Structural evolution of the southern transfer zone of the Gulf of Suez rift, Egypt

• The reactivations of the Precambrian fractures controlled the southern transfer zone.
• Syrian arc contraction controlled the sedimentation and structures of the pre-rift rocks.
• Oligo-Miocene rifting inverted the fault slip and rotated the Cretaceous reverse faults.
• Positive flower structures and reverse faults are oriented obliquely to the transfer zone.

We present a detailed study about the initiation and reactivations of Zeit-El Tor transfer zone, south Gulf of Suez rift, and its structural setting and tectonic evolution with respect to the Cretaceous-Cenozoic tectonic movements in North Egyptian margin. NE trending zone of opposed-dipping faults (22 km wide) has transferred the NE and SW rotations of the sub-basins in central and south Gulf of Suez rift, respectively. The evolution of this zone started by reactivation of the NE oriented late Neoproterozoic fractures that controlled the occurrence of Dokhan Volcanics in the rift shoulders. Later, the Syrian Arc contraction reactivated these fractures by a sinistral transpression during the Late Cretaceous–Eocene time. N64°E extension of the Oligo-Miocene rift reactivated the NE fractures by a sinistral transtension. During this rifting, the NE trending faults forming the transfer zone were more active than the rift-bounding faults; the Upper Cretaceous reverse faults in the blocks lying between these NE trending faults were rotated; and drape-related reverse faults and the positive flower structures were formed. Tectonic inversion from contraction to extension controlled the distribution and thickness of the Upper Cretaceous–Miocene rocks.

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