MINERALOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE, BRINE CHEMISTRY
AND MODE OF FORMATION OF RECENT SABKHAS,
CENTRAL RED SEA COASTAL ZONE, EGYPT
SHAMS EL-DIN M. SHAH EEN
Biology And Geology Department,Faculty of Education Suez Canal University. Port Said |
The aim of this work is to gather information on the distribution of heavy minerals in some recent sabkhas of the Red Sea coastal zone with its gross mineralogy and clay mineral contents. The sabkha brines were also investigated for their major cations and anions as well as the mode of formation of Red Sea coastal sabkha at Wadi Homra, Wadi Safaga. Wadi Abu Sufi, Wadi Quscir El Qadiem and Wadi Anz. The studied sabkha samples collected are found to be of the siliciclastic and calcareous siliciclastic types.
The heavy mineral assemblages and the ultrastable minerals identified indicate that they were derived from sedimentary, igneous (basic to acidic), and metamorphic rocks. The recorded evaporate minerals in the sabkha sediments using identification by X-ray diffraction technique include gypsum, halite and anhydrite. The non-evaporite minerals are represented by calcite, dolomite, quartz.. plagioclase and microcline, whereas the clay minerals consists of kaolinite, pyrophyllite, illite, chlorite and montmorillonite.
Moreover the sabkha brine shows salinity ranging from 133.7 to 192.2 g/L . A proposed hdrodynamic model for the studied Red Sea sabkha formation shows that the precipitated evaporites precipitated in a supratidal zone produced by surface evaporation of upward percolating groundwater with marine water influx during the stormy period and seepage recharge.
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