ISSN 00168521, Geotectonics, 2012, Vol. 46, No. 5, pp. 379–388. © Pleiades Publishing, Inc., 2012.

Strain Analysis and Microstructural Evolution Characteristic

of Neoproterozoic Rocks Associations of Wadi El Falek, Centre
Eastern Desert, Egypt1
Osama M. K. Kassema, b, Said H. Abd El Rahimb, and El Said R. El Nasharb
a
SGSRC, Department of Geology, Science faculty, King Saud University,
P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh, 11451 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
b Department of Geology, National Research Center, AlBehoos str., Dokki, Cairo, 12622 Egypt

email: kassemol@yahoo.com
Received April 1, 2012; in final form, May 18, 2012

Abstract—The estimation of finite strain in rocks is fundamental to a meaningful understanding of deforma

tional processes and products on all scales from microscopic fabric development to regional structural anal
yses. The Rf/φ and Fry methods on feldspar porphyroclasts and mafic grains from 5 granite, 1 metavolcanic,
3 metasedimentary and 1 granodiorite samples were used in Wadi El Falek region. Finitestrain data shows
that a high to moderate range of deformation of the granitic to metavolcanosedimentary samples and axial
ratios in the XZ section range from 1.60 to 4.10 for the Rf/φ method and from 2.80 to 4.90 for the Fry method.
Furthermore, the short axes are subvertical associated with a subhorizontal foliation. We conclude that finite
strain in the deformed granite rocks is of the same order of magnitude as that from metavolcanosedimentary
rocks. Furthermore, contacts formed during intrusion of plutons with some faults in the Wadi El Falek area
under brittle to semiductile deformation conditions. In this case, finite strain accumulated during superim
posed deformation on the already assembled nappe structure. It indicates that the nappe contacts formed
during the accumulation of finite strain.
DOI: 10.1134/S0016852112050032

1
INTRODUCTION
Many authors are conventional that the East Afri
can Orogen in the Eastern Desert of Egypt is consoli
dated in the Neoproterozoic by accretion of island
arcs [22, 30, 54]. Neoproterozoic rocks of the Ara
bianNubian Shield are exposed in the Central East
ern Desert (CED) of Egypt as a result of flank uplift
triggered by the Red Sea rift [30, 54]. The CED is
characterized by two major tectonostratigraphic units:
the structural basement and the structural cover
(Fig. 1). The structural basement consists of gneisses
and related amphibolites [12, 34] whereas the struc
tural cover or the PanAfrican nappes include low
grade metamorphosed ophiolite slices (serpentinites,
pillow lavas, metagabbros), arc metavolcanics, arc
metasediments [19, 24, 55]. The structural cover was
intensely deformed during oblique collision and
accretion of island arcs onto the Saharan Metacraton
forming an ophiolitic melange. Subsequently, NW
trending sinistral shear zones of the Najd Fault System
were developed [1–3, 18].
The Wadi El Falek located at the north direction of
the Homrit Waggt Complex, which is localized on one
of the deepseated tectonic lineaments defined by [21]
similar to other ring complexes in Egypt [10, 51] and
1 The article is published in the original.
elsewhere in Africa [44]. In addition, the Wadi El
Falek is represented as the extension for Homrit Waggt
Complex (HWC) which is characterized by NNW
aligned steeplydipping ductilebrittle shear zones [6]
and many ENE trending deepseated tectonic linea
ments [21]. The Homrit Waggt Complex (HWC) is a
ring complex which intruded the igneous metamor
phic terrain of the Egyptian basement.
Strain determination using populations of suitable
objects is an extremely useful technique for under
standing the processes and products of deformation of
the Earth’s crust from the micro to macroscales
[25–28, 48]. Based on the passive behaviour of ellipti
cal objects during deformation [46] introduced the
Rf/φ method for strain analysis. Since then there have
been many graphical, approximate and algebraic
methods developed, based on the same assumptions
[7–9, 13, 31–33, 35, 38, 39, 42, 52, 56]. Up until
recently only the method of [50] was considered gen
eral enough to work with nonelliptically shaped
objects. However, [40] have demonstrated that if the
objects used in an analysis can be identified using
either boundary or region based ellipsefitting meth
ods, then most previously developed algebraic tech
niques can be applied to objects of arbitrary shape. An
alternative class of methods based on object–object
separations was initially championed by [20] and has

379
380 OSAMA M. K. KASSEM et al.

