A

Vol. 53, No. 1

2005

PRELIMINARY KINEMATIC MODEL FOR THE GULF OF SUEZ, EGYPT, USING GEODETIC AND SEISMIC OBSERVATIONS

Salah SALEH, Ahmed M. HAMDY and Ali TEALEB

Geodynamic Department National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics Helwan, Cairo, Egypt e-mail: salahsmm@yahoo.com

Abstract The Suez Rift has been re-evaluated from recent three GPS measurements and earthquake data analysis. The GPS analysis reveals local principal strains along the southern part taking a NE-SW contraction. However, it takes a NNE-SSW direction in the northern part with tensile principal strains. Throughout the central part of the gulf, the principal strains tend to be in the ENE-WSW direction due to right lateral movement. The Gulf of Suez can be divided into three seismic provinces. Generally, earthquake activity markedly increases from north to south. Slip vector analyses were carried out for 23 available earthquake focal mechanisms along the Gulf of Suez. In the southern part, the slip vector is generally trending ENE-WSW and NE-SW. However, in the northern part the direction of the slip vector varies from NNE-SSW to NE-SW. The central region represents a seismic gap between the northern and southern provinces with slip vectors of a NE-SW trend. Contrary to the previous tectonic studies, compressional field has been detected from GPS analysis and focal mechanism solutions of a few earthquakes. This raises from the highly complicated motion of Sinai subplate relative to African plate to the postseismic viscoelastic relaxation of the ductile shallow layers after the occurrence of November 1995 earthquake. Key words: Gulf of Suez, Global Positioning System, fault plane solutions, slip vectors, tectonic implications.

88

S. SALEH et al.

1. INTRODUCTION

The Red Sea and its two branches, the Gulf of Suez and Gulf of Aqaba, form the northern extension of the great East African Rift. The Suez Rift is the north termination of the Red Sea Rift. It is considered the only well-defined part of the western boundary of the Sinai subplate. This structure was considered to be a tectonic boundary between the African and Sinai subplate by McKenzie et al. (1970). They also noted that the Dead Sea shear did not correspond to a small circle centered on the Red Sea opening pole. LePichon and Francheteau (1978) further discussed the existence of the Sinai subplate and its boundary and they concluded that the plate boundary to the north of Gulf of Suez is considered to be a hypothetical one. Indeed, there is no evidence that the Gulf of Suez structure continues in any simple way to the eastern Mediterranean (Robson, 1971; Tapponnier and Armijo, 1985). These authors mentioned that the total amount and the time of the opening of the Suez Rift are a matter of debate. Extensional movements on longitudinal and transverse faults have dominated the opening of the Gulf of Suez Rift, with azimuth in the range of 135-150, displaying a dextral component. These transverse faults generally have no continuity across the blocks of the Suez Rift, but are limited between two main longitudinal faults. This form results in the development of diamond-shaped tilted blocks of variable dimensions within the rift. The suggested model of the opening of the Suez Rift is in good agreement with field data in Egypt (Tealeb, 1995). Although regional kinematic models (Jestin et al., 1994; Foster and Jackson, 1998) proposed kinematic solutions around the Red Sea, Egypt, and Gulf of Aqaba and around the East African Rift system motion, they did not include the kinematic model of the Gulf of Suez. Estimating the present-day rate of extension along the Gulf of Suez is difficult because the rate is very low, less than 1 mm/year (LePichon and Gaulier, 1988). This rate is much smaller than that found by Piersanti et al. (2001). The work carried out in this paper is an attempt to re-evaluate the kinematic model for the Gulf of Suez utilizing GPS data analysis and focal mechanisms. Our contribution plays an important role in determining the present tectonic deformations of the Gulf of Suez which is suffering from variable tensile and local compressional strain fields.

