Ophiolite emplacement in NE Oman: Constraints from magnetotelluric sounding

Abstract

Magnetotelluric (MT) data have been acquired across the Samail Ophiolite, Oman mountains, along a 115 km transect in January 2005. Twenty-five MT stations were deployed approximately every 4 km along a profile perpendicular to the coastline near Muscat. The profile extends from the Huw'l/Meeh subwindow in the northwestern part of the profile and crosses the Saih Hatat window, a Tertiary domal culmination that folds a major NE-facing recumbent fold nappe, and ends along the southern boundary between the Dasir and Ibra ophiolite blocks. The survey aimed to investigate the tectonic evolution of the emplacement of the Samail Ophiolite by delineating major faults and geological boundaries on a crustal scale. The data shows complex behaviour with the influence of static shift effects and anomalously high phases exceeding 90°. Phase tensor analysis and 3-D forward modelling hint that the upper plate-lower plate (UP-LP) shear zone has a 3-D effect on the data in the northern part of the profile. Rotated MT impedances were inverted using a 2-D code. Major resistivity interfaces coincide with the location of the UP-LP shear zone near the surface, and dip towards the Arabian margin suggesting a southwest orientated underthrusting prior to the ophiolite emplacement. The para-autochthonous and less deformed upper plate is a resistor, whereas the strongly deformed lower plate is more conductive. © 2009 The Authors Journal compilation © 2009 RAS.