Pan African Basement Of Bir Safsaf Area East Sahara African Craton

Abstract

Bir Safsaf area occurs at the extreme southern part of the Western Desert of Egypt. It is covered by the Pan African Basement represented by the old continental gneisses and migmatites comprising granitic, granodioritic and tonalitic varieties, hornblende metagabbros with quartz-bearing varieties of tholeiitic nature formed in a continental environment at plate margrin. Grey Older Granites include quartz diorite, Tonalite and granodiorite are metalumnious and subduction related. Pink-red Younger Granites have essentially syenogranite, and monzogranite with subordinate quartz monzonite and monzodiorite varieties are metaluminous to Peraluminous and crustal-related. The both Older and Younger Granites are characterized by the most features of I-type granites and are formed through partial melting of the lower crust or upper mantle.