“Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Evaluation Using Geophysical, Remote Sensing and GIS techniques for West Nile Solar Park Area, Minia, Egypt”

Abstract

Our nation has faced water and electricity scarcity in the last decade as a result of dramatic population growth. that’s why the government is seeking to find different water and electricity resources to develop new areas for agricultural and manufacturing activities in the desert fringes of several governorates. Groundwater is considered to be the main source of water in most of the desert lands around Egypt, as well as electricity generated from solar energy is considered to be a relatively low-cost, sustainable and safe source of energy that can be used in the study areas for the operation of groundwater wells and other development activities requiring a source of energy. The study area belongs to the El-Mini governorate and is considered a promising area for sustainable development as it has several groundwater aquifers, Oligocene sandstone, Middle Eocene limestone and Nubian sandstone aquifers (Hamed and Abu El maged 2017; Yousif et al. 2018). The study area is defined by the following coordinates, Latitudes 28°20'55.7"N and 28°33'27.43"N and longitudes 30°27'26.43"E and 30°11'34"E with a total area of about 559 Km2. It is bounded by Bani Mazar-Baharia Oasis road from the northern part, The southern border is the electricity power line and Darb El Robi road, from the East it is bounded by Cairo Asyout road, and from the west it is bounded by El Nashfa Limestone plateau area. The study area characterized by simple surface geology and most of the study area flat except in the western part of the Nashfa Mountain and the eastern part of the Limestone Plateau scarp. The surface geological formations of the study area are ranging from lower Eocene to Oligocene. Most of the area covered by the Oligocene rocks Katkut (gravelly calcareous sandstone) and Qatrani (clastic deposit, limestone fragments and gravels) Formations, where the study area