NARSSPreliminary Assessment of the Impacts Of The Drifting Sands on the Development Activities in North-Western Sinai - Egypt.
This report documents the findings of a preliminary reconnaissance survey of sand encroachment on the various development activities in the NW Sinai region, namely; The North Sinai Agricultural Development Project ( The Sinai part of El-Salam Canal project) and the El-Arish highway. The report comprises three main parts.
The first deals with the sedimehtomorphic assessment of the surface sediments being the source of the hazardous sand encroachment. A tentative classification of these sediments is presented. The latter are classified into two main groups, the coastal sabkhas of El-Bardawil Lake and El-Tina Plain; and the inland deposits which include the different types of sand sheets and sand dunes. It was found that linear dunes are the main aeolian landforms of the NW Sinai desert. Bundles of active transverse dunes were developed on these linear dune ridges. Sever deflation of the once vegetated linear dunes has resulted in the development of active seif dunes. However, the genesis and dynamics of these landforms require further investigations.
The second part addresses the sand encroachment problem. Both, El-Arish highway and some segments of El-Sheikh Jaber canal were preliminarily surveyed with regard to the occurrence and magnitude of the encroachment of the drifting sands. The affected segments from the canal and the highway were delineated and assessed. Using a simplified mathematical model, the magnitude and direction of the potential sand drift were estimated at 8 m3/ m / year in a S85E direction.
The third part presents suggested concepts that should be considered during the design of any action plan for the rational and efficient control of the sand encroachment problem. It is strongly recommended that a detailed study of the magnitude and pattern of drifting sands in this region should be performed to provide the basic information for the design of a rational sand encroachment control measures.
Division : Geological applications and Mineral ResourcesProf : Prof.El-Sayed Abbas Zaghloul