GEOLOGICAL STUDIES OF THE BASEMENT ROCKS-SEDIMENTARY COVER CONTACT BETWEEN WADI MUEILHA AND WADI BEIZAH EASTERN DESERT, EGYPT

Abstract

The present work deals with the study of the geology of the contact zone between the basement rocks and the Nubian sandstone. The contact zone within this area is the most favourable place in the Eastern Desert where the volcanic rocks occur along the contact with more or less well preserved weathering crust. So, this area could be considered a suitable area for investigating the possibility of the presence of laterite soil or bauxite as a weathering product of effusive rocks, which occur at the contact zone, in the area. The area is located to the south ofldfu-Marsa Alam highway between 0- 0- 0 0- Latitudes 24 45 and 25 00 Nand Longitudes 33 46 and 33 55 E.

The present work includes detaild field mapping of the area (scale 1:

40,000), petrographic and geochemical studies, besides the construction of four geologic cross sections (scale 1:500).

The crystalline basement rocks include serpentinites (chrysotile-antigorites and foliated talc-carbonate rocks), metasediments (metaconglomerates, metarenites and metagreywackes), metavolcanics (metabasalts and metandesites), syntectonic granitoids (quartz diorites, quartz monzodiorites, granodiorites and tonalites) and gabbros (normal, uralitized and hornblende gabbros).