الفهرس 
GENERAL STRATIGRAPHY OF THE MIDDLE AND UPPER EOCENE ROCKS OF EGYPTOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Wadi Hitan, Fayum Province, is characterized by its unique assemblage of fossil whales, which makes the area so scientifically and naturally important that it has been declared recently as a natural and heritage protectorate. Since then, the area attracted the attention of scientists in many geological fields. The present study shares this international attention and tries to contribute to the understanding of the Geology of Wadi Hitan. The stratigraphy and paleoecology of Wadi Hitan have been investigated based on its foraminiferal content. Planktic foraminifera show that Wadi Hitan succession ranges in age from middle to late Eocene based on the recognized zones; which, from base to top, are : Turborotalia cerroazulensis possagnoensis Zone, Truncorotaloides rohri Zone, Turborotalia pseudoampliapertura Zone and Globigerinatheka semiinvoluta Zone. Most of these zones belong to the Gehannam Formation. The overlying Qasr ElSagha Formation, on the other hand, is poor in foraminifera; yet its macro- invertebrate fossils assigned it to the upper Eocene comparable to other parts of Fayum and Egypt.
The benthic foraminifera of the succession are also identified, classified and analyzed. The results were integrated with the field lithofacies characteristics to envisage the paleoenvironment during which the studied succession was deposited. The outcome of this study shows that Wadi Hitan succession represents a gradually shallowing upward neritic sequence that was deposited during middle-late Eocene time. Eustatic sea level changes, overprinted occasionally with wet climatic episodes, controlled the facies and faunal distribution throughout the succession. Maximum shallowing occurred by the end of G. semiinvoluta zone of the upper Eocene; and hence the deposition of marginal marine facies of Qasr ElSagha Formation on top.