aqaba–Levant transform (N15°E). Extension across the
Gulf of Suez decreased by about a factor of 10, and convergence between Africa and Eurasia
again dropped by about 50 %. In the Afar region, Red Sea extension shifted from offshore Eritrea
to west of the Danakil horst, and activity began in the northern Ethiopian rift. (6) These early
events or phases all took place within continental lithosphere and formed a continental rift
system 4,000 km in length. When the lithosphere was sufficiently thinned, an organized oceanic
spreading center was established and the rift-to-drift transition started. Oceanic spreading
initiated first on the Sheba Ridge east of the Alula-Fartaq fracture zone at *19–18 Ma. After
stalling at this fracture zone, the ridge probably propagated west into the central Gulf of Aden by
*16 Ma. This matches the observed termination of syn-tectonic deposition along the onshore
Aden margins at approximately the same time. At *10 Ma, the Sheba Ridge rapidly propagated
west over 400 km from the central Gulf of Aden to the Shukra al Sheik discontinuity. Oceanic
spreading followed in the south-central Red Sea at *5 Ma. This spreading center was initially
not connected to the spreading center of the Gulf of Aden. By *3 to 2 Ma, oceanic spreading
moved west of the Shukra al Sheik discontinuity, and the entire Gulf of Aden was an oceanic rift.
During the last *1 My, the southern Red Sea plate boundary linked to the Aden spreading center
through the Gulf of Zula, Danakil Depression, and Gulf of Tadjoura. Presently, the Red Sea
spreading center may be propagating toward the northern Red Sea to link with the Aqaba–
Levant transform. However, important differences appear to exist between the southern and
northern Red Sea basins, both in terms of the nature of the pre- to syn-rift lithospheric properties
and the response to plate separation. If as favored here no oceanic spreading is present in the
northern Red Sea, then it is a magma-poor hyperextended basin with β factor >4 that is evolving
in many ways like the west Iberia margin. It is probable that the ultimate geometries of the
northern and southern Red Sea passive margins will be very different. The Red Sea provides an
outstanding area in which to study the rift-to-drift transition of continental disruption, but it is
unlikely to be a precise analogue for all passive continental margin histories.
Introduction Application of plate tectonics has been a central theme in

studies of the Red Sea since then.
The Red Sea has long been recognized as one component of In 1972, the R/V Glomar Challenger conducted Leg 23B
a continent scale rift system that reaches from the Dead Sea in the Red Sea and drilled six wells (sites 225–230) in and
to Mozambique. This lead to the popularization of the term nearby the axial trough (Whitmarsh et al. 1974). These wells
“Afro-Arabian rift system” by geologists mapping its dif- confirmed that basalts and fluids with mantle-derived lead
ferent segments (Baker 1970; Khan 1975; Kazmin 1977). It isotopes have been emplaced into the sediment column along
was suggested that the Red Sea, and similarly the Gulf of the Red Sea axis and supported the hypothesis that the Red
Aden, were oceanic rifts at divergent plate boundaries, with Sea was an evolving oceanic rift. As part of this project,
a triple junction located at Afar (Fig. 1; Gass 1970; Coleman (1974) compiled a geologic map of the entire Red
McKenzie et al. 1970; Girdler and Darracott 1972; Burke Sea basin, volcanism of the rift margins, and axial hydro-
and Dewey 1973; Le Pichon and Francheteau 1978). thermal deeps. Based on geological observations, Coleman
Geological Evolution of the Red Sea … 47
Fig. 1 Tectonic features of the

greater Red Sea rift system,
including the northern Ethiopian
(East African) rift, Afar, and the
Gulfs of Aden, Aqaba and Suez.
After Bosworth et al. (2005). AF
Alula-Fartak fracture zone, YT
Yemen traps, ZI Zabargad Island.
Red arrows are GPS velocities in
a Eurasia-fixed reference frame
from ArRajehi et al. (2010).
Albers conical equal area
projection
argued that oceanic crust was restricted to the axial trough in Just as it is firmly thought that the southern Red Sea is
the southern Red Sea and that the rest of the margin was presently an oceanic rift, there is clear consensus that the
continental crust intruded by tholeiitic gabbros and basalt dike northern end of the rift—the Gulf of Suez—is purely con-
swarms. Similar interpretations had been developed from tinental in character (Steckler 1985; Jarrige et al. 1986;
geophysical datasets (Girdler 1958; Drake and Girdler 1964; Courtillot et al. 1987; Girdler and Southren 1987; Joffe and
Lowell and Genik 1972). This contrasts with the McKenzie Garfunkel 1987; Moretti and Chénet 1987). The intervening
et al. (1970) model that envisioned a pre-rift coast-to-coast areas—the central and northern Red Sea—have not met with
restoration with the entire Red Sea underlain by oceanic crust. similar agreement. In outcrop and in offshore exploratory
Numerous intermediate models had also been proposed wells, there are clear similarities with the Gulf of Suez, both
(Girdler 1966, 1970; Girdler and Darracott 1972). in terms of stratigraphy and underlying basement lithologies
The most convincing evidence of oceanic rifting was the (Colemen 1974; Tewfik and Ayyad 1984; Barakat and
recognition of striped magnetic anomalies along the southern Miller 1984; Beydoun 1989; Beydoun and Sikander 1992;
Red Sea axis (Phillips 1970; Girdler and Styles 1974; Röser Bosworth 1993). Along the axial trough, however, there are
1975; Searle and Ross 1975; Hall et al. 1977; Cochran 1983). some similarities with the southern Red Sea axis and some
These authors did not agree on the age of the anomalies when important differences (discussed below). Suffice it to say that
compared to world-wide magnetostratigraphy, but they did the northern and central Red Sea are transitional between
concur that the striping represents the signature of true oce- aborted continental rifting in the north and well-defined
anic spreading. Many other types of geophysical and geo- oceanic rifting in the south, though these areas may not
chemical data supported the oceanic rift scenario, and more represent a simple chronological progression now captured
details of these will be presented later in this chapter. at different points in its evolution. Hence, the broad interest
48 W. Bosworth
in the Red Sea despite-or perhaps because of-its inherent and Overstreet 1978), and similar compilations were pub-
geological and geophysical complexities. lished for the Sinai Peninsula (Eyal et al. 1980) and later the
Recent advances in radiometric dating of Red Sea vol- western Gulf of Suez and Red Sea margin of Egypt (Klitzsch
canic samples, new thermochronologic studies, growing et al. 1986, 1987). The Sudan was not mapped as exten-
global positioning system (GPS) datasets, seismic tomogra- sively as other countries bordering the Red Sea, though
phy, and improved theoretical models have set the stage for country-scale maps were produced (Vail 1975, 1978).
significant revisions in the interpreted tectonic evolution of While the Red Sea margins were being systematically
this rift system. Though understanding of the mechanisms mapped onshore, exploratory drilling for hydrocarbons had
responsible for the formation of the Red Sea will continue to commenced in both the onshore and offshore. Oil seeps had
improve, a much more refined chronology of events is now earlier been reported along the coastline at Gebel el Zeit,
possible and synthesis of this information is the key theme of Gebel Tanka, and Abu Durba in the Gulf of Suez, north of
the present contribution. This chapter will start with a brief Massawa and at the Dahlak Islands in the Sudan, near Zeidiye
review of the geology of the Red Sea and will attempt to in Yemen, and in Saudi Arabia at the Farasan Islands, north of
provide a concise but broad range of background material Yanbu and at Midyan (Hume et al. 1920; Beydoun 1989;
and appropriate references for more detailed information. Bunter and Abdel Magid 1989; Egyptian General Petroleum
Much of the material covered in recent reviews will not be Corporation 1996). By 1987, 10 wells had been drilled off-
included (Bosworth et al. 2005; Cochran 2005; Garfunkel shore Egypt, 11 offshore Sudan, 18 offshore Ethiopia
and Beyth 2006; Lazar et al. 2012). Another invaluable (includes some very shallow on the Dahlak Islands), 5 off-
source of data and syntheses about many aspects of the Red shore Yemen, and 13 offshore Saudi Arabia (includes some
Sea is the book “Geologic Evolution of the Red Sea” by very shallow on the Farasan Islands) (Beydoun 1989; Bey-
Coleman (1993). The chapter will then move to discussions doun and Sikander 1992). Since then, 4 deepwater wells have
of when did the Red Sea initiate and how did it evolve as a been drilled along the Egyptian margin and an undisclosed
continental rift, what were the Red Sea’s relationships to the number of wells offshore Saudi Arabia. These drilling cam-
Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Aqaba, and Ethiopian rifts, when did paigns have established the general stratigraphy of the Red
the transition to oceanic spreading occur, what caused the Sea basin and verified correlations with the Gulf of Suez and
termination of the Red Sea in the north and the subsequent Gulf of Aden syn-rift sections (reviewed in Bosworth et al.
formation of the Levant transform boundary, and what were 2005). Unfortunately, productive hydrocarbon systems have
the forces responsible for the formation of the Red Sea. only been discovered in the Midyan (both onshore and off-
The timescale of Gradstein et al. (2004) is used shore) and Al Wajh/Umm Luj basins of Saudi Arabia and the
throughout this paper. Micropaleontologic interpretations Tokar–Suakin delta of the Sudan.
based on the planktonic foraminiferal zones of Blow (1969)
and the calcareous nannofossil zones of Martini (1971) have
been adjusted to this timescale. Africa’s Other Rifts and the Red Sea
The evolution of the Red Sea should be considered in the

