Plate tectonics and cratonal geology in Northeast Africa (Egypt, Sudan)

The stratigraphical interpretation of the strata of Nubia allows for the first time — in connection with structural, petrological and sedimentological investigations — to reconstruct the geological development of this cratonal area. After cratonization during the PanAfrican event, extensional trends in WSW-ENE direction caused a structural relief, striking NNW-SSE. The collision between Gondwana and the northern continents during the Carboniferous resulted in the uplifting of large parts of the northeast African Plate and was accompanied by more or less East-West striking faults and magmatic intrusions. Erosion of Paleozoic sediments in middle and southern Egypt and reversal of the main drainage direction was the consequence. This caused deposition of Karroo-type strata in northern Sudan, including glacial deposits at the base along the Sudanes Egyptian border.