Paleosols of the Upper Cretaceous–Lower Tertiary Maghra El-Bahari Formation in the northeastern portion of the Eastern Desert, Egypt: Their recognition and geological significance

The Upper Cretaceous/Lower Tertiary Maghra El-Bahari Formation at Gabal Ataqa and Gabal Shabrawet in the northeastern portion of the Eastern Desert of Egypt is subdivided into two informal lithostratigraphic parts: lower and upper. The lower part has common features of alluvial floodplain-dominated deposits with occasional occurrences of crevasse splay deposits. The upper part has sediments typical of marginal lacustrine environments. Both the floodplain and marginal lacustrine deposits exhibit pedogenic features comprising various types of paleosols. Among other soil-forming processes, diversity in the paleosols studied is mainly attributed to paleoclimatic and paleohydrologic changes. The paleosol criteria suggest two climatic regimes, a subhumid–semiarid one succeeded by a semiarid-arid one. The continental depositional environments recognized (floodplain and lacustrine) with their associated paleosols helped in the recognition of a marine regression in the area studied. In a regional perspective, comparison of the data presented in this study with paleosol data spanning the same time period in other localities suggests that the proposed paleoclimatic changes may have been of regional extent. D 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.