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Kinematic vorticity technique for porphyroclasts in the metamorphic rocks: an example from the northern thrust in Wadi Mubarak belt, Eastern Desert, Egypt

استخدام التحاليل الدورانية للصخور البورفيكلاسيتية فى الصخور المتحولة: مثال الصدع الدسرى الشمالى من منطقة وادى مبارك-الصحراء الشرقية – جمهورية مصر العربية.

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Abstract

New structural, metamorphic, finite strain, and kinematic vorticity data for mylonitic granitic rocks from northern thrust in Wadi Mubarak reveal a history of deformation reflecting different tectonic regimes. The vorticity analysis of porphyroclasts was determined in high temperature mylonites. The kinematic vorticity number for the mylonitic granitic samples in the northern thrust in Wadi Mubarak range from 0.66 to 0.90, and together with the strain data suggest deviations from simple shear. It is concluded that nappe stacking occurred early during the underthrusting event probably by brittle imbrication and that ductile strain was superimposed on the nappe structure during thrusting. The accumulation of ductile strain during thrusting was not by simple shear and involved a component of vertical shortening, which caused the subhorizontal foliation in the northern thrust in Wadi Mubarak and adjacent units.

الملخص

التركيب البنائية الجديدة و التحول و الاجهاد النهائى و التحاليل الدورانية لصخور الجرانيت المليوتنية من الصدع الدسرى الشمالى لمنطقة وادى مبارك يوضح تاريخ التشوة و يعكس الحركات التكتونية المختلفة للمنطقة. التحاليل الدورانية لصخور البورفيكلاسيتية تتحدد بواسطة درجة الحرارة العالية مما يؤدى تكون الصخور المليوتنية. التحاليل الدورانية لعينات الصخور الجرانيت المليوتنية من الصدع الدسرى الشمالى لمنطقة وادى مبارك تتراوح بين 0.66 إلى 0.90 مع بيانات الاجهاد النهائى يقترح ان الانحرافات من القص البسيط. يستنتج من ذلك ان عملية التصادم حدثت مبكرا اثناء تدافع تراكيب فوق الاخرى و المحتمل بالتصفيف الهش و تراكم الاجهاد المرن ركبا على تراكيب الجيولوجية اثناء الصدوع الدسرية. ونلاحظ ان تراكم الاجهاد المرن اثناء الصدوع الدسرية لم تكن بالقص البسيط و لكن عن طريق الضغط العمودى الذى يسبب التصفيف الشبة الافقى لصخور الجرانيت المليوتنية من الصدع الدسرى الشمالى لمنطقة وادى مبارك و المناطق المحيطة بها.

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Acknowledgements

I thank Prof. Dr. Paul kapp Arizona University for collecting samples and long discussions, journal reviewers for critical, and helpful comments. All analyses were made with a digitizer table system (Summa Sketch) in the National Research Centre.

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  1. Department of Geology, Science Faculty, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh, 11451, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

    Osama M. K. Kassem

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Kassem, O.M.K. Kinematic vorticity technique for porphyroclasts in the metamorphic rocks: an example from the northern thrust in Wadi Mubarak belt, Eastern Desert, Egypt. Arab J Geosci 5, 159–167 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-010-0229-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-010-0229-8

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