Geology of Eritrea

The geology of Eritrea in east Africa broadly consists of Precambrian rocks in the west and Cenozoic sediments and volcanics along the coastal zone adjoining the Red Sea. The older rocks include meta-sediments and older gneissic basement belonging to different Proterozoic terranes. Mesozoic sediments of marine origin occur in the coastal area along the Red Sea. A number of thin Miocene age basalt flows occur within the sediments of this zone whilst he basalts of the Aden Series date from Pliocene to Holocene times, some being extruded at the time of a major phase of uplift and rifting during the Pleistocene.^[1][2]

Economic geology

The country produces salt, gypsum and kaolin but also has resources of asbestos, baryte, potash and talc. Metal resources include copper, gold, iron ore, lead, zinc, silver and magnesium. There have been discoveries of high-grade polymetallic volcanogenic massive sulfide ore deposits in recent years.^[3]

References