Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1979

Abstract

Interpretation of a near-vertical Apollo-Soyuz color photograph of northern Egypt revealed a dark-colored and finely textured zone partially overlapped by the present Nile Delta. Extrapola- tion of the identified zone beyond the Apollo- Soyuz photographic coverage, using a false-color Landsat mosaic, indicated that this zone forms a part of a deltalike pattern. Review of the literature on the geology of the area indicated that its out- cropping and subsurface rocks are of terrigenous types. In addition, all its deposits belong to fluvial, deltaic, prodeltaic, estuarine, and fluvio-marine facies. Examination of the size. form. and extension of the identified pattern revealed that it is most probably the late Eocene to early Miocene an- cestral delta of the Nile River. This supports the theory that the Nile originated in late Eocene time, From the southern borders of Egypt to the city of Asyût, the river followed a course similar to that of the present-day Nile. At the end of the early Miocene time, a sudden lengthening of its course occurred, and the river ceased depositing its sediments in the ancestral delta northwest of Asyût. Probably guided by faults, the river flowed northward to its present-day position, This change in the course of the Nile was probably associated with a regional uplift that affected Egypt during middle Miocene time.

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