Neoproterozoic Evolution and Najd‒Related Transpressive Shear Deformations Along Nugrus Shear Zone, South Eastern Desert, Egypt (Implications from Field‒Structural Data and AMS‒Technique)

• Published in: Geotectonics 2018, Vol.52 (1), p.114-133
• Main Authors: Hagag, W., Moustafa, R., Hamimi, Z.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anisotropy; Deformation; Deserts; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Evolution; Fabrics; Geological time; Grain; Magnetic permeability; Magnetic susceptibility; Orogeny; Plate tectonics; Shear strength; Shear zone; Structural Geology
• ISSN: 0016-8521; 1556-1976
• DOI: 10.1134/S0016852118010077

The tectonometamorphic evolution of Nugrus Shear Zone (NSZ) in the south Eastern Desert of Egypt was reevaluated through an integrated study including field-structural work and magnetofabric analysis using Anisotropy of Magnetic Susceptibility (AMS) technique, complemented by detailed microstructural investigation. Several lines of evidence indicate that the Neoproterozoic juvenile crust within this high strain zone suffered an impressive tectonic event of left-lateral transpressional regime, transposed the majority of the earlier formed structures into a NNW to NW-directed wrench corridor depicts the northwestern extension of the Najd Shear System (NSS) along the Eastern Desert of Egypt. The core of the southern Hafafit dome underwent a high metamorphic event ( M 1 ) developed during the end of the main collisional orogeny in the Arabian-Nubian Shield (ANS). The subsequent M 2 metamorphic event was retrogressive and depicts the tectonic evolution and exhumation of the Nugrus-Hafafit area including the Hafafit gneissic domes, during the origination of the left-lateral transpressive wrench corridor of the NSS. The early tectonic fabric within the NSZ and associated highly deformed rocks was successfully detected by the integration of AMS-technique and microstructural observations. Such fabric grain was checked through a field-structural work. The outcomes of the present contribution advocate a complex tectonic evolution with successive and overlapped deformation events for the NSZ.