Facies and sequence stratigraphy of some Miocene sediments in the Cairo-Suez District, Egypt

The shallow-water siliciclastics and carbonates of the Miocene sediments in the Cairo-Suez District, Egypt represent an epiric ramp. The facies are characterized by stacked high-frequency cycles with restricted ramp to shoal margin sequences. Based on an extensive micro- and biofacies documentation, six lithofacies associations were defined and their respective depositional environments were interpreted. A sequence-stratigraphic analysis was carried out by integrating lithostratigraphic marker beds, facies relationships, stratigraphic cycles, and biostratigraphy. The investigated sections were subdivided into three third-order sequences, named S1, S2 and S3. S1, is interpreted to correspond to the Late Burdigalian stage (18-16.38 My), S2 corresponds to the Late Burdigalian-Early Langhian stage (16.38-14.78 My), and S3 represents the Late Langhain-Early Serravallian stage (14.78-13.66 My). Each of the three sequences was further subdivided into fourth order cycle sets and fifth-order cycles.