Highlight on the petrology, geochemistry and structural evolution of the amphibolite facies terrain at Wadi Um Taghir along Qena-Safaga road, Central Eastern Desert, Egypt.

The metamorphic terrain at W. Um Taghir along Qena-Safaga road is dominated by amphibolites, hornblende gneisses, banded hornblende gneisses, fine-grained biotite gneisses and migmatites arranged according to their abundances. They form an elongated belt thrown into a major asymmetrica anticline trending NE, dissected by a left lateral strike slip fault and finally normal fault characterized by high angle lineation. The migmatites are characterized by agmatic, stromatic, ptygmatic and schlieren structures.

Petrographical and geochemical investigations revealed that the hornblende gneisses and banded hornblende gneisses were derived from impure marl and siliceous carbonates, respectively. The amphibolites are of basaltic parentage while the fine grained biotite gneisses were derived from greywacke, the migmatites were formed in a close system via partial melting (in situ anatexis) and metamorphic differentiation.