W E

Red
S

m
a Ala
M ar s
Ea
ste
rn

Sea
De
ser

Wadi Hafafit culmination

t

0 100 km

34° 35°

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9 10

Fig. 1. Sketch geological map of Central Eastern Desert of Egypt (modified from [6]: 1—posttectonic granite; 2—calcalkaline
granite; 3—volcanosedimentary sequence; 4—ophiolite association; 5—high grade gneiss and schist; 6—thrust; 7—major
ductile shear zone; 8—normal faults; 9—deep seated tectonic zone; 10—location of Fig. 2.

undergone considerable development, spawning the
Normalised Fry Method [14] and the enhanced Nor
malised Fry Method [15]. Additionally, [36] has
extended these methods for application to aggregates
of nonelliptical objects and [37] applied Delaunay
triangulation to resurrect the nearest neighbor method
of strain analysis. Granitic and metavolcanosedi
mentary samples have been analysed by the Rf/φ and
Fry techniques [20, 45, 46]. Therefore, Finite strains
determined with the normalized Fry technique were
primarily used to check the Rf/φ estimates. The Fry
strains are thought to represent the matrix strain,
whereas the Rf/φ strains describe the fabric ellipsoid or
clast strain [45, 49].
The current work focuses on geometric and struc
tural analysis of the Wadi El Falek area. It used the
finite strain, strain variation patterns and micro struc
tural analysis for samples collected from Wadi El Falek
area. Using these data, we estimate finite strain and
mechanical behavior of the faults and tectonic contact
during deformation to discuss the nature and distribu
tion of finite strain in the studied area.
GEOLOGICAL SETTING
In the CED, the metamorphic core complexes and
the suprastructural sequence are intruded by grani
toids of variable compositions. The structural base
ment and the deformed nappes were intruded by syn
tectonic calcalkaline granites and metagabbros. This
was followed by eruption of the Dokhan volcanics
[11], accumulation of molasse sediments, and intru

GEOTECTONICS Vol. 46 No. 5 2012

 STRAIN ANALYSIS AND MICROSTRUCTURAL EVOLUTION CHARACTERISTIC 381

34°20′
W a di
El Fal F5 N
ek F1

F9 F2

F10
F3

F6
F4
F7

F8
25°10′

25°10′
Homrit waggat
0 2 4 km

34°20′

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Fig. 2. Location and lithological map of the Wadi El Falek area, showing sample location, strike and plunging direction, arrow
heads indicating orientation of lineation for long axes: 1—metasedimentary rocks; 2—metavolcanic rocks; 3—serpentinite; 4—
granite; 5—granodiorite; 6—metagabbrodiorite complex; 7—Wadi deposits; 8—normal faults.

