ABSTRACT
The northern Red Sea is characterized by an almost continuous salt layer extending across the conjugate margins. Only a few isolated pods of volcanic crust occur in the transitional crust, contrasting with the central and southern Red Sea segments, where organized spreading centres have been recognized. The Mabahiss Deep (MD), offshore the northern Saudi Arabian coast, corresponds to the largest bathymetric depression in the northern Red Sea. The MD corresponds to an embryonic oceanic crust separating the salt masses that flow from the platform to the axial trough. There are some striking similarities between the MD axial volcano and the Abimael Ridge (AR) in the southern South Atlantic. The AR probably corresponds to a failed oceanic propagator that advanced northward in the late Aptian. The analogies between these structures suggest an early phase of oceanization, with igneous intrusions and the development of neo-formed volcanic basement pods located adjacent to major transform fault zones. The neo-formed oceanic crust in both regions is characterized by the absence of autochthonous salt deposits on the floor of an abyss surrounded by allochthonous salt fronts. The extinction of spreading ridges may result in filling of the axial depression with salt or post-salt sediments.
