The Faiyum depression was linked to the Nile River and involved a broad freshwater lake, during most of
the Holocene. Grain-size analysis of the lacustrine sediments along 22.7 m long core F3-08 of the Faiyum
paleolake has been carried out to expose the mode of transportation, energy, and hydrodynamic conditions, as
well as the environmental conditions. The recovered sedimentary sequence consists of predominantly
siliciclastic lacustrine facies divided into six informal units. The grain size analysis of the studied sediments
shows slight changes in the composition of the sediment mixture between silt and clay with rare occasional sand
lenses. The variation in the standard deviation between well-sorted to poorly sorted sediments and from fine
skewed to coarse skewed under leptokurtic to platykurtic nature exposes the environmental implications.
Bivariate cross plots of grain size parameters, mode of transportation (C-M diagram), and linear discrimination
functions (LDF) designate the fluvial nature of sediments and the riverine input. The depositional processes
were aquatically controlled through active energy processes of the Nile flood. The graded suspension and
suspension with rolling mode (saltation) are both the prime factors for transportation, where the sediments were
deposited and reworked by turbidity actions, within a shallow agitated environment. |