Geologic and Tectonic Setting context of the entire African plate. This can be discussed from
several perspectives. Africa is a remnant of Gondwana, which
Background began to break up during the Late Carboniferous starting with
“Karoo” rifts in southern and east Africa (Groenewald et al.
Modern broad-scale geologic mapping of the margins of the 1991; Bumby and Guiraud 2005). Diachronous Early Perm-
Red Sea began in earnest as a cooperative program between ian rifting occurred along the northern African margin from
the US Geological Survey and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Morocco to Egypt, resulting in the initiation of the Neotethyan
that resulted in coverage and integration of data from all of seaway (Stampfli and Borel 2002). By the Middle Triassic,
the Arabian Peninsula (USGS-Arabian American Oil Com- seafloor spreading was probably occurring in the eastern
pany 1963; Geukens 1966; Greenwood and Bleackley 1967; Mediterranean basin (Robertson et al. 1996; Stampfli et al.
Bender 1975; Brown et al. 1989). Brown (1972) produced a 2001). Rifting began along the Central Atlantic margins in the
tectonic interpretation of these data that included the Red Late Triassic (Davison 2005). During the Jurassic, extension
Sea coastal plain and bathymetry of the axial trough. Ethi- spreads to the inboard basins of the Neotethyan margin
opia and Djibouti also received extensive attention due to (Guiraud and Bosworth 1999), the Blue Nile rift in Sudan
interest in the Afar flood basalts/plume, the Danakil Horst, (Wycisk et al. 1990; Bosworth 1992), the Marib-Shabwa
and the Strait of Bab-al-Mandab (Brinckmann and Kursten basin in Yemen (Bott et al. 1992), the Nogal rift of Somalia
1969; Clin and Pouchan 1970; Barberi et al. 1971; Kazmin (Granath 2001), the Lamu embayment of Kenya (Reeves et al.
1973). Further mapping was completed in Yemen (Grolier 1987) and continued in the Karoo Lugh-Mandera basin of
Kenya–Somalia–Ethiopia (Ali Kassim et al. 2002). Seafloor impingement and eruption of the Afar plume, which possibly
spreading initiated along the Central Atlantic margins in the in conjunction with the Principe and other plumes acted to pin
Early Jurassic (*180 Ma; Klitgord and Schouten 1986; the base of the lithosphere to the upper mantle (Burke 1996).
Davison 2005) and in the Somali basin in the Middle to Late Burke suggested that the arresting of Africa plate motion led
Jurassic (pre-157 Ma; Rabinowitz et al. 1983). By the Late to a surge in intraplate volcanism and to renewed rifting, that
Jurassic, faulting was active in the Benue trough in Nigeria is, formation of the Red Sea–Gulf of Aden–East Africa rift
(Guiraud 1993) and was present throughout the South system (Afro-Arabia rift system). From about the end of the
Atlantic basin by the Early Cretaceous (Rabinowitz and Cretaceous up until the development of stationary Africa,
LaBreque 1979). Seafloor spreading initiated in the South intraplate extension was absent or very localized across
Atlantic in the Neocomian to Aptian, progressing from south Africa, a gap in the rifting history of *35 Ma. This gap was a
to north (Uchupi 1989) and in the equatorial Atlantic in the period of major peneplanation (Burke 1996; Burke and
Late Aptian (*115 Ma; Basile et al. 2005). By this time, the Gunnell 2008) including the development of extensive late-
present geometry of the African plate was essentially estab- rites and paleosols across the Arabian–Nubian shield (Cole-
lished. Through the Cretaceous and locally into the Cenozoic, man 1993). This African surface was the backdrop on which
however, continental extension continued in many African the Red Sea was formed.
basins, particularly within the Benue trough, the Termit basin
of Niger, the Dobaa basin of Chad, the south Sudan rifts, the
Anza trough, the Sirte basin of Libya, the Western Desert of Geomorphology, Axial Deeps,
Egypt, and the basins of Yemen and Somalia (Fairhead 1988; and Rift Shoulder Uplift
Genik 1992; Guiraud and Maurin 1992; Bosworth 1992,
1994; Janssen et al. 1995; Bumby and Guiraud 2005; Guiraud The most prominent geomorphologic features of the Red Sea
et al. 2005). In summary, the breakup/dispersal of the are the extreme deeps along the basin axis and the high ele-
Gondwana segment of Pangaea lasted several hundred million vations along most of its rifted shoulder (Fig. 2). Mapping
years. The Red Sea–Gulf of Aden rift system, with the East compiled by Laughton (1970) revealed a continuous main
African rifts, is part of this ongoing process (Bumby and axial trough that extends from just south of Ras Mohammed in
Guiraud 2005; Bosworth et al. 2005). southernmost Sinai to the vicinity of the Zubayr Islands off-
The driving mechanism for the breakup of a supercontinent shore Yemen. The main trough is generally 1000 m or greater
such as Pangaea has been attributed to thermal blanketing of the in depth and is accentuated by isolated deeps that exceed
underlying mantle and related plume or hotspot activity 2000 m (Degens and Ross 1969; Monin et al. 1981, 1982).
impinging on the base of the lithosphere (Anderson 1982). Slab The axial deeps contain hot brine pools and basaltic cones,
retreat and slab pull on surrounding plate boundaries have also some of which have been studied by detailed side beam sonar
been suggested as associated principal driving forces (Davies and direct sampling (Pautot 1983; Pautot et al. 1984; Bicknell
and Richards 1992; Lithgow-Bertelloni and Richards 1998; et al. 1986) and are the subject of other chapters in this book.
Collins 2003; Reilinger and McClusky 2011). Both plumes and The deeps are intimately related to the evolution of oceanic
nearby subduction zone processes probably played key roles in spreading centers in the Red Sea (Cochran 1983; Bonatti
the evolution of the Red Sea (reviewed in Bosworth et al. 2005). 1985; Martinez and Cochran 1988; Cochran and Martinez
Plumes weaken continental lithosphere and therefore may 1988, reviewed in Cochran 2005; Cochran and Karner 2007).
strongly influence the location of lithospheric failure, while Cochran (2005) compiled all the available bathymetric
plate boundary forces can drive extension. data for the Northern Red Sea (Fig. 2b) and integrated this
This brief overview illustrates the dominant tectonic with gravity and magnetic data to produce a new model for the
activity in Africa over the past 300 My—rifting and formation nucleation of an oceanic spreading center at the axial
of passive continental margins. However, it has been sug- depression. An interesting detail of his bathymetric map
gested that this general theme has been modified during the (present in older maps but not as refined) is the fact that the
most recent 30 My of its progression (Burke 1996). Early in axial trough strikes 5°–10° more to the northwest than the
the past century, geologists recognized that Africa possesses a overall trend of the marine basin. This may reflect an adjust-
distinctive basin and swell geomorphology (Krenkel 1922, ment to extension parallel to the Gulf of Aqaba transform
1957; Argand 1924; Holmes 1965). Following Krenkel, boundary (Bosworth et al. 2005; Lazar et al. 2012, discussed
Burke and Wilson (1972) suggested that this topography was below) and is an expected consequence of the two Eulerian
generated by mantle processes, while the African plate was pole Red Sea opening models proposed by many authors (e.g.,
essentially at rest with respect to the underlying pattern of Joffe and Garfunkel 1987 and references therein).
mantle circulation. “Stationary Africa” arose *30 Ma (Burke The marine shelf and coastal plains of the Red Sea are
1996) and has been attributed to intensified collision between variable in width and were formed by a complex interplay of
Africa and Eurasia (Bailey 1992, 1993) and/or the tectonic, sedimentary, and biotic activity. The present climate
50 W. Bosworth
Fig. 2 Topography and

bathymetry of the Red Sea area
(geographic projection). a From
GLOBE Task Team et al. (1999)
(onshore) and Smith and
Sandwell (1997) (offshore; Seasat
radar altimetry derived
bathymetry). Compared with
Fig. 1 for positions of plate
boundaries, Red Sea volcanic
terranes and place names.
Locations of other figures are
given. b Detailed bathymetry of
northern Red Sea from Cochran
(2005). Onshore is same dataset
as in (a). Topographic–
bathymetric profile runs from
26°15′N, 33°30′E to 28°N, 37°E
through the Conrad deep
of the entire Red Sea region is arid, with the exception of (Figs. 2b, 3b), and as discussed below, this does not reflect
localized mountainous areas where increased rainfall due to the original shape of the rift. It has been suggested that the
orographic forcing results in increased vegetation (Zahran and straight coasts may be the result of young basement-
Willis 2009). These areas are sometimes referred to as “mist involved faulting (Bosworth 1994; Bosworth and Burke
oases” such as at Mt. Elba, Egypt (1,435 m; Kassas and 2005). The youngest faults actually observed in reflection
Zahran 1971). No permanent rivers enter into the basin, seismic data offshore from these areas generally detach
though intermittent rivers such as the Barka (or Baraka) in the within the Middle and Late Miocene halite units (Mougenot
Red Sea Hills of Sudan (Fig. 3a) exist (Beydoun 1989). The and Al-Shakhis 1999; Bosworth and Burke 2005). Gravity-
Barka forms the Tokar delta at the coastline, and during the driven detached faults would probably produce a scalloped
wetter pluvial stages of the Pleistocene, this probably was a coastline, and there is not any active seismicity near the
constantly flowing river. Similarly, many dry wadis that now coast to support the basement-fault model. The straight
reach the Red Sea and deliver little sedimentation would have northern coasts remain somewhat enigmatic.
been more significant input points in the past. This is an Inland from coastal plains, or in many areas immediately
important concept in the hydrocarbon exploration strategies adjacent to the coastline, high elevations are encountered
employed in both the Gulf of Suez and the Red Sea (Rich- along most of the Red Sea. From Taif (Saudi Arabia) to
ardson and Arthur 1988; Lambiase and Bosworth 1995). Taizz (Yemen) along the Arabian margin, the high terrain is
Offshore from Tokar several exploration wells have been bounded by an unbroken erosional escarpment with the
drilled, and significant (though presently noncommercial) highest peaks exceeding 3,000 m (Fig. 3a, c; Spohner and
quantities of gas were discovered in a very thick sedimentary Oleman 1986; Bohannon 1986; Coleman 1993). In Ethiopia,
package that has been referred to as the Suakin delta. the escarpment marks the eastern edge of the Ethiopian
The southern coastlines of both the Arabian and African plateau, with elevations in excess of 2,000 m (Fig. 2a). The
Red Sea margins are curvilinear and paired and reflect the geomorphology in Afar is made more complex by the
initial rift geometry of the basin. North of about 24° latitude presence of the Danakil horst near the coast and the Afar
however on both sides of the basin, the shorelines are linear depression itself (Figs. 1, 2a, 3c; Barberi et al. 1972). Along
Fig. 2 (continued)
the Sudan margin, the elevation in the Red Sea Hills is more were similarly centered at 22 ± 1 Ma (Omar et al. 1989).
subdued but still typically greater than 1,000 m. This mag- Along the Saudi Arabian southern Red Sea margin, Bohannon
nitude of relief continues north to Egypt and along the (1986) suggested that uplift was coeval with faulting at about
western margin of the Gulf of Suez, with isolated basement 25–23 Ma, with a total of *3.5 km of unroofing. Later
peaks reaching 1,400 to more than 2,000 m (Gebel Gharib interpretations by Bohannon et al. (1989) envisioned initial
1,757 m; Gebel Shaayib Al-Banat 2,187 m). The elevation erosion and uplift at 20 Ma, but with at least 2.5 km of the total
on Sinai is greater, with Mt. Sinai itself 2,285 m and nearby occurring after 13.8 Ma. Apatite (U-Th)/He thermochro-
Mt. St. Catherine 2,629 m (Figs. 2a, 4). nometry from exposed footwall blocks in the central Saudi
The timing and causes of the uplift of the margins of the Arabian margin indicated rapid exhumation at *22 Ma and a
Red Sea and Gulf of Suez have long been debated. Gass second distinct pulse about 8 Ma later (Szymanski 2013).
(1970) and later other workers suggested that the region of For the Yemeni margin, exhumation was identified at 17–
Afar was uplifted prior to rifting during the Oligocene or even 16 Ma (Menzies et al. 1992, 1997), but on the conjugate margin
earlier. Apatite fission track cooling dates were first obtained in Eritrea, Abbate et al. (2002) found a broad range of fission
for the basement complex of Sinai (Kohn and Eyal 1981) and track ages (400–10 Ma). Modeling did suggest, however, a
indicated that an important period of denudation occurred major crustal cooling event driven by denudation at 20 Ma.
between *27 and 20 Ma. However, most of the dates clus- Ghebreab et al. (2002) also found cooling ages along the Erit-
tered at 22–20 Ma. Data from the western margin of the Gulf rean margin north of Danakil clustering between 23 and 17 Ma.
52 W. Bosworth
Fig. 3 Landsat 7 mosaics of the Red Sea margins (transverse Mercator Saudi Arabia that reactivated parts of the Neoproterozoic Najd fault
projections): a The Arabian escarpment south of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, system. c The Arabian escarpment from Taif, Saudi Arabia to Taizz,
and the Tokar delta at the mouth of the ephemeral Barka River south of Yemen. Imagery is from the NASA Stennis Space Center GeoCover
Suakin, Sudan. b Miocene extensional faults near Duba and Al Wajh, project (MDA Federal 2004)
Taken in their entirety, the fission track and (U-Th)/He related to the Late Eocene Syrian arc compressional phase
data suggest that the rift flanks of the Red Sea began that is well documented in these same areas (Guiraud and
denudation at about 24–23 Ma, at least locally, and by about Bosworth 1999).
22–20 Ma, fairly continuous rift shoulders were present.
Some fission track data have been produced that suggest an
even earlier unroofing event, at *34 Ma—in the Late Large-Scale Basin Geometry
Eocene (Steckler and Omar 1994; Omar and Steckler 1995).
These data come from the western Gulf of Suez and Egyp- Utilizing wells drilled in the offshore Egyptian Red Sea
tian Red Sea margins. Bosworth and McClay (2001) sug- margin, Tewfik and Ayyad (1984) and Barakat and Miller
gested that this phase of uplift, if significant, was more likely (1984) established that the Miocene stratigraphy of the
Fig. 4 Structure of the Gulf of