sion of late to posttectonic granites. The syntectonic
granite in the CED has a magmatic emplacement age
of 606–614 Ma [5, 34] whereas, the late to posttec
tonic granites were emplaced at ca. 590–550 Ma [23,
43, 47].
The Wadi El Falek area consists of different kind of
rocks (Fig. 2) such as a granodiorite, metagabbro
diorite complex; a thick succession of pelitic metased
iments (biotite schists) with intercalated quartzofels
pathic rocks, and minor interbedded volcaniclastic
sandstones and siltstones. It has been covered by thick
sands, gravels and alluvial deposits. Apart from a few
alkali volcanic and dykes much of the earlier volcanic
lava and pyroclastic rocks have been removed by ero
sion. Alternatively, the extrusive magmas may have
been very small in volume while the plutonic rocks are
well preserved.
The serpent in ites form a continuous, many
peaked, huge steepsided body which may reach a
considerable height as compared with the host country
rocks (Fig. 2). These ultramafics are rather homoge
neous in composition and composed essentially of ser
pentinites after dunite, pyroxenite and peridotite with
a dark brownish green to dark green colours. Alter
ation to buff talccarbonate varieties is rather common
and recorded either as scattered patches with a chara
teristic cavernous appearance or else along shear fault
planes within the ultramafic bodies.
The metasedimentary and metavolcanics rocks are
distinctly foliated, folded and form a small north
south trending belt [53]. The metagabbrodiorite asso
ciation of the concerned area is represented by a het
erogeneous assemblage of variably modified basic to
intermediate units. These metagabbroid rocks intrude
metavolcanic country rocks and are intruded by the
older granitic plutons. The metagabbroid rocks are
medium to coarse grained, occasionally with aphyric
texture appearance and show variations in proportions
of the constituent mineral. In another view, these met
agabbrodiorite associations comprise an assortment
of several gradational quartzamphibolerocks that
represent various modifications of original gabbros.
Sometimes rocks of the marginal contact may be por
phyritic and enclose xenoliths of the metavolcanics
showing a little foliation. These rock sequences are
successively cut by a number of basic, intermediate
and acidic dykes as well as quartz veins and microvein
lets. The metagabbrodiorite complex envelops small

