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Control of Late Holocene Geo-processes on the sustainable development plans of the Tineh Plain, NW Sinai coast, Egypt

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Abstract

The Tineh Plain NW Sinai coast has been the subjected of several studies related to its stratigraphy, geoarchaeology, and sustainable development. Recently, the name of the Tineh Plain has emerged following the government of Egypt’s decision to establish a new economic project to develop the Suez Canal Sector (Suez Canal Corridor Mega Project). Landsat and SPOT satellite images acquired for years 1984, 2000, 2006, 2008 and 2010 to detect temporal changes coupled with field relations, verification, sampling, analyzing and photographing were conducted. Change detection of LU/LC show six classes; the beach, the wetland (El-Mallaha lagoon), Sabkhas or salt marshes, urban, agriculture, and fish breeding farms. In 1984, the beach (4.2 km2), El-Mallaha lagoon (26.4 km2), sabkhas or salt marches (236.7 km2) were reduced due to expansion of agriculture (120.3 km2), fish breeding farms (35.7 km2) and controlled by sediment characteristic (salinity and grain size). Accordingly, fish farms grow northward of the Tineh Plain while reclamation and cultivation extends southward. Such activities may threaten the archaeological sits at Tell El-Farama (The City of Pelusium). Three geomorphic units detected, these are the beach, the strand plain, and the deltaic plain. The beach is flat with concavo (accreted) - convex (eroded) shoreline. The strand plain made of accreted beach ridges of very low bundles, set at slight mutual angles, which sometimes truncate one another. The deltaic plain surface composed of intercalations of sand and mud of shoreface, mouth bar, and distributary channel fill. The accreted ridges representing four paleoshorelines related to Late Holocene and dated back to 400–500BP, 1100–1200BP, 1400–1500BP, and 1700–1900BP, those record the Late Holocene history (sea level, floods, and tectonics) of the Tineh Plain. The study area is waiting a plan of sustainable development, it represents phase “A” East Port Said of the Suez Canal Corridor Mega Project. This study raise the alarm of constructing heavy industries and other logistics related to shipping on the fragile environments of the Tineh Plain. This is in fact due to active tectonism, and sediment characteristics. The activities related to agriculture, fish breeding, and salts and food industries are recommended in the framework of sustainable development. It is important to include the Suez Canal Corridor Project a plan to save the ruins of fortifications of Tineh Plain. These are not only Egyptian heritage but also a world one record the history from the Persian invasions of Egypt about 6th or 7th Century B.C., through the Byzantines in 859–860, the Greeks in 954–955, the Arabic Conquest, and the Crusaders in the 12th Century. A cooperation and support from the international organization such as UNESCO should be conducted.

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Acknowledgments

The authors dedicated this work to the late memory of Dr. Yannis Foundolis, Department of Geology, Athens University, without his critical support in age dating, the work cannot be accomplished. The authors would like to extend their sincere appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research of King Saud University for funding this research group No [RG-1435-033].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Education and Academic Affairs, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Hesham M. El-Asmar

  2. Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, Helwan University, Helwan, Egypt

    Maysa M. N. Taha

  3. Marine Science Department, National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences (NARSS), Alf Maskan, P. O. Box 1564, Cairo, Egypt

    Sameh B. El-Kafrawy

  4. Geology and Geophysics Department, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Abdelbaset S. El-Sorogy

  5. Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt

    Abdelbaset S. El-Sorogy

  6. Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, Damietta University, Damietta, Egypt

    Hesham M. El-Asmar

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  1. Hesham M. El-Asmar
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Correspondence to Hesham M. El-Asmar.

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El-Asmar, H.M., Taha, M.M.N., El-Kafrawy, S.B. et al. Control of Late Holocene Geo-processes on the sustainable development plans of the Tineh Plain, NW Sinai coast, Egypt. J Coast Conserv 19, 141–156 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11852-015-0377-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11852-015-0377-9

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