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A reassessment of the Naqus Formation in

Sinai and the Eastern Desert of Egypt:
Stratigraphic and tectonic implications
Article in Israel Journal of Earth Sciences February 2004
DOI: 10.1560/WC3Y-94QF-11VX-A3GJ

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Isr. J. Earth Sci.; 53: 87-97

A reassessment of the Naqus Formation in Sinai and the Eastern Desert of Egypt:
Stratigraphic and tectonic implications
Tuvia Weissbrod
Geological Survey of Israel, 30 Malkhe Yisrael Street, Jerusalem 9550 I, Israel
(Received 25 June 2003; accepted in revised form J5 March i004)

ABSTRACT
Weissbrod, T. 2004. A reassessment of the Naqus Formation in Sinai and the
Eastern Desert of Egypt: Stratigraphic and tectonic implications. Isr. J. Earth
Sci. 53: 87-97.
The Ordovician age attributed to the Naqus Formation, which is exposed in Egypt on
both sides of the Gulf of Suez, is not justified. Previous investigators have alrFady
indicated the presence of Carboniferous fossils in sections regarded as the Naqus
Formation in both southwestern Sinai and the Eastern Desert, while others argued that
regional erosion that accompanied Late Paleozoic epeirogenic movements hak removed most Lower Paleozoic strata, including all of the Ordovician, from that kea.
However, the Ordovician age of the Naqus Formation is still cited.
\
Reassessment of the stratigraphic data, reinforced by circumstantial structural and
tectonic considerations, suggests that the Naqus Formation is totally of Carboniferous
age. The names Naqus, Somr EI Qaa, and Gilf that were given to the white sandstone
formations that overlie the Cambrian Araba Formation in the studied area are synonyms. These clastic rock units can be correlated with the Abu Thora Formation
(Early to Late Carboniferous) in the Urn Bogma area of west-central Sinai, and partly
with the Rod EI Hamal Formation (Late Carboniferous) in the Wadi Araba area,
Eastern Desert. Accordingly, the stratigraphic scheme of the Cambrian and Carboniferous strata on both sides of the Gulf of Suez is updated.
Interpretation of magnetic data and associated structural evidence points to the
presence of a large-scale, left-lateral displacement within the Gulf of Suez region that
has been formed within the Late Paleozoic to Early Mesozoic time interval.

INTRODUCTION
The apparent lack of guide fossils in the Paleozoic
clastic sequences in Arabia and NE Africa has made
their chronostratigraphy difficult to assess. Though
many of the age attributions up to the 1980s have since
been revised and refined based on biostratigraphic
data, some ill-defined ages, which often lead to unfounded paleogeographies, are still in use. The Ordovician in northeast Egypt is such a case.

2004 Science From IsraeV LPPLtd.

The section that many authors consider to be of

Ordovician age in Sinai and the Eastern Desert of
Egypt comprises the Naqus Formation. This name was
first presented on a correlation chart accompanying the
explanatory notes to the I: 1,000,000 geological map
of Egypt (Said, 1971). Said refers to it as part of
Hassan's (1967) nomenclature for the clastic sequence
of the Gebel Abu Durba-Gebel Huswa area on the
E-mail: tuviaweissbrod@hotmail.com

0021-2164/04 $4.00

88

Israel Journal of Earth Sciences Vol. 53, 2004

with black, gray, and mottled shales, somewhat

carbonaceous, and red siltstone. In the upper part
green and gray, fissile fossiliferous shale layers
with hard sandy limestone ledges containing brachiopods (Spirifer sp.), gastropods (Belleroph011
sp.), bryozoans, and corals are interbedded with
massive sandstone.
"A" member--47 m thick. Purple, red, and brown.
medium- to coarse-grained sandstone. occasionally with pebbles and several layers of red siltstone and shale.

eastern coast of the Gulf of Suez in Sinai (Fig. 1),

though in fact such nomenclature is not mentioned in
Hassan's (1967) cited article. Hassan himself employed for the exposed section the tetrapartite classification used by the oil companies for the subsurface
clastic sequence in the Ras Gharib and Bakr oil fields
on the opposite (western) coast of the gulf, as follows
(from bottom to top) (Fig. 2):
"0" member-130 m thick. Brown and red, fine- to
coarse-grained, cross-stratified sandstones, alternating with varicolored siltstone layers.
"C" member-380 m thick. White to yellowish, medium- to coarse-grained, heavily cross-stratified
sandstones, with occasional pebbles of vein
quartz and mud clasts.
"B" member-122 m thick. Yellowish sandstone,
fine- to medium-grained sandstones interbedded

