Abstract
The Carlsberg Ridge of the Indian Ocean can be traced and connected with the ridge in the Gulf of Aden (Laughton, 1965). In spite of the structural complexities in the southern Red Sea and Afar Depression (Mohr, 1967), it seems reasonable to infer that the Aden extension of the Indian mid-oceanic ridge splits in this area into two branches: the Red Sea branch to the NNW (Girdler, 1965) and the East African Rift System to the SSW (Mohr, 1968).
Linear magnetic anomalies over the rift troughs can be used to infer that sea-floor spreading has occurred (Vine, 1966). The emplacement of a quasi-oceanic crust in the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea rifts resulted in the separation of the former Arabian-Nubian Shield into two continental blocks. The aim of this paper is to consider the tectonic effects of the rifting on the Arabian Shield and the surrounding mobile belt. An attempt of structural and paleogeographic reconstructions is shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. These figures also indicate the important geographical features.
Contribution No. 71, Southwest Center for Advanced Studies.
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Burek, P.J. (1969). Structural Effects of Sea-floor Spreading in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea on the Arabian Shield. In: Degens, E.T., Ross, D.A. (eds) Hot Brines and Recent Heavy Metal Deposits in the Red Sea. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-28603-6_7
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