Pensa Tihana, Baby Guillaume, Teillet Thomas, Delaunay Antoine, Delgado-Huertas Antonio, Afifi Abdulkader M
Physical Science and Engineering, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia.
Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra, CSIS, Armilla, Granada, Spain.
Sci Rep. 2025 Mar 25;15(1):10332. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-92219-x.
The Midyan Peninsula between the northern Red Sea and Gulf of Aqaba is the only place along the Red Sea where Lower to Middle Miocene syn-rift sedimentary strata (Aquitanian to Langhian) are continuously exposed, including exceptionally preserved carbonate platforms. We selected four focus areas onshore and one offshore in the Duba Basin to explore the variations in platform morphology, structural setting, spatial distribution, and carbonate factory in the northeast Red Sea. By integrating surface observations, geophysical and well data, and strontium (Sr) isotope stratigraphy, we situate these platforms in the tectonic and paleogeographic context of the opening of the northeastern Red Sea rifted margin. The findings document a transition from mollusk-dominated ramps in the early syn-rift stage (~ 23-21 Ma) to coral- and algal-dominated fringing platforms on normal fault footwalls and delta-top platforms during the rift climax and late syn-rift stages (~ 21-14 Ma). Carbonate production ceased during the Middle to Upper Miocene (~ 13-6 Ma), likely due to very high salinity conditions. New dating indicates that carbonate production resumed at the end of the Miocene (~ 5.5 Ma). Thick, aggrading coral-algal platforms-attached and detached-developed, with their morphology strongly shaped by salt tectonics.
红海北部与亚喀巴湾之间的米甸半岛是红海沿岸唯一一处中中新世同裂谷沉积地层（阿基坦阶至郎恩阶）持续出露的地方，其中还包括保存异常完好的碳酸盐台地。我们在杜巴盆地选取了四个陆上重点区域和一个海上重点区域，以探究红海东北部台地形态、构造背景、空间分布和碳酸盐工厂的变化情况。通过整合地面观测、地球物理和钻井数据以及锶（Sr）同位素地层学，我们将这些台地置于红海东北部裂谷边缘张裂过程中的构造和古地理背景之中。研究结果表明，在同裂谷早期阶段（约2300 - 2100万年前），台地以软体动物为主的缓坡为主，而在裂谷盛期和同裂谷晚期阶段（约2100 - 1400万年前），则转变为以珊瑚和藻类为主的断层崖边缘台地以及三角洲顶部台地。在中中新世至上新世期间（约1300 - 600万年前），碳酸盐生产停止，这可能是由于盐度极高所致。新的测年结果表明，碳酸盐生产在中新世末期（约550万年前）恢复。厚层的、不断加积的珊瑚 - 藻类台地（包括附着和分离的台地）得以发育，其形态受盐构造的强烈影响。