Except for the fossiliferous "B" member (whose

biostratigraphy was later thoroughly studied by Kora,
1989, 1998), all other rock units of the Gebel Abu
Ourba section were barren, not counting some nondiagnostic trace fossils. Hassan attributed the "0" and
"C" members to the Carboniferous, noting that an

350

Timna Valley

Taba~

Wadi Quseib'
Wadi Araba

.a

~1'.'I~~

29 EIGaiar

~~lJld ' ~G"{~'

EI Qibliya

wJadi

.....

sC'a~

E:~d~l
UmArta
Bakr
Ras Gharib

~'o~
,.

.
.

~~

Wadi Feiran

~'bi

~<:J

'::O~

, ~ebel01f,;
Abu Durba

Oahab ~
::;

~ Gebel Huswa

Gebel Somr
EIQaa
Wadi Qena (north)

QIJ

50km

~og

Red Sea

Fig. I. Location map of Paleozoic outcrops in Sinai and the Eastern Desert of Egypt. In the area south of the outcrop belt
mostly igneous basement is exposed, whereas north of it Mesozoic and Tertiary rocks are exposed.

:--i

~
~

* Gebel EI7..cit section

Somr EI Qaa section

Wadi EIDakhI section

Fig. 2. Correlation of Paleozoic rock units (not to scale) in southwestern Sinai and the Eastern Desert (east and west of the Gulf of Suez). Nomenclatures and ages as given
by the various authors. The sections are juxtaposed according to the correlation proposed by the present author and his age assignments (left-most column). The wide
erosional gap between the Early and Late Paleozoic is apparent (crosshatched areas), as is the Early Cambrian erosion event displayed by the incomplete Cambrian sections.

~
~
~.
~

-g.
~

g'
~

90

Israel Journal of Earth Sciences Vol. 53, 2004

older age is possible too. The "B" member is of Late

Carboniferous age, whereas the "A" member represents both Permian (lower 30 m) and Mesozoic strata
. (upper 17 m):
Weissbrod (1980) adopted Hassan's subdivision
and boundaries but suggested different names and ages
for some of these units (Fig. 2). Based on physical and
sedimentological characteristics, he correlated between the "0" member and the Netafim Formation
(Cambrian) from Urn Bogma and the eastern Sinai.
The "C" member is apparently equivalent to the Abu
Thora Formation (Early to Late Carboniferous) in the
Urn Bogma area and partly to the Rod EI HamaVAbu
Darag formations (Late Carboniferous) in Wadi Araba
on the western side of the Gulf of Suez. The "B"
member is correlative with the Aheimer Formation in
that area (Late Carboniferous), and the "A" member is
equivalent to the Malha Formation (Early Cretaceous)
known from both sides of the gulf.
Issawi et al. (1981) and Issawi and Jux (1982),
working in southwestern Sinai (Wadi Feiran, Gebel
Abu Durba-Gebel Huswa area) and in the Eastern
Desert (Wadi EI-Dakhal and Wadi Qena) (Fig. 1),
were the first to use the classification that was attributed by Said to Hassan (1967), but assigned different
ages and correlated these rock units variously (Fig. 2).
They attributed a Cambro-Ordovician age to the basal
Araba Formation (= "0" member) and a Late Ordovician to Early Silurian age to the overlying Naqus Formation (= most of "C" member), whereas the Wadi
Malik Formation (probably equivalent to the top of the
"C" member) is ascribed to the Devonian. The successive Abu Durba Formation (Early Carboniferous), together with the fossiliferous Aheimer Formation (Late
Carboniferous), is conformable with Hassan's "B"
member, whereas the top of the section (= "A"
member) is equivalent to the Permo-Triassic Qiseib
Formation in Wadi Araba, on the western side of the
gulf.
Subsequent investigators employed this nomenclature and accepted most of Issawi and J ux' s (1982) ages
(though rejecting the presence of Devonian strata) for
the Paleozoic sections in the Sinai Peninsula and the
Eastern Desert. However, controversy still surrounds
the correlation and age assignment of the Naqus Formation. Most investigators regarded the white sandstones overlying the basal Cambrian section as the
Naqus Formation, but did not agree on their age
(Fig. 2). Allam (1988) and Klitzsch (1990) considered
the Naqus Formation to be entirely of Cambrian age,
while EI-Kelany and Said (1990) and Seilacher (1990)

