The remote Western Desert of central and southern Egypt is part of the Stable Platform of Late Mesozoic and Cenozoic North Africa and is not an area that immediately pops to mind as a place to go to look for interesting bedrock structures. High resolution satellite imagery now up in Google Earth, though, reveals spectacular low amplitude fold structures in rocks as young as Middle Eocene exposed over literally thousands of square kilometers by a unique combination of very low topographic relief, minimal surficial cover, and no vegetation. Faults are equally well exposed over great distances in many areas. In collaboration with Egyptian geologists, we have begun to map these features, establish the spatial and temporal relationships among them, and work out their origin and evolution. The Desert Eyes portion of this research has opportunities for students. Our Desert Eyes logo was designed by Capt. Carolyn Tewksbury-Christle.
If you would like to read more about our current work, you can download our recent research presentations:
We have received NSF funding through the IRES program (International Research Experiences for Students) to carry out research in Egypt, including a month of field work in each of the next three years. The project is a collaboration among Hamilton College, Missouri University of Science and Technology, and four Egyptian universities (Alexandria, Assiut, Sohag, and South Valley-Aswan). Read more.....
Digital Globe has awarded us 100 km2 of high resolution multispectral satellite image data of several of our research areas in Egypt. We wil combine image analysis with field data to extend mapping of subtle compositional differences in sedimentary bedrock so that we can better map structures in remote areas of the Western Desert and determine the origin of the structures.
In the US
Graduate research students
Undergraduate research students at Hamilton College
Student collaborators in Egypt