Saudi Geological Survey Page 1 of 8

About Us Geology Mineral Resources Geohazards Geophysics in Saudi Arabia SGS Activities Services and Products

Home
Precambrian
About Us

Geology
Overlap assemblages and post-amalgamation plutons
Precambrian In contrast to other parts of the East African orogen (EAO), the northern part in the Arabian-Nubian
shield includes a large number of post-amalgamation, Neoproterozoic III volcanosedimentary basins
Phanerozoic among the structural/lithostratigraphic components that make up the orogen. More than thirty such
basins occur in the Arabian shield, filled by folded and weakly-to-unmetamorphosed volcanic and
Structure and Tectonics sedimentary successions that were deposited as overlap assemblages on newly amalgamated volcanic
Landforms and
terranes. Those in the northeast, the subject of this review, range in age from <670 Ma to about 580 Ma
Geomorphology and in size, in their present deformed state, from aggregates of basins extending over as much as
72,000 km2 to small isolated basins of 200 km2. Later intrusions, faults, and erosion obscure and
About Geologic Maps
obliterate some of the original contacts, but basal contacts are sufficiently well preserved to indicate the
Recent Publications original basin configurations and to elucidate the relations between the post-amalgamation basins and
other rocks and structures in the region.
Photo Gallery The stratigraphic and structural relations of overlap assemblages in the northeastern part of the Arabian
shield record periods of Neoproterozoic III uplift, erosion, extension, subsidence, compression, and
Mineral Resources strike-slip faulting that postdate the completion of terrane amalgamation between 680 Ma and 670 Ma
and predate the initiation of a passive margin on the northern flank of the Gondwana supercontinent.
Geohazards The oldest post-amalgamation basins in the northeast Arabian shield, dating from <670->650
Ma, comprise thick successions of sandstone, conglomerate, bimodal volcanic rocks, and
Geophysics in Saudi limestone that were deposited in a large area of locally fault-controlled subsidence (Murdama
Arabia basin) and in narrow grabens (Bani Ghayy basins) caused by east-west extension. The regional
unconformity at the base of the basins bevels the underlying terranes and exposes greenschist-
Earthquakes
and locally amphibolite- and granulite-grade metamorphic rocks, indicating significant uplift and
Oceanography and erosion at about 670 Ma. About 650 Ma, deposition was terminated and the basins were
Marine Science inverted by the onset of bulk east-west compression, evidenced by the development of north-
trending folds and sinistral shear on northwest-trending Najd faults. Deformation was associated
SGS Activities with calc-alkalic magmatism, uplift, and erosion, and was followed, between 640-620 Ma, by
deposition of the Jurdhawiyah group and Hibshi formation in fault-controlled basins, the
Services and Products orientations of which suggest broad north-south extension. The basins closed and inverted
during subsequent bulk north-south compression associated with the development of north-and
Research and Studies south-vergent reverse faults. A final phase of Neoproterozoic III basin formation resulted in
deposition of the Jibalah group (580-570 Ma) in small, isolated, pull-apart basins caused variably
Other Links by simple and pure shear on the Najd faults.
The Murdama and Bani Ghayy basins include marine deposits and evidently had links to the ocean
surrounding the emerging orogen. Other basins were probably isolated fault-controlled lakes. The
northerly trend of folds in the Murdama and Bani Ghayy basins, and the easterly and northeasterly trend
of folds and reverse faults in the Jurdhawiyah and Hibshi basins reflecting east-west bulk compression
between about 650-640 Ma and bulk north-south compression after about 620 Ma indicate that changes
occurred in the regional stress field with time. Similar variation is also implied by changes in the direction
of movement on the Najd faults, from a dominant sinistral sense of shear, compatible with east-west
compression and bulk north-directed orogen-parallel extension, to periodic dextral and normal slip.
These changes occurred in the larger context of East- and West-Gondwana convergence and orogenic
collapse. The presence of large basins at or near sea level suggests that much of the region had low
elevation, which implies that gravity would not have been a major driving force for orogenic collapse in
the region. The changes in stress-field orientation may reflect variation in the trajectory of far-field
motion due to a jostling among the converging plates or strain partitioning caused by local crustal
inhomogeneity.
Volcanic and sedimentary rocks of the Fatima and Shayma Nasir groups and the Kharzah formation
possibly represent discontinuous exposures of what was once a large northeast-trending elongate
depositional basin in the Jiddah terrane. The Fatima group (preferred age 688±30 Ma) consists of lower-
greenschist facies volcanic and sedimentary rocks exposed in block-faulted synclines immediately north
of the Fatima fault zone. The volcanic rocks are bimodal, consisting of basalt and basaltic andesite and
lesser amounts of rhyodacite and rhyolite. Sedimentary rocks are basal polymict conglomerate, arkose,
tuffaceous sandstone, shale, and marble. The Shayma Nasir group consists of basal conglomerate,
mafic to intermediate amygdaloidal lavas, tuff and agglomerate, and dacite and rhyolite lava and welded
tuff. The Kharzah formation comprises andesite lava, tuff, and agglomerate, flow-banded rhyolite,
rhyodacite, dacite, siltstone, tuffaceous graywacke, and polymict conglomerate.
The Thalbah group (about 640 Ma) consists of polymict cobble to boulder conglomerate, lithic arenite,
silststone, and shale deposited in a northwest-trending basin unconformable on the axial part of the
Midyan terrane. The Atura formation (<664->641 Ma) is a thick north-trending sequence of arkose
sandstone, polymict conglomerate, diamictite, mudstone, tuff, and minor carbonate rocks, deposited in a
basin spatially associated with, and probably controlled by, one of the major shear zones in the Asir
terrane. The sequence is several kilometers thick, and the rocks are strongly schistose and
metamorphosed to the greenschist facies, indicating ongoing post-640 Ma orogeny in this part of the
terrane. The Ablah group (about 640-615 Ma) is a sequence of polymict conglomerate, coarse-grained