expanded its time interval to Cambrian-Early Ordovician. Issawi and Jux (1982) assigned it a Late Ordovician-Early Silurian age, Abdallah et al. (1992) were in
favor of an Ordovician or at least a pre-Early CarboniferOlis age, whereas Weissbrod (1980) desIgnated this
rock unit as "undifferentiated Carboniferous sandstones", anywhere within the Early-Late Carboniferous time interval (Fig. 2).
The latter age attribution has been reinforced by the
structural approach of Gvirtzman and Weissbrod
(1984) and Weissbrod and Gvirtzman (1988), who
pointed out that Ordovician to Devonian rocks are
missing altogether in Sinai and the Eastern Desert of
Egypt, due to extensive regional erosion following the
Late Paleozoic uplifting (Fig. 3), and in certain areas
where the crystalline basement is exposed, due to
Early Cretaceous and Neogene erosion events.
The present paper deals with this controversial issue,
and some of its tectonic implications are discussed.

THE AGE OF THE NAQUS FORMATION:

STRATIGRAPHIC CONSIDERATIONS
1. Arguments for an Ordovician age
The Naqus Formation consists of white (with shades
of purple), fine- to medium-grained, occasionally
coarse-grained, fairly well-sorted quartz arenite, with
well-rounded to sub-angular vein-quartz pebbles that
are scattered in the finer sands. The sandstone sheets
are cross-stratified, displaying mostly trough and tabular planar structures as well as recumbent bedding and
convolute lamination. The formation has been considered barren, except for some tube structures at its top.
Issawi and Jux (1982) described the vein-quartz clasts
as erratic quartz pebbles and cobbles (dropstones) haphazardly distributed in the finer sands, and believed
that the occurrence of these clasts could not be due to
normal hydromechanical processes. They suggested a
"fluvio-glacial" origin for the Naqus Formation, postulating that these deposits were left from the great
glaciers that had covered extensive parts of northern
Gondwana (northwestern Africa to Arabia) during the
Late Ordovician-Early Silurian, and consequently ascribed this age to the Naqus Formation. Since this age
is based merely on "genetic facies interpretation" and
coincidence, which is by no means obvious, to say the
least, the proposed link to the Late Ordovician-Early
Silurian glaciation event is not justified. Moreover,
Bhattacharyya and Dunn (1986) and Abdallah et al.
(1992), who later studied the sedimentology of the

T. Weissbrod. Stratigraphy o/the Naqus Formation

91

LEGEND

~ ~~! (borehole or section),

, present posItion

, Approximate pre-displacement position

of Control point

,, ,
,8

Dead Sea Rift zone

~
0,

@
9 0
~o

II

IRAQ

300

SAUDI
ARABIA

CROSS SECTION

Fig. 3. Model of the truncated Helez Geanticline showing the sub-Carboniferous erosion surface and concentric subcrop belts
of the Early Paleozoic systems. System units found below the erosion surface: P Precambrian (belt no. 1); C Cambrian (belt
no. 2); 0 Ordovician (belt no. 3); S = Silurian (belt no. 4); D Devonian (belt no. 5). The present subcrop map includes 68
data points, 50 of which were not avaiJable in 1984, but all fitting into the subcrop belts predicted by the initial model. The data
points (circled dots) east of the Dead Sea Rift were shifted 105 km northward (dashed lines) from their original Paleozoic
position by the Late Tertiary left-lateral movement of this block. whereas data points west of the Gulf of Suez were shifted
some 80 km to NNW or NW (dashed lines) to compensate for the post-Late Paleozoic displacement of this block (in
accordance with Freund et aI., 1970 and Rybakov et aI., 1996, respectively). Numbered data points are name-listed in the
Appendix. Schematic cross section shows the (reconstructed) sub-Carboniferous erosion surface, still existing in southwestern
Sinai and the Eastern Desert, most of Syria, and apparently in northwestern Saudi Arabia (Widyan Basin).

