Fluvial Transport Model from Spatial Distribution Analysis of Libyan Desert Glass Mass on the Great Sand Sea (Southwest Egypt): Clues to Primary Glass Distribution

Geosciences

Nancy Jimenez-Martinez²  Marius Ramirez²  Raquel Diaz-Hernandez¹  Gustavo Rodriguez-Gomez¹ 

[1] Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica, Óptica y Electrónica (INAOE), Luis Enrique Erro No. 1, Sta. María Tonantzintla, Puebla 72840, Mexico; E-Mails:;Área Académica de Ciencias de la Tierra y Materiales, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo (UAEH), Ciudad del Conocimiento, Col. Carboneras, Mineral de la Reforma 42184, Mexico; E-Mail:

关键词: kriging interpolation;    Libyan Desert Glass;    LDG strewn field;    paleodrainage system;   

DOI  :  10.3390/geosciences5020095

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Libyan Desert Glass (LDG) is a natural silica-rich melted rock found as pieces scattered over the sand and bedrock of the Western Desert of Egypt, northeast of the Gilf Kebir. In this work, a population mixture analysis serves to relate the present spatial distribution of LDG mass density with the Late Oligocene–Early Miocene fluvial dynamics in the Western Desert of Egypt. This was verified from a spatial distribution model that was predicted from the log-normal kriging method using the LDG–mass-dependent transformed variable, Y(x). Both low- and high-density normal populations (–9.2 < Y(x) < –3.5 and –3.8 < Y(x) < 2.1, respectively) were identified. The low-density population was the result of an ordinary fluvial LDG transport/deposition sequence that was active from the time of the melting process, and which lasted until the end of activity of the Gilf River. The surface distribution of the high-density population allowed us to restrict the source area of the melting process. We demonstrate the importance of this geostatistical study in unveiling the probable location of the point where the melting of surficial material occurred and the role of the Gilf River in the configuration of the observed strewn field.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.