The mineralogy of some nile sediments

Abstract

Summary The paper deals with the mineralogy of some recent sediments collected from the Nile and its tributaries. The different tributaries are shown to have characteristic mineral assemblages, and their differences are used in determining the provenance of some older sediments of the Nile in Egypt and deducing some aspects of the history of the river. It is shown, for example, that the waters of the Abyssinian tributaries did not reach Egypt, as has been realized by some previous workers, except in post-Plio-Pleistocene times. An application of the evidence of heavy minerals to the deposits of the river farther to the south will undoubtedly yield valuable additional data on the life history of the Nile.