http://www.sgs.org.sa/index.cfm?sec=16&sub=171&pageNumber=4 28/02/2008
Saudi Geological Survey Page 2 of 8

feldspathic sandstone, arkose, siltstone, stromatolitic marble, red sandstone and stiltstone, with an
intermediate section of bimodal basalt and rhyolite. The sequence is unconformable on the older
volcanic/magmatic-arc rocks of the Asir terrane and bounded, in the east, by a ductile shear zone
marked by serpentinite schist.
Post-amalgamation plutons
Relatively undeformed plutonic rocks that intrude the amalgamated terranes and post-amalgamation
volcanosedimentary assemblages include the Idah (620-615 Ma) and Abanat suites (585-570 Ma) in the
northeastern part of the Afif terrane and adjacent terranes to the east. The Idah suite, important because
of its association with mesothermal gold deposits in the Maraghan basin, comprises circular to elliptical
plutons and stocks that range in composition from hornblende diorite to biotite syenogranite; biotite-
hornblende granodiorite predominates. The Abanat suite, associated with tin and tungsten, consists of
circular to irregular bodies of leucogranite comprising peralkaline and peraluminous end-members, that
were emplaced high in the crust and locally vented as rhyolite flows and pyroclastic rocks. Chemical,
isotopic, geochronologic, and trace-element data indicate that the widespread melting of older rocks in
the crust produced these rocks. The characteristics of the granites suggest that they formed by the
fractional crystallization of a mixed protolith composed of ensimatic volcanic-arc rocks and subordinate
pelitic sedimentary rocks of the type exposed in the subterranes of the Afif terrane.
Post-amalgamation plutons elsewhere in the shield are similar in composition and structure to the Idah
and Abanat suites, and probably had similar origins. The Haml batholith, composed of rocks coeval with
the Idah and Abanat suites, occupies much of the southern part of the Afif terrane. Smaller plutons
dated between 630 Ma and 615 Ma intrude the Shammar group in the northwestern part of the Afif
terrane, the Hulayfah terrane, and parts of the Hulayfah fault zone. As in the Maraghan basin, some of
the older plutons in the Haml batholith and elsewhere, possibly coeval with the Idah suite, are associated
with gold-quartz vein mineralization, and specialized granite plutons in several parts of the shield of
similar age to the Abanat suite are associated with rare-earth elements and uranium. The Midyan and
Haql suites are extensively developed in the northwestern part of the shield as massive, medium- to
coarse-grained alkali-feldspar granite, syenogranite, and biotite monzogranite. Similar granites occur in
the Asir terrane in the southern part of the shield, but the post-amalgamation magmatic event in the
southern shield is notable for the relatively large amount of gabbro that is present, forming a distinctively
bi-modal suite of plutons.
Neoproterozoic III strike-slip shear zones and pull-apart basins
A distinctive feature of the late Precambrian history of the Arabian shield is the presence of northwest-
trending sinistral strike-slip shear zones. They are particularly well developed in the northern part of the
Arabian shield, extend into the Eastern Desert of Egypt, and are found at several locations farther south
in the East African orogen. Because the shear zones in the Arabian shield truncate north-trending
structures belonging to the Nabitah orogeny (680-640 Ma) and include half-grabens filled by end-
Precambrian Jibalah-group rocks, they are generally interpreted as structures that evolved late (<640
Ma) in the history of the shield, during the so-called Najd orogeny. For this reason, and because of
shared structural characteristics such as a brittle-ductile style of deformation and a pervasive
subhorizontal stretching lineation, the shear zones are conventionally grouped together as the Najd fault
system, implying that they have a common history and tectonic setting. Geologic mapping and
geochronologic work over the past few years show, however, that the shear zones differ from each other
in significant details of structure and timing and the term Najd fault system needs revision to
accommodate a broader range of ages and tectonic features than normally accommodated by the term.
Brittle-ductile strike-slip shear zones worldwide are associated with a range of distinctive structures that
reflect compression and extension concentrated at bends and step-overs in the shear zone. Such shear
zones are known commonly to be caused by progressive simple shear, resulting in a monoclinic fabric in
which the vorticity vector, indicated by asymmetric pressure wings, Z-folds, and S-C fabrics, is parallel to
the shear zone and perpendicular to the lineation. The northwest-trending shear zones in the Arabian
shield have many of these same structures, the relations of which reveal complex progressive
deformation and the asymmetry of which, even in the absence of passive markers, clearly indicates the
sense of shear.
The Ar Rika and Halaban-Zarghat shear zones are two of the largest Najd structures in the shield. The
Ar Rika shear zone is part of an en echelon sinistral system of brittle-ductile shears and brittle faults that
extends across the entire Arabian shield and continues into the Nubian shield. The shear zone is 1-25
km wide, which, depending on the composition of the country rock traversed, encloses amphibolite-grade
paragneiss and kyanite-bearing paraschist, orthogneiss (foliated syntectonic/synfault granite), sheared
volcanic and sedimentary rock, and slivers of serpentinite. Brittle-ductile deformation resulting in
metamorphism and mylonitization of the Murdama group, the elongation of Murdama-group
conglomerate clasts, and the creation of en-echelon folds in Murdama-group rocks marked an early
phase of shearing. The age of volcanic rocks in the Afif formation at the base of the Murdama group
constrain this event to after 640 Ma. Additional movement is marked by the emplacement of orthogneiss
in an extensional environment between left-stepping splays of the shear zone. The gneiss is believed to
be a synfault intrusion coeval with bodies of 610 Ma granite just north of the shear zone. Southwest-
directed extension and normal dip slip characterized later movement on the shear zone, resulting in the
formation of Jibalah-group grabens about 585-565 Ma, and Cretaceous reactivation caused the offset of
Phanerozoic strata east of the shield.
The Halaban-Zarghat shear zone is a complex brittle-ductile strike-slip fault system. It comprises a
narrow belt of Halaban ophiolite in the vicinity of Halaban, where the fault zone coincides with the initial
Halaban suture, lies within the Afif terrane farther northwest, and forms the boundary between the Afif
and Hail terranes, in the northwest. The structure, at least in the south, was initiated during convergence
between the Afif and Ad Dawadimi terranes, which, as mentioned above, is dated by the obducted
Halaban ophiolite at 680 Ma. Sinistral strike-slip movement on the fault structure is demonstrated farther
north by a 95 km offset of the Suwaj subterranes of the Afif terrane and further sinistral movement about
or soon after 640 Ma is indicated by an offset of the base of the Murdama group and a displacement of
syenogranite and monzogranite that intruded already folded Murdama group rocks. Thereafter, sinistral
movement was insignificant and post 625-Ma movements were vertical or slightly dextral. Jibalah-group

