Les affleurements d'âge carbonifère et permien de la région du golfe de Suez, Égypte : codification et corrélation stratigraphique

The Permo-Carboniferous succession in the Gulf of Suez region is subdivided into: the Abu Thora Formation (Late Visean-Early Westphalian), the Abu Durba Formation (Middle Westphalian), and the Aheimer Formation (Late Westphalian/Stephanian-Early Permian). The Abu Thora and Abu Durba formations of Sinai are coeval with the Abu Darag Formation in the Northern Galala. The Aheimer Formation corresponds to the Ataqa Formation in the subsurface of the Gulf of Suez. These clastic-dominated deposits reflect shallow subtidal, prograding shoreline and fluviatile conditions. They overlie conformably open marine Early Carboniferous carbonates of the Um Bogma Formation and are overlain unconformably by continental red bed succession of Late Permian-Triassic age known as the Qiseib Formation. The whole Carboniferous-Permian succession in the region is bounded by two unconformities; a lower one resulted from the removal of the underlying Early Palaeozoic and the basal beds of the Early Carboniferous, and an upper one manifested by the partial erosion of the Permo-Carboniferous deposits from the area. Stratigraphic correlations with equivalent units recorded from the southern Peri-Tethyan basins indicate that great areas of North Africa and the Near East were situated near the southern margin of the Tethyan seaway during most of the Late Carboniferous-Early Permian time.