2. TECTONIC SETTINGS

The Gulf of Suez originated as a depositional realm that dates back to the Early Paleozoic time. Contrary to the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba which were formed by upwarping of Nubian-Arabian shield with its subsequent rifting, transform faulting and final break-apart, the Gulf of Suez formed as a result of tensional movement and sub-

PRELIMINARY KINEMATIC MODEL FOR THE GULF OF SUEZ, EGYPT

89

sidence along NW-SE trending normal faults, probably prior to Devonian time (Said, 1963). At the north of the Red Sea it splits into the opening of the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba-Dead Sea Rift system predominated by sinistral shear (Ben-Menahem et al., 1976). Also, the Suez Rift is considered to be the plate boundary between the African and Sinai Subplates (McKenzie et al., 1970; LePichon and Francheteau, 1978). In general, it is accepted that the Gulf of Suez and Red Sea depressions were formed by the anti-clockwise rotation of Arabian plate away from Africa plate (Cochran, 1983). Several geological and seismological investigations assert that the area surrounding the Gulf of Suez displayed, in the past, extensional tectonics with large deformation rate (e.g., Ben-Menahem et al., 1976; LePichon 33 and Gaulier, 1988; Steckler et al., 1988; 1998; Salamon et al., 1996; Piersanti et al., Mediterranean Sea 32 2001). Figure 1 shows the Red Sea and the Gulf of Suez 31 Rifts and the overall direction of opening. The change in tectonic style along the 30 Cairo Gulf of Suez is demonstrated Sinai Subplate by the pattern of faulting with the rift and the increase 29 in the total amount of extenAfrican sion from north to south as Plate noted (Steckler et al., 1998). 28 The tectonics of the Sinai Peninsula and the Gulf of Aqaba is strongly dominated Direction of 27 extension by the active boundaries bescale (km) tween the African and the Border faults of rifts 0 50 100 Arabian plates that are sepa26 rated from each other. Ac30 31 32 33 34 35 36 cording to the current literaLongitude ture, from the Neogene to Fig. 1. Topographic map of the Gulf of Suez region. Late Miocene, this area was The rifts are outlined by the heavy black lines with the subjected to different phases overall direction of opening indicated by the arrows of motion. At the beginning, (modified from Steckler et al., 1998).
A ra b ia n P la te

Latitude

Re

ea dS

90

S. SALEH et al.

the northeastward drift of the Arabian Peninsula yielded the opening of the Red Sea; subsequently, the opening propagated toward north, along the Gulf of Suez area. In the end, the Gulf of Suez opening probably slowed down and the stresses of the Red Sea Rift were transferred along the Aqaba-Levant area, generating a NNE left shear motion with minor extensional component. The Sinai peninsula has been recognized as a subplate of the African plate (BenMenahem et al., 1976) located at the triple junction among the Gulf of Suez Rift, the Aqaba-Levant transform fault (the southernmost part of the Dead SeaJordan transform) and the Red Sea Rift. Geological studies show that the oldest movements of the AqabaDead Sea fault zone are surely younger than those in the Suez basin, thus suggesting the rate of extension of the Gulf of Suez has been decreased and formed a transfer motion along the AqabaLevant fault zone about 10 Ma ago (Steckler et al., 1988). The Gulf of Suez shows, at present, very low rates of extension and tectonic subsidence (Piersanti et al., 2001). On the contrary, the Aqaba-Levant transform system displays a higher rate of motion with geological evidences suggesting an average value of about 8-9 mm/year (LePichon and Gaulier, 1988).

