Linked sequence stratigraphic and structural

evolution of propagating normal faults

Rob L. Gawthorpe
Ian Sharp
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom
John R. Underhill
Sanjeev Gupta
Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JW, United Kingdom

ABSTRACT
Two distinct phases in the structural evolution of normal faults can be identified in the
Miocene Gulf of Suez rift: (1) an initial growth fold stage when the fault is a buried structure
and (2) a subsequent surface faulting stage. During the growth fold stage, strata thin and be-
come truncated toward the fault zone and are rotated and diverge away from the buried fault
into growth synclines. In contrast, once the fault breaks surface, strata form a divergent wedge,
which is rotated and thickens into the fault. The two tectono-stratigraphic styles also occur con-
temporaneously along the length of a single fault segment. Growth folding characterizes defor-
mation around the ends of fault segments where the fault is blind, whereas the center of fault
segments are characterized by surface faulting. These observations suggest that marked along-
strike variation in stratal surfaces and facies stacking patterns will occur in depositional se-
quences in areas of normal faulting.

INTRODUCTION
Sequence stratigraphy has become a widely
accepted methodology for analyzing the dynam-
ics of sedimentary basin fills. Initial interpreta-
tions, mainly based on seismic stratigraphic
analysis, highlighted the role of eustatic sea-
level fluctuations as the prime control on stratig-
raphy in passive margin settings (e.g., Vail et al.,
1977; Posamentier and Vail, 1988; Van Wagoner
et al., 1990). Although attention has more re-
cently been paid to local controls on sequence
stratigraphy (e.g., Posamentier and Allen, 1993;
Gawthorpe et al., 1994), there are relatively few
detailed studies of sequence stratigraphic devel-
opment in areas where faulting and folding were
important local controls on sediment supply and
accommodation.
This paper presents the results of an integrated
structural and sequence stratigraphic analysis of
early synrift deposits from the lower Miocene of
the El Qaa fault block, Gulf of Suez rift, Egypt,
and focuses on the role of fault propagation as a
local control on sequence stratigraphic evolution.
In particular, exceptional exposures from the
margins of the Suez rift highlight the importance
of growth folds above blind normal faults in con-
trolling structural and stratigraphic style. Because
the evolution of many intracratonic basins and
passive margins involves at least one rift phase,
where subsidence and uplift are strongly con-
trolled by normal faults, the results of this study
have important general implications for sequence
stratigraphic analysis.
STRUCTURAL STYLE AND
STRATIGRAPHY ADJACENT TO
NORMAL FAULTS
Within the central dip province of the Gulf of
Suez rift, major southwest-dipping normal faults
with several kilometers of throw define major half
grabens that are 2030 km long and 1020 km
wide. These major normal fault zones are gener-
ally steeply dipping (6080), and bedding
prerift strata. Local reverse faults and thrusts, hav-
ing displacements of up to a few hundred meters,
splay off the master normal fault zone into its
hanging wall (Fig. 1). In contrast, deformation in
the footwall is relatively simple, with bedding
subhorizontal or slightly inclined toward the mas-
ter fault, and offset by small-displacement syn-
thetic and antithetic normal faults (Fig. 1).
Excellent exposures of the early synrift (Abu
Zenima and Nukhul formations) in the northern
El Qaa fault block allow the sequence strati-
graphic response to growth of the Baba-Sidri fault
to be established. The early synrift comprises
three facies associations: a basal unit of fluvial
conglomerates, sandstones, and paleosols; a mid-
dle unit of tidal flat and tidal channel deposits; and
an upper unit of shallow-marine shoreface sand-
stones and offshore mudstones (Fig. 2). The early
synrift is thickest (>50 m) along the axis of the El
Qaa syncline and thins slightly to ~35 m toward
the Baba-Sidri fault. These strata also thin onto
the western limb of the syncline and up the plunge

