ABSTRACT
This chapter examines that Pan-African low angle shear zones in Eastern Egypt may on the one hand be related to compressional deformation, on the other to extension. Whereas earlier structural syntheses of the Arabian-Nubian Shield stressed high-angle structures, the regional pattern of the ubiquitous low angle faults and shear zones is not yet known in detail. The Wadi Hafafit Culmination (WHC) is the most conspicuous part of a larger-scale antiformal domain, where various gneisses are exposed beneath low grade successions. The structure of the WHC is dominated by low angle thrusts and a section across the WHC shows the thrusts to be linked to floor and roof thrusts. The Gabal El Sibai antiform consists of a "metamorphic core" of gneisses, garnetiferous migmatites and amphibolites with granitoid intrusives, exposed beneath a rim of low grade metavolcanics and metasediments. The western part of the antiform is intruded by at least two major, post-deformational granite plutons.