3. GEODETIC DATA

A local geodetic network consisting of 7 stations was constructed in 1994: four located on the Sinai peninsula, and the other three on the west shore of the Gulf of Suez. This network is considered to be one of the four phases, initiated by the National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics (NRIAG) to study the deformation in the Gulf of Aqaba Region (Tealeb, 1995). Since that time, the network was observed in three campaigns, 1994, 1996 and 1998, respectively, by using Trimble 4000ssi and Trimble 4000sse GPS receivers. The double differences of carrier phase data above 15 degrees mask angle have been processed using BERNESE software version 4.0 (Rothacher et al., 1996). The quasi-ionosphere free (QIF) strategy was used for L1/L2 ambiguity resolution. We estimated the baselines with L3 ionosphere free linear combination. IGS final precise ephemeris was employed as input value of the GPS satellite orbit. In data adjustment we use the free network adjustment technique (Mousa, 1992; Hamdy and Jo, 2003). Considering that the baseline vectors give precise relative positions for all pairs of sites in such a local network, many error sources (e.g., errors in tropospheric delay and satellite clock models) are common and cancel during data processing. Moreover relative baseline lengths for a set of baseline vectors derived from an epoch survey are fairly insensitive to the choice of external reference frame. Furthermore, because GPS satellite orbits are maintained at a constant distance from the Earths center of mass, length-scaling errors between successive epoch measurements are negligible (Hamdy,

PRELIMINARY KINEMATIC MODEL FOR THE GULF OF SUEZ, EGYPT

91

T ab le 1 Calculated strain in the network baselines

Baseline length [m] from 1994 166 627.3 99 250.6 75 890.5 79 560.8 56 383.3 89 491.7 73 882.2 58 431.3 96 772.0 203 420.5 269 952.6 108 012.8 178 332.6 74 381.4 RMS [mm] 5 5 6 6 6 4 8 8 7 5 5 6 6 4 Strain 96 [strain/year] 1.3510-8 3.5310-8 19.2310-8 13.0010
-8

Baseline 12 16 17 23 25 26 34 35 45 46 47 56 57 67

Strain 98 [strain/year] 0.8410-8 4.8310-8 11.5010-8 5.4510-8 3.6910-8 2.8510-8 4.1210-8 8.1310-8 3.9610-8 1.2410-8 0.0710-8 6.9810-8 2.8210-8 5.8810-8

8.9610-8 5.2910-8 19.1610-8 15.7510-8 12.3410-8 0.6510

-8

0.0310-8 14.1310-8 7.7910-8 6.6010-8

2001). We use a baseline cluster (baseline definition) in the station files, so we force the program to generate and to process our predefined baselines. The baseline length for each campaign (year) had been determined by using weighted average for the daily results (obtained from BERNESE daily solution) and the weighted RMS was calculated by using unit-variant statistics, as given in Table 1. Hence, precise strain can be estimated from successive sets of baseline (vector) measurements, and then the results may be used to quantify the components of the lithospheric strain rates (Ramsay, 1967; Bock, 1982). To evaluate the strain accumulation in the Gulf of Suez area, the baseline vectors were used as strain markers. The material line deformations have been estimated between epochs 1998 and 1996 with respect to 1994 as a reference epoch. Figure 2 demonstrates the strain accumulation in the area. It is clear that there is a tensile strain in the northern part of the geodetic network, while there is a remarkable contraction in the southern part of the network. The estimated horizontal displacement (Table 2) which resulted from the analysis of the considered GPS epochs was used as input data for the strain calculation using the infinitesimal plate theory (Harvey, 1985; Grant, 1990). The area under consideration was divided into five minor blocks and the strain components were calculated

92

S. SALEH et al.

30.0

4 0
3.9 4.11

km

25

50

3
8.13

Sinai Subplate
5

29.0
5.4 3.68 6.9

African Plate

Latitude (N)

2.85

6
5.8 4.83

28.0

0.84

11.5

Extension

Red Sea

27.0

Contraction Strain=Value x 1E-8 Strain calculated from baselines

32.0

33.0 Longitude (E)

34.0

Fig. 2. Strain in network baselines for the year 1998 with respect to 1994 as a reference epoch.

