Cretaceous palaeoecology, palaeogeography and palaeoclimatology of the northern Western Desert, Egypt

The pollen, spores, dinoflagellates and foraminifers of the Kahraman-1 and Abu Gharadig-18 wells, drilled in the northern part of the Western Desert of Egypt, are assesed and compared with other contemporary microfloras and microfaunas in different sites in and outside Egypt. The palaeogeographical and palaeoenvironmental picture of the Cretaceous sediments is modelled. During the Aptian, Egypt was located within the pre-Albian 'West African-South American' Province (WASA). In the Albian-Cenomanian interval, Egypt and the Middle East were parts of the mid-Cretaceous 'African-South American' Province (ASA). The climate during the Aptian-Cenomanian was tropical with some background semi-aridity, whilst the Campanian-Maastrichtian was more humid than the Albian-Cenomanian. In the northern part of the Western Desert, deposition in a near-shore, inner shelf, marine environment (<50 m) is suggested for most of the Aptian sediments (Alam El Bueib and Alamine Formations). A coastal to inner shelf environment prevailed during the Albian (Dahab and Kharita Formations). The Cenomanian deposits (Bahariya and Lower Abu Roash Formations) are shallow marine, inner shelf (depth 0-50 m). The Turonian sediments (Middle Abu Roash Formation) are shallow water, middle shelf (depth 50-100 m). The Coniacian-Santonian deposits (Upper Abu Roash Formation) are open marine, outer shelf (depth 100-200 m). The Campanian-Maastrichtian Khoman Formation was deposited deeper in the upper slope (200-600 m) and middle slope (>600 m) during the Early and Middle Maastrichtian, respectively.