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A Contribution to Grain Size and Minerals of Four Alluvial Sands,
Central Red Sea Coast, Egypt
Aman A. Zalamah

Dept. Geology, Fac. Sciences, Zagazig Univ., Cairo, Egypt

The granular and mineral composition of 4 samples from 4 main wadis (W. Essel. W. Um Gheig, W. Abu Dabbab and W. Ras Shagra), central part of the Red Sea coast, Egypt, represent alluvium sediments. They were deposited under dominant arid climatic conditions. These samples are studied to give a contribution and to elucidate some environmental factors and comparisons with previous works.

These sediments are mainly fine to very coarse sand, moderately to poorly sorted, strongly fine skewed to strongly coarse skewed, and platy to very platykurtic. The heavy fractions reflect the type of source rock which represents a mixture of sediments in the valley banks, and the igneous (acid and basic) and metamorphic types at the upper reaches of the vallies. Trace elements distribution shows anomalous contents related to the known mineral deposits of Pb-Zn, Sr and rare metals. Wadis Um Gheig and Ras Shagra alluvium show anomalous Mo content favoring prospecting for Mo in the granitic rocks exposed at their upper reaches.