IRES: Reconstructing the Geological History of the Egyptian Nile

0756393 AbdelsalamDescription：该奖项支持一个项目，该项目由密苏里州罗拉市密苏里州科技大学地质科学与工程系Mohamed Abdelsalam博士领导，俄克拉荷马州立大学(OSU)地质学院Estella Atekwana博士与埃及Sohag大学地质系Ahmed Youssef博士领导的埃及科学家团队参与的项目中，为学生提供国际研究经验。该项目将支持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。其目的是了解区域隆起和当地原有结构在影响水系演变和重组以及出现持久河流方面的相对作用。该项目的重点是检验三个假说：(1)与红海开放有关的区域抬升在埃及尼罗河演变之前产生了向西流动的河流。(2)约6 Ma以来，尼罗河的演化受控于一个从地中海延伸至埃及南部的北向峡谷(Eonile Canyon)。这个峡谷是在梅西尼亚盐度危机期间形成的。(3)两个水系的水系空间分布受北西向断裂控制。学术价值：该提案阐述了尼罗河断断续续流经的撒哈拉沙漠晚第三纪的环境演变。了解构造、气候和地形之间的联系是复杂的，对地球科学界来说非常重要。该项目综合了遥感、地球物理、地质制图和地貌分析，以便更好地了解区域构造隆起和先前存在的地质结构在决定尼罗河过去600万年演变过程中的相对作用。这一结果将有助于加深我们对构造、构造地质、气候和河流切割相互作用的理解，并有助于进一步研究气候在地球表面地貌演化中的作用。这项研究应有助于从更广泛的角度了解该区域，并将很好地检验关于非洲地貌和环境演变的更具区域性的讨论。更广泛的影响：该项目的研究和教育活动将使美国和埃及的学生和研究人员相互了解学术和社会文化。美国和埃及科学家在这个具有主要教育元素的项目中进行互动的机会将加强参与其中的美国和埃及学生的教育。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水系演变的物理过程对未来河流的利用非常重要。从这个项目中获得的信息很可能会被应用于其他主要的河流水系。该项目产生的结果将被传播，用于美国和埃及的教学。该项目由国际科学与工程办公室和地球科学部共同资助。

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.