Suez continental rift basin
thought to be representative of the
early structure of the Red Sea
(after Khalil 1998; Bosworth and
McClay 2001). AS Abu Shaar el
Qibli, EEM Esh el Mellaha
basement range and SW-dipping
basin, HF Hammam Faraun fault
block
northern Red Sea was remarkably similar to that of the Gulf of data and recognized that within each sub-basin, the regional
Suez. This confirmed the idea that the heavily explored— dip of beds is consistently in one direction, and hence, the
there are now nearly 4,000 wells drilled—and well-exposed overall geometry is that of a large-scale half graben broken
Gulf of Suez could be utilized as an analogue for the early up into a series of smaller half grabens. In the southern sub-
structural and sedimentologic history of the northern Red Sea. basin, dip is generally to the southwest; in the central sub-
On a regional scale, the Gulf of Suez consists of three basin, to the northeast; and in the northern sub-basin, again
sub-basins, each *100 km in length and *50–90 km in to the southwest. Hence, the “polarity” of the basins flips
width (Fig. 4). Internally, each of these sub-basins consists back and forth along the rift axis in what Moustafa referred
of nested, rotated fault blocks (Fig. 5). Structural complexity to as dip domains. Similar large-scale reversals in structural
and degree of stratal rotation increase systematically toward dip, or major offsets of sub-basins with similar dip, have
the south (Colleta et al. 1988; Patton et al. 1994). Moustafa been identified in most continental rifts. The boundaries
(1976) analyzed available dipmeter and other subsurface between these sub-basins have been named accommodation
54 W. Bosworth
Fig. 5 Structural cross section of the southern Gulf of Suez and sequential views of sediment accumulation and sites of active faulting (after
Bosworth 1994, 1995). Location is shown in Fig. 4
zones (Bosworth 1985; Rosendahl et al. 1986) or transfer The alternating half-graben geometry theme is not
zones (Morley et al. 1990; Moustafa 1997). In my original restricted to the Gulf of Suez. Along the Red Sea margin of
discussion of these common features, it was specifically Egypt, another polarity reversal has been recognized in out-
noted that I was referring to crustal-scale sub-basin bound- crop in the vicinity of Quseir (Fig. 6; Jarrige et al. 1990;
aries; there are smaller structures in most rifts that are better Younes and McClay 2002; Khalil and McClay 2009). North
described as transfer faults (Gibbs 1984) or relay ramps of the Quseir accommodation zone, structural dip is to the
(Larsen 1988; Peacock and Sanderson 1991). southwest and represents a regional continuation of the
Fig. 6 Principal structural features of the Quseir–Duba accommoda- blue dashed lines [Egyptian terminology is from Khalil and McClay
tion zone after restoring the Egyptian and Saudi Arabian margins to a (2009)]. Miocene extensional faults are shown in red or yellow
pre-rift configuration at circa 23 Ma [restoration from Bosworth and depending on direction of dip. Faults are plotted on SPOT imagery on
Burke (2005); Africa is held stationary in this view with present-day the Egyptian margin and QuickBird imagery on the Saudi margin
north to the top]. Late Neoproterozoic Najd shear zones are shown as courtesy of Google Earth
southern Gulf of Suez sub-basin. At Gebel Duwi, the struc- are present along both sides of the Gulf of Suez and the
tural dip changes to the northeast. On the Saudi margin, the northern Red Sea (Szymanski 2013). Stratal rotation in the
same structural change occurs south of Duba. After restoring relict basins is typically only 10–20°. More interior to the
the Red Sea to an Early Miocene configuration (see below), rift, fault block dimensions are smaller, the amount of
the Gebel Duwi and Duba accommodation zones are linked rotation typically systematically increases toward the rift
and pass through the area of the Brothers Islands (Bosworth axis, and the movement on faults continued longer into the
1994; Bosworth and Burke 2005). Fantozzi and Sgavetti syn-rift history. Stratal dip along the axis of the southern
(1998) recognized the presence of accommodation zones in Gulf of Suez locally exceeds 50° (Bosworth 1995).
outcrops along the paired margins of the Gulf of Aden, so this In outcrop, vertical fault geometry is generally difficult to
can reasonably be interpreted to have been a general attribute constrain—exposures of fault planes are simply too limited,
of the entire Red Sea–Gulf of Aden continental rift system. except in rare cases of extreme topography. Both interpre-
At the scale of individual fault blocks, the Gulf of Suez tations of basement-involved listric, detached faulting and
and northern Red Sea margins display a great variety of sizes bookshelf or domino-style faulting have been presented for
and styles of structuring (Angelier 1985; Jarrige et al. 1986; many parts of the Red Sea and Gulf of Suez (Davison et al.
Colletta et al. 1988; Moretti and Colletta 1988; Perry and 1994; Geoffroy et al. 1998; Perry and Schamel 1990;
Schamel 1990; Bosworth 1995). The largest fault blocks are McClay et al. 1998). In some oil fields in the southern Gulf
generally positioned on the outboard margins of the basin, as of Suez, basement faults have been penetrated by multiple
at Esh el Mellaha in the Gulf of Suez which has a length of wellbores. Some of these fault planes display abrupt changes
80 km and a width of 25 km (Fig. 4). The syn-rift stratig- in dip with depth, and others are most simply interpreted as
raphy present on these large blocks is typically only that listric in profile (Bosworth 1995; Bosworth et al. 2012).
produced during the earliest phase of extension, and then, Correctly interpreting fault geometry is critical to estimates
their bounding faults ceased moving and the sub-basins were of horizontal extension and also for proper placement of
abandoned (Fig. 5). These “relict basins” (Bosworth 1994) exploration and development wells.
56 W. Bosworth
Along-strike fault geometry is much better documented in the age of the stratigraphic units. This has been reviewed by
most exposed rift settings, and this is certainly the case in the Tewfik and Ayyad (1984), Barakat and Miller (1984), Miller
Gulf of Suez and Red Sea. Surface traces of many of the and Barakat (1988), Bunter and Abdel Magid (1989),
larger extensional faults show a characteristic zigzag pattern, Hughes and Beydoun (1992), Coleman (1993), Hughes and
particularly where the footwall block is crystalline basement Filatoff (1995), Hughes et al. (1999), and Hughes and
(Fig. 6; Jarrige et al. 1986; McClay et al. 1998). In some Johnson (2005). The closely related stratigraphy of the Gulf
cases, subsurface data (wells, seismic) suggest that this is of Suez is summarized in Evans (1988), Richardson and
partly erosion of fault line scarps along pre-existing base- Arthur (1988), Hughes et al. (1992), Patton et al. (1994),
ment fractures and faults. However, many of the angular Wescott et al. (1997), McClay et al. (1998), Plaziat et al.
changes in strike are real and represent intersection of the (1998), and Bosworth and McClay (2001).
predominantly NW–SE to NNW–SSE striking extensional The base of the syn-rift section includes heterogeneous and
faults with hard-linkage transfer faults/cross-faults of a laterally discontinuous beds of sandstone and conglomerate in
variety of orientations. In the Gulf of Suez, the largest cross- most parts of the rift system (Fig. 7). The basal beds locally
faults are *NNE–SSW and are important both on Sinai and contain clasts of basalt or interdigitations of basalt flows or
in the Eastern Desert (Bosworth 1995; Bosworth et al. 1998; pyroclastics (e.g., Hadley et al. 1982; Schmidt et al. 1983;
McClay et al. 1998). NE–SW striking cross-faults, perpen- Sellwood and Netherwood 1984). The depositional environ-
dicular to the extensional faults, are often present in sub- ments include lacustrine and fluvial to marginal marine. In
surface interpretations but are generally less important in offshore Eritrea, this section has been dated as late Chat-
outcrop. In the northern Red Sea, Neoproterozoic WNW– tian, *27.5–23.0 Ma (Hughes et al. 1991). Further north
ESE striking Najd shear zones play the most significant role along the Saudi and Sudanese margins and into the Gulf of
in modifying Miocene fault geometry (Figs. 3b, 6; Younes Suez, the oldest strata that are definitively syn-rift are
and McClay 2002; Khalil and McClay 2009). Aquitanian in age, *23.0–20.4 Ma (data reviewed in Bos-
worth et al. 2005). The top of this rift initiation package often
contains shallow marine limestone and thin evaporite beds
Stratigraphy (Saoudi and Khalil 1986; Evans 1988; Bosworth et al. 1998).
The transition into the main phase of syn-rift sedimen-
The age and distribution of the pre-Red Sea stratigraphy of the tation is diachronous between some individual fault blocks
Arabian Peninsula and northeast Africa have been extensively but regionally occurs at the base of the Burdigalian
documented from outcrop studies and in the subsurface of the at *20.4 Ma. This corresponds to when the fission track
Gulf of Suez (Beydoun 1978; Hadley and Schimdt 1980; data indicate the presence of a well-established and rapidly
Klitzsch 1990; Schandelmeier and Reynolds 1997; Issawi rising rift shoulder and supports a thermomechanical linkage
et al. 1999; Ziegler 2001, reviewed in Bosworth et al. 2005; between extension-driven subsidence and flank uplift
Guiraud et al. 2005). However, none of the offshore wells (Steckler 1985; Joffe and Garfunkel 1987; Steckler et al.
drilled in the Red Sea has penetrated any definitive Paleozoic 1988). Subsidence rates increased dramatically, with up to
or Mesozoic section (except immediately at the Sudanese 1,500 m of open marine Globigerina-bearing shale and marl
coastline; Bunter and Abdel Magid 1989). Only at Zabargad and turbiditic sandstone deposited in axial sub-basins
Island (Fig. 1) is there exposed *200 m of marine strata, (Fig. 9a). In the Gulf of Suez, the Burdigalian marls often
dated as Early Cretaceous in age (Bosworth et al. 1996). As contain total organic carbon (TOC) of 1.5–2.2 % and con-
the richest source rocks in the Gulf of Suez are pre-rift lime- stitute an important hydrocarbon source rock (Alsharhan
stones, the lack of pre-rift Red Sea sedimentary rocks has 2003). This may also be the case in the Red Sea, but the
always been considered a major exploration risk in this basin distribution of appropriate facies is not well constrained
(Beydoun 1989; Beydoun and Sikander 1992). (Beydoun 1989). TOC measured in wells along the Egyptian
The thickness of the pre-Red Sea stratigraphic section Red Sea margin is 0.67–1.14 % (Barakat and Miller 1984)
increases both toward the far north and south (see Bosworth and would not be considered a significant source rock by
et al. 2005 their Fig.9). In Egypt, this is due to the large wedge most petroleum geologists.
of sedimentary rock developed south of Paleo- and Neotethys; The Burdigalian Red Sea and Gulf of Suez sections also
in Eritrea, it is related especially to a thick Jurassic section contain thick sandstone facies that constitute important res-
associated with the opening of the Indian Ocean. In both ervoir objectives. This is the case for the two largest known
areas, the pre-rift stratigraphy reaches about 2,500 m in total. fields, Morgan and Belayim in the central Gulf (Egyptian
The literature on the syn-rift stratigraphy of the Red Sea General Petroleum Corporation 1996). The depositional
is also voluminous. Unlike the pre-rift strata, the offshore environments of the sandstones are submarine fan and
Red Sea has provided a wealth of information from the few channel complexes in the basin axes that are thought to have
wellbores that have been drilled, particularly with regard to been sourced from structurally controlled point sources
Fig. 7 High-resolution
QuickBird satellite image of part
of the border fault complex of the
central Gulf of Suez (image
acquired and processed for
Apache Corporation by Spatial
Energy). Outcrop geology is
simplified from Khalil (1998) and
Bosworth et al. (2012). Location
is shown in Fig. 4. Syn. syncline.
Transverse Mercator projection
along the basin margins (Lambiase and Bosworth 1995; Salt Flowage
Wescott et al. 1997; Khalil and McClay 2009). In more
proximal fault blocks, the Burdigalian section often contains The formation of salt domes and walls has been studied in
conglomerates and sandstones deposited as alluvial fans and both the subsurface and along the margins of the Red Sea
fan deltas (Fig. 8b; Sharp et al. 2000; Young et al. 2000). and Gulf of Suez (Hassan and Dashlouty 1970; Ross and
The main syn-rift fill continued into the early Middle Mio- Schlee 1973; Mulder et al. 1975; Khedr 1984; Miller and
cene (Langhian) and a second brief period of evaporite depo- Barakat 1988; Patton et al. 1994; Bosworth 1995; Heaton
sition occurred throughout most of the rift system (Fig. 8). Deep et al. 1995; Bosence et al. 1998, reviewed in Orszag-Sperber
marine conditions then reappeared but were short lived as et al. 1998). Both local salt overhangs and larger salt can-
nearly the entire basin began depositing evaporites at about opies have been described (Fig. 10). Consensus is that
14 Ma (early Serravallian). The principal evaporite minerals are flowage of the Middle to Late Miocene massive halite began
halite and anhydrite/gypsum, and these are interbedded with soon after its deposition and subsequently impacted the
conglomerate, sandstone, and shale depending on the position distribution of younger sediments. In general, the configu-
within the various sub-basins. Another brief period of normal ration of the salt walls in the Gulf of Suez follows that of the
marine deposition returned in the late Serravallian during which underlying extensional fault blocks and hard-linkage transfer
extensive carbonate platforms were developed (Fig. 9c; Bos- faults (Bosworth 1995).
worth et al. 1998; Cross et al. 1998). The Late Miocene was In many oil fields in the Gulf of Suez, the ultimate top
typified throughout by restricted marine evaporite deposition seal is the massive salt, and hence, mapping this surface is a
and interbedded conglomerate, sandstone, and shale similar to key aspect of exploration. As in other salt basins, the high
the early Serravalian. seismic velocities of the evaporites and their complex
Within salt walls and domes, the massive halite sections geometry make imaging the sub-salt structure and stratig-
sometimes exceed 3 km thickness. Age control within the raphy exceptionally difficult. Some progress in addressing
various evaporite-dominated formations is rare, but the this issue has been reported in recent years (Mougenot and
uppermost shale interbeds have yielded broad ranging Al-Shakhis 1999; Musser et al. 2012).
“Late” Miocene ostracods and calcareous nannoplankton
(El-Shafy 1992). These beds are capped by an unconformity
that extends throughout the Gulf of Suez and Red Sea which Volcanicity
is in turn overlain by Pliocene strata. This unconformity—
the “S” reflector of Ross et al. (1973) and the “top Zeit” of The volcanic rocks of the Red Sea basin provide critical
industry parlance—is therefore essentially equivalent to the information about the timing of rifting, the nature of the
Messinian unconformity of the Mediterranean (Coleman subcrustal mantle, the possible connections between the Afar
1993). Like the Mediterranean, the Red Sea must have been plume and rifting, the transition from continental to oceanic
mostly a dry basin during the Late Messinian. rifting, and the onset of seafloor spreading. Coleman (1993)
58 W. Bosworth
Fig. 8 Simplified stratigraphic

