IRES: Reconstructing the Geological History of the Egyptian Nile

描述：该奖项支持学生在一个项目中获得国际研究经验，该项目涉及密苏里州罗拉市密苏里科技大学地质科学与工程系的一个团队，由Mohamed Abdelsalam博士领导，与俄克拉荷马州立大学地质学院的Estella Atekwana博士合作，以及由埃及Sohag大学地质系Ahmed Youssef博士领导的埃及科学家团队。该项目将支持来自美国大学的研究人员、研究生和本科生在埃及尼罗河进行遥感、地质和地球物理调查。目的是了解区域隆起和当地原有结构在影响排水系统的演变和重组以及长期河流的出现方面的相对作用。该项目侧重于测试三个假设：(1)与红海开放相关的区域隆起产生了西流河流，这先于埃及尼罗河的演变。(2) 6 Ma以来尼罗河的演化受一条从地中海延伸至埃及南部的n向峡谷（Eonile峡谷）控制。这个峡谷形成于墨西尼亚盐危机时期。(3)两水系的空间分布受北、北西向断裂控制。知识价值：该提案解决了新近世晚期撒哈拉沙漠的环境演变，该地区的尼罗河断断续续地流经该地区。了解构造、气候和地形之间的联系是复杂的，对地球科学界具有重要意义。该项目整合了遥感、地球物理、地质测绘和地貌分析，以便更好地了解区域构造隆起和预先存在的地质结构在确定过去600万年尼罗河演变过程中的相对作用。研究结果将有助于我们进一步认识构造、构造地质、气候和河流切割之间的相互作用，并有助于进一步研究气候在地表地貌演化中的作用。这项研究将有助于把对该地区的理解置于一个更广阔的视角，并将为非洲地貌和环境演变的更区域性讨论提供一个很好的测试。更广泛的影响：该项目的研究和教育活动将促进美国和埃及学生和研究人员对学术和社会文化的相互了解。在这个项目中，美国和埃及科学家之间的互动机会具有重要的教育元素，将提高美国和埃及学生的教育水平。来自美国和埃及的本科生和研究生的参与将为他们未来的发展提供宝贵的经验。该项目涉及扩大代表性不足群体的参与。更好地了解控制尼罗河系统演变的物理过程对未来的河流利用具有重要意义。从这个项目中获得的信息很可能会应用于其他主要的河流系统。这个项目产生的成果将被传播，用于美国和埃及的教学。本项目由国际科学与工程办公室和地球科学司共同资助。

0756393AbdelsalamDescription: This award supports an international research experience for students in a project involving a team at the Department of Geological Sciences and Engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, Missouri, led by Dr. Mohamed Abdelsalam, with Dr. Estella Atekwana, School of Geology in Oklahoma State University (OSU) in collaboration with a team of Egyptian scientists led by Dr. Ahmed Youssef, Geology Department at Sohag University in Egypt. The project will support researchers, graduate and undergraduate students from the U.S. universities for carrying remote sensing, geological, and geophysical investigations in the Egyptian Nile. The aim is to understand the relative roles of regional uplift and local pre-existing structure in influencing the evolution and re-organization of drainage systems and the emergence of long-lasting rivers. The project focuses on testing three hypotheses: (1) Regional uplift associated with the opening of the Red Sea produced W-flowing rivers that preceded the evolution of the Egyptian Nile. (2) The evolution of the Nile since ~6 Ma has been controlled by an N-trending canyon (the Eonile Canyon) extending from the Mediterranean Sea to southern Egypt. This canyon was formed during the Messinian Salinity Crisis. (3) The spatial distribution of the drainage related to both river systems is controlled by N- and NW-trending faults. Intellectual Merit: The proposal addresses the Late Neogene environmental evolution of the Sahara desert in an area through which the Nile River has intermittently drained. Understanding the linkage between tectonics, climate and topography is complex and is of great importance to the geoscientific community. The project integrates remote sensing, geophysics, geological mapping, and geomorphological analysis in order to achieve a better understanding of the relative roles of regional tectonic uplift and pre-existing geologic structure in determining the evolution of the River Nile over the past 6 million years. The results are likely to advance our understanding of the interaction between tectonics, structural geology, climate, and river incision, and can help in future research on the role of climate in geomorphological evolution of the Earth surface. The research should help put the understanding of the region into a broader perspective, and will provide a good test of the more regional discussion of African geomorphological and environmental evolution. Broader Impact: The project's research and educational activities will result in reciprocal understanding of academic and social culture between U.S. and Egyptian students and researchers. The opportunity for interaction between USA based and Egypt-based scientists in this program with a major educational element will enhance the education of both the US and Egyptian students involved. The involvement of undergraduate and graduate students from both the US and Egypt will provide valuable experience for their future development. The project involves broadening participation of under-represented groups. A better understanding of the physical processes that control the evolution of the Nile River system is of importance to future river use. It is likely that information garnered from this project will find application to other major river systems. Results produced from this project will be disseminated to be used for teaching in the US and Egypt. This project is jointly funded by the Office of International Science and Engineering and by the Division of Earth Sciences.