Dr. Nagy I. Zoltán szerk.: Fragmenta Mineralogica Et Palaentologica 7. 1976. (Budapest, 1976)

Fragm. Min. Pal. 7. 1976. New record of large Foraminifera from the Early Eocene rocks of Gabel el Shaghab, Esna, Upper Egyptom Abbas Ibrahim KENAWY Assiut University, Geology Department, Assiut, Egyptom ABSTRACT: Some 18 species of Lower Ypresian large foraminifera are described here from the Early Eocene rocks of Gabal El Shaghab, Esna, Upper Egypt. Some of these large foraminifera are recorded for the first time in Egypt. The resemble those described by DA VIES & PINFOLD (1937) from the Punjab Salt Range, India. This support the Idea of the previous existance of an arm of the Indian sea which extended to the Sahara Region of North Africa. INTRODUCTION The Lower Eocene in Upper Egypt, stretches on both sides of the Nile Valley from the vicinity of Esna in the south, where they overlie the Paleocene shales, and gently dip northwards (1-2°) till approximately the latitude of Assiut, in the north, where the Middle Eocene rocks gradually overlie the Lower Eocene. These latter Lower Eocene are also developed in the Quseir-Safaga region of the Red Sea area and in the Egma Plateau of the Sinai Peninsula. To the west of the Nile, the Lower Eocene rocks extend westwards to the Kharga Oasis in the Western Desert and extend further south to the west of Aswan at Kurkur. The systematic study of the Lower Eocene rocks in Egypt started by ZITTEL (1883) who introduced the term "Libysche Stufe" to include the Early Eocene rocks of Egypt, particularly where they are very well developed in the western (Libyan) Desert, in the scarp around the Farafra Oasis. ZITTEL subdivided his Libysche Stufe into "Unterlibysche Stufe" characterized by the presence of spherical Alveolines and "Oberlibysche Stufe" with elongate Alveolines and hence the name "Alveolinen Kalk" used in the Egyptian Early Eocene stratigraphy. BARROM à HUME (1902) classified the Lower Eocene rocks of Gabal Serrai and Gabal Abu Had sections at Qena into the Serrai limestone which is composed of Nummulitic limestone, nodular limestone, and banded flint series. HUME (1911) noticed that the Early Eocene rocks at Luxor (HUME'

s Luxor type) are characterized by the abundance of Operculina libyca, Lucina thebaica, and other large echinoids, whereas at Qena (HUME* s Qena type), it is nonfossiliferous and is com-