92

Israel Joumal of Earth Sciences Vol. 53, 2004

Naqus Formation, interpreted it as alluvial fan and

associated braided stream deposits, without mentioning any "glacial" affinity.
In this regard, Klitzsch (1990) noted that "strata of
Ordovician age have not been identified in north
Egypt, neither at the surface nor in wells. Strata described as Cambro-Ordovician in some publications
from Sinai and in oil companies reports are either of
Cambrian age or of younger age than Ordovician".
This observation conforms to the i<;leas of Gvirtzman
and Weissbrod (1984) and Weissbrod and Gvirtzman
(1988), who argued that Ordovician sediments had
actually been deposited over the area studied but were
later removed by regional pre-Carboniferous erosion;
but unlike these investigators, Klitzsch (1990) thought
that most of Egypt was an uplifted area during the
Ordovician.

2. Arguments for a Carboniferous age

The first biostratigraphical indication of the possibility
that the Naqus Formation in Sinai, or part of it, might
be of Carboniferous age was introduced by Klitzsch
(1990). He reported that a 50-80-m-thick sequence of
mostly marine siltstone and sandstone that comprises
the upper part of the Naqus Formation (below the Abu
Durba Formation) south of Wadi Feiran (Fig. 1) contains Asteriacites gugelhupf Seilacher and other trace
fossils, which are known also from the Lower Carboniferous of southwestern Egypt (Seilacher, 1983), adding that Schrank (pers. comm.) had determined
palynomorphs of Early Carboniferous age from mudstone exposed approximately 15 m below the trace
fossil horizon. He therefore argued that this sequence
should not be considered as part of the Naqus Formation, but rather be correlated with the lower part of the
Carboniferous Abu Thora Formation in the Urn
Bogma area.
Other paleontological evidence comes from the
Eastern Desert. On the western side of the Gulf of Suez
between northern Wadi Qena and Wadi El-Dakhl
(Fig. I), the Cambrian strata (Araba Formation) are
overlain by a cyclic sequence of fine- to coarsegrained fluvial to deltaic white sandstone and mudstone with Skolithos burrows. The thickness of this
sequence reaches up to 150 m, but is highly variable,
generally displaying a northward reduction. Unlike
both earlier and later investigators (Le., Issawi and Jux,
1982; Allam, 1988; Abdallah et aI., 1992) who correlated it with the Naqus Formation from the eastern side
of the gulf and assigned it a Cambrian or Ordovician
age, Klitzsch (1990) and Klitzsch et al. (1990) did not

recognize any Naqus Formation or Ordovician strata

in the western side of the gulf, and based on biostratigraphic data, considered this sequence (which includes
also the Wadi Malik and Gilf formations of Issawi and
Jux) to be of Carboniferous age, designating it as the
Somr EI Qaa Formation (Fig. 2).
Klitzsch et al. (1990) reported that the basal part of
the Somr El Qaa Formation in the southwestern part of
Wadi EI-Dakhl contains Early Carboniferous plants
such as Bothodendron aff. depereti Vaffier, Lepidodendron spetsbergense Nathorst, L. veltheimii
Sternberg, Lepidophylloides sp., Precyclostigma
blakaense Lejal, Pseudolepidodendropsis scobinifonnis (Meek) Lejal, P. klitzschii Lejal, and Leptophloeum rhombicum Dawson.
Leja-Nicol (1990) reported, probably from the
same sequence, on Lepidodendropsis africallum Lejal,
Sublepidodelldron arthrophytioides Danze-Corsin,
Lepidodendron rllOdeanum Sternberg, Protaso/anus
elongatus Radczenko, Eskdalia minuta Kidston, and
Rhacopteris ovata Walkom, most of which also indicate an Early Carboniferous (Visean) age.
The plant-bearing strata are overlain by approximately 50 m of very mature white sandstones, occasiot:Ially with Skolithos burrows, but mostly displaying
fluvial characteristics, which are in tum capped by
well-stratified fine-grained sandstone, siltstone, and
silty shale (10 to 15 m thick) containing molds of
brachiopods (Productus sp., Spirifer sp.), trace fossils
(Skolithos, Chondrites), and plants such as Nothorhacopteris argentinica Archangelsky of Middle Carboniferous (Late Visean to Early Namurian) age.
Additional Carboniferous fossils within the Naqus
Formation, though somewhat vague, have been found
in the southern part of Gebel EI-Zeit (Fig. I). Allam
(1988) reported on a small lens of diamictite with
poorly preserved tetracorals in an earthy matrix at the
top of the Naqus Formation, and noted that similar
corals were also found by Abdallah and El Adindani
(1965) in the upper part of the Late Carboniferous Rod
EI Hamal Formation in Wadi Araba,
The fossil findings of Klitzsch (1990) and Klitzsch
et al. (1990) led Abdallah et al. (1992), who subsequently studied the Paleozoic exposures on the western side of the Gulf of Suez, to differentiate between
the southern exposures (Gebel Somr EI Qaa-Wadi
Hawashia area), where the white sandstones overlying
the Cambrian Araba Formation and underlying the
Lower Cretaceous Malha Formation comprise the
Naqus Formation (which they consider to be Ordovician, though concrete evidence is lacking), and the

