GEO PHYSI CAL SUR VEY ( GPR ) IN WEST SAQQARA ( EGYPT ) : PRE LIMI NARY RE MARKS
Ab stract Geo phys i cal in ves ti ga tions in West Saqqara area were part of the ar chae o log i cal field work of the Pol ish-Egyp tian ar chae o log i cal mis sion dur ing the cam paign in 2012. The main pur pose of geo phys i cal prospection us ing the groundpen e trat ing ra dar (GPR) was to de ter mine the lo ca tion of po ten tial un der ground se pul chral struc tures. Dur ing the GPR sur vey, op ti mal depth pen e tra tion was achieved due to dry rocks and mono lithic struc ture of the lime stone pla teau on which the an cient cem e tery was lo cated. Us ing an tenna of 100 MHz, the depth of pen e tra tion was up to 45 m and with an tenna of 250 MHz, up to 15 me ters. Three main groups of ar chae o log i cal struc tures were iden ti fied: sar coph agi and mum mies, burial shafts; mo bile ob jects (solid rock blocks as frag ments of tombs). One of the main goal of the GPR sur vey was to track the route of the west ern part of the Dry Moat, ex pressed by a wide and shal low de pres sion spread ing to wards north-south. The re sults of geo phys i cal in ves ti ga tions sug gest that Saqqara pla teau is an ideal site for us ing GPR sur vey ing tech nol ogy.
AP PLI CA BIL ITY OF GROUND PEN E TRAT ING RA DAR ON DESERT AR CHAE O LOG I CAL SITES: A CASE STUDY FROM THE SAQQARA NE CROP O LIS IN EGYPT
Fa bian Welc, Rados3aw Mieszkowski, Sebastian Kowalczyk , Jerzy Trzcinski 1 In sti tute of Ar chae ol ogy, Car di nal Stefan Wyszynski Uni ver sity, ul. Woycickiego 1/3, no. 23, 01-938 Warszawa, e-mail: f.welc@uksw.edu.pl 2 Uni ver sity of War saw, Fac ulty of Ge ol ogy, In sti tute of Hydrogeology and En gi neer ing Ge ol ogy, ul. wirki i Wigury 93, 02-089 War saw, e-mails: r.mieszkowski@uw.edu.pl; jerzy.trzcinski@uw.edu.pl; s.kowalczyk@uw.edu.pl
Correlation of the Upper Cretaceous White Chalk (Turonian to Campanian) in the Anglo-Paris Basin
Using key lithological, biostratigraphic and geophysical borehole-log markers a correlation of the Upper Cretaceous Chalk stratigraphies across the whole Anglo-Paris Basin has been achieved. A common lithological marker bed stratigraphy applies and key fossil markers (inoceramids, Micraster and Echinocorys ) are consistently related to the same lithological markers throughout the basin. The major lithological changes consistently occur at the same levels but are not necessarily equally strongly developed. The magnificent dip section along the French Channel coast between the Somme and the Seine, and the inland sections at Precy-sur-Oise and Verlin (Loiret) illustrate the influence of long-lived tectonic lines on Chalk sedimentation history recognised by: (i) rapid thickness variations; (ii) channel flooring hardgrounds and associated anomalous bedding dips: (iii) stratigraphically anomalous infills of channels which may be metres to kilometres across; (iv) redeposited chalks containing abundant Bathichnus paramoudrae ; (v) tectonically induced slumps and slides with flint and chalk shatter beds (palaeoseismic horizons). These features are found along may axes including the Anticlinal du Bray at Precy and Dieppe, the Anticlinal de Margny-les-Compiegne at Nourard le-Franc and Le Treport (the Bresle Valley Axis) and the Fecamp and Verlin fault systems. The ‘events’ recognised along these axes link with similar events recognised in Sussex (e.g. Kingston Anticline), on Portsdown, at Culver Cliff, Isle of Wight (Sandown Pericline) and on the Weymouth Anticline (White Nothe). Such events are common in the high Turonian, low Coniacian, basal Santonian, and the low and mid Campanian. The recurrence of key marker beds dominated by a particular trace fossil association or sequence, Bathichnus-Thalassinoides suevicus-Zoophycos associated with major changes in lithology, micro and macro-fauna indicates more widespread ‘oceanographic’ cycles of transgression and regression related to Atlantic opening.