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Monazite chemistry: evidence for a prehistoric journey
Author(s) -
Dawood Yehia H.,
Abd ElNaby Hamdy H.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
geology today
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.188
H-Index - 17
eISSN - 1365-2451
pISSN - 0266-6979
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2451.2008.00694.x
Subject(s) - monazite , geology , wadi , geochemistry , tributary , heavy mineral , pegmatite , pleistocene , pluvial , mineral , prehistory , archaeology , paleontology , zircon , geography , provenance , materials science , cartography , metallurgy
The chemistry of monazite from the black sand deposits of northern Sinai beach suggests that pegmatites and granites of the Eastern Desert of Egypt are the most likely source rocks. The floods associated with the pluvial periods prevailed in Egypt during the Pleistocene were able to erode the source rocks and liberate heavy minerals including monazite. The mineral grains were moved through several wadis and tributaries to the River Nile. At the confluence sites, these heavy minerals were mixed with the Ethiopian and central African heavy mineral assemblages. The grains continued to move together downriver until being deposited in their current locations.