T ab le 2 Displacement in the network stations with standard errors. Dn is the displacement in north direction. De is the displacement in east direction. The displacement was depicted with respect to 1994 as a reference epoch in mm. Values in parentheses are standard errors in mm; the azimuth is measured clockwise from the north.
Station 1996 Locality Hurgdah Ras Garab Fan-darag Gabal-Rah Znemai Kathrean El-Ture ID 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Lat. N [] 27.4 28.7 29.4 30.0 29.1 28.3 27.8 Long. E [] 33.6 32.8 32.6 32.6 33.1 33.6 34.2 Dn [mm] 17.8 (3) 9.7 (3) 33.2 (3) 0.73 (4) 33.3 (5) 28.2 (4) 5.1 (3) De [mm] 12.5 (3) 2.6 (3) 19.1 (4) 41.7 (3) 15.3 (3) 0.0 (3) 0.0 (2) Azimuth [] 35 165 150 80 155 180 180 Dn [mm] 35.8 (3) 9.5 (3) Displacement 1998 De [mm] 20.7 (3) 5.4 (3) Azimuth [] 30 30 182 62 170 195 182

90.0 (4) 03.3 (3) 19.7 (3) 62.5 (3) 9.0 (3) 11.0 (3) 37.1 (4) 11.0 (3) 2.3 (3) 0.4 (3)

PRELIMINARY KINEMATIC MODEL FOR THE GULF OF SUEZ, EGYPT

93

30.0
km

25

50

0.1 Micro s/yr

Sinai Subplate

29.0

Latitude (N)

African Plate

28.0

ea dS Re

Direction of extension

27.0

Direction of compresion

32.0

33.0 Longitude (E)

34.0

Fig. 3. Principal strain in the Suez Gulf calculated from the year 1998 with respect to 1994 as a reference epoch.

in each block. The 1994 epoch was considered as a reference epoch for the rest of epochs (1996 and 1998), and the results are shown in Fig. 3. This figure demonstrates that there are remarkable tensile strains in the northern and middle part of the gulf with directions trended NNE-SSW and WWN-EES, respectively, while there is a remarkable NE-SW contraction in the southern part of the gulf.
4. SEISMIC DATA ANALYSIS

The distribution of earthquakes (Fig. 4a) indicates that most activities are concentrated at the southern end of the gulf where the triple junction of Africa, Arabia and Sinai is situated (Badawy and Horvth, 1999a,b). The largest recorded event in this area occurred on 31 March 1969 (mb = 6.0) at Shadwan Island. In the Gulf of Suez region, 23 reliable earthquake focal mechanisms are available (Fig. 4b) in this study. All solutions such as directions of faults and the trends of stress axes are well constrained using different references; moreover, the earthquake slip vectors are determined in this study using their nodal planes as shown in Table 3. According to the distribution of earthquake activities, focal mechanisms, tectonic settings and the slip vectors, three different tectonic provinces can be recognized for the Gulf of Suez.

94

S. SALEH et al.

30
te Arab ia n Pla

Sinai
lf Gu

29
Latitude
Eastern Desert
of ez Su

28
ea dS Re

Magnitude

27

3.0 to 4.0 4.0 to 5.0 5.0 to 7.0

31

32

33 Longitude

34

35

Fig. 4a. Seismic activity map of the studied region showing the earthquake activity in the northern Red Sea where most activity is concentrated at the southern end of the Gulf of Suez region (ISS files 1900-1963; ISC files 1964-1998 and NEIC files 19732002).

Fig. 4b. Earthquake focal mechanism solutions in the Gulf of Suez region. Compressional quadrants are black (for normal faults), and grey (for thrust fault).

T ab l e 3
PRELIMINARY KINEMATIC MODEL FOR THE GULF OF SUEZ, EGYPT

Focal mechanism solutions of all studied earthquakes. S1, D1, S2 and D2 are the strike and dip, respectively, of the two nodal planes. Azimuths of possible slip vectors (SV1 and SV2) were calculated from the two nodal planes along with the azimuth and plunge of the P and T axes for each event. Azimuth in degree clockwise from north, plunge in degrees from the horizontal.

