Lithospheric Rifting in the Northwestern Red Sea

The northern Red Sea is a unique region that is presently underdoing the transition from continental rifting to oceanic seafloor spreading. Recent work has led to a general understanding of the structural framework of the region; however, there is still a basic disagreement over the interpretation of that framework, and, in particular the possible presence and distribution of oceanic crust is disputed. The principal investigator therefore sought out and obtained access to the geophysical data from a comprehensive and hitherto proprietary geophysical survey of the critical area between 25 & 26 N. Study of this data will allow the controversy to be directly addressed and will allow predictions made by the various models for the evolution of the Red Sea to be tested in an area where the geophysical and geological framework is presently not known.