,,,,
yyy
,,,
around the faults describes a faulted monocline of the syncline axis. Thinning of the early synrift

,,,
SW Fig. 2 NE geometry (Patton et al., 1995), a feature particu- is also associated with truncation and onlap of the
Baba-Sidri
El Qaa fault larly well developed around the Baba-Sidri fault fluvial and tidal units so that immediately adja-

,,, ,y,,,,
syncline

,,, ,,,
in the northern part of the El Qaa fault block cent to the Baba-Sidri fault and high on the west-
(Fig. 1). The hanging wall expression of the fold- ern limb of the El Qaa syncline, only the upper

,,,
,,,
1 km (H=V)
ing is one of a broad, upward-widening asymmet-
El Qaa fault block ric syncline, the El Qaa syncline.
Basement Miocene synrift A structurally complex zone, comprising nor-
Prerift Quaternary mal and locally reverse faults, folds, and steep-to-
overturned bedding, is developed in the first
Figure 1. Cross section from south Wadi Baba 200400 m of the immediate hanging wall of the
showing structural style of the Baba-Sidri fault
and the El Qaa syncline. Note the faulted mon-
fault zone. Within this zone, the master normal
ocline geometry of bedding around the fault fault comprises a series of subparallel fault strands
zone. Hhorizontal, Vvertical. that bound riders of steeply dipping to subvertical
shallow-marine unit is developed.
Detailed sequence stratigraphic interpretation
of the shallow-marine unit illustrates the progres-
sive evolution of the Baba-Sidri fault and the El
Qaa syncline (Fig. 2). This unit is composed of a
number of 110 m-thick, highly bioturbated
lower shoreface sand bodies containing Ophio-
morpha, Teichichnus, and rare preserved hum-
mocky cross stratification. Large-scale trough

Geology; September 1997; v. 25; no. 9; p. 795798; 4 figures. 795

 , , ,
, , ,, ,
SW

,
Axis of El Qaa
E syncline D
Datum = major marine flooding surface
C B A
NE
Baba-Sidri
fault

,,
,
,, , ,
,,
,, ,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Upper shallow-
marine wedge
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
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, ,,
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,,
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,
Lower shallow-
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marine wedge

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, ,, ,
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,,
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,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
? Truncation of older
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, , ,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
sand body

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,
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, ,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Prerift/synrift
unconformity

Fluvial incised
5m
Eocene prerift
Tidal and transitional valley fills
marine unit 200 m
Offshore Large-scale Ophiomorpha Major marine
mudstone cross-bedding flooding surface
Shoreface/tidal Trough cross- Thalassinoides Regressive surface
sandstone bedding Oysters/shell debris of marine erosion
Fluvial conglomerate General marine Carbonate concretions Truncation
bioturbation Onlap
Figure 2. Sequence stratigraphy of the early synrift between the Baba-Sidri fault and the El Qaa syncline (see Fig. 1 for location).
The synrift contains two prominent depositional wedges (see text for discussion). Only major stratal surfaces are illustrated.

