Paleostress analysis of the brittle deformations on the northwestern margin of the Red Sea and the southern Gulf of Suez, Egypt

Shear fractures, dip-slip, strike-slip faults and their striations are preserved in the pre- and syn-rift rocks at Gulf of Suez and northwestern margin of the Red Sea. Fault-kinematic analysis and paleostress reconstruction show that the fault systems that control the Red Sea–Gulf of Suez rift structures develop in at least four tectonic stages. The first one is compressional stage and oriented NE–SW. The average stress regime index R' is 1.55 and S Hmax oriented NE–SW. This stage is responsible for reactivation of the N–S to NNE, ENE and WNW Precambrian fractures. The second stage is characterized by WNW dextral and NNW to N–S sinistral faults, and is related to NW–SE compressional stress regime. The third stage is belonging to NE–SW extensional regime. The S Hmax is oriented NW–SE parallel to the normal faults, and the average stress regime R' is equal 0.26. The NNE–SSW fourth tectonic stage is considered a counterclockwise rotation of the third stage in Pliocene-Pleistocene age. The first and second stages consider the initial stages of rifting, while the third and fourth represent the main stage of rifting.