T. Weissbrod. Stratigraphy o/the Naqus Formation

northern exposures (from Wadi Urn Tenassib to Wadi

EI-Dakhl), where the white sandstone sequence comprises both the Ordovician Naqus Formation and the
unconformably overlying Lower Carboniferous fossilbearing Abu Thora Formation (Fig. 2). They also
noted that north of Wadi EI-Dakhl, the Naqus Formation is entirely eroded and the Abu Thora Formation
directly overlies the Cambrian Araba Formation.
Abdallah et al. (1992) argued that Klitzsch (1990) and
Klitzsch et al. (1990) probably distinguished neither
the unconformity (not marked by any morphologic
relieO between the Naqus and Abu Thora formations,
nor their different sedimentological characteristics,
which led them to err.
The stratigraphic discrepancy of whether the white
sandstones that overlie the Cambrian Araba Formation
in the Eastern Desert exposures are only of Carboniferous age (as was suggested by KJitzsch, 1990 and
Klitzsch et aI., 1990), or of both Ordovician and Carboniferous age (as postulated by Abdallah et al., 1992),
can also be approached by circumstantial evidence
considering the overall Late Paleozoic structural pattern of the region, which determined the rate of erosion
of the Lower Paleozoic sequences and the nature of the
sub-Carboniferous erosion surface (Gvirtzman and
Weissbrod, 1984; Weissbrod and Gvirtzman, 1988).
Supported by this evidence (see below), Klitzsch et
al. 's (1990) reflection on the total absence of Ordovician sediments in the Eastern Desert seems more realistic. Likewise, they are absent in the Sinai Peninsula.
These updated ideas are presented in a correlation
chart of the various lithostratigraphic subdivisions and
nomenclatures of the Paleozoic sequences in the Eastern Desert and southwestern Sinai (Fig. 2).
It should also be noted that the name Naqus Formation was extended to northeastern and southeastern
Sinai for the white sandstones that overlie the Cambrian Araba Formation, since they were thought to be
correlative to those in the Gulf of Suez region (EIKelany and Said, 1990; Wan as and Soliman, 2001).
Actually, no Naqus equivalent is present in eastern
Sinai, and these sandstones represent the Amir Formation of Early Cretaceous age (Weissbrod, 1969;
Weissbrod and Sneh, 1997).

THE STRUCTURAL MODEL

Stratigraphic compilation of outcrop and subsurface
Paleozoic data throughout the Arabian platform enables regional correlation of these sequences at the
chronological system level and allows modeling of the

93

structural development in the Gondwana margin in the

Late Paleozoic (Gvirtzman and Weissbrod, 1984;
Weissbrod and Gvirtzman, 1988). Accordingly,
epeirogenic movements during the Late Devonian to
Early Carboniferous produced great swells (geanticlines) that were progressively truncated as they rose,
resulting in major stratigraphic gaps (Fig. 3). The erosion surface was subsequently covered by Carboniferous sediments, which in turn were truncated by later
erosion, and eventually covered by Permian and Triassic sediments. The Late Paleozoic swell that today
underlies the countries of the Levant and Egypt, the
so-called Helez Geanticline (Gvirtzman and
Weissbrod, 1984), becomes apparent from the subcrop
map on the erosion surface at the base of the Carboniferous strata. The Lower Carboniferous surface is
mostly superseded by later erosion, with relicts mostly
in Syria, NW Saudi Arabia (Widyan basin), and the
Gulf of Suez area. Today, as reconstructed for the
areas of Israel, Jordan, and northern Sinai, it is mostly
a virtual surface.
Depth of erosion increases toward the center of the
structure, with all Devonian, Silurian, and Ordovician
sediments removed from the regions of Israel, Sinai,
the Eastern Desert of Egypt, and parts of Jordan. Overall, a sedimentary section of more than 2500 m was
removed from these areas. The Lower Paleozoic sequences successively subcrop in roughly concentric
belts, becoming younger toward the flanks (Fig. 3).
The Helez Geanticline borders on the southeast with
the Riyadh GeanticIine, another truncated Paleozoic
structure occupying large parts of the Arabian Peninsula. These swells are two of a whole series of similar
contemporaneous structures that separated the northern Gondwana shelf into swells and basins (Weissbrod
et aI., 1989).
When first presented in 1984, the Helez Geanticline
was configured on the basis of 18 data points. Since
then many more borehole sections or outcrops have
been described and published, and 50 data points were
added to the structural model. When projecting these
data points on the Lower Carboniferous subcrop map
(Fig. 3) it becomes apparent that the new data match
the original boundaries of the subcrop belts, leaving
them practically unchanged. This testifies to the validity and reliability of the geanticline model. Practically,
the concentric belt pattern imposes certain probabilities and excludes others, and provides a means for
checking weakly established stratigraphies, especially
where paleontological data are poor or lacking (as in
the case of the Naqus Formation in the Eastern Desert).

