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Ghadir Ophiolites, Eastern Desert, Egypt: A Complete Sequence of Oceanic Crust in the Arabian-Nubian Shield

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The Geology of the Arabian-Nubian Shield

Part of the book series: Regional Geology Reviews ((RGR))

Abstract

Neoproterozoic ophiolites are widely distributed in the Central and Southern Eastern Desert of Egypt. The most important and well-known ophiolites of the Central Eastern Desert (CED) are exposed in Ghadir area. They occur as intact ophiolitic sequence of oceanic crust, blocks and fragments in an ophiolitic mélange and as dismembered ophiolite components. The whole rock association is foliated and metamorphosed to the greenschist facies up to lower amphibolite facies. The intact ophiolite sequence is composed mainly of metagabbro, sheeted dykes, and pillow lavas. Exotic fragments of oceanic lithosphere tectonically incorporated in a foliated volcaniclastic matrix forming tectonic ophiolitic mélange. The Ghadir pillowed metabasalts are classified as high-Ti MORB-type, which are comparable to MORB or BABB ophiolites and appear to be derived from an evolved magma in an intra-oceanic back-arc basin. The intact ophiolite sequence is remnants of oceanic crust formed the floor of the basin and became tectonically obducted during the closure of the back-arc basin in which they formed. The formation of the Ghadir ophiolitic mélange by tectonic processes in a back-arc basin is followed by tectonic emplacement of some dismembered ophiolitic rocks along structural contacts. The whole MORB ophiolites of the Eastern Desert (ED) of Egypt were suggested to be formed in a back-arc basin due to collision of an island arc system with the African continent. They occur in different geological settings, and the compositional variation within these rocks was assigned to geochemical variations in a single tectonic setting of back-arc basin rather than to different tectonic settings.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt

    Gaafar A. El Bahariya

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  1. Gaafar A. El Bahariya
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Correspondence to Gaafar A. El Bahariya .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, Banha University, Benha, Egypt

    Zakaria Hamimi

  2. Department of Geology, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates

    Abdel-Rahman Fowler

  3. Department of Geology and Mineralogy, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium

    Jean-Paul Liégeois

  4. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia

    Alan Collins

  5. Boone Pickens School of Geology, Oklahoma State University, Oklahoma City, OK, USA

    Mohamed G. Abdelsalam

  6. Department of Geology, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt

    Mohamed Abd EI-Wahed

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El Bahariya, G.A. (2021). Ghadir Ophiolites, Eastern Desert, Egypt: A Complete Sequence of Oceanic Crust in the Arabian-Nubian Shield. In: Hamimi, Z., Fowler, AR., Liégeois, JP., Collins, A., Abdelsalam, M.G., Abd EI-Wahed, M. (eds) The Geology of the Arabian-Nubian Shield. Regional Geology Reviews. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72995-0_13

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