The Senonian:

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• The Senonian
• The Senonian deposits in Sinai, Gulf of Suez
  and the north Eastern Desert are generally marine
  in nature. During the Coniacian, however, fluvial
  sediments alternate with the marine deposits of
  the Gulf of Suez, Southern Galala and north Wadi
  Qena. In these areas, the Senonian is represented
  by two units, the Matulla Formation
  (Coniacian-Santonian) and the Sudr Chalk
  (Campanian-Maastrichtian).

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• The relatively soft deposits of the Matulla
  Formation of GHORAB (1961) are conformably
  underlain by the hard fossiliferous dolostones
  and limestones of the Wata Formation and are
  overlain by hard brown chert bands and white
  chalky limestones of the Sudr Chalk.
• In its type locality to the east of Abu
  Zeneima, the Matulla Formation attains 170 m in
  thickness and is made up of three units a
  sandstone dominated unit at the base, glauconitic
  shale and dolostone succession in the middle and
  a sandy dolostone and marl sequence at the top.

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• The Sudr Chalk is a widely distributed rock unit
  in eastern Egypt. It is characterized by its
  white colour between the greyish green shales and
  marls of the Esna Shale above and the yellow
  sandstones and dolostones of the Matulla
  Formation below.
• The greatest recorded thickness is at El-Markha
  Plain along the eastern coast of the Gulf of Suez
  (220 m) where it can be subdivided into its two
  members suggested by GHORAB (1961).

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• The lower Markha Chalk Member is composed of
  snow white partly silicified chalk intercalated
  by grey and brown chert concretions and bands
  with some dolostone and argillaceous limestone
  streaks.
• The upper Abu Zenima Chalk Member consists
  of grey, argillaceous and thin bedded soft
  limestones.
• The basal beds of the Markha Chalk Member are
  highly fossiliferous with Pycnodonta (Phygraea)
  vesicularis (LAMARCK) which indicates a Campanian
  age for that member (KORA GENEDI 1995).

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• In the north Western Desert, the Chalk deposits
  are termed the Khoman Chalk which reflects a
  widespread transgression and deepening of the
  seas over Egypt.
• Complete sections of the Khoman are found in
  many of the basinal areas (Abu Gharadig, Um
  Barka) where sedimentation was continuous, from
  the Turonian to the Senonian. In these areas, the
  Khoman is divided into a lower "B" member and an
  upper "A" member.

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• In southern Egypt (Stable Shelf area), the
  Taref Sandstone is capped unconformably by marine
  variegated shales, named Mut in the Dakhla Basin
  and Qusier Variegated Shale in the Qusier-Safaga
  district.
• These vividly coloured shales are believed to
  have been deposited in supratidal to intertidal
  flats which were transgressed at times by marine
  incursions of short duration (KERDANY CHERIF
  1990).

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• In the belt which extends from Dakhla Oasis in
  the west (Abu Tartur Plateau) to Qusier in the
  east, the phosphate beds are well developed and
  assume economic importance.
• They are named Duwi (Phoshate) or Formation .
  To the south of this belt, the phosphate beds do
  not form an important element in the formation
  and become indistinguishable from the overlying
  Dakhla Shale.

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• Economic aspects of the Cretaceous deposits
• - The Cretaceous sediments are important source
  and reservoir rocks for oil and gas in the Gulf
  of Suez and the north Western Desert
  petroliferous provinces.
• - The Cretaceous clastics produced huge
  quantities of kaolinitic clays used for ceramic,
  white cement, rubber, paper industries, ..etc..
• - The Cretaceous phosphates are produced from the
  Duwi Formation in the Nile Valley, Abu Tartur
  Plateau and in the Qusier-Safaga district.
• - Aswan oolitic iron ores were once exploited
  from the Cretaceous clastics NE of Aswan.
• -Cretaceous carbonates (chalks, limestones and
  dolostones) are quarried and used in several
  industries. They are used as buildingstones and
  are also crushed and used as a sub-base in
  asphaltic roads.