94

Israel Journal of Earth Sciences Vol. 53, 2004

The subcrop map outlining the surface on which

Late Paleozoic sediments were deposited shows the
Naqus Formation in Wadi Feiran and the Gebel Abu
Durba-Gebel Huswa area (southwestern Sinai) and
Wadi EI-Dakhl (Eastern Desert) in a belt where the
swell was eroded down to the Cambrian, leaving no
Ordovician strata (Fig. 3). This is in accordance with
Weissbrod's (1980, 1994) stratigraphic scheme of the
Sinai sections and Klitzsch et aI.' s (1990) fossil data
from the Eastern Desert (Wadi EI-Dakhl), where Cambrian red sandstones are overlain by Carboniferous
white sandstones. It should, however, be noted that the
southern exposures of the Eastern Desert (Gebel EIZeit and north Wadi Qena) are located in a belt where
the swell was apparently eroded only down to the
Ordovician, the candidate for which would have been
the Naqus Formation. This, on the face of it, could
support the unproven claim (of, e.g., Abdallah et aI.,
1992) that the Naqus Formation is indeed of Ordovician age, or at least Ordovician overlain by Carboniferous, apparently pointing out to the inaccuracy and
uncertainties of the model and the subcrop map. On
the other hand. there are indications that the Gebel EIZeit and north Wadi Qena localities. like the whole
western side of the Gulf of Suez. have been displaced
to their present-day position by post-Late Paleozoic
left-lateral strike-slip motions that explain the local
inconsistencies of the model. This is suggested by
independent evidence of displacement of magnetic
anomalies along a longitudinal line between Sinai and
the Eastern Desert (Rybakov et aI., 1996, see below).
Such displacement, even if 80 km, would have moved
the belt where Carboniferous sediments overlie the
Cambrian southward into the succeeding belt where
originally the Carboniferous overlaid Ordovician
strata.

INDICATION OF DATA POINT

DISPLACEMENT IN THE EASTERN DESERT
Rybakov et al. (1996) compiled magnetic data from
the Red Sea region and recognized several elongated
magnetic anomalies in eastern Egypt and in central
Sinai. The anomalies appear to be abruptly terminated
along the trend of the Gulf of Suez. Rybakov et al.
interpreted this as a prominent subsurface ridge of a
basic intrusion that was displaced along a NNW-SSE
lineament, roughly coinciding with today's Gulf of
Suez. They suggested that these apparently shifted
magnetic anomalies point to an 80-90-km left-lateral
shear. They found that back-shifting of this offset realigns the magnetic anomalies west and east of the