95

96

S. SALEH et al.

Huang and Solomon (1987) found that the slip vectors of two events located at the southern end of the Gulf of Suez (March 31, 1969, and June 28, 1972), were in the direction of N2010E, nearly parallel with the inferred present direction of relative motion between Sinai and Arabian Plates. Jackson et al. (1988) modelled both events using P and SH waveform forward modelling, obtaining similar results as those of Huang and Solomon (1987). All major faults in this region dip to the northeast, and it is likely that the northeast-dipping nodal plane is the fault plane for both events (Jackson et al., 1988). According to our slip vector determinations (Fig. 5), it is clear that the extension of the southern province of the Gulf of Suez appears to have been achieved by northeast slip vectors rather than north-northeast ones. All of these earthquakes involved predominantly normal faulting with nodal planes oblique to the strike of the Gulf of Aqaba. The average azimuth of the slip vectors, defining the southern Gulf of Suez

32.0

Mediterranean

Sea

km 0 25 50

30.0

of

African Plate

Suez

28.0

Red Sea
Slip vectors The predicted Gulf of Suez extension motion

26.0

30.0

32.0 Longitude (E)

34.0

Gulf of Aquaba

Arabian Plate
36.0

Gulf

Sinai Subplate

Fig. 5. Well constrained slip vectors in the Gulf of Suez. Slip vectors which are constrained by body wave are shown in black arrows. Three earthquakes have slip vectors which cannot be discriminated between, and are plotted in gray. The large red arrows show predicted Gulf of Suez rifting: azimuth of ~N3510E azimuth in the south of Gulf of Suez and N1005E in the north.

Latitude (N)

PRELIMINARY KINEMATIC MODEL FOR THE GULF OF SUEZ, EGYPT

97

motion is ~N3510E. It is clear from focal mechanism map that the southern province is subjected to shortening movement (reverse faults). The predominant solutions of events lie at the northernmost end, and central regions of the Gulf of Suez have almost normal fault mechanism with considerable strike slip movements and thus reflect horizontal plate motions. All rupture planes are generally directed parallel to the gulf and perpendicular to it. It is clear from the slip vectors determination that the northern province of the Gulf of Suez is dominated by extension-al motion oriented NNE -SSW. These earthquakes are related to local active faults taking a general NW trend. Generally, earthquakes in the northern Gulf of Suez province have slip vectors approximately in the direction N1005E. The most remarkable information from the seismic activity map is the presence of a seismic gap, which is situated between the southern and northernmost part of the Gulf of Suez where a transition zone (central zone) between the most active southern rift province and the northern continental one occurs. The earthquake activity in the central and northern part, including the river Nile, is scattered and has no defined trend. Overall, we suggest that the earthquake activity in the Gulf of Suez takes a NW trend coinciding with the main trend of the rift opening. However, the activity markedly decreases from south to north (Badawy and Horvth, 1999a,b). Our recent results from the GPS data analysis and the focal mechanisms seem to play an important role in clarifying the present kinematics of the Gulf of Suez, especially its southern part which is undergoing compressional strain field coming from the postseismic viscoelastic relaxation of the ductile shallow layers (Piersanti et al., 2001). The seismicity and strain rates in the Gulf of Suez clearly show that the active extension does occur, albeit slowly.
5. DISCUSSION

The analyses of the GPS data reveal that unexpected compressional strain field deforms the southern part of the gulf. Indeed, most global tectonic models predict an extensional process for the evolution of the Suez Rift. However, the sense of motion along the rift was a matter of doubt. Among these previous models there are two distinct groups. The first suggested left lateral motion for the Gulf of Suez (Ben -Menahem et al., 1976) and the second one proposed its right lateral motion (Francheteau and LePichon, 1972). A few models totally ignored the role of Suez Rift in the evolution of the Sinai subplate (e.g., LePichon and Francheteau, 1978). Later models fail because of a very high discrepancy to demonstrate the difference between the total opening of the Red Sea and the total slip along the Dead Sea transform fault (e.g., Tapponnier and Armijo, 1985). From the aforesaid it is clear that the motion of Sinai plate is very complicated and, may be, creates a compressional stress field at the southern part of the gulf due to its hinge shape motion.

