Available online
Description
This programme examines the sediments around the Red Sea in order to understand the conditions which led up to the splitting of the continental plate and the formation of a new ocean basin.
This programme examines the sediments around the Red Sea in order to understand the conditions which led up to the splitting of the continental plate and the formation of a new ocean basin.
| Module code and title: | S335, Surface and sedimentary processes: case studies in Earth sciences |
|---|---|
| Item code: | S335; 11 |
| First transmission date: | 16-09-1979 |
| Published: | 1979 |
| Rights Statement: | |
| Restrictions on use: | |
| Duration: | 00:24:00 |
| + Show more... | |
| Producer: | P. L Firstbrook |
| Contributors: | Peter Bush; Ian Gass; Douglas Shearman |
| Publisher: | BBC Open University |
| Keyword(s): | Afar triangle; Danakil Alps; Graben; Midian Peninsular; Nubian sandstorm; Plate tectonics; Sea floor spreading |
| Subject terms: | Basins (geology); Sedimentary basins |
| Footage description: | Ian Gass, in the studio, introduces the programme. Pointing to several maps, he briefly sums up some of the evidence for the split of the Afro-American supercontinent and the formation of the South Atlantic Ocean. Gass goes on, with the aid of a model of the Red Sea area, to discuss why a study of a very young proto ocean may explain how older oceans originated. Over shots of desert rocks, volcanic lava flow, and a basement outcrop, Gass gives a very brief geological history of the Red Sea area over the past 500 million years. With the aid of a satellite photo of the Red Sea, photographs of the landscape and a map of the northern Red Sea area, Peter Bush explains what the sedimentary evidence tells of geological events here. He begins with the period up to about 45 million years ago. Bush goes on to describe the sedimentary evidence for geological changes in the Red Sea during the period of 45 million years ago to the present. He uses satellite photos, shots of geological features in the area, a map, and animations to make his points. Ian Gass, with a model and animated diagrams, points out that there are some problems with the theory that the continents of Africa and Asia were one until comparatively recently. He explains away the anomaly of coastal overlap at the southern end of the Red Sea but points out that there are still problems at the northern end. Douglas Shearman, using mainly satellite photographs of the northern part of the Red Sea and animated diagrams, looks at the evidence which explains away the anomalies such as coastal overlap in this area. Ian Gass, with his studio model of the Red Sea, sums up the programme. |
| Master spool number: | HOU3328 |
| Production number: | FOUS046E |
| Videofinder number: | 2003 |
| Available to public: | no |
