Sedimentological characteristics of continental sabkha, south Western Desert, Egypt
Attia, Osama E.A. . 2015
Continental sabkha is recorded in the extreme middle
part of the southWestern Desert of Egypt representing one
of the most promising areas for sustainable development, especially
for agriculture. The geomorphologic units of the area
are formed under the influence of structural, lithological, and/
or climatic controls. These units include pediplain, depressions,
mass-wasted blocks, residual hills, drainage lines, and
aeolian landforms. The effective deflation process is reinforced
by the lack of protective vegetation cover and the susceptibility
of weakly consolidated rocks to wind removal. Different
rock units covering the area range in age from Early
Cretaceous to Quaternary. Quaternary deposits include playa/
sabkha deposits where the continental sabkha is divided into
four zones A, B, C, and D. Underground waters coming from
the north and east were progressively enriched in solute by
interaction with the surrounding sedimentary and igneous
rocks. Most of the evaporite minerals grow displacively as a
result of evaporative pumping. Mineralogically, the continental
sabkha salt complex includes gypsum, natroalunite,
tamarugite, bloedite, eugsterite, nitratine, halite, and D’ansite.
Some of the major and trace elements (SiO2, Al2O3, Fe2O3,
MgO, CaO, Na2O, K2O, as well as Rb, Ba, Zr, Sr, Y, V, and
Zn) were measured. The correlation and enrichment of these
major and trace elements indicate the origin of the salt complex
in the sabkha.
Continental sabkha is recorded in the extreme middle
part of the southWestern Desert of Egypt representing one
of the most promising areas for sustainable development, especially…