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The Red Sea pp 99–121Cite as

The Northern Red Sea in Transition from Rifting to Drifting-Lessons Learned from Ocean Deeps

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Abstract

The transition from continental rifting to seafloor spreading can be observed along the 2,000 km length of the Red Sea Rift system. Whereas the southern Red Sea shows seafloor spreading since 5 Ma and the central part gives evidence of a transitional stage, the northern Red Sea is thought to represent the latest stage of continental rifting. Ocean deeps along the rift axis are considered to be first seafloor spreading cells that will accrete sometime in the future to a continuous spreading axis. The northern Red Sea deeps are isolated structures often associated with single volcanic edifices in comparison with the further developed larger central Red Sea deeps where small spreading ridges are active. Our analysis of the northern Red Sea deeps showed that not all deeps can be related to initial seafloor spreading cells. Two types of ocean deeps were identified: (a) volcanic and tectonically impacted deeps that opened by a lateral tear of the Miocene evaporites (salt) and Plio-Quaternary overburden; (b) non-volcanic deeps built by subsidence of Plio-Quaternary sediments due to evaporite subrosion processes. These deeps develop as collapse structures. The volcanic deeps can be correlated with their positions in NW–SE-oriented segments of the Red Sea which are consequently termed volcanic segments. The N–S segment, linking the volcanically active NW–SE segments, is termed as “non-volcanic segment” as no volcanic activity is known, in agreement with the magnetic data that show no major anomalies. Accordingly, the deep that was analyzed in this segment is interpreted as a collapse-related structure. However, collapse-type ocean deeps are not limited to the non-volcanic segments as subrosion processes due to hydrothermal circulation are possible at any part of the axial depression. The combined interpretation of bathymetry and seismic reflection profiles gives further insight into lateral salt gliding. Salt rises are present where the salt flows above basement faults. The internal reflection characteristic of the salt changes laterally from reflection-free to stratified, which suggests significant salt deformation during the salt deposition. Acoustically transparent halite accumulated locally and evolving rim synclines were filled by stratified evaporite facies.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Jürgen Pätzold (University of Bremen) for providing the bathymetric data. Thanks also go to Volkard Spiess (University of Bremen) for providing the seismic acquisition equipment during M44/3 cruise and Mohammed Salem (University of Bremen) for editing of the bathymetric data of the CD. We are grateful to the crew of the RV Meteor for the technical assistance provided during cruise M44/3 and M52/3. The manuscript benefited from reviews by Claudia Bertoni, John Woodside, Robert Stern, and Michele Paulatto. All maps were produced with GMT. This work was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) Grant HU698/4.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe (BGR), Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources, Hannover, Germany

    Axel Ehrhardt

  2. Center for Earth System Research and Sustainability Institute of Geophysics, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Christian Hübscher

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  1. Axel Ehrhardt
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  2. Christian Hübscher
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Correspondence to Axel Ehrhardt .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Saudi Geological Survey Center for Marine Geology, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

    Najeeb M.A. Rasul

  2. Stewart Geophysical Consultants Pty. Ltd., Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

    Ian C.F. Stewart

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Ehrhardt, A., Hübscher, C. (2015). The Northern Red Sea in Transition from Rifting to Drifting-Lessons Learned from Ocean Deeps. In: Rasul, N., Stewart, I. (eds) The Red Sea. Springer Earth System Sciences. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-45201-1_5

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