98

S. SALEH et al.

According to the GPS observation, the compressional field is obvious and it is already interpreted as postseismic relaxation of the ductile shallow layers (Piersanti et al., 2001). Also, the focal mechanism solutions indicate two reverse faulting (Fig. 4b), which reflect a predominant compressional field at a 10 km depth. This unexpected compressional environment may be reflects the high complex motion of the Sinai subplate relative to the African plate. In the Gulf of Suez area, considered to be the plate boundary between the African plate and the Sinai subplate, it is easy to recognize the right lateral movement as a predominant movement. Moreover, the Gulf of Suez is considered as a graben due to the stresses pattern over a prolonged period, but its present shape is caused in part by tensile movements and in part by rotational movements between the African plate and the Sinai subplate. The Suez Rift is considered to be the only well defined part from the western boundary of the Sinai subplate, where it forms the tectonic boundary between the African and Sinai plates (McKenzie, 1970). LePichon and Francheteau (1978) discussed the existence of the Sinai subplate and its western boundary, which is considered to be a hypothetical one, and they concluded the absence of any evidence that the Gulf of Suez Rift extends to the eastern Mediterranean, which agreed with the results of Robson (1971), and Tapponnier and Armijo (1985). Kebeasy (1990) proposed that the Gulf of SuezCairoAlexandria seismic trend which represents the major active trend in Egypt, extends along the Gulf of Suez Rift CairoAlexandria line to the Mediterranean Sea. It is characterized by the occurrence of shallow earthquake activity. The activity recorded along this trend has increased in recent years owing to the increasing number of the highly sensitive seismographic stations installed recently in Egypt. These results are confirmed by the spatial distribution of earthquakes, which shows the presence of seismic activity in this region indicating the presence of this boundary (ENSN, 2004). The accurate inspection of the geodetic and seismological interpretation shows that the Gulf of Suez is divided into three major parts: the northern, central and southern provinces. Concerning the southern province of the Gulf of Suez, the geodetic data analysis shows that there is contraction in the NNE-SSW direction, while a tensile strain is only in epoch 96 and is directed WNW to ESE. This compressional field is confirmed by two moderate earthquakes, of 12 June 1983 and 5 June 1988; their mechanisms are strike slip with thrust faulting components, indicating a compressional regime. The predominant slip vectors in this province trended NE-SW. In the northern part, the geodetic data analysis reveals a tensile strain directed NNE-SSW, which coincides with the results obtained from the seismological data. Its predominant fault type is strike slip with predominantly normal component. The slip vectors of most earthquakes in this region are trending approximately NNE-SSW rather than NESW. In the central part, there is a tensile strain directed WNW-ESE and NNE-SSW, as results from the geodetic analysis. This strains are confirmed by the analysis of seis-

PRELIMINARY KINEMATIC MODEL FOR THE GULF OF SUEZ, EGYPT

99

mological data where there are some events representing the same strain direction and the majority of events trend NE-SW.

6. CONCLUSIONS

In this study, we used both GPS and focal mechanism data in order to utilize a preliminary kinematic model of the Gulf of Suez area. It is obvious from GPS data analysis that in the southern part of the Gulf of Suez a local principal compressional strain trending NE-SW was estimated. However, the predominant dilatational strain in the middle part of the Gulf is due to the right lateral movements of this province, which trended ENE-WSW. The principal strains in the northern part of the Gulf of Suez are tensile (extension) strains directed NNE-SSW. The focal mechanism solutions available for the earthquakes in the Gulf of Suez region have been analysed to reveal their fault plane solutions, and their slip vectors are identified and grouped in order to investigate the plate kinematics of the Gulf of Suez. According to focal mechanisms, strain analysis, slip vectors and the seismic activity, the Gulf of Suez can be divided into three different seismic provinces, and it is suggested that its extension direction changes from NE-SW in the south to NNE-SSW in the north.
31.0

30.0
Gulf Sinai Subplate

Latitude (N)

29.0

of Gulf of Aqaba
l

African Plate

2
Suez

28.0 3

Arabian Plate

27.0

Red Sea

26.0

32.0

33.0 34.0 Longitude (E)

35.0

Fig. 6. A proposed preliminary kinematic model for the Gulf of Suez region using geodetic and seismological data analysis. The numbers 1, 2 and 3 are the proposed seismic provinces for the Gulf of Suez and the dashed lines represent the boundaries between them.