GEOTECTONICS Vol. 46 No. 5 2012

382 OSAMA M. K. KASSEM et al.
lenticular bodies of pyroxenite and the remnants of
hornblendite enclosures of rather smaller sizes. These
enclosures mafic minerals represent most probably
early segregations of pyroxene or hornblende. The
hornblendite may be fairly fresh or partially altered to
chlorite, whereas the pyroxenerich bodies are inten
sively altered and transformed to talccarbonate. The
dioritic pluton of the concerned area can be differen
tiated, petrologically, in two categories: a quartzdior
ite and a medium grained normal diorite.
ANALYTICAL PROCEDURE
The determination of finite strain is one of the
principal goals of structural geology. The magnitude
and orientation of the finite strain ellipsoid is critical
for constraining, for example, fold and fault mecha
nisms, displacement across ductile shear zones. Most
strain measurement techniques (Rf/φ, centertocen
ter, Fry, etc.) return finite strain ratios which are useful
for many applications. Twodimensional strain mea
surements were made on XY, XZ and YZ sections (X ≥
Y ≥ Z, finite strain axes) in order to estimate the three
dimensional strain geometry.
Ten samples were collected from Wadi El Falek area
(Fig. 2). They comprise 5 deformed to undeformed
granite samples, 1 metavolcanic sample, 3 metasedi
mentary samples and 1 granodiorite sample. The Rf/φ
method was applied on the quartz, and feldspar por
phyroclasts which is rather similar and therefore feld
spar grains are treated together. In other case, the
deformation behaviour of mafic grains such as mica
minerals deformed only by slip and amphiboles
deformed by twinning and slip on [57]. Felsic minerals
are more rigid than some mafic minerals. Therefore,
we measure felsic minerals separately from mafic min
erals to show the difference between felsic and mafic
minerals and to find the strain recorded in the mea
sured samples. At first, the three principal strain direc
tions X, Y, and Z have to be determined (X ≥ Y ≥ Z;
principal stain axes). For this purpose, the rock sample
is cut parallel to the foliation, which represents the
plane of flattening (XY) and oriented perpendicular to Z.
The maximum extension direction X is normal to the
foliation and parallel to lineation (XZ). The interme
diate strain direction, Y, is defined by its orthogonality
with X and Z, which lies normal to foliation and linea
tion (YZ). Sample preparation for the Rf/φ and Fry
analyses involved cutting thin sections along three
mutually perpendicular planes subparallel to the XY,
YZ and XZ principal planes, marking the quartz, feld
spar and mafic grains and making scanned images
from them. The scanned images were then digitized. A
least square bestfit ellipse was calculated for each
marker outline as well as its relative position and ori
entation. Finite strain techniques were used by the cal
culations and computer techniques. We used RJH
Strain Calculator 3.1 program to calculate and plot
strain data. Also, all analyses were made with a digi
tizer table system (Summa Sketch) in the geology
department, National Research Centre.
We used the Nadai strain magnitude which is
defined by an orthogonal coordinate system using the
natural principal strains EX, EY and EZ. The distance
from the origin provides an invariant measure of the
total strain magnitude (Et). Et can be decomposed into
two orthogonal components, volume (Ev) and devia
toric (Ed) strain expressed as:
2 2 1/2
Et = ( Ed + Ev )
and Ev and Ed are independent of the rotational com
ponent of deformation.
MICROSTRUCTURAL ANALYSIS
The microstructures characteristics of grain size,
grain shape, orientation distribution of long axes of
grains, shapes of grain boundaries and their configura
tion with respect to foliation were systematically stud
ied in mafic and ultramafic samples in Wadi el Falek
throughout the Neoproterozoic rocks and relation to
metamorphic grade and the deformation. Microstruc
tures that indicate contraction include concentration
of mica and deflection of external foliation around
competent porphyroclasts, preferred orientations of
mica and elongate quartz subgrains in the mylonitic
matrix and dominostyle shear displacements across
microcraks. Dilation across microcraks, pressure
shadows and secondary quartz fibers indicate direc
tions of the extension. Qualitative differences in strain
magnitude are defined by the relative degree of grain
size reduction and micro structural development.
Metasedimentary samples consist of quartz, Kfeld
spar, biotite and hornblende (Figs. 3a and 3b). Some
metasedimentary rocks are weakly foliated and fine to
medium grains (Fig. 3a). Figure 3b is shown moder
ately deformed with foliated and elongated mafic min
erals. The vertical foliation defined by highly to mod
erate deformed granitic rocks and well oriented clasts
biotite and hornblende grains (Figs. 3c, 3d). Some
times granitic rock shows rotated plagioclase grain
enclosed in the foliated matrix which composed of the
elongated hornblende and chlorite (Figs. 3c, 3d). In
the metavolcanic samples, linear aggregates with
highly to moderately deformed volcanic rocks repre
sented by metadacite, contain plagioclase and horn
blende phenocrysts embedded in crystalline ground
mass of the same composition (Fig. 3e). Granodiorite
samples consist of plagioclase, orthoclase, biotite,
hornblende and quartz (Fig. 3f). It is characterized by
weakly to moderately deformed with rarely rotation
for plagioclase and quartz.
RESULT OF FINITE STRAIN ANALYSIS
Field orientation and sample location of the gran
ite, metavolcanic, metasedimentary and granodiorite
GEOTECTONICS Vol. 46 No. 5 2012
 STRAIN ANALYSIS AND MICROSTRUCTURAL EVOLUTION CHARACTERISTIC 383