http://www.sgs.org.sa/index.cfm?sec=16&sub=171&pageNumber=4 28/02/2008
Saudi Geological Survey Page 3 of 8

half-graben basins along the northwestern part of the shear zone indicate a phase of end-Precambrian
brittle dip-slip movement and extension normal to the shear zone, and Abanat-suite granite plutons,
which intrude the shear zone, signal the cessation of significant movement by about 585 Ma.
The Jibalah group crops out in fault-controlled basins along the Halaban-Zarghat fault, Ar Rika fault,
locally on the Ruwah fault, and on several other northwest-trending faults in the shield. Individual basins
contain as much as 2500 m of interbedded sedimentary and volcanic rocks. These unconformably
overlie older accreted rock units and include basal conglomerate, sandstone and siltstone deposited as
coalescing alluvial fans, littoral to shallow-marine limestone and submarine to subaerial deposits of
andesitic basalt and rhyolite. The basins indicate a significant amount of extension occurred in the shield
at the end of the Precambrian, consistent with the bimodal character of plutonic rocks emplaced in the
shield concurrent with the Jibalah group. Extension, in fact, may have affected much of the basement of
the Arabian Peninsula at this time creating the large end-Precambrian salt-filled rift basins preserved
beneath the Phanerozoic rocks of the present-day Arabian Platform.
CONCLUDING COMMENTS
Terrane amalgamation and suture zones
Our understanding of the evolution of the Arabian shield is far from complete, but the application of
actualistic models of plate-tectonic and terrane-amalgamation processes derived from an analysis of
present-day orogens offers a reasonable framework for the analysis of the Precambrian rocks exposed in
western Saudi Arabia and a direction for future research. One element of this framework is the concept
espoused in this review that the shield consists of discrete crustal units (terranes) juxtaposed along
major shear zones. These terranes individually grew through processes of volcanism and intrusion in
oceanic and suprasubduction environments that resulted in the creation of volcanic arcs successively
built or accreted on each other and(or) through the process of amalgamation of coherent subunits. The
larger tectonic unit of the Arabian-Nubian shield grew through the amalgamation of such terranes along
suture zones concurrent with the convergence of East and West Gondwana followed by sedimentation
and volcanism in a variety of overlap basins and by wholesale magmatism.
Existing data suggest that the Jiddah terrane was assembled by about 780 Ma, the Hijaz terrane was
assembled between about 810 and 695 Ma, the Asir terrane was assembled by about 690 Ma, and
possibly as early as 720 Ma, and the Afif terrane was assembled by about 690 Ma.

Suture and other major shear zones associated with terrane amalgamation in the Arabian-Nubian shield
showing estimates of the ages of convergence.

