Petrography, mineralogy, and geochemistry of nitrogenous shale in the Western Desert of Egypt: implications for paleoenvironment

Abstract Besides nitrate deposits located in the Atacama Desert of Chile and Mojave California, present work documents, for first time, occurrence potassium as oval-suboval-shaped aggregations associated with Late Maastrichtian-Early Paleocene Dakhla Shale Paleocene-Early Eocene Esna encountered northeastern part Kharga Oasis, particularly at G. Um El-Ghanayem Ghaneima. Consequently, integrated petrographic, mineralogical, geochemical investigations were carried out shale salts to reconstruct paleoenvironmental conditions shale, reveal extent which are genetically related paleoenvironment deposits, build up a complete scenario about source formation mechanism salts. The overall results showed that studied sourced from mafic igneous quartzose sedimentary provenances where humid climatic dominant; transported detrital particles then settled down under oxidizing bottom water shallow depositional conditions. Moreover, an epigenetic origin microbial nitrification organic matter wet atmospheric deposition is believed be triggered by active volcanic eruptions during Eocene/Early Oligocene transition warm prevailed.