Gulf area, as well as the northern edges of the exposed

crystalline basement in the Eastern Desert and in
southern Sinai. Earlier, Hatcher et al. (1981) had
shown that restoration of the Jordanian block relative
to the Sinai-Israel subplate along the Dead Sea rift
aligns two negative elongated magnetic anomalies,
forming the eastern continuation of the Egypt-Sinai
magnetic feature.
Kinematic models of plate motion related to the
opening of the Red Sea (i.e., Joffe and Garfunkel,
1987; Le Pichon and Gaulier, 1988) suggest that in the
northern Red Sea the total horizontal displacement
motion is only 135 km, composed of the 107-km shift
along the Dead-Sea-Aqaba rift and an additional 20 km
in the southern part of the Gulf of Suez, by displacing
the block of Gebel Abu Durba-Gebel Huswa in Sinai
from Gebel EI-Zeit on the western coast of the gulf.
This whole amount, which is attributed to Tertiary
motion. is too small to account for the additional 8090-km shift of the magnetic anomalies described by
Rybakov et al. (1996). Since Cretaceous sediments in
the area have not been displaced (Bartov and Steinitz,
1977; Kuss and Bachman, 1996), Rybakov et al.
(1996) postulated that the main displacement occurred
in the early Mesozoic.
The geanticline model enables a better time resolution. The subcrop map of Fig. 3 outlines the Helez
Geanticline after it was eroded and covered by Carboniferous sediments, but before subsequent horizontal movements dislocated the structure, shifting its
eastern wing roughly northward (along the Dead Sea
rift) and its western wing roughly southward (along
the Suez rift). This constrains the time of the main
motion between the Late Paleozoic and the Early Mesozoic. The data points should therefore be re-shifted
relative to the geanticline, as it was before dislocation,
as outlined by the contours of the reconstructed
subcrop map. Dashed lines on Fig. 3 show 80-90-km
displacement for points in the Eastern Desert, in accordance with Rybakov et al.' s interpretation of the displaced magnetic anomalies. This displacement has no
direct bearing on the date of the Naqus Formation, but
enhances the probability that Ordovician sediments
are not present in the Eastern Desert, in which case the
reliability of the geanticlinal model would be well
demonstrated.
To date, there is no field evidence for large-scale
horizontal displacements in the Eastern Desert. Nevertheless, the displacement of a number of Precambrian
shear zones shown by Abdel-Gawad (1969) on satellite images of the northern Red Sea may hold a key to
such an event, prior and unrelated to the Red Sea

T. We issbrod. Sfrtlfigraphy of file Nafjlls FOrlllalioll

rifting . Reconstructi on of the Afri ca n and Arabian

coastlines to th eir pre-rift positions indicares th at two
pairs of shear zones apparentl y formed co nt inuous
structures prior to the openin g of the Red Sea. The
alignmen t invo lves th e A bu M esari b and Wadi

Alhamd shear zones on the Arabian side of th e Red

Sea and related stru clures in Gebel Duwi and Wadi
Hafafit near Qusei r on the African side, respec ti vely
(Fig. 4). These pairs of shear zones are similar in trend

structure should be lookcd for in th e so uth ern part of

the Eastern Desert. Th e hypothesis ca n be examined in
th e fie ld by comparing the geology of the opposing
shear zones.

CONCLUSIONS
A.

The sedimentological relations and age coincidence of th e Naqus Formation and th e Lat e Ordovician- Early Siluri an glaciati on in northern
Gondwana are not j ustified.

B.

Fossil plan ts, brachiopod molds. and trace fossils.

and intersect the Red Sea coasts at similar angles, but

th eir detailed geology has not been presented. In thi s

regard it should be noted that the S0-90-km di stance

some of which indicate a Carboniferous age, have

been found in some of th e Naqu s Formation or

between the two shear zones in the Afri can side (com-

parable to th e rate of Rybako v et al. ( 1996) left- lateral

motion along th e Suez lineament) is more than just a
coincidence. It is possible that by re-shifting the Eastern D esert localities northward to compensate for the
Late Paleozoic-Early Mesozoic movement, th e Abu

95

equi va le nt sect ions on both sides of th e Gulf of

Suez.

C. The H elez Geanticli llc model provides circumstanti al evidence for the absence of Ordovician
strata in south wes tern Sin ai and the Eas tcrn
Dcsert of Egypt. Considering the degree of denudat ion of th e Late Paleozoic Helez Geantic line,
and the locati ons of the Naqus Form ation on both

Mesarib shear zone will be juxtaposed opposite the

Wadi Hafafit shear zone ra ther then Gebel Duwi, as
suggested by Abdel-Gawad (1969), whereas the Arabian counterpart of the Duwi shear zo ne should then be
located north of Abu Mesarib (Fig. 4). Likewise, th e
African counterpart of the Arabian Wadi Alhamd

sides of the Gu lf of Suez, this format ion ca n

hardl y be of Early Paleozoic age. It eviden tl y

__ __ _40
Abu

Mes~rib

Shear

,. Wadi Alhamd I <;)

"
Shear
: ~

: Ras Abu Maad

usefr
,

,
uwi Shear:

Ras Benas

S,,,.
Fig. 4. Northern pan of the Red Sea, showing Precambrian shear zones o n the Arabian shore ( I and 3) and the African shore (2
and 4). Apparent ly, the sites are separated by the 150km rift disp laceme nt of the Red Sea (Afte r AbdelGawad. 1969). On the
Dlher hand, assuming an 80-90km Late Paleozo ic-Earl y Mesozoic displacement would place 4 oppos ite I. Accordingly, 2
has its counterpart 80-90 km northward (locat ion A) and 3 has its counterpart in the Eastern Dese rt (iocation B). 80-90 km
south of the present pos ition of 4.

