Geological studies of the coastal plain of Egypt

Abstract

The coastal plain is locally backed by limestone ridges and calcareous sand dunes, and is therefore characterized by markedly different coastal morphologies and sediment sources than found on the Nile Delta. The rock covered by a veneer of carbonate sand mostly consists of carbonate oolitic grains, the source of this carbonate from the cliffs and seabed are completely of Pleistocene limestone ridges. Geologically, the coastal plain is mainly dominated by sedimentary rocks of Quaternary age. Quaternary coastal plain of North West Egypt is bordered to the south and to the west by the outcropping Middle Miocene Marmarican Limestone which forms a tableland. Petrographical characters of samples reveal that they can be classified as oomicrite. The samples exhibit intergranular porosity, with less frequent vuggy porosity. These characteristics are indicative of a shallow marine environment. While the X-ray diffraction data of the Romel boulder samples consist of less aragonite than the Romel ridge, but don’t contain magnesium calcite, indicating recent environment in addition, to halite due to weathering.