As mentioned above, the oldest suture in the shield is the join between the Jiddah and Hijaz terranes.
This is the Bi’r Umq-Nakasib suture, which was created by dextral transpression involving oblique
compression and non-coaxial simple shear. Initial closure between the terranes, resulting in southeast-
directed subduction and the eruption of volcanic rocks such as the Samran and Mahd groups, occurred
about 810-780 Ma. Active collision, resulting in deformation and metamorphism of the Samran and
Mahd groups, emplacement of syntectonic granite gneiss, obduction of the Tharwah and Bi’r Umq

http://www.sgs.org.sa/index.cfm?sec=16&sub=171&pageNumber=4 28/02/2008
Saudi Geological Survey Page 4 of 8

ophiolites, and amalgamation of the Hijaz and Jiddah terranes, occurred between 780 and 760 Ma.
The Yanbu suture joins the Midyan and Hijaz terranes. It is a serpentinite-decorated zone composed of
deformed, imbricated ophiolite and volcanic rocks that is offset along left-lateral strike-slip faults
belonging to the later Najd system. The structural orientation changes across the suture, from a
northwest trend in the Midyan terrane, to a north-to-northeast trend in the Hijaz terrane. In Egypt and
Sudan, a 200-km strike extension of the suture is present between Sol Hamed and Wadi Onib.
Amalgamation along the Yanbu suture has not been directly dated. However, a minimum age for the
convergence of the Hijaz and Midyan terranes is provided by granodiorite and tonalite plutons that
intruded the suture at 696 Ma.
Convergence between the Afif terrane (on the northeast) and the Asir, Jiddah, and Hijaz terranes (on the
southwest) occurred along the Hulayfah-Ad Dafinah-Ruwah suture. The structure of the suture zone
suggests that Afif terrane was emplaced partly by sinistral strike slip faulting and partly by thrusting
during an episode of sinistral transpressional convergence between the terranes in which the Afif terrane
overrode the other terranes as a large allochthon along the Hulayfah-Ad Dafinah-Ruwah fault zone. The
presence of 683 Ma syntectonic orthogneiss in the fault zone implies that strike-slip movement and Afif-
terrane convergence was in progress by 683 Ma, and the deposition of overlap assemblages and the
intrusion of undeformed plutons indicate that the Afif terrane was in place by 630 Ma. Amalgamation
was followed by uplift, evidenced by the unroofing of high-grade ortho- and paragneiss in the
southeastern part of the fault zone. It was also followed by shortening across the fault zone, indicated by
the thrusting of overlap-assemblage rocks over unroofed gneiss in the southeast and the folding of
overlap-assemblage rocks in the west and north. Renewed strike-slip and cataclasis of a 592 Ma granite
represent late Neoproterozoic movement on the fault zone. These relationships bracket active terrane
amalgamation in this part of the Arabian shield to approximately 680-630 Ma.
The Halaban suture, the join between the Ad Dawadimi and east Afif terrane, is represented by a linear
belt of ophiolite (the Halaban ophiolite) along the southern part of the Halaban-Zarghat fault and by a
metamorphic sole-complex beneath the ophiolite. The metamorphic age of the sole-complex indicates
that the Ad Dawadimi and Afif terranes were in place by 680 Ma.
The Ar Amar suture between the Ad Dawadimi and Ar Rayn terranes is a high-angle fault zone (the Al
Amar fault) associated with narrow lenses of carbonate-altered ultramafic rock (listwaenite) that
coincides with a prominent magnetic and gravity gradient. Convergence of the Ad Dawadimi and Ar
Rayn terranes is not well dated but is constrained to between about 625 and 605 Ma by the age of syn-
and posttectonic plutons in the Ar Rayn terrane.
These suturing events are part of the main period of crustal accretion in the Arabian shield. This period,
ranging from about 680 Ma to 640 Ma, included suturing between the Afif terrane and the Asir-Jiddah-
Hijaz terranes, between the Afif and Ad Dawadimi terranes, and between the Ad Dawadimi and Ar Rayn
terranes. It also included syntectonic magmatism represented by gneiss domes in a belt 100 km by 400
km elongate north-south parallel to the Nabitah fault in the eastern part of the Asir terranes, and at
places in the Ar Rayn terrane. Named after the Nabitah fault, this period of accretion is referred to as the
Nabitah orogeny. It reflects the virtual completion of assembly of the Arabian shield coincident with the
terminal phase of convergence between East and West Gondwana.
A number of other “orogenies” are named in the literature on the Arabian shield, but they are vaguely
defined and are probably best abandoned until more rigorously established by future structural,
metamorphic, and geochronologic studies.
Orogenic collapse
Other elements in the tectonic framework used in this review are the concepts of lateral extrusion (or
escape), extension, and orogenic collapse, processes of mountain building that are known from the study
of Phanerozoic mountain belts. Since the late 1970, variants of “escape tectonics” have been used to
explain the Najd fault system. It is now generally accepted that collision along the East African orogen
resulted in the development of strike-slip shear zones and related extensional basins, concomitant with
extension and the free-board escape of crustal units in the orogen in a direction parallel to the axis of the
orogen. Recently, the concept of extensional collapse leading to the exhumation of high-grade
metamorphic core complexes has been used to account for gneiss domes in the northern part of the
shield and in Egypt, some of which are associated with Najd-type strike-slip shear zones. This concept
has not been widely applied in the shield, but is likely to be a productive line of enquiry for future
mapping and structural analysis, that may result in a significantly better understanding of the terminal
events during final East- and West-Gondwana collision.
The effects of such collision were complex. The basins in the northeastern Arabian shield, for example,
record episodes of uplift, erosion, extension, subsidence, anatexis and magmatism, and northwest- and
northeast-trending transcurrent faulting that were concurrent with uplift, exhumation of metamorphic core
complexes, and extension occurred in Sinai and northeastern Egypt, intense east-west crustal shortening
and north-south strike-slip shearing in Madagascar, and uplift and exhumation of high-grade
metamorphic rocks (granulite) in Tanzania.
Impact on mineral exploration
The tectonic analysis outlined in this report has an important impact on exploration strategy because it
helps to account for the distribution of known mineral occurrences, highlighting regions of elevated
potential, and suggesting other regions of lesser potential.