100

S. SALEH et al.

The southern part of the Gulf of Suez, especially at the openings of the Red Sea, appears to have more seismic activity and the slip vectors are generally trending NE-SW and sometimes ENE-WSW. It is clear from two earthquake focal mechanisms that the southern part of the Gulf of Suez is subjected to local compressional displacement (reverse faulting). In the northern and central parts including the river Nile, the slip vectors of most earthquakes are trending approximately NNE-SSW rather than NE-SW. The proposed kinematic model (Fig. 6) predicts unexpected compressional strain field in the southern part of the gulf at different depths. At shallow depths, this was interpreted as postseismic relaxation of the ductile shallow layers. However, for greater depths the complex motion of the Sinai subplate relative to the African plate is the main source that generates such a kind of unexpected compressional stress field. A c k n o w l e d g m e n t s . The authors thank their colleagues at the National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics (NRIAG) for their kind help in observations. We also thank S. Mahmoud and A. Badawy for their constructive discussions. We gratefully acknowledge A.B. Kampunzu and K. Zahran for critically reviewing the earlier manuscript. Two anonymous reviewers are greatly acknowledged for their guides and help.

References Abu Elenean, K.M., 1997, A study on the seismotectonics of Egypt in relation to the Mediterranean and Red Seas tectonics, Ph.D. Thesis, Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University, Cairo, 187 pp. (unpublished). Badawy, A., and F. Horvth, 1999a, The Sinai subplate and tectonic evolution of northern Red Sea region, J. Geodynamics 27, 433-450. Badawy, A., and F. Horvth, 1999b, Recent stress field of the Sinai subplate region, Tectonophysics 304, 385-403. Ben-Menahem, A., A. Nur and M. Vered, 1976, Tectonics, seismicity, and structure of the Afro-Eurasian junction-the breaking of an incoherent plate, Phys. Earth Planet. Int. 12, 1-50. Bock, Y., 1982, The use of baseline measurements and geophysical model for the estimation of crustal deformation and terrestrial reference system, Report of the Ohio State University 337, 12-18. Cochran, J.R., 1983, A model for development of Red Sea, Bull. Am. Assoc. Petrol. Geol. 67, 41-69. ENSN, 2001, Egyptian Seismological Bulletin, NRIAG, Helwan, Cairo, August 2001, 52-58. ENSN, 2004, Egyptian Seismological Bulletin, NRIAG, Helwan, Cairo, January 2004, 43-56.

