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Abstract
The development of Holocene-Pleistocene fringing reefs in the Yemeni Red Sea (YRS) is controlled by sediment input and variations in accommodation space. Lithostratigraphic correlation of environmental facies in the investigated sites shows a sequence of successive events, and each can be subdivided into 2 or 3 main sequences. The upper sequence is characterized by the dominance of coral and coralline algal frameworks. The lower sequences are varied and can be attributed to spatial and temporal variability. Meteoric diagenesis is the most dominant and includes dissolution, calcrete, and coral recrystallization. Lithologic and mineralogic investigations of the Pleistocene-Holocene coral reefs display three aerial to subaerial diagenetic environments. These include freshwater-vadose, meteoric-marine-phreatic, and meteoric-phreatic zones represented at Al-Hajaja-Dhubab (Tr1), Perim (Mayyun) island (Tr2 and Tr3), and Kamaran island (Tr4) terraces. The effects of burial diagenesis increase progressively with depth, initially within the vadose zone and, ultimately, into the underlying phreatic zone. The phenomenon of dolomitization and siderisation processes are also occurring in the sections that exhibit brine and freshwater interaction with the iron-rich basaltic rocks. Climatic variation during interglacial-glacial cycles and the wind systems that prevailed in the area have contributed largely to the final deposition. The transition from interglacial to glacial climates in Arabia was characterized by higher effective rainfall, accompanied by aeolianite dissolution and karstification.
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