The Division of Earth Sciences and the Office of International Science and Engineering are supporting this project to study the history of Banded Iron Formations (BIF) in Egypt. These formations were deposited about 700 million years ago on a seafloor existing between the current Nile River and the Red Sea. These deposits record a period when Earth's climate was very different than at present, fluctuating several times between extensive glaciation and very warm conditions. These climatic variations are explained as part of the "Snowball Earth hypothesis" which is controversial. Part of the controversy concerns the role that submarine volcanic activity may have played in formation of the BIF. Geoscientists from the University of Texas at Dallas and the Nuclear Materials Corporation (NMC) of Egypt will work together for two years to study the BIF and igneous rocks associated with these deposits. The UTD team will emphasize scientific studies, which will make up research leading to one MS and one PhD degree, while the NMC team will focus on evaluating the economic potential of the deposits.
Funds for this project will mostly support the UTD team's efforts, which will include geochronology, geochemistry and isotopic composition of igneous rocks, and chemical composition of the BIF. The graduate students involved are already enrolled in the graduate program at UTD, and the Ph.D. student is a native Egyptian and previous employee of NMC. This work is expected to contribute to Egypt's scientific infrastructure, increase interest of the international scientific community in the geology of Egypt, and contribute to the identification and development of Egypt's natural resources.
