Abstract
The plateaus of El-Galalah El-Bahariyah (Northern), El-Galalah El-Qibliyah (Southern), and Wadi Araba represent a distinguished geomorphologic region, overlooking the Gulf of Suez, and occupying the NE corner of the Eastern Desert. Both Galalahs rise several hundred meters asl, reaching in some localities more than a thousand meters, while the floor of Wadi Araba rises only 120–250 m asl. The region is structurally dissected by faults of different orientations and is composed of a broad swell, where Wadi Araba represents its axis, and the two Galalahs represent the two flanks of this anticline. Accordingly, this Wadi can be considered an inverted topography. The regional geomorphology is simple, since the Region is composed of three units: the two cuestas of the two Galalahs and the anticlinal Wadi Araba. On the surfaces of these regional morpho-tectonic units, several erosional forms developed, of which fluvial and karst forms are the most widespread due to the presence of carbonate rocks and past humid climate. Caves and cone karst are the most widespread karst forms. Apart from Wadi Araba, wadis, as fluvial forms dissect all surfaces of the two plateaus. These wadis are characterized by meandering, developed due to the low gradient of the plateau surfaces, and entrenching due to tectonic uplifting of the two plateaus. Analysis of Landsat-TM images revealed that these wadis developed multi-cyclic fans in Wadi Araba. The volcanic cone, discovered in Wadi Araba, is used to estimate the age of this Wadi.
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Embabi, N.S. (2018). The Region of El-Galalah Plateaus NE the Eastern Desert
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In: Landscapes and Landforms of Egypt. World Geomorphological Landscapes. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65661-8_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65661-8_9
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