cross-bedded sandstones, having sets as thick as
2 m, also occur near the top of the unit and indi-
cate strong marine currents flowing to the north-
east, parallel to the structural trend. Between the
sand bodies, the succession is dominated by gray-
green offshore mudstones forming units as thick
as 20 m. The bases of the sand bodies are gener-
ally sharp, with concretion lags derived from the
underlying mudstones, and there is clear evidence
for erosional truncation below them (Fig. 2).
These data, together with the lack of coarsening-
upward trends from the mudstones, indicate
marked regressive marine erosion at the base of
the shoreface sand bodies, suggesting they formed
as a result of forced regression during times of rel-
ative sea-level fall (Plint, 1988; Hunt and Tucker,
1992; Posamentier et al., 1992).
The tops of the sand bodies are also sharp,
marked by an abrupt facies shift into offshore
mudstones (Fig. 2), and are often associated with
Thalassinoides omission colonization, early dia-
genetic cementation, and/or firmground oyster
colonization. Thus the offshore marl units are
bounded below by major marine flooding sur-
faces and above by regressive marine erosion sur-
faces. They are therefore interpreted as the pre-
served remnants of transgressive and highstand
systems tracts.
Tracing of the key stratal surfaces from the
Baba-Sidri fault into the El Qaa syncline indicates
that the shallow-marine facies association can be
subdivided into two major stratal units: a lower
wedge that thins toward the Baba-Sidri fault and
an upper wedge that expands toward the fault
(Fig. 2). The lower wedge thins from >30 m along
the axis of the El Qaa syncline to <10 m in the im-
mediate hanging wall of the Baba-Sidri fault. This
thinning is achieved by a combination of ero-
sional truncation below sharp-based shorefaces
and onlap (Fig. 2). Erosion at the base of indi-
vidual shoreface sand bodies is most pronounced
near the fault zone, and sand bodies pinch out into
offshore mudstones toward the axis of the El Qaa
syncline. There is typically 25 angularity be-
tween individual sand bodies, with older sand
bodies dipping more steeply than younger ones
into the El Qaa syncline. These data clearly indi-
cate that the folds were growing during early syn-
rift time. The combination of marine regressive
erosion, during falls in relative sea level, and bed
rotation has resulted in complete removal of the
up-dip portions of some of the mudstone and
shoreface sediment bodies (Fig. 2). The resultant
synrift wedge, thinning toward the normal fault
and containing bedding rotated away from the
fault zone, differs markedly from published ex-
amples of stratigraphic architecture in the hanging
walls of normal fault zones (e.g., Leeder and
Gawthorpe, 1987; Prosser, 1993).
In contrast, the upper marine wedge expands
from <10 m along the axis of the El Qaa syncline
to >40 m in the immediate hanging wall of the
Baba-Sidri fault (Fig. 2). Stratal divergence to-
ward the fault is associated with an increase in
bed thickness, a decrease in the amount of ero-
sion at the base of shoreface sand bodies, and
pinch-out of the shoreface sandstones into off-
shore mudstones (Fig. 2). This synrift wedge, di-
verging toward the Baba-Sidri fault, displays
many of the characteristics of half graben sedi-
mentation (e.g., Leeder and Gawthorpe, 1987).
STRUCTURAL AND STRATIGRAPHIC
RESPONSE TO NORMAL FAULT
PROPAGATION
Integration of structural and stratigraphic data
suggests two discrete stages in the tectono-
stratigraphic development of the Baba-Sidri
fault: an initial phase where surface deformation
was associated with growth folding when the
fault was a blind structure at depth and a subse-
quent phase when the fault had propagated and
broken surface (Fig. 3).
The stratigraphic response to growth folding
above blind normal faults is illustrated by the
lower wedge of the shallow-marine unit, where
strata thin, onlap, and become truncated toward
the Baba-Sidri fault. In particular, stratal sur-
faces diverge into the El Qaa syncline and show
decreasing dips upsection (Figs. 2 and 3A), in-

796 GEOLOGY, September 1997

 ,,,,,
,,,,,,
,,,,,,
dicating active fold growth and suggesting that A) Growth monocline above blind fault (lower wedge)

,,,,,,
the area of maximum subsidence was located
SW El Qaa Baba-Sidri NE
along the axis of the El Qaa syncline at this time. syncline fault (blind)

,,,,,
During this growth fold stage, relative sea-level

,,,,,,
Divergence and pinch-out Thinning, truncation and onlap
falls led to truncation around the flanks of the of shoreface sand bodies toward growth monocline

,,,,,,
growth monocline above the blind Baba-Sidri
fault (Fig. 3A). Thus several forced regressive
sand bodies are connected up-dip due to tectonic