A critical concept is that some mineralization in the Arabian shield is terrane specific, this is, associated
with terrene-forming volcanic and or magmatic rocks. Terrane-specific mineral occurrences are those
that were created during the terrane-forming events, as a result of syn-volcanic or syn-magmatic
processes. Such occurrences include VMS deposits, banded-iron deposits, epithermal gold deposits,
orogenic-related nickel deposits.

Post-amalgamation mineral occurrences in the shield are occurrences associated with a later stage in
orogenic evolution, specifically with post-amalgamation granitic magmatism and(or) shearing resulting in
the vast number of mesothermal gold-bearing quartz veins that are present in the shield, tin-tungsten
deposits; U+REE

http://www.sgs.org.sa/index.cfm?sec=16&sub=171&pageNumber=4 28/02/2008
Saudi Geological Survey Page 5 of 8

deposits; and polymetallic-silver veins.

As shown in the figure below, two periods of terrane-specific VMS formation can be discerned in the
shield. Both occurred during the Cryogenian; one between about 840-770 Ma, the other between 740-
690 Ma.

In terms of spatial distribution, terrane-specific mineral occurrences are abundant in the Asir and Al Amar
terranes (VMS deposits); are common in the Nuqrah and Siham subterranes of the Afif terrane; are
common along the suture zone between the Jiddah and Hijaz terrane (VMS and epithermal-gold
deposits); and are uniquely present in the Midyan terrane as (BIF deposits). The Hijaz terrane (and its
correlative in Sudan, the Gebeit terrane) has virtually no terrane-specific mineralization.

Post-amalgamation mineralization in the shield is characterized by mesothermal gold-bearing quartz

veins. These are particularly abundant in parts of the Afif terrane where 640-610 Ma granodiorite-granite
plutons intrude Murdama and Bani Ghayy group sedimentary basins, and in faults and shear zones the
vicinity of the southwestern segment of the suture along the western and southern margin of the terrane.
Other clusters of mesothermal gold veins are along the Nabitah fault zone in the Asir terrane and in
thrust sheets in the Midyan terrane in the Al Wajd district.

The Ad Dawadimi terrane is characterized by post-amalgamation silver deposits in fault zones.

Age distribution of terrane-specific mineralization in the Arabian shield showing twp period of formation
during the Cryogenian.

FURTHER READING

Agar, R.A., 1985, Stratigraphy and paleogeography of the Siham group: direct evidence for a late
Proterozoic continental microplate and active continental margin in the Saudi Arabian shield: Journal of
the Geological Society, London, 142, 1205-1220.
Agar, R.A., 1986, the Bani Ghayy group; sedimentation and volcanism in pull-apart grabens of the Najd
strike-slip orogen, Saudi Arabian shield: Precambrian Research, 31, 259-274.
Agar, R.A., 1992, The Tectono-metallogenic evolution of the Arabian shield: Precambrian Research, v.
58, p. 169-94.
Agar, R.A., Stacey, J.S. and Whitehouse, M.J., 1992, Evolution of the southern Afif terrane - a
geochronologic study: Saudi Arabian Directorate General of Mineral Resources Open-File Report
DMMR-OF-10-15, 41 p.
Al-Saad, D., Sawaf, T. Gebran, A., Barazangi, M., Best, J.A., and Chaimov, T.A., 1991, Northern Arabian
platform transect across the Palmyride Mountain Belt, Syrian Arab Republic: Washington, D.C.,
International Union Commission on the Lithosphere and American Geophysical Union, Global Science
Transect 1, 5 p.
Al-Saleh, A.M., Boyle, A.P., and Mussett, A.E., 1998, Metamorphism and 40Ar/39Ar dating of the
Halaban ophiolite and associated units: Evidence for two-stage orogenesis in the eastern Arabian shield:
Journal of the Geological Society, London, v. 155, p. 165-175.
Andre, C.G., 1989, Evidence for Phanerozoic reactivation of the Najd fault system in AVHRR, TM, and
SPOT images of central Arabia: Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, v. 55, p. 1129-
1136.
Badri, M., 1991, Crustal structure of central Saudi Arabia determined from seismic refraction profiling:
Tectonophysics, v. 185, p. 357-74.
Blank, H.R., and Andreasen, G.E., 1991, Compilation and interpretation of aeromagnetic data for the
Precambrian Arabian shield, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabian Directorate General of Mineral
Resources Open-File Report USGS-OF-10-8, 54 p.
Blasband, B., Brooijmans, P., Dirks, P., Visser, W., and White, S., 1997, A Pan-African core complex in
the Sinai, Egypt: Geologie en Mijnbouw, v. 73, p. 247-266.
Blasband, B., White, S., Brooijmans, P., De Boorder, H., and Visser, W., in press, Late Proterozoic
extensional collapse in the Arabian Nubian shield: Journal of the Geological Society, London.