samples in the Wadi El Falek area are shown in Fig. 2 x x

and Table 1.
Direction of finite strain. The strain data indicate
that the trends of the long axes of the finite strain ellip
soid (maximum extension direction X axes) in Wadi El
Falek area trend W to WNW and plunge of about 5°
(Fig. 4a). In addition, intermediate direction Y axes
display N/ENE and S/WSW direction and a low angle
of plunge, in addition to a subvertical attitude with
respect to the X direction (Fig. 4b). The maximum
shortening direction (Z) plunges steeply to the ESE
(Fig. 4c) perpendicular to the subhorizontal foliation.
Contouring of all collected data for Z axes reveals a
maximum 77°/83°.
Strain symmetry. Flinn’s diagram discriminates
between constructional strain and flattening strain
using a factor of deformation (K) by plotting Y/Z ver
sus X/Y, where K = (X/Y) – 1/(Y/Z) – 1. The plane
strain is at K = 1 [17]. Furthermore, minor or no vol
ume changes are expected in high grade rocks in which
porosities during deformation were probably very
small specially for the basement rocks [29].
Figure 5 and Table 2 represent the Rf/φ and Fry
strains. Flinn diagrams indicate that the quartzmica
matrix and the feldspar porphyroclasts and amphibole
in metagranite and metavolcanosedimentary rocks
exhibit flattening strain (Fig. 5). The strain symmetry
as expressed by the K value [17, 45] shows a value
ranging from 0.13 to 0.94 (low to high flattening
strain) for the Rf/φ method and from 0.09 to 0.53 (low
to moderate flattening strain) for the Fry method
(Fig. 5). Accordingly, the strain symmetry is charac
terized by low to high oblate strain symmetries.
Finite stretches. The strain ellipsoids have oblate
strain symmetry (Fig. 5a, 5b). The axial ratios in the
XZ sections range from 1.60 to 4.10 for the Rf/φ
method and from 2.80 to 4.90 for the Fry method
(Table 2), indicating a high to moderate range of
z z
(a) 180 μm (b) 180 μm
x x
z z
(c) 180 μm (d) 180 μm
x x
z z
180 μm (f) 180 μm
(e)
Fig. 3. (a) weakly deformed metasedimentary sample com
posed of feldspars, quartz, plagioclase and biotite C.N.
(Sample F6 xz); (b) foliated metasedimentary rocks com
posed essentially of quartz, potassium feldspar, plagio
clase, amphibole, biotite C.N. (Sample F9 xz); (c) rotated
plagioclase minerals in granitic rocks C.N. (Sample F3 xz);
(d) rotated plagioclase grain with foliated matrix which
composed of the elongated hornblende and chlorite C.N.
(Sample F2 xz); (e) Linear aggregates in metavolcanic
rocks (metadacite), contain plagioclase and hornblende
phenocrysts embedded in crystalline groundmass (Sample
F8 xz); (f) Moderate to highly deformed granodiorite sam
ple C.N. (Sample F10 xz).
deformation of the deformed granitic to metavolcano
sedimentary samples. In addition, the stretch X (SX)
averages range from 1.20 to 1.97 for the Rf/φ method

Table 1. Direction of finite strain axes and stretches for samples from Wadi El Falek area

X Y X
Sample no.
Trend Plung Stretch Trend Plung Stretch Trend Plung Stretch

F1 280 10 1.72 12 15 1.18 100 80 0.49

F2 300 15 1.37 30 25 1.32 120 75 0.56
F3 270 20 1.83 15 20 1.24 90 70 0.44
F4 310 15 1.58 50 20 1.11 130 75 0.57
F5 280 10 1.71 330 15 1.30 60 80 0.45
F6 290 10 1.74 200 30 1.21 290 79 0.74
F7 340 20 1.37 345 30 1.25 170 69 0.58
F8 120 15 1.37 215 10 1.32 300 73 0.55
F9 150 10 1.32 250 30 1.20 330 78 0.63
F10 290 5 1.37 205 25 1.26 290 84 0.58
tensor average 293 7 321 6 107 83

GEOTECTONICS Vol. 46 No. 5 2012

384 OSAMA M. K. KASSEM et al.

X Fig. 4. Lowerhemisphere equalarea projections: (a)

N maximum extension direction (X), (b) intermediate direc
tion (Y); (c) maximum shortening direction (Z). Contours
(а) start at 1% and increment every 3%. Black squares in the
stereographic projections represent mean values of tensor
averages.

and from 1.53 to 1.98 for the Fry method. Stretch Y

(SY) ranges from 1.01 to 1.15 for the Rf/φ method and
from 1.10 to 1.39 for the Fry method, showing exten
sion in this direction. The stretches in the Z direction
(SZ) range from 0.48 to 0.75, indicating vertical short

5
(a) Constriction strain

Y 4
N
1
=
(b) K
RX/Y
3

Flattening strain
2

1 2 3
RY/Z
5
(b) Constriction strain
Z
N
4
(c)
1
=
RX/Y

K
3

Flattening strain
2

1 2 3 4
RY/Z

Fig. 5. Flinn diagram ([17]) showing relative strain or

strain symmetry as obtained by (a) the Rf/φ method, (b) the
Fry method.

