FACIES ANALYSIS AND PALEOENVIRONMENTAL RECONSTRUCTION OF THE THEBES FORMATION (LOWER EOCENE) SEQUENCE ALONG THE RED SEA COAST BETWEEN QUSIER AND HURGHADA, EGYPT.

The Eocene Thebes Formation had been subjected to detailed field and petrographic analysis to evaluate the stratigraphy, depositional facies, paleoenvironment and sedimentological history of the Thebes Formation carbonates. Four surface stratigraphic sections located in the Eastern Desert have been studied in detail. These sections are distributed from south to north: Gebel Hamadat, Wadi Syatin, Gebel Wasif, and Wadi Malha sections. The carbonate succession of Thebes Formation rests conformably on the siliciclastic shales of the Esna Formation at all sections except at Wadi Malha, where there is an unconformity separates between Esna and Thebes formations.