http://www.sgs.org.sa/index.cfm?sec=16&sub=171&pageNumber=4 28/02/2008
Saudi Geological Survey Page 6 of 8

Brown, F.B., Schmidt, D.L., and Huffman, A.C., Jr., 1989, Geology of the Arabian Peninsula: Shield area
of western Saudi Arabia: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 560-A, 188 p.
Brown, G.B., 1972, Tectonic map of the Arabian Peninsula: Saudi Arabian Directorate General of Mineral
Resources Map AP-2, scale 1:4,000,000.
Calvez, J.Y., Alsac, C., Delfour, J., Kemp. J., and Pellaton, C., 1983, Geologic evolution of western,
central, and eastern parts of the northern Precambrian shield, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabian
Deputy Ministry for Mineral Resources Open-File Report BRGM-OF-02-26, 39 p.
Calvez, J.Y., and Kemp, J., 1982, Geochronological investigations in the Mahd adh Dhahab quadrangle,
central Arabian shield: Saudi Arabian Deputy Ministry for Mineral Resources Open-File Repot BRGM-
OF-02-5, 41 p.
Calvez, J.Y., and Kemp, J., 1987, Rb-Sr geochronology of the Shammar group in the Hulayfah area
northern Arabian shield: Saudi Arabian Deputy Ministry for Mineral Resources Open-File Report BRGM-
OF-07-11, 22 p.
Camp, V.E., 1984, Island arcs and their role in the evolution of the western Arabian shield: Geological
Society of America Bulletin, 95, 913-921.
Cole, J.C., 1993, Proterozoic geology of western Saudi Arabia: Northeastern sheet: Saudi Arabian
Directorate General of Mineral Resources Open-File Report USGS-OF-93-2, scale 1:500,000, 48 p.
Cole, J.C., and Hedge, C.E., 1986, Geochronologic investigation of late Proterozoic rocks in the
northeastern shield of Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabian Deputy Ministry for Mineral Resources Technical
Record USGS-TR-05-5, scale 1:1,000,000, 42 p.
Cole, J.C., and Hedge, C.E., 1996, Geochronologic investigation of the Late Proterozoic rocks in the
northeastern shield of Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabian Deputy Ministry Technical Record USGS-TR-05-5, 42
p.
Collenette, P., and Grainger, D.J., 1994, Mineral Resources of Saudi Arabia, not including oil, natural
gas, and sulfur: Saudi Arabian Directorate General of Mineral Resources Special Publication SP-2, 322
p.
Cooper, J.A., Stacey, J.S., Stoeser, D.B., and Fleck, R.J., 1979, An evaluation of the zircon method of
isotopic dating in the southern Arabian Craton: Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 68, 429-439.
Darbyshire, D.P.F., Jackson, N.J., Ramsay, C.R., and Roobol, M.J., 1983, Rb-Sr isotope study of latest
Proterozoic volcano-sedimentary belts in the Central Arabian shield: Journal of the Geological Society,
London, v. 140, p. 203-213.
Drury, S.A., and De Souza Filho, C.R., 1998, Neoproterozoic terrane assemblages in Eritrea: review and
prospects: Journal of African Earth Sciences, v. 27, p. 331-348.
Genna, A., Nehlig, P., Le Goff, E., Guerrot, C., and Shanti, M., 2002, Proterozoic tectonism of the
Arabian Shield: Precambrian Research, v. 117, p. 21-40.
Georgel, J.-M., Bobillier, J., Delom, J., Bourlier, M., and Glot, J.-L., 1990, Total-intensity residual
aeromagnetic maps of the Precambrian shield reduced to the pole and upward continued to 800 m
above ground level: Saudi Arabian Directorate General of Mineral Resources Open-File Report BRGM-
OF-09-15, scale 1:1:000,000, 13 p.