GEOTECTONICS Vol. 46 No. 5 2012

 STRAIN ANALYSIS AND MICROSTRUCTURAL EVOLUTION CHARACTERISTIC 385

Table 2. Finite strain data for sample from Wadi El Falek area

Sample Stretch
Method Rxy Ryz Rxz K r Et
no. Sx Sy Sz
F1 Rf/PHI 1.30 2.00 2.60 1.50 1.15 0.58 0.30 2.30 0.70
Fry 1.20 3.00 3.60 1.63 1.36 0.45 0.10 3.20 0.98
F2 Rf/PHI 1.43 2.10 3.00 1.62 1.14 0.54 0.39 2.53 0.79
Fry 1.26 3.10 3.90 1.70 1.35 0.44 0.12 3.36 1.03
F3 Rf/PHI 1.38 2.10 2.90 1.59 1.15 0.55 0.35 2.48 0.77
Fry 1.23 3.00 3.70 1.66 1.34 0.45 0.12 3.23 0.99
F4 Rf/PHI 1.07 1.50 1.60 1.20 1.12 0.75 0.13 1.57 0.36
Fry 1.28 3.20 4.10 1.74 1.36 0.42 0.13 3.48 1.07
F5 Rf/PHI 1.20 1.50 1.80 1.29 1.08 0.72 0.40 1.70 0.43
Fry 1.19 3.20 3.80 1.65 1.39 0.43 0.09 3.39 1.03
F6 Rf/PHI 1.86 2.20 4.10 1.97 1.06 0.48 0.72 3.06 1.00
Fry 1.50 3.20 4.80 1.93 1.29 0.40 0.23 3.70 1.15
F7 Rf/PHI 1.86 2.10 3.90 1.93 1.04 0.50 0.78 2.96 0.96
Fry 1.58 3.10 4.90 1.98 1.25 0.40 0.28 3.68 1.16
F8 Rf/PHI 1.84 1.90 3.50 1.86 1.01 0.53 0.94 2.74 0.89
Fry 1.55 2.90 4.50 1.91 1.23 0.42 0.29 3.45 1.09
F9 Rf/PHI 1.53 1.90 2.90 1.64 1.08 0.57 0.58 2.43 0.76
Fry 1.64 2.20 3.60 1.81 1.10 0.50 0.53 2.84 0.91
F10 Rf/PHI 1.32 1.90 2.50 1.49 1.13 0.59 0.33 2.22 0.67
Fry 1.27 2.20 2.80 1.53 1.20 0.55 0.23 2.47 0.76

ening of 25 to 52% for the Rf/φ method. Also, Fry strain
data show that SZ ranges from 0.40 to 0.55, indicating
vertical shortening of 45 to 60% (Table 2). The strain
data show significant difference in the deformation in
the studied samples, whereas the behaviour between
Rf/φ and Fry methods are the same order of the defor
mation.
The strain magnitudes (Et) of the granitic samples
in the Wadi El Falek area have averages ranging from
0.36 to 1.16 which indicate a very heterogeneous
deformation (Table 2).
DISCUSSION
The mylonitic granite and metavolcanosedimen
tary rocks of the Wadi El Falek area are distinctly foli
ated. Furthermore, the field observation and strain
data support that the mylonitic granitic and metavol
canosedimentary rocks were deformed by intrusion
of granitic pluton for the Homrit Waggat complex with
some faults. The mylonitic granite and metavolcano
sedimentary rocks are foliated at WNWESE trending
in the Wadi El Falek area (Fig. 6). In addition, the
granite was rounded in a roughly northwestsoutheast
orientation. In this case, stretching lineations during
deformation trend W to WNW and associated kine
matic indicators record WNW tectonic transport (Fig. 6).
[53] noted that the northeastern and southwestern
margins of the Homrit Waggat massif are a ductile to
mylonitic foliation. They suggested the shear indica
tions show that the pluton was involved in NWSE
dextral shearing during and after the late stage of
magma emplacement. Our data supports that the
suprastructural nappes in Central Eastern Desert were
intruded by syntectonic metagabbrodiorite complex
and calcalkaline granites [12], and later by post
Hammamat felsites, young gabbros, late to posttec
tonic granites, and postgranite dykes [4, 16, 41] as in
Wadi El Falek region.
The significant relationship between the strain
magnitude and tectonic contacts may have two rea
sons: (1) the nappe contacts formed during intrusion
of granitic pluton under brittle to semiductile defor
mation conditions before the peak of highpressure
metamorphism. In this case, ductile strain was super
imposed heterogeneously on the already assembled
nappe structure. (2) The nappe contacts formed late,
after highpressure metamorphism ceased, i.e. ductile
strain accumulated before the nappes formed. The fact
that finite strain accumulated during highpressure

