الفهرس 
Chapter 1 – IntroductionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
The Esh El-Mallaha Mountain range is located in the northwestern segment of the Arabian-Nubian Shield. The area encompassing it is of especial significance owing to its hydrocarbon resources. This area is occupied by Precambrian basement rock along with unconformably overlying Upper Cretaceous – Lower Tertiary sedimentary sequence. The Precambrian basement rock units cropping out there include the Dokhan Volcanics and Younger Granites. The Dokhan Volcanics are petrographically differentiated into basaltic andesite, andesite, and dacite lavas along with their pyroclastic equivalents. Their main volcanic textures include porphyritic, glomeroporphyritic, visecular, amygdalloidal and granophyric textures. Pyroclastics, particularly welded ignimbrites, are typified by eutaxitic texture
The present study aims at delineating the main litho- and microfacies of the carbonate sequence analogue in West Esh El Mallaha area. Delineating the implication of these facies and the diagenetic processes on the storage capacity of the entire sequence is among the prime targets of this study. This implication has been achieved by studying the lithostratigraphic carbonate sequence in the mentioned area. Therefore, an intensive petrographical study is applied to delineate the microfacies types and the predominated diagenetic features. Esh El Mallaha sequence is composed of the Nubia sandstone, Duwi, Dakhla shale, Tarawan chalk, Esna shale, Thebes and the undifferentiated Miocene sediments which were deposited during the sea level fall and rise. The carbonate Formations of this sequence which is the main target of the present study (Duwi, Tarawan chalk, Thebes, and the Miocene deposits) are deposited in shallow marine back-reef, outer neritic and lagoonal environments. This is delineated from the microfacies composition which is represented by seven types of microfacies: 1) foraminiferal wackestone and packstone, 2) bioclastic and siliceous bioclastic packstone, 3) sandy bioclastic wackestone and grainstone, 4) bioclastic wackestone, 5) oyster rudstone, 6) calcareous subfeldspathic to sublithic arenites, and 7) siliceous bafflestone. The storage capacity of these microfacies types are primarily obliterated by multi phases of cementation by micrite and amorphous silica which are supported by aggrading neomorphism. Fracturing is considered the main storage capacity-enhancing features; it is dominated in Thebes Formation and some microfacies of the Miocene deposits. This achievement indicates that this Upper Cretaceous- Miocene carbonate sequence may be promising in its subsurface extensions in the Gulf of Suez and the other analogues in Egypt.
A radiometric examination of the area’s rocks revealed the presence of five radioactive anomalies. The highest ones have been recorded along shear zones and fracture systems crossing G. Homra El Gerigab pluton. The dykes in the study area could be arranged chronologically as follows: rhyolites, felsites, granite porphyries, andesites, basic and bostonites. Each type of these dykes will be discussed in the following in respect to their background level of γ- -radioactivity.
Esh El-Mallaha west of the Gulf of Suez, is a potential area for hydrocarbon resources. In this study, Landsat-8 OLI, SRTM and ALOS/PALSAR were utilized to identify the geological and structural features of this area which represents a part of the northeast Desert in Egypt. The use of band ratios (BR) and Principal component analysis (PCA) allowed characterizing the different varieties of rock units. Such approaches allowed discriminating the various rock units. Applying the fused Landsat-8 OLI/ALOS/PALSAR data improved the structural elements that difficult to reveal by optical images. combination of Landsat-8 OLI, ALOS/PALSAR and SRTM data effectively display the structural and lithological contacts. The lineament extraction and interpretation indicated that the area is clearly shaped by the NW-SE graben and controlled by the Gulf of Suez. Such structures allowed the accumulation of thick sediments in the faulted basin that represents the promise area for oil, gas and water resources. Lineament analysis revealed that the major tectonic trends controlling the area are NW-SE and NE-SW directions with less effect of N-S and E-W trends. The NW-SE sinistral as well as NE-SW dextral lateral movements are recognized. Overall results attested that the integration of optical and radar remotely sensed data is an effective tool in deciphering geological and structural features in the arid regions.