Lateritization and ground water alteration phenomena in the Triassic Budra Formation, south-western Sinai

Field and laboratory investigations of the Triassic Budra Formation of Wadi Budra, south-west Sinai, have demonstrated the existence of surface pedogenic laterites developed within‘overbank facies’of fluviatile sediments during times of hiatus. The laterite profiles, up to 7 m thick, comprise a zone of high-iron concentrations (21.47–73.17%) which includes a concretionary unit and either overlies a zone of slightly mottled host rock or rests directly upon unaltered sandstone; a pallid zone is noticeably absent. The primary depositional horizontal fabric of the finely laminated sediments of the‘overbank facies’ has strongly influenced the final fabric of the laterite. The pronounced alternations of iron-rich pisolitic and iron-deficient laminae highlight the influence of inherent fabric (primary bedding) on pedogenesis. The micromorphology of the laterites is characterized by bimasepic plasmic fabrics, abundant elongate voids partially infilled with cryptocrystalline kaolinite and an abundance of randomly oriented skew planes. Illuviation of clay minerals to considerable depths is evident. Sesquioxidic and kaolinitic glaebules, concentrated within the concretionary units of the laterite have a flattened ellipsoidal shape and occur as both massive and concentrically structural varieties. At Gebel Mussaba Salama to the north, zoned iron mineralization occurs at various levels within the fluviatile sandstones which underlie the‘overbank facies’. This is interpreted as being a non-pedogenic, ground water alteration phenomenon induced by a rising water table within the buried alluvial channels. Iron mineralization, probably records minor fluctuations of the water table during standstill periods. Lateritization in the Triassic Budra Formation provides important evidence that the widely recorded late Triassic lateritization and bauxitization event of the neighbouring East Mediterranean countries, extended south to the continental areas bordering the Tethyan Ocean.