Gettings, M.E., Blank, H.R., and Mooney, W.D., 1986, Crustal structure of southwestern Saudi Arabia:
Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 91, p. 6491-6512.
Healy, J.H., Mooney, W.D., Blank, H.R.Jr., Gettings, M.E., Kholer, W.M., Lamson, R.J., and Leone, L.E.,
1982, Saudi Arabian Seismic deep-refraction profile: Final project report: Saudi Arabian Deputy Ministry
for Mineral Resources Open-file Report USGS-OF-02-37, 429 p.
Hoffman, P.F., 1991, Did the breakout of Laurentia turn Gondwana inside-out?: Science, v. 252, p. 1409-
12.
Howell, D.G., Jones, D.L., and Schermer, E.R., 1985, Tectonostratigraphic terranes in the Circum-Pacific
region, in D.G. Howell (editor) Tectonostratigraphic Terranes of the Circum-Pacific Region, Houston,
Texas, Circum-Pacific Council for Energy and Mineral Resources Earth Science Series, Number 1, p. 3-
30.
Johnson, P.R., 1983, A preliminary lithofacies map of the Saudi Arabian shield: Saudi Arabian Deputy
Ministry for Mineral Resources Technical Record RF-TR-03-2, scale 1:1,000,000, 72 p.
Johnson, P.R., 1994, The Nakasib suture: A compilation of recent information about a Sudanese fold and
thrust belt and implications for the age, structure, and mineralization of the Bi’r Umq suture, Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabian Deputy Ministry for Mineral Resources Open-File Report USGS-OF-94-6,
44 p.
Johnson, P.R., 1995, Proterozoic geology of western Saudi Arabia: North-central sheet: Saudi Arabian
Deputy Ministry for Mineral Resources Open-File Report USGS-OF-95-5, scale 1:500,000, 44 p.
Johnson, P.R., 1996, Proterozoic geology of western Saudi Arabia: East-central sheet: Saudi Arabian
Deputy Ministry for Mineral Resources Open-File Report USGS-OF-96-4, scale 1:500,000, 71 p.
Johnson, P. R., 1998, Tectonic map of Saudi Arabia and adjacent areas: Saudi Arabian Deputy Ministry
for Mineral Resources Technical Report USGS-TR-98-3, scale 1:40,000,000.
Johnson, P.R., 1999, The structure and evolution of the western margin of the Afif-terrane allochthon:
constraints on the timing of terrane amalgamation in the northeastern part of the Arabian-Nubian
orogenic belt: Geological Association of Canada/Mineralogical Association of Canada Joint Annual
Meeting, Sudbury, Ontario, May 26-28, 1999, Abstract Volume 24, p.59.
Johnson, P.R., and Kattan, F., 1998, The Ruwah, Ar Rika, and Halaban-Zarghat fault zones: northwest-
trending Neoproterozoic brittle-ductile shear zones in west-central Saudi Arabia, in H. De Wall and R.O.
Greiling (editors) Aspects of Pan-African Tectonics Proceedings of a discussion meeting at Heidelberg,
October 1998, Series International Cooperation, Bilateral Seminars, Forschungszentrum.
Johnson, P.R., and Kattan, F., 1999, The timing and kinematics of a suturing event in the northeastern
part of the Arabian shield, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabian Deputy ministry for Mineral
Resources Open-File Report USGS-OF-99-3, 29 p.
Johnson, P.R., and Stewart, I.C.F., 1995, Magnetically inferred basement structure in central Saudi
Arabia: Tectonophysics, v. 245, p. 37-52.
Johnson, P.R., and Vranas, G.J., 1984, The origin and development of late Proterozoic rocks in the
Arabian shield - an analysis of terranes and mineral environments: Saudi Arabian Deputy Ministry for

