Structural evolution, deformation processes and magmatism in Kadabora-El Sibai district, Egyptian Eastern Desert: Implications for Pan-African Tectonics of the Arabian-Nubian Shield

The Arabian-Nubian Shield (ANS) represents one of the best-preserved and well-exposed of tracts Neoproterozoic juvenile continental crust offering a unique opportunity for improving our understanding of tectonic and magmatic processes of the Earth’s crust. Detailed microstructural analyses utilizing modern analytical techniques such as Electron Backscatter Diffraction analysis to understand the processes associated with major deformation and tectonic events in the ANS are currently absent. Such studies are crucial to understand its evolution in particular as well as the deformation and rheological behaviour of the Earth’s crust in general. Furthermore, the link between tectonics and magmatism in ANS is still ambiguous. Kadabora-El Sibai region in the Egyptian Eastern Desert (EED), ANS is considered a key region within the shield as it displays most of the essential features recorded elsewhere in the EED, in terms of polyphase deformation and tectonic evolution. Several magmatic rocks including granitoids and dykes are abundant in the area, however, they are poorly-studied but can substantially contribute to the comprehension of the tectonomagmatic evolution of the shield. In addition, several granitic shear zones and associated deformed mafic rocks, that can help advance our understanding of the deformation of the crust, are reported from the area. This thesis employs a multidisciplinary approach integrating field, microstructural and geochemical investigations with isotopic and geochronological data to addresses two topics: the deformation and rheology of the middle crust along with the tectonomagmatic evolution of the ANS.