ABSTRACT
The exposed basement rocks of the Pan-African Shield cover approximately 10% of the area of Egypt and only 1% of the area of Libya, as well as Algeria and Morocco (Fig. 5.1). They outcrop in southern Sinai, the Red Sea mountain range of the Eastern Desert, and the Gebel Oweinat (Jabal Awaynat ) area in the Western Desert which straddles the borders of Egypt, Libya and Sudan. They also occur in the Tibesti area in southern Libya and northern Chad, in numerous small isolated outcrops in the Jabal Al Qarqaf area in west-central Libya, in the Hoggar Massif (Touareg Shield) in the extreme southwest corner of Libya, Algeria, and the Anti-Atlas of Morocco. Radiometric dating indicates that the basement rocks are Archean to Early Cambrian in age. The depth to the basement in Egypt increases northward to more than 4.3 km (14,000 ft) (Rabeh & Ernst, 2009).
