The Dhi Na’im-Al Bayda district constitutes an important part of the Precambrian basement in the western
part of the Republic of Yemen. Its critical geographic position places it as a potentially important link between the Arabian-
Nubian Shield and Mozambique Belt, leading to the necessity of a thorough investigation of the tectonic framework of the
region.
New geologic and structural data from the district evoke a polyphase ductile deformational history, commenced with a
NW-SE crustal shortening event and terminated with NE-SW open folding and later strike-slip shearing. The result was a
highly deformed NE-SW belt, made up mainly of migmatized gneisses, ophiolitic mélange and island arc metavolcanic
rocks. The entire pile has been intruded by syn- and post-tectonic granites. The deformational events disrupted both the
ophiolitic and island-arc stratigraphy such that lithological contacts are tectonic, and thrusts and sets of strike-slip faults
locally repeat the section.
These structures share a similar history with Pan-African and older fabrics west and east of the study area, and are
collectively attributed to the same tectonothermal cycle. |
