ABSTRACT
The geology of Wadi Qena is characterized by an evident northward increase of marine influence within the middle to late Cretaceous strata. Paleozoic rocks are present in northern Wadi Qena and between the Wadi Dakhal. They are the remains of a Paleozoic cover whose distribution was more or less controlled by older pre-Cenomanian structural events. In the same direction, strata also become younger, for example, the thick Cenomanian to possibly Albian sandstone of Wadi Kibrit at Gebel Zeit and of northern and central Wadi Qena thins out toward the Qena-Hurghada Hinge Line and is replaced by a fluvial sandstone unit of seemingly Turanian to Campanian age. Toward Wadi Dakhal, both the Araba and Somr El Qaa Formations disappear locally, and in some locations, Wadi Qena sandstone of Cretaceous age rests directly on the basement. Some general characteristics of the area between north Wadi Qena and Aswan are very similar to those along the Gulf of Suez-Red Sea coast.