sections and terminology of the
Gulf of Suez and Red Sea (after
Bosworth and Burke 2005 and
references therein). Timescale is
from Gradstein et al. (2004)
has provided a thorough introduction to this material, and a coeval layered gabbro and granophyre (McGuire and Cole-
recent review is provided by Szymanski (2013). In terms of man 1986; Coleman 1993). The dikes in Saudi Arabia were
chronology, volcanism can be discussed in four phases: (1) intruded over a brief time span from *24 to 22 Ma (Table 1;
the Afar and Yemen trap basalts and Older Harrats; (2) Sebai et al. 1991). Basaltic dikes in Sinai and the vicinity of
sheeted dike complexes of the Saudi Arabian margin and Cairo correspond to the same ages and fed an area of flows
time-equivalent isolated dikes and flows of Sinai and that covered *15,000 km2 (preserved) to perhaps
northern Egypt; (3) the Younger Harrats; and (4) post- 25,000 km2 (original) (Figs. 11 and 12). Though authors
Miocene volcanism of the Red Sea axial trough. differ on the interpretation of the Cairo basalts, field rela-
40
Ar/39Ar age dating has shown that eruption of the Afar tionships suggest that they were erupted more or less as a
basalts/trachytes began at 31 Ma, followed by rhyolitic single geologic event similar to the initial basaltic volcanism
eruptions *1 Ma later and then a period of *5 Ma of much at Afar (Bosworth et al. 2015) and can be thought of as a
more subdued outflowings of basalts and ignimbrites (Zumbo short-lived “mini-plume.” Recent analyses of trace elements
et al. 1995; Rochette et al. 1997; Chernet et al. 1998; George and Sr–Nd–Pb–Hf isotopes suggest that these sub-alkaline
et al. 1998; Ukstins et al. 2002; and Coulié et al. 2003). basalts were derived from mixing of an Afar plume-like
Smaller occurrences of rhyolites on the southern Sudanese source with metasomatized continental lithosphere (Endress
margin were similarly dated at 30 Ma (Kenea et al. 2001) and et al. 2011). In the Gulf of Suez, the circa 23 Ma basalts are
basalts at the Older Harrat Hadan 28–26 Ma (Sebai et al. 1991; found associated with the very basal syn-rift sedimentary
Féraud et al. 1991). The Yemeni traps show the same units (Fig. 12a; Sellwood and Netherwood 1984; Bosworth
sequence as Afar, with basalts beginning at 31 Ma followed and McClay 2001; Jackson 2008). The weighted mean
by massive ignimbrites from 30 to 26 Ma (Baker et al. 1994, average plateau and integrated total fusion ages for the Red
1996; Ukstins et al. 2002; Coulié et al. 2003). Sea dikes and flows of Egypt are 23.0 ± 0.1 and
The second phase of Red Sea volcanism principally 22.8 ± 0.1 Ma, respectively (Table 1), essentially at the
involved intrusion of NW–SE striking basaltic dikes along Oligocene–Miocene transition (Gradstein et al. 2004). The
the Yemen and Saudi Red Sea margins, Sinai, and northern weighted mean average of Sebai et al.’s dates for Saudi
Egypt. In southern Saudi Arabia, the dikes are exposed with Arabia is slightly younger at 21.8 ± 0.03 Ma, but these
Fig. 9 Field photographs of syn-rift strata from the northern Red Sea deformed by a syn-rift fault propagation fold at Wadi Baba (Fig. 7);
rift system (Egypt). a Early Miocene Rudeis Formation shale and thin c Middle Miocene reef platform and carbonate talus overlying
sandstone, the main syn-rift fill facies of the basin. From the dip slope crystalline basement at Abu Shaar el Qibli northwest of Hurghada
of the Hammam Faraun fault block (Fig. 4); b proximal fan-delta (Fig. 4). These carbonate rocks are time stratigraphic equivalents of the
sandstone and conglomerate near the rift border fault complex and Belayim Formation of Fig. 8
Fig. 10 Structural cross section of the salt ridge at East Ranim. The shaped structure with a salt overhang. East Ranim-2 penetrated the
lithofacies of the main syn-rift Rudeis and Kareem Formations are Hammam Faraun Member three times, once in an overturned orien-
shown by color coding. The South Gharib and Belayim Formations tation. Location is shown in Fig. 4
contain massive halite that has flowed to produce a classic mushroom-
60 W. Bosworth
Table 1 Compilation of Ar40/Ar39 data for the Red Sea dike event at the Oligocene–Miocene boundary
Location Outcrop Sample Mineral Weighted mean plateau age Integrated total fusion age Source
Name
Country
North Egypt Cairo Whole rock 22.4a Lotfy et al. (1995)
Cairo Whole rock 22.6a Lotfy et al. (1995)
Gebel Qatrani Whole rock 23.67 ± 0.15 Kappelman et al. (1992)
Gebel Qetrani Whole rock 23.68 ± 0.14 Kappelman et al. (1992)
Gebel Qatrani Whole rock 23.62 ± 0.16 Kappelman et al. (1992)
Gebel Qetreni 08-GQ-01 Whole rock 21.7 ± 0.3 22.0 ± 0.8 Bosworth et al. (2015)
Gebel Gatrani 08-GQ-02 Whole rock 21.4 ± 0.3 20.0 ± 0.3 Bosworth et al. (2015)
Gebal Qatrani 08-GQ-03 Whole rock 23.2 ± 0.4 24.0 ± 0.8 Bosworth et al. (2015)
West Faiyum WFAY-1 Whole rock 23.5 ± 0.7 24.0 ± 0.5 Bosworth et al. (2015)
West Faiyum WFAY-2 Whole rock 22.1 ± 0.4 21.7 ± 0.6 Bosworth et al. (2015)
Bahariya Oasis 09-WD-01 Whole rock 23.1 ± 0.2 22.9 ± 0.2 Bosworth et al. (2015)
Bahariya Oasis 09-WD-02 Whole rock 23.6 ± 0.2 23.2 ± 0.2 Bosworth et al. (2015)
Bahariya Oasis 09-WD-03 Whole rock 20.8 ± 0.2 Bosworth et al. (2015)
Bahariya Oasis 09-WD- Whole rock 24.2 ± 0.2 Bosworth et al. (2015)
04a
Bahariya Oasis 09-WD- Whole rock 25.0 ± 0.3 Bosworth et al. (2015)
04b
Qaret Dab’a 09-WD-05 Whole rock 23.4 ± 0.4 23.1 ± 0.4 Bosworth et al. (2015)
Wadi Tayiba 06-GZ-02 Whole rock 23.1 ± 0.9 Bosworth et al. (2015)
Wadi Nukhul 06-GZ-03 Whole rock 24.4 ± 0.3 23.0 ± 3.0 Bosworth et al. (2015)
Weighted mean average 23 0 ± 0 1 22.8 ± 0.1
South Saudi Arabia Al Wajh 89A53 Plagioclase 22.50 ± 0.06 Sebai et al. (1991)
AI Lith 88AR1 Plagioclase 22.3 ± 0.6 Sebai et al. (1991)
Al Lith AS82 Plagioclase 23.3 ± 0.5 Sebai et al. (1991)
Al Lith 88A4 Amphibole 24.0 ± 0.2 Sebai et al. (1991)
AI Lith AS85 Plagioclase 21.7 ± 0.3 Sebai et al. 1991
AI Birk 89A44 Whole rock 23.9 ± 0.3 Sebai et al. (1991)
AI Birk 89A44 Biotite 22.3 ± 0.5 Sebai et al. (1991)
AI Birk 88AR55 Hornblende 21.1 ± 0.5 Sebai et al. (1991)
AI Birk 88AR53 Hornblende 22.0 ± 0.3 Sebai et al. (1991)
Tihama Asir 88AR14 Whole rock 21.8 ± 0 3 Sebai et al. (1991)
Tihama Asir 88AR48 Plagioclase 24.5 ± 1.3 Sebai et al. (1991)
Weighted mean average 21.8 ± 0.03
a
not used in weighted average as no standard deviation provided
Fig. 11 Cairo basalt province and faulting associated with the northern Lighter shading is the area of flows based solely on well penetrations
limits of the greater Red Sea rift system. The purple shaded region (thickness of flow is annotated). Gray shaded box shows basal
shows the extent of 23–22 Ma basalt flows in the subsurface, with an Miocene-age subsurface faults in a merge of several large-scale 3D
area of approximately 15,000 km2 (would have covered 20,000– seismic surveys. After Bosworth et al. (2015). Transverse Mercator
25,000 km2 prior to erosion). Darker shading is the area of flows projection
mapped by Williams and Small (1984) in 2D reflection seismic data.
basalts were emplaced over a much greater area, and this Arabian Peninsula: Harrat ash Shaam, Jordan at *13 Ma
average may include several closely related eruptive events. (Ilani et al. 2001), and the Younger Harrats of Saudi Arabia
The age of the onset of dike intrusion was statistically the —Uwayrid *12 Ma, Khaybar *11 Ma, and Ra-
same in both the Gulf of Suez and Saudi margin. hat *10 Ma (Coleman et al. 1983; Coleman 1993 and ref-
After the 24–22 Ma dike event, volcanism ceased in most erences therein). Volcanism continues to the Recent in these
parts of the Red Sea basin. Exceptions are Afar, where a and other Younger Harrats, often with north–south aligned
complex igneous history continued to the present day vents and dikes. These orientations support the interpretation
(Barberi et al. 1972; Varet 1978; Zanettin et al. 1978; Berhe that in the Arabian shield, the maximum horizontal stress has
1986; Vellutini 1990; Tefera et al. 1996), and Harrat Ishara been north–south during post-Miocene times (Bosworth and
(north of Madinah) which experienced basaltic volcanism Strecker 1997). This contrasts with the central platform areas
from *17 to 14.5 Ma (Szymanski 2013). In the Middle of Arabia (Ghawar province) where the maximum horizontal
Miocene, volcanism returned to far-reaching areas of the stress is presently ENE–WSW (Ameen 2014).
62 W. Bosworth
fundamental observation that the Red Sea displays positive

