干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

Stratigraphic and sedimentologic data of the marine Aptian-Maastrichtian strata from the Sinai Peninsula and neighbouring areas (north Eastern Desert of Egypt and Southern Israel) have been summarized to reconstruct and illustrate the paleogeographic evolution of the Cretaceous sedimentary successions along one segment of the southern Tethyan margin. Lithofacies distribution and depositional patterns of these strata indicate that sedimentation was mainly controlled by transgressions, terrigenous input and tectonic patterns (basin subsidence and inversion), all of them with changing intensities during different Cretaceous time intervals. The stratigraphic frame is based on ammonites, planktic and benthic foraminifera, which can be applied for most intervals of the three described areas. Detailed palaeogeographic maps have been drawn for eight Cretaceous stages (Aptian-Maastrichtian) based on the integration of all lithofacies data available for the region. They allow subdivision of the Cretaceous successions into eight successive scenarios of sedimentation, illustrating the changing regional patterns of sedimentation.