96

Israel Journal of Earth Sciences Vol. 53, 2004

postdates the denudation and covers the truncated

surface, and should therefore be regarded as Carboniferous.
D. The names Naqus, Gilf, and Somr El Qaa given to
the white sandstone formations that overlie the
Cambrian Araba Formation (= Netafim Formation) are synonymous, designating the same rock
unit. They are all time-equivalents, and are correlative to the Abu Thora Formation (Early to
Late Carboniferous) in the Urn Bogma area east of
the Gulf of Suez, and to most of the Rod EI Hamal
Formation (Late Carboniferous) of the Wadi
Araba area west of the Gulf.
E. The proposed stratigraphy for the Paleozoic sections in Gebel El-Zeit and north Wadi Qena on the
western side of the Gulf of Suez (i.e., Carboniferous sediments overlying Cambrian strata) is not in
accordance with the sub-Carboniferous subcrop
belts of the Helez Geantic1ine model. This can be
adjusted by block-shifting this province 80-90 km
NNW (or NW) relative to the eastern side of the
gulf. The motion occurred within the Carboniferous-Early Mesozoic time interval. Indeed,
Rybakov et al. (1996) have proposed such a leftlateral shear with a horizontal displacement of
that rate along a Gulf of Suez trend on the basis of
the present relative positions of magnetic anomalies in eastern Egypt and in central Sinai.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Discussions with Prof. Z. Garfunkel and Dr. D.
A vigad are greatly appreciated. Thanks are due to Dr.
Y. Bartov, Dr. A. Sneh, and I. Perath for useful comments. I also thank B. Katz for editing the text, and N.
Shragai for the drawings.

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97

APPENDIX
Names ofthe numbered data points (mostly boreholes) of the
Helez Geanticline (Fig. 3). Outcrops are marked by asterisks.

Syria
I = Baflioun; 2 = Aleppo; 3 = Abba-I; 4 = Affendi-I; 5 =
Qamishlye; 6 = EI Bowab; 7 = Markada-IO I; 8 = KhanasserI; 9 = Soukhne-I; 10 = Doubayat-2; II = RV-101; 12 =
Swab-I; 13 = Tanf-I.

Jordan
14= Risha-2; 15=Risha-l; 16= Risha-6; 17 = Risha-5; 18=
Northern Highlands-2; 20 = Ajlun-I; 21 = Northern Highlands-I; 22 = Suweileh-l; 23 = Safra-I; 24 = WR -I; 25 =
WH-I; 26* = Zarqa Ma'in; 27 = Wadi Sirhan-2; 28 = Wadi
Sirhan-I; 29 = Wadi Sirhan-3; 30 = EI 1afr-l; 31* = 1ebel
Arqa; 32* = Mudawwara.

Saudi Arabia

33 Jaraniyat; 34 = Turaif; 35 S-432; 36= not exist in map;

37= S-223; 38 = S-450; 39 = S-459; 40 = S-456; 41 = S-254;
42 = Badanah; 43* = AI Huj; 44* = Tabuk;

Sinai
45 = Ayun Musa-2; 46 = Abu Hamth-I; 472 = Urn Bogma;
482 = Gebel Dhalal; 49* = Gebel Abu Durba.

Eastern Desert
50 = Ataka-I; 51* = Wadi Araba; 52* = Wadi E1-Dakhl;
53* = Wadi Qena (north); 54* = Gebel EI-Zeit.

Israel
55 = Helez Deep-I a; 56 = Gevim-I; 57 = Pleshet-I; 58 =
Emuna-I; 59 = Bessor-I; 60 = Zohar-8; 61 = Makhtesh
Qatan-2; 62 = Kurnub-I; 63 = Agur-I; 64 = Shezaf-I; 65 =
Ramon-I; 66 = Hameishar-I; 67 = Sinaf-l; 68* = Timna.