gravity anomalies that Girdler (1958) attributed to mafic
intrusions into the basement complex. This can be thought of
as the seed from which the concept that the Red Sea is
undergoing oceanic spreading evolved (Lazar et al. 2012).
Maximum Bouguer values exceed 100 mGal and are located
along the median trough (Allan et al. 1964; Allan 1970;
Makris et al. 1991a). In the southern Red Sea, the anomalies
display a simple, approximately parallel relationship to the
present-day coastlines. North of Zabargad Island, however,
the anomalies are less continuous and trend more northwest
than the coastlines (Cochran and Karner 2007). The northern
Red Sea gravity anomalies have been interpreted as the
expression of large, rotated fault blocks of continental crust
(Martinez and Cochran 1988; Cochran and Karner 2007).
Cochran (2005) inferred that the fault block arrays were
segmented and separated by accommodation zones that
trend normal to the coastlines. This configuration is very
different than that proposed based on outcrop geology
(Fig. 6; Bosworth 1994; Bosworth and Burke 2005), though
the general concept of along-strike rift segmentation is in
agreement.
Magnetic studies of the Red Sea followed the early
gravity investigations (Allan et al. 1964; Drake and Girdler
1964). It was soon accepted that linear magnetic anomalies
that are present on both sides of the axial deep in the
southern Red Sea were produced by seafloor spreading
Fig. 12 Field photographs of circa 23 Ma basaltic volcanism associated (Allan 1970; Röser 1975; Searle and Ross 1975). The onset
with rift initiation in the northern Red Sea rift system. a Basalt flow
within the Abu Zenima Formation at Wadi Tayiba in the northern Gulf of of spreading is thought to be *5 Ma (Cochran 1983) at the
Suez (Fig. 4) overlain by Early Miocene Nukhul Formation syn-rift Miocene–Pliocene transition and approximately coeval with
siliciclastic rocks; underlain by Oligocene Tayiba Formation pre-rift red the major Zeit unconformity discussed above. The magnetic
beds and Late Eocene Tanka Formation white limestone. Base-rift character of the northern Red Sea is much more contentious.
unconformity is shown by white line; b NW–SE aligned monogenetic
volcanic cones southwest of Faiyum in the Western Desert of Egypt (part Anomalies there tend to be discrete, localized and normally
of Qarat el Zurq–Qaret Dab’a trend in Fig. 11) magnetized (Cochran et al. 1986; Martinez and Cochran
1988; Guennoc et al. 1988), and therefore must have been
produced within the past 780 ka (Brunhes chronozone)
Typical mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORBs) of the Red Sea based on the geomagnetic polarity timescale (Shackleton
rift axis have been observed and sampled in situ by sub- et al. 1990; Gee and Kent 2007). These young features are
mersible dives (Monin et al. 1982; Juteau et al. 1983), and interpreted to be individual volcanoes erupted within the
closely related tholeiites are exposed subaerially at the active northern axial deeps (e.g., Bannock and Shaban Deeps,
axial shield volcano of Jabal at Tair Island in the very Fig. 2b; Bonatti et al. 1984; Pautot et al. 1984) or localized
southern Yemeni Red Sea (Mattash 2008). The ongoing intrusions. Martinez and Cochran (1988) similarly inter-
volcanism of the Red Sea axial trough is discussed in detail preted a sub-sea sediment piercing structure near the
in other chapters of this book. Brothers Islands to be a volcano built on the abyssal plain
west of the axial trough. It has also been suggested that high-
frequency, discontinuous but linear magnetic anomalies are
Lithospheric and Crustal Structure present in the northern Red Sea dataset and that these were
formed by seafloor spreading (Saleh et al. 2006).
Geophysical studies of the Red Sea have been reviewed by Seismic refraction profiling has provided important con-
Cochran (2005), Cochran and Karner (2007), and Lazar et al. straints on the configuration of the Moho along the Red Sea
(2012). Gravity observations initiated with the coastal sur- margins of Egypt (Makris et al. 1981; Gaulier et al. 1988)
vey of von Triulzi (1898) and then the shipboard expedition and Saudi Arabia (Mooney et al. 1985; Prodehl 1985;
of Vening Meinesz (1934). These data led to the Milkereit and Fluh 1985; Blank et al. 1986; Gettings et al.
1986). In the north, the un-thinned continental crustal rather than prior, or there would have been time for equili-
thickness is *40 km in both Arabia and Africa. At the bration of the shallow heat flow.
coastlines, the crust has been thinned to *20 km, though the
limited data that are available suggest that the change is
more abrupt on the Egyptian margin (see compilation in Plate Kinematics and Red Sea Restorations
Voggenreiter et al. 1988). In southern Saudi Arabia, the
1,070 km US Geological Survey refraction line extends from Early models of the Red Sea basin as a pair of rifted con-
the Farasan Islands to near Riyadh and has received a variety tinental margins focused on how much oceanic crust had
of interpretations. There is general agreement that the con- been generated and resulted in two end members: (1) Young
tinental crust is *38–45 km thick beneath the Arabian oceanic crust is restricted to the axial trough, and opening is
shield and that the Moho there is approximately horizontal. therefore restricted to *85 km (Girdler 1958; Drake and
At the coastal plain, Mooney et al. (1985) interpreted an Girdler 1964; Hutchinson and Engels 1970, 1972; Lowell
abrupt thinning of the crust to *20 km and then further and Genik 1972; Ross and Schlee 1973) versus (2) the entire
gradual tapering to less than 10 km thickness beneath the width of the Red Sea was formed by seafloor spreading and
Farasan Islands. Prodehl (1985) modeled a much more a pre-rift restoration should be coastline to coastline
gradual rise in the depth to the Moho starting west of the (McKenzie et al. 1970). Numerous intermediate models
Asir Range and reaching *14 km at Farasan. Milkeriet and were subsequently developed (reviewed in Girdler and
Fluh (1985) interpreted abrupt thinning similar to Mooney Whitmarsh 1974).
et al. (1985) but with the presence of an intra-crustal high- It was later generally accepted that oceanic spreading
velocity zone beneath the coastal plain. These various only started in the Red Sea about 5 Ma (discussed below),
studies suggest that the crust along the shelf of the northern though continental rifting began in the Oligocene or Early
Red Sea is about 50 % of its original thickness and in the Miocene. The early separation of Arabia from Africa
southern Red Sea (Saudi margin) about 25–30 %. therefore involved stretching of continental lithosphere or
Early compilations of heat flow data demonstrated that some other mechanism for generation of surface area, which
the entire Red Sea basin is hotter than the worldwide average needed to be incorporated in plate restorations (reviewed in
of *60 mW/m2 and that the magnitude of this anomaly Le Pichon and Francheteau 1978; Coleman 1993). Le Pi-
increases toward the axial trough (Girdler 1970; Scheuch chon and Francheteau (1978) interpreted the instantaneous
1976; Girdler and Evans 1977). Heat flow along the margins pole of opening for the Red Sea from the magnetic linea-
of the northern Red Sea is typically about 125 mW/m2 ments of the southern axial trough and compared this with
(Martinez and Cochran 1988), whereas in the Eastern Desert the total opening (Eulerian pole) of McKenzie et al. (1970)
of Egypt, the average is slightly more than 70 mW/m2 and key geologic constraints. They concluded that the
(Morgan et al. 1980). Along the Red Sea axis, values of movement of Arabia relative to Africa has been essentially
250–350 mW/m2 are common with a maximum of *400 stable since the Early Miocene, but that the total opening can
mW/m2 (Martinez and Cochran 1988; Makris et al. 1991b). only be on the order of 3°–4° rather than the 6° of McKenzie
The observed heat flow profiles have been modeled with et al. Hence, they estimated total opening to be 150–200 km
respect to a variety of geometric and kinematic rift histories at 19°N latitude or about 65–115 km of nonspreading center-
(simple shear, pure shear), and the general conclusions are generated new surface. Numerous refinements and adjust-
that the zone of crustal thinning must have widened as ments have been made to the LePichon and Francheteau and
extension initially progressed and then starting at *5 Ma earlier reconstructions (Cochran 1983; Girdler and Under-
dramatically narrowed to a presently active width wood 1985; Bohannon 1986; Joffe and Garfunkel 1987).
of *20 km (Buck et al. 1988; Martinez and Cochran 1989). GPS datasets for Arabia and adjacent plates are now very
A simple shear lithospheric-scale detachment geometry robust and indicate that Arabia is moving *20.6 mm/yr
(Wernicke 1985; Voggenreiter et al. 1988) could not north relative to a Eurasia-fixed reference frame (Fig. 1;
reproduce the value or distribution of heat flow, and neither ArRajehi et al. 2010). This agrees with larger scale plate
simple shear nor pure shear models resulted in shallow circuit estimates for Arabia–Eurasia convergence for the
mantle melting. This suggested that an additional source of past *22 Ma (McQuarrie et al. 2003). Similarly, conver-
heat such as convection was required, in agreement with gence between Africa (Nubia) and Eurasia of *6.6 mm/yr
studies by McGuire and Bohannon (1989) of mantle zeno- has occurred for the past *11 Ma. The agreement between
liths. These authors found that the temperature beneath geodetically derived, present-day instantaneous velocities,
western Arabia at a depth of 40 km is *900 °C, much too and plate tectonic, geologic-term velocities suggests that
high to be explained by the present measured shallow geo- restoration of the Red Sea–Gulf of Aden rift system can be
thermal gradient. Hence, the postulated mantle upwelling reasonably produced if an independent key basin parameter
must be very young, synchronous with Neogene rifting is known: either (a) time of rift initiation or (b) the starting
64 W. Bosworth
separation of some unchanged feature on both margins of the For the rest of the Red Sea, north as far as the Gulf of
basin. ArRajehi et al. (2010) assumed coastline-to-coastline Suez and Cairo district of Egypt, definitive basal syn-rift
restoration (similar geometrically to McKenzie et al. but not strata are paleontologically dated to be ≤23 Ma (Early
necessarily all oceanic crust) and derived an age of initiation Miocene, Hughes and Beydoun 1992; Bosworth et al. 2005).
for Red Sea rifting of 24 ± 2.2 Ma. Detailed discussion of the As discussed above, these sedimentary rocks are interbedded
significance of GPS results to Red Sea restorations is pre- with or contain detritus of basalts that are radiometrically
sented by Reilinger et al. in this volume. dated 24–22 Ma (Table 1). Oligocene strata are locally
present, the Tayiba Formation and lateral equivalents
(Fig. 8). But these Oligocene red beds do not display a syn-
