Origin, age, and paleoclimatic setting of the Late Quaternary deposits in Wadi Feiran, Sinai Peninsula: Geomorphologic, geochronologic, and isotopic constraints

Abstract:

There is considerable debate on the origin, age, and paleoclimatic setting of Late Quaternary deposits within the basement complex of the Sinai Peninsula. Our research in Wadi Feiran focused on documenting the sedimentology, stratigraphy, geochemistry and chronology of Late Quaternary deposits in the Feiran (lat. 28.706 N; long. 33.665; elevation: 715 to 772 m a.m.s.l) and Tarfa (lat. 28.692 N; long. 33.933 E; elevation: 1160 to 1244 m a.m.s.l) oases. Sequence stratigraphy, analysis of remote sensed images, and groundwater levels in these two areas indicate that the investigated deposits are structurally-controlled as they are found in areas with anomalously elevated groundwater levels and upstream from shear zone/wadi intersections. Sediments are largely arenaceous upstream and transition downstream to marly successions. We infer that these sediments were not deposited in lake settings because of the absence of shorelines and associated littoral, sublittoral and deeper water facies, and the presence of rhizoliths, secondary calcite veins and gastropods, all of which suggest deposition in a spring or wetland environment. A short hydrologic residence time and/or deposition in an open water system is supported by the lack of correlation (R = 0.08) between δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C values in carbonate deposits. Our findings are consistent with deposition of sediments by alluvial, fluvial and paludal processes under variable hydrologic conditions and higher water table conditions. Quartz extracts from these sediments yielded optically stimulated luminescence ages between ca. 27 and 11 ka and place these wetter conditions during the last glacial period and extend the “greening” of North Africa further eastward. Our findings are consistent with models which identify the wet periods in the Late Quaternary in the Sinai Peninsula and in North Africa as being glacial periods.