http://www.sgs.org.sa/index.cfm?sec=16&sub=171&pageNumber=4 28/02/2008
Saudi Geological Survey Page 7 of 8

Mineral Resources Open-File Report RF-OF-04-32, 96 p.

Johnson, P.R., and Woldehaimanot, B., 2003, Development of the Arabian-Nubian shield: perspectives
on accretion and deformation in the northern East African Orogen and the assembly of Gondwana:
Geological Society, London, Special Publication, no. 206, p. 289-325.
Johnson, P.R., Quick, J.E., and Kamilli, R.J., 1989, Geology of the Bi’r Tuluhah quadrangle, Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabian Directorate General of Mineral Resources Technical Record USGS-TR-09-
1, 42 p.
Johnson, P.R., Scheibner, E., and Smith, E.A., 1987, Basement fragments, accreted tectonostratigraphic
terranes, and overlap sequences; elements in the tectonic evolution of the Arabian shield: Washington,
D.C., American Geophysical Union Geodynamics Series v. 19, p. 323-43.
Jones, D.L. and others, 1983, Recognition, character, and analysis of tectonostratigraphic terranes in
western North America, in M. Hashimoto and S. Uyede, eds., Accretion tectonics in the Circum-Pacific
regions: Tokyo, Terra Scientific Publishing Co.
Kemp, J., 1996, The Kura Formation (northern Arabian shield); definition and interpretation: a probable
fault-trough sedimentary succession: Journal of African Earth Sciences, 22, 507-523.
Kemp, J., 1998, Caldera-related volcanic rocks in the Shammar group, northern Arabian shield: Journal
of African Earth Sciences, 26, 551-572.
Kr◌ner,
ِ A., 1985, Ophiolites and the evolution of tectonic boundaries in the late Proterozoic Arabian-
Nubian shield of northeastern Africa and Arabia: Precambrian Research, 27, 277-300.
Kr◌ner,ِ A., Greiling, R., Reischmann, T., Hussein, I.M., Stern, R.J., Dürr, S., Krüger, J., and Zimmer, M.,
1987, Pan-African crustal evolution in the Nubian segment of northeast Africa in A. Kr◌ner ِ (ed.),
Proterozoic lithospheric evolution. American Geophysical Union, Washington, Geodynamics Series 17,
235-257.
Le Metour, J. Johan, V., and Tegyey, M., 1983, Geology of the ultramafic-mafic complexes in the Bi’r
Tuluhah and Jabal Malhijah areas: Saudi Arabian Deputy Ministry for Mineral Resources Open-File
report BRGM-OF-03-40, 46 p.
McGuire, A.V., and Stern, R.J., 1993, Granulite xenoliths from western Saudi Arabia: the lower crust of
the late Precambrian Arabian-Nubian Shield: Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, v. 114, p. 395-
408.
Milkereit, B., and Fluh, E.R., 1985, Saudi Arabian refraction profile: Crustal structure of the Red Sea-
Arabian shield transition: Tectonophysics, v. 111, p. 283-98.
Mooney, W.D., Gettings, M.E., Blank, H.R., and Healy, J.H., 1985, Saudi Arabian seismic-reflection
profile: a traveltime interpretation of crustal and upper mantle structure: Tectonophysics, v. 111, p. 173-
246.
Moore, J.M., 1979, Tectonics of the Najd transcurrent fault system, Saudi Arabia: Journal of the
Geological Society, London, 136, 441-454.
Pallister, J.S., Stacey, J.S., Fischer, L.B., and Premo, W.R., 1988, Precambrian ophiolites of Arabia:
Geologic settings, U-Pb geochronology, Pb-isotope characteristics, and implications for continental
accretion: Precambrian Research, 38, 1-54.
Prodehl, C., 1985, Interpretation of a seismic-refraction survey across the Arabian shield in western
Saudi Arabia: Tectonophysics, v. 111, p. 247-82.
Prodehl, C., and Mechie, J., 1991, Crustal thinning in relationship to the evolution of the Afro-Arabian rift
system: a review of seismic-refraction data: Tectonophysics, v. 198, p. 311-27.
Quick, J.E., 1991, Late Proterozoic transpression on the Nabitah fault system – implications for the
assembly of the Arabian shield: Precambrian Research, 53, 119-147.
Schmidt, D.L., 1981, Geology of the Jabal Yafikh quadrangle, sheet 20/43B, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia:
U.S. Geological Survey Saudi Arabian Mission Miscellaneous Document 39, 99 p.
Schmidt, D.L., Hadley, D.G., and Stoeser, D.B., 1979, Late Proterozoic crustal history of the Arabian
shield, southern Najd province, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Jiddah, King Abdulaziz University Institute for
Applied Geology Bulletin 3, no. 2, 41-58.
Stacey, J.S., and Agar, R.A., 1985, U-Pb isotopic evidence for the accretion of a continental microplate in
the Zalm region of the Saudi Arabian shield: Journal of the Geological Society, London, 142, 1189-1203.
Stacey, J.S., and Hedge, C.E., 1984, Geochronologic and isotopic evidence for early Proterozoic crust in
the eastern Arabian shield: Geology, 12, 310-313.
Stern, R.J., 1994, Arc assembly and continental collision in the Neoproterozoic East African orogen:
Implications for the consolidation of Gondwanaland: Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Science, v.
22, p. 319-51.
Stoeser, D.B., and Camp, E., 1985, Pan-African microplate accretion of the Arabian shield: Geological
Society of America Bulletin, v. 96, p. 817-826.
Stoeser, D.B., and Stacey, J.S., 1988, Evolution, U-Pb geochronology, and isotope geology of the Pan-
African Nabitah orogenic belt of the Saudi Arabian shield, in S. El-Gabt and R.O. Greiling, eds., The Pan-
African belt of Northeast Africa and adjacent areas: Braunschweig/Wiesbaden, Vieweg and Sohn, p.
227-288.
Stuckless, J.S., Hedge, C.E., Wenner, D.B., and Nkomo, I.T., 1984, Isotopic studies of postorogenic
granites from the northeastern Arabian shield, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabian Deputy Ministry
for Mineral Resources Open-File Report USGS-OF-04-42, 40 p.
Torsvik, T.H., Smethurst, M.A., Meert, J.G., Van der Voo, R., McKerrow, W.S., Brasier, M.D., Sturt, B.A.,
and Walderhaug, H.J., 1996, Continental break-up and collision in the Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic - A
tale of Baltica and Laurentia: Earth-Science Reviews, v. 40, p. 229-58.
Unrug, R., 1997, Rodinia to Gondwana: The geodynamic map of Gondwana supercontinent assembly,
GSA Today, v. 7, p. 1-6.

< Prev 1 2 3 4

For any comments regarding this site

Copyright © 2006 Saudi Geological Survey

http://www.sgs.org.sa/index.cfm?sec=16&sub=171&pageNumber=4 28/02/2008
Saudi Geological Survey Page 8 of 8

http://www.sgs.org.sa/index.cfm?sec=16&sub=171&pageNumber=4 28/02/2008