Red Sea Rift Chronology tectonic relationship to Gulf of Suez faulting (e.g., Khalil
1998; Jackson et al. 2006; Jackson 2008). Recent paleon-
Continental Rifting tologic studies in western Sinai suggest that the base of the
oldest syn-rift units is locally latest Oligocene (Hewaidy
The initiation of continental rifting in the Red Sea is directly et al. 2012 reviewed in El Atfy et al. 2013). If correct, this is
tied to the geologic history of Afar and the Gulf of Aden compatible with the uncertainty in the age of the basal
(reviewed in Bosworth et al. 2005 and references therein). basalts and the assertion that these basalts mark the onset of
Extension began in the eastern Gulf of Aden by *30 Ma (late rifting. More paleontologic data for the southern Red Sea are
Early Oligocene), and the entire gulf was active by the mid- needed, and better resolution within the “Late Oligocene”
Oligocene though precise data are lacking (Fig. 13a; Roger would be helpful, but it appears that continental extension
et al. 1989; Hughes et al. 1991; Watchorn et al. 1998). In the invaded the entire Gulf of Aden and Afar region during the
southernmost Red Sea, offshore Eritrea, the base of the syn- Early to Late Oligocene and then stalled briefly (perhaps 2–
rift section is dated as *27.5 to *23.0 Ma (Late Oligocene; 3 My). At the Oligocene–Miocene transition, dike intrusion
Fig. 13b; Hughes et al. 1991). Similarly in the Afar region, and faulting shot from Eritrea to Egypt with no recognizable
major extension is interpreted to have begun by *25 Ma time difference—without discernible propagation (Fig. 13c;
(Fig. 13c; Barberi et al. 1972, 1975; Zanettin et al. 1978). Richardson and Arthur 1988; Omar and Steckler 1995).
Fig. 13 Synthesis of continental and oceanic rift initiation and from Bosworth et al. (2005). EAR = East African Rift; SC = spreading
propagation in the greater Gulf of Aden–Red Sea rift system. Simplified center
Where documented, the earliest syn-rift strata in the Gulf by unroofing and uplift of the rift shoulders along the entire
of Aden overlie marine pre-rift rocks of Oligocene or older length of the Red Sea rift system. These authors have pro-
age (Hughes et al. 1991; Robertson and Bamakhalif 1998; posed thermomechanical models linking the two processes.
Bosworth et al. 2005). This suggests that this rift initiated The next major phase in the Red Sea continental rift history
near sea level. The evidence is not as definitive for the Afar was marked by the onset of the Aqaba–Levant transform
region. A regional peneplain separates the pre-plume and boundary (Fig. 13e). The arguments concerning the timing of
31 Ma trap basalts throughout Ethiopia and Yemen, and in this event are diverse (reviewed in Bosworth and McClay
northern Eritrea and parts of Yemen, this is marked by 2001; Bosworth et al. 2005) and generally suggest onset of left
extensive laterites (Canuti et al. 1972; Zanettin et al. 1978; lateral shear in the Middle Miocene at *14–12 Ma. Some
Davison et al. 1994; Sagri et al. 1998). Bohannon (1986) and authors have inferred a somewhat earlier initiation for the
Coleman (1993) considered this as evidence against signif- transform; for example, Garfunkel and Beyth (2006) pro-
icant pre-plume or pre-rift doming. However, pre-plume posed *18–17 Ma in response to the beginning of oceanic
laterites are not known from central Afar itself, so the area of spreading in the Gulf of Aden (discussed below). If the Gulf of
doming could have been fairly localized, or it may have been Aqaba movement started in the Middle Miocene, then it
synchronous with the eruption of the earliest trap basalts corresponds to the time of collision of Arabia with Eurasia
(Burke 1996, reviewed in Şengör 2001). (Şengör and Yilmaz 1981; Hempton 1987; Woodruff and
The oldest syn-rift section in the southern Red Sea (off- Savin 1989; Burke 1996). Offset of geologic features limits
shore Eritrea) is marine and demonstrates a Late Oligocene the total slip on this transform to be *107 km of which 45 km
seaway connection with the Gulf of Aden (Hughes et al. is Pliocene to Recent (Quennell 1951, 1958). These data
1991; Hughes and Beydoun 1992). This paleogeographic provide important kinematic constraints for Red Sea pa-
detail limits how much Afar doming could have occurred linspastic restorations. With the onset of Aqaba–Levant
along the focus of rifting. At the northern end of the Red Sea motion, extension across the northern Red Sea changed from
in the Gulf of Suez and vicinity of Cairo, stratigraphic rift normal (NE–SW) to highly oblique and parallel to the
relationships are similar though the rocks are somewhat transform (NNE–SSW, Fig. 13e).
younger: The Oligocene pre-rift strata are a mixture of Movement on the Aqaba–Levant transform is interpreted
shallow marine and low-relief fluvial facies, and with the to have caused minor counterclockwise rotation of the new
exception of a few localized, very thin nonmarine beds, the Sinai micro-plate and local compression and uplift in the
syn-rift fill is essential all marine from the start of extension northern Gulf of Suez (Fig. 13e; Patton et al. 1994). Middle
(Sellwood and Netherwood 1984; Richardson and Arthur Miocene sea level was also somewhat lowered (Haq et al.
1988; Jackson 2008). The Cairo basalts are very consistent 1987), and the combined effect was that for the first time
in thickness over a very large area, also suggesting a low- since the earliest Miocene the Gulf of Suez–Neotethyan
relief, flat pre-rift geometry (Bosworth et al. 2015). Gar- seaway connection was largely severed. Open marine
funkel (1988) estimated that the maximum pre-rift erosion in deposition was replaced by evaporitic conditions throughout
western Sinai was a few hundred meters and that there was most of the Gulf of Suez and northern Red Sea at *12 Ma
no evidence of uplift specific to the future rift axis. (intra-Serravallian; see stratigraphic discussion above). In
Most geologic evidence favors superposition of Gulf of the southern Red Sea, open marine shale was deposited
Aden and Red Sea rifting on a generally peneplaned surface offshore from Eritrea until the early part of the Late Miocene
that was near or in some areas below sea level. At the onset (Savoyat et al. 1989; Hughes and Beydoun 1992). The
of extension, fault block rotation resulted in only very connection to the Gulf of Aden through Bab-al-Mandab
localized uplift, best documented in the Gulf of Suez (Gar- therefore persisted somewhat longer, but by *10 Ma (lower
funkel and Bartov 1977; Sellwood and Netherwood 1984; Tortonian), massive halite and anhydrite were being depos-
McClay et al. 1998; Carr et al. 2003). A total of 2–3 Myr ited throughout the Red Sea.
after rift initiation, this situation changed dramatically. At
about 20 Ma in the Gulf of Suez, depositional environments
shifted from marginal to open marine with water depths of Oceanic Rifting
200 m or more in sub-basin axes (Fig. 13d). Total com-
paction corrected subsidence rates increased by a factor of The easternmost and oldest segment of the oceanic spreading
two or more (Steckler 1985; Moretti and Colletta 1987; system of the Gulf of Aden–Red Sea rift is called the Sheba
Evans 1988; Richardson and Arthur 1988; Steckler et al. Ridge (Fig. 13d; Mathews et al. 1967). Spreading at the
1988). As discussed above, apatite fission track data indicate Sheba Ridge is thought to have started at *19–18 Ma
that this main phase of syn-rift subsidence was accompanied (Sahota 1990; Leroy et al. 2004), about 12 My after the
66 W. Bosworth
onset of continental rifting in this same area. Spreading was Rift Driving Forces
pinned at the Alula-Fartaq fracture zone for a few million
years and then moved a few hundred kilometers west Theoretical models and analyses of continental rifts often
by *16 Ma (Fig. 13e). By *10 Ma, the spreading center focus on two fundamental questions: (1) what are the driving
had reached the Shukra el Sheik discontinuity in the western forces for rifting? and (2) how do rifts grow (propagate)
Gulf of Aden and was pinned again (Fig. 13f; Manighetti laterally? Milanovsky (1972) divided continental rifts into
et al. 1997). Only after *2 Ma did spreading propagate into those associated with continental “platforms” and others
Afar (Audin 1999; Hébert et al. 2001; Audin et al. 2004). found in young fold belts. The platform rifts were either
Oceanic spreading did not propagate from the western typified by broad doming and abundant alkaline volcanism,
Gulf of Aden or Afar into the Red Sea. Rather, as discussed or no doming and little or no volcanism. Sengör and Burke
above based on magnetic striping, the oldest Red Sea (1978) elaborated on these fundamental differences and
spreading center appeared within the southern Red Sea proposed the terms “active” and “passive” rifting based on
continental rift at about 17°N latitude (Fig. 13g; Allan 1970; their interpretation of the underlying dynamics of these two
Röser 1975; Searle and Ross 1975). The age of initiation of rift types. In active rifts, extension is driven by upwelling
spreading in this region was *5 Ma (Cochran 1983). Since mantle convection currents, while passive rifts are the result
that time, complex volcanic activity and extensional faulting of far-field extensional stresses arising from lithospheric
has continued within Afar west of the Danakil Alps plate movement and plate boundary interactions. Utilizing
(reviewed in Tefera et al. 1996; Redfield et al. 2003; Gar- finite element modeling, Dunbar and Sawyer (1988) pro-
funkel and Beyth 2006). The Red Sea is linking to the Afar posed that both volcanic-rich domed rifts and non-volcanic
depression through the Gulf of Zulu and similarly to the Gulf crevice style rifts could be formed by regional extensional
of Aden through the Gulf of Tadjoura (Fig. 13h). stresses without involvement of mantle currents. In their
The length of the Gulf of Aden–Afar (subaerial)–Red Sea models, the surficial manifestations of rifting were controlled
oceanic spreading center from the Carlsberg Ridge to the end by the positions of weakness in the pre-rift lithosphere,
of magnetic striping at about 19°N latitude in the southern whether in the crust or upper mantle. In a lithospheric plate
Red Sea is *2,800 km (Fig. 13h). As briefly outlined here subjected to extensional forces, uplift occurred above a
and noted by many workers, the ridge propagated in pulses, mantle weakness, whereas fault-bounded basins formed
but the average rate since inception at *19 Ma is *150 km/ above crustal weakness. Various combinations of these pre-
My. By comparison, the earlier continental rift system existing weaknesses can be envisioned, and they might be
reaches from just east of Socotra Island–Ras Sharbithat laterally offset from each other or vertically superimposed.
(Fig. 13c; Stein and Cochran 1985) to NW of Cairo, a dis- Buck (2006) however has argued that normal continental
tance of *3,900 km. The continental rift also developed in lithosphere may be too strong to rift without magmatic dike
segments, and within each segment, age dating cannot intrusion, and therefore, there must be an appropriate com-