,,,,,,
enhancement of regressive marine erosion sur- Growth

,,,,,,
faces (Figs. 2 and 3A). monocline
The upper wedge is interpreted to have been
deposited once the normal fault had broken the
Propagating

15 m
depositional surface (Figs. 2 and 3B). The maxi-
ene blind normal
Eoc ft

,,,,,
,,
mum preserved thickness of this unit is in the im- 150 m
ri fault
mediate hanging wall of the Baba-Sidri fault, and pre
facies stacking patterns are largely aggradational.
B) Surface-breaking fault (upper wedge)
In the upper wedge, the most prominent regres-
sive erosion surfaces are located on the hanging SW Baba-Sidri fault NE

,,,,,
,,,,
,,
,,,
,,,
wall dipslope and in the axis of the El Qaa syn- El Qaa Expansion and divergence (surface break)
cline, not adjacent to the Baba-Sidri fault (Figs. 2 syncline of section toward fault

,,,,,
,,,,,,
and 3B). Thus the highest rates of subsidence ap-
pear to have been located immediately adjacent Incision and
to the fault zone, and in this location, the rate of subaerial exposure
in uplifting footwall
subsidence appears to have been sufficient to

,,,,,
suppress all but the fastest regional or eustatic
sea-level falls (Gawthorpe et al., 1994). Fault propagated
The observations presented here have direct to surface and
implications for strike variability in structural and monocline

, ,
15 m
stratigraphic style along normal faults. Studies of breached
ne
Eoce
major normal fault zones clearly indicate that they e r if t 150 m
pr
occur as discrete segments separated by transfer

zones (e.g., Rosendahl et al., 1986; Gawthorpe
and Hurst, 1993), and that displacement and rates
of subsidence and uplift vary along the length of
individual segments (e.g., Walsh and Watterson,
1988; Gawthorpe et al., 1994). An idealized fault
segment can thus be viewed as having maximum
displacement at its center, where the fault breaks
surface; total displacement and displacement rates
decrease toward buried fault tips, above which
growth folds develop (Fig. 4). This along-strike
variation in structural style from a discrete fault
zone at surface to a growth monocline above
buried fault tips is clearly observed along the
Hadahid fault-monocline in the El Qaa fault
block, and has also been documented from the
northern end of the active Pearce fault segment,
Nevada (Jackson and Leeder, 1994).
Considering this structural template, the two
tectono-stratigraphic phases in the early synrift
evolution of the Baba-Sidri fault would also be
expected to occur contemporaneously in the
hanging wall of any one fault segment (Fig. 4).
Thus aggradational stacking patterns with strata
tilting and diverging into the fault zone occur at
the center of fault segments and are contempora-
neous with strata above buried fault tips, which
tilt and thicken away from the fault zone into
growth synclines (Fig. 4). Key stratal surfaces
also vary in expression along the length of a fault
segment. This is particularly true for surfaces as-
sociated with relative sea-level fall, such as se-
quence boundaries and regressive marine erosion
,
Offshore Fluvial Regressive surface of erosion
mudstone conglomerate
Stratal terminations
Shoreface Eocene
sandstone limestone Concretions
Figure 3. Tectono-stratigraphic evolution of the early synrift and Baba-Sidri
fault zone. A: Lower wedge developed in response to growth folding above
blind propagating normal fault. B: Upper wedge developed when fault had
propagated to surface, developing a half-graben geometry.
surfaces. Relatively low rates of subsidence at the around the major fault zones to propagation of
ends of fault segments, together with bed rotation normal faults and see no need for complex ramp-
around growth monoclines, will lead to enhance- flat fault plane geometries (e.g., Gibbs, 1984) or
ment of marine and subaerial erosion surfaces as- for periods of synrift structural inversion (Knott
sociated with relative sea-level fall (Fig. 4). In et al., 1995).
contrast, the high subsidence rates in the center of The two main styles of surface deformation,
fault segments can generally outpace all but the growth folding and surface faulting, give rise to
fastest glacio-eustatic sea-level falls (Gawthorpe significantly different stratigraphic responses.
et al., 1994). Thus abrupt basinward shifts in Growth folding creates stratigraphic wedges that
facies recorded at the ends of fault segments may thin toward the normal fault zone and are rotated
trace, along-strike, into largely conformable suc- and thicken into hanging wall synclines. In con-
cessions undergoing normal regression at the trast, once the fault breaks surface, stratigraphy
center of fault segments (Fig. 4). thickens and diverges toward the fault zone. Key
stratal surface development and facies stacking
SUMMARY AND IMPLICATIONS patterns also differ in the two phases of structural
Linked structural and stratigraphic analysis of evolution. During growth folding, basinward
normal fault zones in the Gulf of Suez has indi- shifts in facies and erosion surfaces are pro-
cated the importance of growth folding in the nounced adjacent to the fault zone because of low
evolution of normal fault zones. Growth folding subsidence rates and fold amplification. Once the
characterizes the initial phases of fault evolution fault breaks surface, however, the high rates of
before the fault propagates to the surface. We at- subsidence in the immediate hanging wall of the
tribute the structural complexity and the folding fault zone lead to predominantly aggradational

