Structural Map of the Arabian Plate and Surrounding Areas

The project of a Structural Map of the Arabian Plate and surrounding areas was supported by CGMW in order to bridge the gap between the Tectonic map of Africa (2010) and the International Tectonic Map of Asia (in progress) and because the Arabian plate is a very critical area to understand the geodynamic processes which led to the collision between Africa and Eurasia. The realization of this Structural Map of the Arabian Plate and surrounding areas results from a research agreement between the Total Oil Company, the University of Cergy-Pontoise and the CGMW. The project was concluded thanks to the synthesis of numerous international contributions and from published or unpublished data.

The map focuses on the Phanerozoic evolution. The Panafrican basement cropping out in the Arabian and Nubian Shields is consequently not differentiated. Over the basement, the thickness of the weakly deformed sedimentary domains (intra-continental basins, continental margins) is represented by isopachs. When possible (Arabian Platform), two series of isopachs are represented over and beneath the major Paleozoic unconformity located below the Upper Carboniferous rocks. In the orogenic systems bounding the Arabian Platform to the north (Zagros, Makran, Oman Mountains), the colors represent the age of the main deformation. In the Zagros, this representation allows to visualize the propagation of the deformation from the suture to the foreland and the current deformation front. Between the Zagros suture and the undifferentiated Eurasian domain cropping out in the north-eastern corner of the map, a set of continental blocks are displayed. Two categories of blocks are distinguished: the Cimmerian blocks to the east and the Taurus-Armenian blocks to the west. The major sutures along the outer boundaries of the main plates and the minor sutures within the Cimmerian and Taurus-Armenian domains are also highlighted.