GEOLOGY, GEOCHEMISTRY AND RADIOACTIVE ELEMENTS BEHAVIOR STUDY OF THE BASEMENT ROCKS AT BIR EL SHAB AREA, SOUTH WESTERN DESERT, EGYPT

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Nuclear Materials Authority

Abstract

Bir El Shab area lies at the extreme middle part of the south Western Desert of Egypt. It covers an area of about 3876 km2, between longitudes 29o 00` and 29o 30` E, and latitudes 22o 00` and 22o 30` N. Bir El Shab area is one of the areas studied by the Nuclear Materials Authority for radioactive minerals. It is located between Bir Safsaf frontier and Gebel (G.) Nusab Balgoum volcanic rocks in the west and Toshki Project area in the east. Also, it represents a junction between the older Cretaceous formations in the west and younger Cretaceous and Paleocene formations in the east.  Petrographically, the rocks in the study area are granites. The Geochemical study of the samples shows geochemical characteristics of the granite type. The younger granites of the study area are characterized by their relatively high silica content and potash contents and slightly exceed the soda content. This type are considered as high calcium granite and low total iron oxides and MgO contents. 

Keywords