Textural Facies of Recent Sediments North of Sinai, Southeastern Mediterranean, Egypt

Abstract

Previous studies of the distribution of shelf sediments in the southeastern Mediterranean Sea have largely overlooked the sector off Sinai, East of the Nile delta. This study attempts to define more precisely the type of marginal sediments and their facies distribution in this sector of the Levantine Sea. The distribution of sediments in the study area are governed by the following: (I) the source of the sediments, (2) the topography of the area, (3) the current regime and (4) the net sediment transport. Sand is present in the inner shelf area off Damietta and becomes mixed with silt in most of the inner shelf zone. Silty clay forms an almost continuous belt across the slope north of Tineh bay and through the upper slope and outer shelf of the east sector of Bardawil Lagoon. Silty clay also covers the inner shelf area between Port Said and EI-Tineh. Clay-mixed silt covers the inner shelf area off Damietta and Port Said. Silt forms an almost unbroken stretch across the upper slope north of Damietta and extends as far as the middle and outer shelf off Bardawil Lagoon. Most of the area sediments are of Nilotic sources; however, the non-nilotic sources from northern Sinai are also recognized.