INTEGRATED SATELLITE REMOTE SENSING AND FIELD BASED STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF THE LATE PROTEROZOIC WADI KID METAMORPHIC BELT, SINAI PENINSULA, EGYPT

A current revolution in the Earth Sciences is focused on understanding the influence of the formation, evolution and dispersal of supercontinents on other aspects of Earth’s evolution. We are processing LANDSAT TM and ASTER satellite-images and building an ARC-based GIS to enhance understanding of the geology of a critical part of the East African orogen in the Sinai Peninsula, a region that hides clues to the formation of Gondwana. The Wadi Kid area comprises the Umm Zariq Formation, the Tarr Formation and, the unconformably overlying Heib Formation. Kid belt metasediments and metavolcanics were deposited in a shallow subaerial basin probably on older sialic basement. Metavolcanics include calc-alkaline and subordinate tholeiitic members, and may have been erupted at a mature continental margin convergent plate boundary. Regional metamorphism is generally in the biotite zone but rises toward the north, from the muscovite grade along its southern boundary, through the garnet and staurolite grades, and into the sillimanite zone. Due to the polymetamorphic nature of the Kid Group, a complex tectonic history can be assumed. Shimron (1984) suggested that deformation occurred in an Andean magmatic arc during convergent-margin tectonism. Stern et al. (1985) related the strong deformation in the Kid region to the disturbances accompanying transcurrent motion on the Najd fault system rather than convergent margin tectonics. El-Shafei and Kusky (2003) related deformation to polyphase folding, whereas Broojimans et al (2003) suggested that deformation is related to extensional core complex formation. Four phases of regional ductile deformation (folding) and greenschist facies metamorphism characterize the Kid Group. The dominant vertical east-west shistosities (S1), subhorizontal (S2) elements, and most linear elements resulted from a north south to northeast-southwest principal compressive stress. There are few structures or metamorphism that can be related to an east-west stress field, i.e., there is no recorded regional event related to the Najd deformation, but we can not rule out narrow Najd high-strain zones. Post-Najd-faulting and NNE and E-W trending faults are manifested by D4 structures in the SE portion of the Kid area. Ongoing work is aimed at deciphering the tectonic significance of these structures.