J/cix/'.s. Barron ^' Ilxmc — Eastern Desert of Eijupt. 157 



the Nile Valley and Wadi Qena, the two latter being in part arms of 

 tlie sea extending far into the land. 



3. Miocene Beds. — There are no new facts to be added to the 

 results obtained by Mitchell and Mayer-Eymar in this area. 



4. Eocene Beds. — These can be divided into two main series — 

 (a) a thick group of limestones which are locally named Serrai 

 Limestones, and (b) a thick group of shales, marls, and marly 

 limestones termed by the Survey the ' Esna Shales.' 



(a) The summit of the plateau is a bed containing a small 

 nnmmulite, underlying which is a nodular limestone forming 

 a distinct, precipitous, undercut cliif 3 metres high. Beneath this 

 are limestones with flint-bands having a thickness of 200 metres, 

 and having at their base a chalky limestone weathering pink. The 

 total thickness of this series is 22o metres. 



ih) The Esna shales are composed of yellow limestones (Pecten 

 Marls) forming the base, succeeded by green shales, in the middle 

 of which is a limestone, the total thickness being 122 metres. 

 The Eocene here belongs to the ' Libysche Stnfe ' of Zittel or 

 Londinian stage. 



By the discovery of the unconformity between the Eocene and 

 Cretaceous strata in Wadi Hammama, the presence of hitherto 

 unsuspected Eocene has been proved on the eastern side of the 

 Eed Sea Hills, such as the faulted area of Jebel Duwi and Nakheil, 

 near Qosseir. and the limestone range of Jebel iMellaha, near Jebel 

 Zeit. The former is a bold white cliff facing south and dipping 

 away at angles of 15 to 20 degrees, and is the result of complicated 

 folding and strike- and dip-faulting, the flinty series being some- 

 times tilted at angles of 40 degrees, and lying in succession against 

 Nubian Sandstone, metamorphic rocks, and granite, as in Jebel 

 Hamrawein. Jebel Nakheil is an Eocene and Cretaceous syncline 

 in which the succession is the same as that near Qena. Other 

 outliers are noted in Wadi Hamrawein, the country north of 

 Wadi Saga, at the confluence of Wadi Safaja and Wadi Wasif, and 

 to the north-west of Wadi Um Taglier. 



Jehel Mellaha. —Fvofessov Zittel, in his map, following Schwein- 

 furth's researches, refers the whole series to the Cretaceous, but the 

 latter seems to have become aware of the presence of Eocene later. 

 This range is composed of the same beds as Jebel Nakheil. 



The Eocene beds have covered the whole of the Eastern Desert 

 north of lat. 26° N., but have been entirely removed except where 

 let down by faults. They are everywhere unconformable to the 

 Cretaceous rocks. 



5. Cretaceous Limestones.— Mtev pointing out some gross errors 

 recently published by Dr. M. Blanckenhorn, the most important 

 points to be noted arc these : — 



(1) The occurrence of a Cretaceous plateau at Wadi Hammama 

 containing numerous Cephalopoda, Ptijclioceras. etc., and a coprolite 

 bed aboul: one metre thick, and extending over 20 kilometres to the 

 north, where it runs to gromid at the foot of Abu Had. The coprolite 

 bed contains 50 per cent, phosphate of lime. 



