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Climatic, eustatic, and tectnoic controls on Quarternary deposits and landforms, Red Sea coast, EgyptThe degree to which local climatic variations, eustatic sea level fluctuations, and tectonic uplift have influenced the development of Quaternary marine and fluvial landforms and deposits along the Red Sea coast, Eastern Desert, was investigated using a combination of remote sensing and field data, age determinations of corals, and numerical simulations. False color composites generated from Landsat Thematic Mapper and SPOT image data, digital elevation models derived from sterophotogrammetric analysis of SPOT data, and field observations document that a approximately 10-km wide swath inland from the coast is covered in many places with coalescing alluvial fans of Quaternary age. Wadis cutting through the fans exhibit several pairs of fluvial terraces, and wadi walls expose alluvium interbedded with corraline limestone deposits Further, three distinct coral terraces are evident along the coatline. Climatic, eustatic, and tectonic uplift controls on the overall system were simulated using a cellular automata algorithm with the following characteristics: (1) uplift as a function of position and time, as defined by the elevations and ages of corals; (2) climatic variations driven by insolation changes associated with Milankovitch cycles; (3) sea level fluctuations based on U/Th ages of coral terraces and eustatic data; and (4) parametrized fluvial erosion and deposition. Results imply that the fans and coralline limestones were generated in a setting in which the tectonic uplift rate decreased over the Quarternary to negligible values at present. Coralline limestones formed furing eustatic highstands when alluvium was trapped uspstream and wadis filled with debris. During lowstands, wadis cut into sedimentary deposits; coupled with continuing uplift, fans were dissected, leaving remnant surfaces, and wadi-related terraces were generated by down cutting. Only landforms from the past three to four eustatic sea level cycles (i.e., approximately 300 to 400 kyr) are likely to have survived erosion and deposition associated with fluvial processes.
Document ID
19950057693
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Arvidson, Raymond
(Washington University St. Louis, Missouri, United States)
Becker, Richard
(Washington University St. Louis, Missouri, United States)
Shanabrook, Amy
(Washington University St. Louis, Missouri, United States)
Luo, Wei
(Washington University St. Louis, Missouri, United States)
Sturchio, Neil
(Argonne Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois United States)
Sultan, Mohamed
(Washington University St. Louis, Missouri, United States)
Lofty, Zakaria
(Ain Shams University Cairo, Egypt)
Mahmood, Abdel Moneim
(NASA Headquarters Washington, DC United States)
El Alfy, Zeinhom
(Egyptian Geological Survey and Mining Authority Cairo, Egypt)
Date Acquired
August 16, 2013
Publication Date
June 10, 1994
Publication Information
Publication: Journal of Geophysical Research
Volume: 99
Issue: B6
ISSN: 0148-0227
Subject Category
Geophysics
Accession Number
95A89292
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAGW-3338
CONTRACT_GRANT: W-31109-ENG-38
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAGW-1358
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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