Paleoclimate and Paleoenvironment Reconstructions from Middle Eocene Successions at Beni-Suef, Egypt
- Author(s)
- Mostafa Mohamed Sayed, Petra Heinz, Ibrahim Mohamed Abd El-Gaied, Michael Wagreich
- Abstract
The Eocene deposits of Egypt provide a wide variety of shallow marine facies and fossil assemblages, allowing paleoenvironmental reconstructions in this warmhouse climate interval. Forty-three rock samples have been collected from two middle Eocene sections, exposed at southeast Beni-Suef area in northern Egypt. The studied outcrops are lithologicsally subdivided into two rock units named from base to top as follows: (1) the Qarara Formation (Lutetian) and (2) the El Fashn Formation (Bartonian). Most investigated rock samples showed richness in benthic foraminiferal assemblages and only rare occurrences of index planktonic foraminifera. They yielded 160 foraminifera species which belong to 4 suborders, 19 superfamilies, 34 families, and 59 genera. The stratigraphic distribution of the identified species allowed us to define four local benthic bio-ecozones: (1) Bolivina carinata Lowest Occurrence Zone (Lutetian), (2) Cibicides mabahethi/Cancris auriculus primitivus Concurrent-Range Zone, (3) Nonion scaphum Lowest Occurrence Zone, and (4) Brizalina cookei/Nonionella insecta Concurrent-Range Zone (Bartonian). These biozones are described and discussed in detail and correlated to stratigraphic equivalents in Egypt. The rareness of index planktonic foraminifera through the studied sections does not allow a precise biostratigraphic and chronostratigraphic correlation. The shale samples show low TOC values, which may be related to low productivity, high sediment influx, and/or prevailing oxic conditions. Bulk rock geochemistry, consistent with the benthic foraminifera ecological preferences, indicated that the studied sections were deposited in moderate to high oxygen levels and warm climatic conditions in a typical shelf marine setting. The identified species showed strong similarities with nearby southern Tethys areas, reflecting migration via the trans-Sahara seaway, and minor similarities with those identified from the northwestern Tethys and the North Atlantic province attributed to the change in the environmental and climatic conditions, such as cooler, latitudinal zoned climatic conditions along the northwestern Tethys, which was unsuitable for their biological demands. The warming trend identified from Lutetian to Bartonian intervals corresponds to the onset of the Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum (MECO).
- Organisation(s)
- Department of Palaeontology, Department of Geology
- External organisation(s)
- Beni Suef University, University of Vienna
- Journal
- Diversity
- Volume
- 15
- ISSN
- 1424-2818
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/d15060695
- Publication date
- 06-2023
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 105118 Palaeontology
- Keywords
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Ecology, Ecological Modelling, Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous), Nature and Landscape Conservation
- Sustainable Development Goals
- SDG 13 - Climate Action, SDG 14 - Life Below Water
- Portal url
- https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/d5fe3d52-1bdc-49f8-bd30-c5249a39b6b2