Origin of the Sinai–Negev erg, Egypt and Israel: mineralogical and geochemical evidence for the importance of the Nile and sea level history

Abstract

"Origin of the Sinai-Negev erg, Egypt and Israel: mineralogical and geochemical evidence for the importance of the Nile and sea level history" (2013 Overall, the mineralogical data suggest that the dunes are derived dominantly from the Nile Delta, with Sinai wadi sands being a minor contributor. Geochemical data that proxy for both the light mineral fraction (SiO 2 /10eAl 2 O 3 þ Na 2 O þ K 2 OeCaO) and heavy mineral fraction (Fe 2 O 3 eMgOeTiO 2 ) also indicate a dominant Nile Delta source for the dunes. Thus, we report here the first empirical evidence that the SinaieNegev dunes are derived dominantly from the Nile Delta. Linkage of the SinaieNegev erg to the Nile Delta as a source is consistent with the distribution of OSL ages of Negev dunes in recent studies. Stratigraphic studies show that during the Last Glacial period, when dune incursions in the SinaieNegev erg began, what is now the Nile Delta area was characterized by a broad, sandy, minimally vegetated plain, with seasonally dry anastomosing channels. Such conditions were ideal for providing a ready source of sand for aeolian transport under what were probably much stronger glacial-age winds.With the post-glacial rise in sea level, the Nile River began to aggrade. Post-glacial sedimentation has been dominated by fine-grained silts and clays. Thus, sea level, along with favorable climatic conditions, emerges as a major influence on the timing of dune activity in the SinaieNegev erg, through its control on the supply of sand from the Nile Delta. The mineralogy of the SinaieNegev dunes is also consistent with a proposed hypothesis that these sediments are an important source of loess in Israel.Published by Elsevier Ltd.

The north-eastern aeolian ‘European Sand Belt’ as potential record of environmental changes: A case study from Eastern Latvia and Southern Estonia

“…As aeolian sediments are commonly derived from multirecycled sediments (Howari et al, 2007), they tend to be depleted in feldspar as it is less resistant to weathering and aeolian abrasion (Muhs et al, 2013). At our sites significant feldspar concentrations have been observed in all the sections; the feldspar contents of the aeolian and substratum sediments are very similar.…”

Geochemical and geomorphological evidence for the provenance of aeolian deposits in the Badain Jaran Desert, northwestern China

“…Geochemical fingerprinting has great potential for identifying the provenance of sediments and their transport pathways (Taylor and McLennan, 1985;McLennan, 1989;Muhs et al, 1996Muhs et al, , 2003Muhs et al, , 2013Cullers and Podkovyrov, 2002;Ferrat et al, 2011;Lancaster et al, 2015), particularly the trace and rare earth elements (REE), because they are less fractionated during the weathering, transport and sedimentation (Murray, 1994;L opez et al, 2005;Moreno et al, 2006;Kasper-Zubillaga et al, 2007;Castillo et al, 2008). In this paper, we present our new studies about major and trace elements and REE in the sediment samples collected from various parts of the Badain Jaran Desert and from a small dune field located in its northeast side.…”

Upper Pleistocene palaeoenvironmental changes at the Zwierzyniec site, central Poland

“…Sim i larly, the min eral com po si tion of clastic sed i ments can be a pow er ful tool in as cer tain ing i.e. min er al og i cal ma tu rity and sed i ment sources (Muhs et al, 2013). Hav ing two clastic (fine me dium-grained sand) ho ri zons, we can clas sify round ing of quartz grains and char ac ter of their sur face and de ter mine their min eral com po sition.…”