resolve any discernible propagation. However, the entire rift bination of regional extension and a source of sufficient
was completed from 30 to 23 Ma or within 7 My. The magma. He suggested that both the Red Sea and Ethiopian
average rate of advancement was *550 km/My or nearly Rift developed as magma-assisted rifts, whereas the model is
four times as rapid as growth of the later oceanic rift. difficult to apply to the Gulf of Aden where syn-rift dikes are
absent.
Based on a synthesis of the timing of geologic events and
Discussion and Synthesis the evolving geometry of the Arabian region, Bosworth et al.
(2005) favored the interpretation that the principal driving
The Red Sea offers great insight into how continental rifts forces for rifting in both the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea were
form and subsequently can evolve into oceanic basins. But is far-field stresses, principally slab pull beneath the
this system a suitable model for many rift settings, or is it approaching Urumieh–Dokhtar arc (McQuarrie et al. 2003).
perhaps very unique or an end member type? As discussed at Bosworth et al. considered the trigger for rifting to be the
the introduction to this chapter, the Red Sea is both another impingement of the Afar plume at *31 Ma, and the actual
phase in the long history of breakup of Gondwana, and the onset of full-length Red Sea rifting the *24–22 Ma dike
product of a tectonic environment shaped by impingement of event. The Bosworth et al. interpretation for the Red Sea is
large mantle plumes (particularly Afar) at the base of the therefore compatible with Buck’s theoretical considerations.
African lithosphere. Adding complexity to this background The geometric association of the Gulf of Aden, Red Sea, and
is the ongoing collision of Africa–Arabia with Eurasia, and Ethiopian Rift with Afar—the classic Afar rift–rift–rift triple
the modifications to plate boundaries produced by move- junction (Mohr 1970; McKenzie et al. 1970; Burke and
ment on the Aqaba–Levant transform margin. Dewey 1973)—proves a role for the plume in rifting here.
It is critical, however, to recognize that during eruption of propagate by a process of “unzipping” (Omar and Steckler
the Afar flood basalts, a triple junction did not exist 1995). It is important to emphasize that Omar and Steckler
(Fig. 13a) and that the various arms of the rift system were specifically discussing the onset of continental rifting;
evolved thereafter at discernibly different geologic times regardless of how this early separation occurred, the later
(Bosworth et al. 2005). development of an oceanic rift could proceed by a similar or
Reilinger and McClusky (2011) have synthesized geo- different geometrical/kinematic history. Based on fission
detic (GPS) and plate tectonic observations for the Nubia– track data discussed above, Omar and Steckler concluded
Arabia–Eurasia plate system and the Mediterranean basin. that continental rifting of the Red Sea occurred in two phases
Their analysis further supports the interpretation that the at *34 Ma and 25–21 Ma and that in both instances the
primary driving force in this system derives from subduction rifting was simultaneous along its entire length. No propa-
of Neotethyan lithosphere beneath Eurasia (Jolivet and gation could be discerned, and the tenets of rigid plate tec-
Faccenna 2000; McQuarrie et al. 2003; Faccenna et al. tonics were upheld.
2013). They correlate the initiation of extensional tectonics The end members of rift propagation models are illus-
in the Mediterranean (Alboran, Belearic, and Aegean basins) trated in Fig. 14a, b. A minor modification of the propa-
with the *50 % decrease in the rate of convergence between gating rift is the inclusion of a finite, approximately constant
Africa and Eurasia at 24 ± 4 Ma, the onset of rifting in the width rift valley that does the actual propagation. For the
Red Sea (they include continental rifting in the Gulf of Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, Bosworth et al. (2005) suggested
Aden, which is incorrect as it is older; see discussion above). this would have been on the order of 60–80 km. Courtillot
A second *50 % decrease in convergence occurred when (1982) emphasized the importance of “locked zones” that
oceanic rifting developed along the entire Gulf of Aden and impede the lateral growth of rifts. This process can occur in
movement shifted from the Gulf of Suez to the Aqaba– either continental or oceanic rift systems and is particularly
Levant transform margin at 11 ± 2 Ma. This was also coeval well displayed in the oceanic rift history of the Gulf of Aden
with intensified extension in numerous Mediterranean (Manighetti et al. 1997) as discussed above. Wijk and
basins. Blackman (2005) referred to this as a stalled rift mode. The
stalling or locking of a rift would result in pulses of exten-
sion along a rift system (Fig. 14c). Between successive
Rift Propagation locked zones, the rift could either propagate laterally or
instantaneously rupture the lithosphere (hybrid of either
Early models of “rift” propagation often really focused on Fig. 14a or b). The locked zones could correspond to the
how oceanic rifts (i.e., spreading centers/mid-ocean ridges) positions of pre-rift lithospheric structures that might be
progress laterally through a precursor zone of continental favorably oriented to evolve into transform faults in the
extension (e.g., Vink 1982; Courtillot 1982; Martin 1984). ultimate oceanic rift system. If unfavorably oriented, they
Important questions included how much continental exten- might result in distributed deformation and not lead directly
sion predates breakthrough of the oceanic rift, how the to a simple transform geometry (Fig. 14c).
extension was physically accommodated (faulting versus Timing of rifting for the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea
igneous intrusion), the resulting diachronous nature of the summarized above suggests that these basins experienced a
continent–ocean boundary, and the relative roles of rigid stalled rift mode not only during oceanic rift propagation but
plates and micro-plates (Burke and Whiteman 1973; Burke also during the precursor continental rifting. By the Late
and Dewey 1974; Hey 1977; LePichon and Sibuet 1981). In Oligocene (*27.5 Ma), extension and syn-rift sedimentation
the first step of these models, the onset of continental rifting were occurring throughout the Gulf of Aden and into the
is instantaneous across the ruptured plate. In later steps, the southernmost Red Sea offshore present-day Eritrea. Rifting
oceanic rift propagates over time through the extended did not move north, based on presently available data, until
lithosphere (generally toward a pole of rotation). An addi- about 3.5 My later. When the next rift segment developed, it
tional observation by Martin (1984) was that an oceanic jumped immediately to northern Egypt based on the age of
spreading center could appear within a segment of stretched the associated dike event (Table 1), as proposed by Omar
continental lithosphere without connection to a propagating and Steckler (1995). Lyakhovsky et al. (2012) have
ridge which is of relevance to the spreading center of the emphasized that an important parameter during rift propa-
southern Red Sea. gation is the long-term memory effect of fractured rocks. It is
Instantaneous rupture of the lithospheric plate is a possible that during the 3.5 My stall, the pre-Red Sea lith-
requirement if plate tectonics is applied rigorously at all osphere was being pre-conditioned/weakened for rifting by a
scales of observation. Alternatively if some degree of dis- period of focused brittle deformation without significant
tributed deformation is allowed, then the rift zone can surface extension.
68 W. Bosworth
Fig. 14 Modes of continental rift propagation. a and b are traditional 2005). The colors are meant to show the overall width of the rift
models of propagating (unzipping) and instantaneously rupturing rifts; growing through time (stretching of the lithosphere) and not age of
c is a pulsed rift history in which the basin undergoes phases of stalling accreted material which would be the case in oceanic rifts. The Gulf of
or locking at pre-existing discontinuities. After passing a locked zone, Aden–Red Sea rift system developed as in (c), with individual segments
the rift can switch to the style of either (a) or (b). The stalled mode is rupturing instantaneously as far as geologic data can presently discern
common in oceanic rifts (Courtillot 1982; Van Wijk and Blackman
Northern and Southern Red Sea Comparison center until they were truly hyperextended with continental
mantle rocks exposed at the seafloor (Whitmarsh et al. 2001;
A plausible Red Sea regional model can be summarized as Henning et al. 2004; Sutra and Manatschal 2012 and refer-
follows: (1) The early phase of purely continental rifting is ences therein). Developed originally with data and inter-
represented by the Gulf of Suez; (2) a continental rift that is pretations from the west Iberia margin and Alpine Tethyan
beginning to show some expression of oceanic rifting is seen exposures, the models proposed for these margins invoke
in the northern Red Sea; and (3) a young oceanic basin that development of a wide zone of upper crustal rift basins and
has entered the early phase of drift is found in the southern rotated fault blocks above ductile, distributed deformation in
Red Sea (see discussions in Cochran 1983, 2005; Bonatti a weak lower or middle crust. Deformation history and
1985; Martinez and Cochran 1988; Girdler 1991; Coleman geometry are complex and varied, but a common theme is
1993). In line with this often accepted progression of rifting that eventually concave downward exhumation faults bring
styles, Cochran (2005) interpreted the presence of large, subcontinental mantle rocks to the seafloor. An oceanic
rotated fault blocks in the northern Red Sea with faults that spreading center is delayed until later and ultimately forms
sole into a zone of plastic creep in the lower crust. This in a position controlled by weaknesses in the subcontinental
keeps the Moho flat but allows the observed high upper lithospheric mantle and the thermal structure of the rising
crustal relief. Through time extension is focused at the rift asthenospheric mantle. The juncture between the hyperex-
axis, the lithosphere thins rapidly and melt is generated. One tended crust (≤10 km) and normal crust (*30 km) is
product of this is the small axial volcanoes present in some commonly abrupt and is referred to as the “necking zone”
of the axial deeps, which with further extension and mag- (Mohn et al. 2012). The northern Red Sea at the Brothers
matism would coalesce into cells of seafloor spreading. Islands is *190 km wide today (Fig. 2b). In a pre-rift
It is now recognized that some of the Earth’s magma-poor configuration, this area was *45 km wide (Fig. 6). Ignoring
continental margins did not develop an oceanic spreading the role of the low-strain onshore fault blocks and assuming
