An active fault system has been detected along the Cairo-Suez district in northeastern Egypt, applying
the EMR-Technique using Cerescope. The E-W (old Mediterranean) and NW-SE (Red Sea-Gulf of Suez)
fault-trends are estimated to have ongoing activity. Horizontal EMR-measurements indicate a NW to
NNW orientation as a maximum horizontal stress direction (s1), whereas an E-W orientation to has a
secondary tendency. A simplified stress map for the Cairo-Suez district is constructed from the horizontal
stress data measured at about 20 locations within the district. The mapped stresses will contribute to the
stress data of the Cairo-Suez region on the world stress map (WSM). The present study results indicate
rejuvenation of the inherited Mesozoic E-W oriented and Oligocene-Miocene rift-related NW-SE oriented
faults. The transfer of rift-related deformation from Red Sea-Gulf of Suez region, which is currently
undergoing an extensional stress regime in NE to NNE direction, would explain a seismotectonic activity
of the Cairo-Suez district. These results are consistent with a present day NNW oriented compressional
stresses attributed to a convergence between the African and Eurasian plates. |
