Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-2010
Abstract
Space Shuttle radar Topography Mission (SRTM) data have revealed new detalls on the extent and geomorphic relations of paleodrainage in southern Egypt. Following a period of late Tertiary drainage from.the Red Sea Hils, south through Wadi Qena and 1 west across the Tushka region,the Nile River as we now know it established its connections with Central Africa and the Mediterranean in the middle Pleistocene (oxygen isotope stage, Oi$ 7 to Ols 5).5RTM topography reveal5 a lake level at -247 m that ls colncident with the elevation of middle Pleistocene fish fossils 400 km west of the Nile, and with the termination of 5hallow runoff channels in northern Sudan that, were active during the middle Pleistocene and Holocene pluvial periods. An additional lake th level at _190 m is based on the current elevation at Wadi Tushca, and is consistent with Paleolithic sites at Bir Kiseliba followed by Neolithic sites at lower topographic Llevels. Overflow of the Nile through Wadi Tushka during the wetter north African climate of the imiddle Pleistocene, coupled with Limited local rainfall, was the likely source of water for these lakes.
Recommended Citation
Maxwell, Ted A., Issawi, B., and Haynes, C. Vance, Jr. 2010. "Evidence for Pleistocene lakes in the Tushka region, south Egypt." Geology, 38, (12) 1135–1138. https://doi.org/10.1130/G31320.1.