purely mechanical extension, this gives a β factor of greater initial interaction of the Red Sea rift with this impenetrable
than four—this is certainly a candidate for a hyperextended oceanic barrier.
terrane. As discussed above, geophysical data suggest that
there is also a necking zone along both coastlines though
most pronounced on the Egyptian margin (Voggenreiter Two Plume Model
et al. 1988).
Much less is known about the structure of the southern The 24–22 Ma basaltic volcanism of northern Egypt is not
Red Sea, though there is no question that the amount of sufficiently voluminous to be considered the product of a
opening is considerably greater than in the north (Le Pichon mantle plume in a traditional sense. However, the minimum
and Francheteau 1978; Joffe and Garfunkel 1987). A free-air preserved subsurface area of 15,000 km2 and an average
gravity anomaly map derived from satellite altimetry (Smith thickness of *30 m (Fig. 11) give an erupted volume of
and Sandwell 1997) presented by Cochran and Karner 450 km3 to which should be added the smaller flows of the
(2007) lacks evidence of prominent linear rift-parallel northern Gulf of Suez and Bahariya Oasis. As discussed
gravity highs and lows like those of the north, and this is above, trace element and Sr–Nd–Pb–Hf isotope analyses
interpreted to reflect a lack of large, rotated fault blocks. suggest that these sub-alkaline basalts were derived from
Cochran and Karner (2007) suggested that the southern Red mixing of an Afar plume-like source with metasomatized
Sea resembles the West African and Brazilian passive con- spinel-facies continental lithosphere (Endress et al. 2011).
tinental margins in this respect, where regional syn-rift sag Endress et al. relate this and other North African mid-
basins dominate (Karner et al. 2003). They proposed that Cenozoic magmatic activity to upwelling mantle material
proximity to the Afar plume weakened the lithosphere from the northern margins of the South African Superplume.
beneath the southern Red Sea (Burke 1996; Courtillot et al. Bosworth et al. (2015) refer the northern Egypt volcanism to
1999) and that this is resulting in widely differing responses the effects of a Cairo “mini-plume” (Fig. 15).
to extension in the north and south. Field and subsurface observations indicate that the Cairo
In addition to the effects of distance from the Afar plume, and Gulf of Suez volcanism were coeval with the onset of NE–
other authors have described the role that the Aqaba–Levant SW extension and the deposition of syn-rift sediments (see
transform boundary (Dead Sea fault) has played in differ-
entiating the behavior of the northern Red Sea from that of
the south (Ben Avraham 1985, 1987; Ben-Avraham and Von
Herzen 1987; Ben-Avraham et al. 2008; Lazar et al. 2012). It
seems very plausible that the presence of this plate boundary
should have a significant impact on mantle convection
beneath the northern Red Sea and perhaps the mode of
crustal deformation.
Figure 13c shows a compilation of where continental
extension was occurring at *24 Ma, when the main Red Sea
dike event took place and deformation reached the margin of
Neotethys in the north. In the southern and central Red Sea,
crustal effects of rifting (faulting, volcanism) never exceeded
about 200 km in width. In the north, however, deformation
was distributed over a much broader area, from the Western
Desert of Egypt to the Azraq–Sirhan graben in Jordan and
Israel or on the order of 1,000 km (Segev and Rybakov
2011; Lyakhovsky et al. 2012; Szymanski 2013; Bosworth
et al. 2015). Significant Red Sea extension or volcanism is
not observed north of the Egyptian Mediterranean coastline.
If the Mediterranean basin overlies oceanic lithosphere, it
would generally be too strong to rupture (e.g., Vink et al.
1984). Steckler and ten Brink (1986) suggested that this is Fig. 15 Two-plume model for the origin of the Red Sea continental
rift. Basaltic dikes (shown in gray) that link the Afar plume to the Cairo
why the Red Sea plate boundary subsequently shifted to the
mini-plume at 24–22 Ma are drawn schematically. At the surface, they
Aqaba–Levant transform and abandoned the Gulf of Suez are much smaller, narrower, and numerous; their geometry at depth is
(see further discussion in Lyakhovsky et al. 2012). The very unknown. The feathering into a broader zone of intrusion in the north
broad zone of early northern Red Sea extension might reflect however is real
70 W. Bosworth
above). For most of the area of the Cairo basalts, the amount of models, it was the main driving force. (2) Starting
extension is very small, and structuring did not significantly between *29.9 and 28.7 Ma, marine syn-tectonic sediments
impact the distribution of the main flows. But initial rift faults were deposited on continental crust in the central Gulf of
did occupy the area of just east of Bahariya to the east side of Aden. Therefore, Early Oligocene rifting is established to the
the Gulf of Suez, with the basaltic volcanism focused at the east of Afar. Whether rifting propagated from the vicinity of
middle of this broad zone. Only minor basaltic dikes and flows the Sheba Ridge toward Afar, or the opposite, or essentially
are actually associated with the ultimate focus of extension appeared synchronously throughout the Gulf of Aden is not
along the Gulf of Suez and Northern Red Sea. For these rea- yet known. 3) By *27.5–23.8 Ma, a small rift basin was
sons, it seems that rifting did not generate the basalts, but forming in the Eritrean Red Sea. At approximately the same
rather the basalts may have helped control the direction of the time (*25 Ma), extension and rifting commenced within
rift as it shot north from Eritrea, perhaps in conjunction with a Afar itself. The birth of the Red Sea as a rift basin is
stress concentration at the bend in the Levant–Mediterranean therefore a Late Oligocene event. (4) At *24–23 Ma, a new
continental margin (Burke 1996). The Cairo mini-plume may phase of volcanism, principally basaltic dikes but also lay-
have acted as a trigger for the last phase of Red Sea rift ered gabbro and granophyre bodies, appeared nearly syn-
propagation, similar to the role proposed for the Afar plume chronously throughout the entire Red Sea, from Afar and
for Gulf of Aden continental rifting (Bosworth et al. 2005). Yemen to northern Egypt. The result was that the Red Sea
rift briefly linked two very active volcanic centers covering
15,000–25,000 km2 in the north and >600,000 km2 in the
Summary south. The presence of the “mini-plume” in northern Egypt
may have played a role somewhat analogous to Afar vis-à-
The Red Sea is part of an extensive rift system that includes vis the triggering of the dike event. The 24–23 Ma mag-
from south to north the oceanic Sheba Ridge, the Gulf of matism was accompanied by strong rift-normal extension
Aden, the Afar region, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aqaba, the and deposition of syn-tectonic sediments, mostly of marine
Gulf of Suez, and the Cairo basalt province. Historical and marginal marine affinity. The area of extension in the
interest in this area has stemmed from many causes with north was very broad, on the order of 1,000 km, and much
diverse objectives, but it is best known as a potential model narrower in the south, about 200 km or less. Throughout the
for how continental lithosphere first ruptures and then Red Sea, the principal phase of rift shoulder uplift and rapid
evolves to oceanic spreading, a key segment of the Wilson syn-rift subsidence followed shortly thereafter. Synchronous
cycle and plate tectonics. Abundant and complementary with the appearance of extension throughout the entire Red
datasets, from outcrop geology, geochronologic studies, Sea, relative convergence between Africa and Eurasia slo-
refraction and reflection seismic surveys, gravity and mag- wed by about 50 %. (5) At *14–12 Ma, a transform
netic surveys, to geodesy, have facilitated these studies. boundary cut through Sinai and the Levant continental
Magnetically striped oceanic crust is present in the Gulf of margin, linking the northern Red Sea with the Bitlis–Zagros
Aden and southern Red Sea, active magma systems are convergence zone. This corresponded with collision of
observed onshore in the Afar, highly extended continental or Arabia and Eurasia, which resulted in a new plate geometry
mixed crust submerged beneath several kilometers of sea- with different boundary forces. Red Sea extension changed
water is present in the northern Red Sea, and a continental from rift normal (N60°E) to highly oblique and parallel to
rift is undergoing uplift and exposure in the Gulf of Suez. the Aqaba–Levant transform (N15°E). Extension across the
The greater Red Sea rift system therefore provides insights Gulf of Suez decreased by about a factor of 10, and con-
into all phases of rift-to-drift histories. vergence between Africa and Eurasia again dropped by
Many questions remain about the subsurface structure of about 50 %. In the Afar region, Red Sea extension shifted
the Red Sea and the forces that led to its creation. However, from offshore Eritrea to west of the Danakil horst, and
the timing of events, both in an absolute sense and relative to activity began in the northern Ethiopian rift. (6) These early
each other, is becoming increasingly well constrained. Six events or phases all took place within continental lithosphere
main steps may be recognized: (1) Plume-related basaltic and formed a continental rift system 4,000 km in length.
trap volcanism began in Ethiopia, NE Sudan (Derudeb), and When the lithosphere was sufficiently thinned, an organized
SW Yemen at *31 Ma, followed by rhyolitic volcanism oceanic spreading center was established and the rift-to-drift
at *30 Ma. Volcanism thereafter spread northward to transition started. Oceanic spreading initiated first on the
Harrats Sirat, Hadan, Ishara-Khirsat, and Ar Rahat in wes- Sheba Ridge east of the Alula-Fartaq fracture zone at *19–
tern Saudi Arabia. This early magmatism occurred without 18 Ma. After stalling at this fracture zone, the ridge probably
significant extension or at least none that has yet been propagated west into the central Gulf of Aden by *16 Ma.
demonstrated. It is often suggested that this “Afar” plume This matches the observed termination of syn-tectonic
triggered the onset of Aden–Red Sea rifting, or in some deposition along the onshore Aden margins at approximately
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Geological Evolution of the Red Sea: Historical Background, Review and

Chapter · April 2015

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N.M.A. Rasul and I.C.F. Stewart (eds.), The Red Sea, 45

Introduction Application of plate tectonics has been a central theme in

Fig. 1 Tectonic features of the

The evolution of the Red Sea should be considered in the

Fig. 2 Topography and

Fig. 4 Structure of the Gulf of

Fig. 8 Simpliﬁed stratigraphic

fundamental observation that the Red Sea displays positive

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