GEOTECTONICS Vol. 46 No. 5 2012

386 OSAMA M. K. KASSEM et al.

N N N N

N N
N N

25°00′
34°20′
F1 F5

F9
N N

N N F2

F10 F3

F4 N
N N
N N
F7 F6
25°05′

0 2 4 km
F8
N N
N N

Fig. 6. In the lowerhemisphere equalarea projections, maximum extension direction (X), and intermediate direction (Y) are
shown in the geological map of Wadi El Falek area with the samples location.

metamorphism indicates that the nappe contacts
formed during the accumulation of ductile strain and
thus during intrusion of granitic pluton.
It is suggested, that the contact between granitic
and surrounded rocks in the Wadi El Falek area were
formed during intrusion pluton under brittle to semi
ductile conditions during/before deformation and
metamorphism of different rocks in studied area. The
finite strain was produced by a superimposed defor
mation on the already assembled nappe structure.
Apparently, the finite strain accumulated during meta
morphism indicates that the nappe contacts were
formed before the accumulation of finite strain. Fur
thermore, the mainphase foliation is not different for
all types of rocks, which also suggest similar deforma
tion behaviour in all types of rocks. The data shows
significant relationship between the strain magnitude
and the tectonic contacts in the Wadi El Falek area.
Also, the strain type as expressed by the K value does
not show a distinct pattern in the Wadi El Falek area.
Deformation was accompanied by vertical shortening
and this explains flattening strain type in large parts of
the Wadi El Falek area. Furthermore, the orientation
of the mylonitic granite and metavolcanosedimen
tary rocks was retained throughout the main deforma
tion events in the region.
CONCLUSIONS
Our works conclude that the same deformation
events affected in approximately in the same time in
both granitic and metavolcanosedimentary succes
sion rocks. Hence, the finite strain has the same mag
nitude for the deformed granite rocks and metavol
canosedimentary rocks. Furthermore, our data show
that the granitic and metavolcanosedimentary rocks
are characterized by the shortening axes are subverti
cal associated with a subhorizontal foliation in the
Wadi El Falek area.
Our data indicate oblate strain symmetry and also
flattening strain type in the Wadi El Falek area. In
addition, we conclude that the increasing in the Nadai
strain magnitude shows relationship between the
strain magnitude and the tectonic contacts in the Wadi
El Falek area that contacts formed during intrusion of
granitic plutons with some faults in the Wadi El Falek
area under brittle to semiductile deformation condi
tions. In this case, finite strain accumulated during
highpressure metamorphism indicates that the nappe

GEOTECTONICS Vol. 46 No. 5 2012

 STRAIN ANALYSIS AND MICROSTRUCTURAL EVOLUTION CHARACTERISTIC
contacts formed during the accumulation of ductile
strain and thus during intrusion of granitic pluton.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors would like to thank the program
Research center at college of Science Deanship of sci
entific research king saud university, Riyadh Saudi
Arabia, for funding and supporting this research.
Thanks are also due to the Journal reviewers for their
critical and helpful comments.
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