Regional joint sets in the Arabian platform as indicators of intraplate processes
The eastern part of the Saudi Arabian craton is a platform underlain by gently tilted and horizontal Mesozoic-Cenozoic sedimentary rocks. The platform contains several laterally extensive, but subdued, structures and lineaments. New microtectonic observations of dominant sets of extension and conjugate hybrid joints permit regionally significant extension directions to be inferred and the origin of the macrostructures to be assessed. The central Arabian arch developed during the Late Cretaceous to Eocene when the basin inverted as a consequence of the emplacement of ophiolite-bearing nappes on the Zagros and Oman margins. During arching, there was strike-parallel elongation of beds. At the same time as the arch amplified, the central Arabian graben system evolved as a result of the northward displacement of an East Arabian block. An important Neogene response in the Arabian platform to northeast-southwest shortening in the Zagros ranges was the formation of a swarm of northeast-striking master joints and lineaments. 41 references.
- OSTI ID:
- 6212143
- Journal Information:
- Tectonics; (United States), Vol. 3:1
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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