The Eastern and Western deserts of Egypt are characterized
by a diversity of geoheritage sites that are attractive
and promising for inventory, conservation and geotourism
(e.g., Plyusnina et al. 2016; Mashaal et al. 2020; Sallam
et al. 2018). The Dababiya Quarry, for example, is a
unique palaeogeographical geosite located in the south
Eastern Desert of Egypt, about 35 km southeast of the historical
Pharaonic city of Luxor. The quarry is made up of
sedimentary successions of Late Cretaceous–Quaternary
age (Aubry et al. 2007). The Dababiya Quarry has a great
stratigraphical significance because it exclusively includes
the Global Standard Stratotype-Section and Point (GSSP)
for the Paleocene–Eocene boundary documented within the
beds of the Paleocene–Lower Eocene Esna Shale (Aubry
et al. 2007). The Esna Shale consists of four members, from
base to top, El-Hanadi, Dababiya Quarry, El-Mahmiya and
Abu Had members, and is overlain by the Lower Eocene
Thebes Formation (Dupuis and Knox 2012). The Dababiya
Quarry Member is typically composed of 3.68-m-thick laminated
shale subdivided into five distinctive beds (b1–b5)
that are representing the GSSP for the base of the Eocene
Series (Dupuis et al. 2003) (Fig. 1). Nice denoting that the
famous Pharaonic Temple of Hatshepsut in Luxor city was
constructed in the upper part of the Esna Shale along the
gradational boundary separating it from the overlying Lower
Eocene Thebes Formation (Fig. 2).
The Paleocene–Eocene transitional period was characterized
by an extreme global warming known in the literature
as the “Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM)”
(Zachos et al. 2001). During this period, sea temperature
increased significantly by a globally 5–8 °C warmth in less
than 10 ka (Röhl et al. 2000). This global warming has
eventually led to a major extinction of deep-sea benthic
foraminifera (Scheibner et al. 2005), calcareous nannofossils
(Aubry 1998), diatoms (Oreshkina and Oberhänsli 2003),
mammals (Clyde and Gingerich 1998), and evolutionary
rejuvenations of planktonic foraminifera (Kelly et al. 1996).
A widely accepted interpretation suggests that the initial
deep-sea warmth has led to a massive dissociation of oceanic
methane hydrate-triggered further warming (Dickens et al.
1995). Other related interpretations suppose an increase of
volcanic eruptions and intrusion of mantle-derived melts
into carbon-rich sediments in the northeast Atlantic Ocean
(Svensen et al. 2004). Therefore, the information acquired
from the Dababiya Quarry is very important for understanding
the outstanding event of the PETM in the Earth’s history.
This makes the Dababiya Quarry Geosite attractive to geoscience
researchers and educators, and it can be designated
as a palaeogeographical geosite of international rank (Sallam
and Ruban 2017; Sallam et al. 2020). |
