Textural analysis and environmental implications of the Late Pleistocene-Holocene sediments of the Faiyum paleolake, Egypt

Document Type : Original Research Papers

Authors

1 Department of Geology, Benha University, Qalubia, Egypt

2 Department of Geology, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt

3 Department of Geography, University College, London, UK

4 Cultural Heritage Program, French University, Cairo, Egypt

Abstract

The Faiyum depression was linked to the Nile River and involved a broad freshwater lake, during most of the Holocene. Grain-size analysis of the lacustrine sediments along 22.7 m long core F3-08 of the Faiyum paleolake has been carried out to expose the mode of transportation, energy, and hydrodynamic conditions, as well as the environmental conditions. The recovered sedimentary sequence consists of predominantly siliciclastic lacustrine facies divided into six informal units. The grain size analysis of the studied sediments shows slight changes in the composition of the sediment mixture between silt and clay with rare occasional sand lenses. The variation in the standard deviation between well-sorted to poorly sorted sediments and from fine skewed to coarse skewed under leptokurtic to platykurtic nature exposes the environmental implications. Bivariate cross plots of grain size parameters, mode of transportation (C-M diagram), and linear discrimination functions (LDF) designate the fluvial nature of sediments and the riverine input. The depositional processes were aquatically controlled through active energy processes of the Nile flood. The graded suspension and suspension with rolling mode (saltation) are both the prime factors for transportation, where the sediments were deposited and reworked by turbidity actions, within a shallow agitated environment.

Keywords

Benha Journal of Applied Sciences
Volume 7, Issue 12
December 2022
Pages 85-107

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