PRELIMINARY KINEMATIC MODEL FOR THE GULF OF SUEZ, EGYPT

101

Foster, A.N., and J.A., Jackson, 1998, Source parameters of large African earthquakes: implications for crustal rheology and regional kinematics, Geophys. J. Int. 134, 422-448. Francheteau, J., and X. Lepichon, 1972, A plate kinematic model of the Red Sea area, Centre Ocanologique de Bretagne (C.O.B.), Brest (unpublished, Internal Report). Grant, D.B., 1990, Computation of terrestrial and GPS data for Earth deformation, Studies Unisurv S-2, School of Surveying, University of N.S.W. Hamdy, A.M., 2001, Recent crustal movements studies in Sinai Peninsula and around the Gulf of Suez using GPS technique, Ph.D. Thesis, Faculty of Engineering, Zagazig University, Egypt, 124 pp. (unpublished). Hamdy, A.M., and B.G. Jo, 2003, Advantage of using free network adjustment technique in the crustal movement monitoring geodetic networks, J. Korean Geophys. Soc. 6, 1-11. Harvey, B.R., 1985, The computation of VLBI and ground data for geodesy and geophysics, Studies Unisurv S-2, School of Surveying, University of N.S.W. Hassib, G., 1990, Study of focal mechanisms for recent earthquake in Egypt and their tectonic implications, M.Sc. Thesis, Faculty of Science, Sohag University, Egypt, 137 pp. (unpublished). Huang, P.Y., and S.C. Solomon, 1987, Centroid depths and mechanisms of Mid-Oceanic Ridge earthquakes in the Indian Ocean, Gulf of Aden, and Red Sea, J. Geophys. Res. 92, 1361-1882. Jackson, J.A., N.J. White, Z. Garfunkel and H. Anderson, 1988, Relations between normalfault geometry, tilting and vertical motions in extensional terrains: an example from the southern Gulf of Suez, J. Struct. Geol. 10, 155-170. Jestin, F., P. Huchon and J.M. Gaulier, 1994, The Somalia plate and the East African rift system: present day kinematics, Geophys. J. Int. 116, 637-654. Kebeasy, R.M., 1990, Seismicity. In: R. Said (ed.), The Geology of Egypt, Balkema, Rotterdam, 51-59. LePichon, X., and J. Francheteau, 1978, A plate tectonic analysis of the Red Sea-Gulf of Aden area, Tectonophysics 46, 369-406. LePichon, X., and J.M. Gaulier, 1988, The rotation of Arabia and the Levant fault system, Tectonophysics 153, 271-294. McKenzie, D.P., D. Davies and P. Molnar, 1970, Plate tectonics of the Red Sea and East Africa, Nature 226, 243-248. Mousa, A.E., 1992, Optimization of geodetic networks, M.Sc. Thesis, Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University, Cairo, 154 pp. (unpublished). Mousa, H., 1989, Earthquake activities in Egypt and adjacent regions and its relation to geotectonic features in Egypt, M.Sc. Thesis, Faculty of Science, Mansoura University, Egypt, 133 pp. Piersanti, A., C. Nostro and F. Riguzzi, 2001, Active displacement field in the Suez-Sinai area: The role of postseismic deformation, Earth and Planet. Sci. Lett. 193, 13-23. Ramsay, J.G., 1967, Folding and Fracturing of Rocks, McGraw-Hill Co., New York.

102

S. SALEH et al.

Robson, D.A., 1971, A detailed magnetic survey of the southern Red Sea, Geol. Jahrb. D13, 131-153. Rothacher, M., G. Beutler, W. Gurtner, E. Brockmann and L. Mervart (eds.), 1996, Bernese Processing Engine. In: Bernese GPS Software Version 4.0, Printing Office, University of Berne, Berne, 418 pp. Said, R., 1963, Structure setting of the Gulf of Suez, 6th World Petroleum Congress Proceedings, Frankfurt. Saleh, S., 2001, Crustal evolution of the eastern part of Egypt using some geophysical modelling methods, Ph.D. Thesis, Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University, Cairo, 188 pp. (unpublished). Steckler, M.S., F. Berthelot, N. Lyberis and X. LePichon, 1988, Subsidence in the Gulf of Suez: implications for rifting and plate kinematics, Tectonophysics 153, 249-270. Steckler, M.S., S. Feinstein, B.P. Kohn, L.L. Lavier and M. Eyal, 1998, Pattern of mantle thinning from subsidence and heat flow measurements in the Gulf of Suez: Evidence for the rotation of Sinai and along-strike flow from the Red Sea, Tectonics 17, 903-920. Tapponnier, P., and R. Armijo, 1985, Seismotectonics of northern Egypt, Terra Cognita 5, 171. Tealeb, A., 1995, Proposed program for monitoring crustal deformations in the Gulf of Aqaba region by geodetic means, Bull. Nat. Res. Inst. Astron. and Geophys., Egypt XI, 139-148.

Received 7 October 2003 Received in revision form 3 March 2004 Accepted 23 June 2004