Petrography and geochemistry of lower Paleozoic sandstones, East Sinai, Egypt: Implications for provenance and tectonic setting

Petrography, mineralogy and chemical analyses were combined to investigate the lower Paleozoic sandstones at Wadi El-Quseiyeb area, East Sinai. They are mainly classified texturally as silty sandstones, sandstones and clayey siltstone. Their average modal composition (QFL, 87:11:2), classifies them as quartz arenite and arkosic arenite, with high proportions of quartz, monocrystalline quartz grains, more potash feldspar than plagioclase and a low plagioclase/total feldspar ratio (P/F < 0.2). High SiO2, K2O > Na2O, and low Fe2O3 + MgO values revealed by chemical analyses are consistent with the modal data. Other criteria include elevated Ba and Sr contents and depletion in the ferromagnesian elements. The petrography and geochemistry suggest a stable continental (passive) margin or intracratonic basin, analogous to that of an Atlantic-type continental shelf. Also, they reflect a stable craton interior source, devoid, to a large extent, of basic debris and ultimately derived from a low-lying granite-rich Precambrian craton. Chemical index of alteration (CIA) and the Plagioclase index of Alteration (PIA) values range from 57.2 to 93.0 and from 79.7 to 94.6, respectively. However, most samples have values more than 60, suggesting a moderate to relatively high degree of alteration (weathering) in the source area.