GEOLOGY, September 1997 797

,,,,
,,,,,
,,,,
,,,,, ,,
,,
Growth fold above Decr Fault segment Alberta: Their relationship to relative changes in
ease sea level, in Wilgus, C. K., et al., eds., Sea-level
blind fault tip in dis center
place
men
t tow
changes: An integrated approach: Society of Eco-
vel

,,,, ,,
ard fa nomic Mineralogists and Paleontologists Special
a-le Surface break
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ult tip
e se

,,,,,
,,,,, ,,
ativ ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Publication 42, p. 357370.
Rel ge ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
n ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Posamentier, H. W., and Allen G. P., 1993, Variability
cha ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Fault p
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, of the sequence stratigraphic model: Effects of
lane
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, local basin factors: Sedimentary Geology, v. 86,

,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

,,,,,
,,,,, ,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
p. 91109.
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Posamentier, H. W., Allen, G. P., James, D. P., and
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Tesson, M., 1992, Forced regressions in a se-
quence stratigraphic framework: Concepts, ex-

,,
,,,
amples, and exploration significance: American

,,,,,
Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin,
Growth fold associated with v. 76, p. 16871709.
lateral and vertical 10 m Posamentier, H. W., and Vail, P. R., 1988, Eustatic con-
m

,,
,,,
propagation of 500 2 km trols on clastic deposition II: Sequence and sys-
fault tip Surface break tems tracts models, in Wilgus, C. K., et al., eds.,
Sea-level changes: An integrated approach: Soci-
Surface of subaerial exposure and

, ,,
Basement and earlier Shoreface and
sequences coastal plain
Figure 4. Schematic diagram of strike variability in structural and stratigraphic
style along a normal fault segment (see text for discussion). Inset shows overall
structural style from fault center to fault-tip folding at end of segment.
stacking patterns; basinward shifts in facies and
associated stratal surfaces are rare.
The segmented nature of a normal fault zone
suggests that the two structural styles occur con-
temporaneously along any one fault segment.
Whereas surface fault breaks characterize the
central portions of normal fault segments, growth
folding dominates the ends of fault segments
where the fault is blind. The implications for se-
quence development adjacent to normal faults are
clear: facies stacking patterns and the character-
istics of key stratal surfaces will show marked
along-strike variability, even if sediment supply
is constant.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We acknowledge financial support from the Realiz-
ing Our Potential Awards scheme (Natural Environ-
ment Research Council Grant GR3/R9527), Norsk
Hydro, and Amoco.
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Manuscript received January 10, 1997
Revised manuscript received June 4, 1997
Manuscript accepted June 26, 1997

798 Printed in U.S.A. GEOLOGY, September 1997