The Paleocene/Eocene boundary in Egypt: An overview

Abstract

The search for a Global Standard Stratotype-section and Point (GSSP) for the Paleocene/Eocene boundary has resulted in several concurrent studies of the Upper Paleocene-Lower Eocene interval in sections across Egypt from the Eastern and Western Deserts to Upper Egypt where spectacular outcrops occur along the Nile Valley. These studies have brought a wealth of data but their conclusions have been occasionally contradictory. I introduce these, and other relevant, sections, describing their lithostratigraphy, biostratigraphy and chemostratigraphy, summarizing the main results of their study, and discussing conflicting interpretations. Special attention is given to the interval that yields a record of the short-term events that are specific to the carbon isotope excursion, or CIE, and whose base now constitutes the principal means of correlation of the Paleocene/Eocene boundary.