Combined sedimentologic, biostratigraphic and paleobathymetric studies indicate that sandstones making up a giant oil field in the Gulf of Suez were deposited as a series of offsetting lobes in a fan-delta complex. Stratigraphic and not structural elements determined the placement of these lobes, a mechanism which contrasts with tectonically oriented models proposed for other fan deltas (i.e. Hornelen Basin; Steel, 1976).

The Gulf of Suez fan delta was deposited during the early to middle Miocene, within a clastic-rich sequence deposited between initial rifting of the Gulf of Suez and formation of middle to late Miocene evaporites. The Miocene clastic-rich sequence is divided into three formations, the Nukhul, the Rudeis and the Kareem, and into eight biostratigraphic units. The fan delta, described in this study, formed during four biostratigraphic units encompassing most of the Upper Rudeis Formation and the Kareem Formation. Sand isolith maps of four individual biostratigraphic units reveal that this fan delta was deposited as a series of offsetting lobes, emanating from a single location on the paleoshoreline. Although tectonism partially controlled deposition within the fan delta, paleotopographic highs created by preceding lobes were primary controls on where subsequent lobes accumulated. Based on cores in the Kareem Formation, the fan delta consists of stacked, coarsening upward sequences that range in thickness from 20 m to 50 m. Sedimentologic features indicate rapid deposition in a shallow marine setting. Micropaleontology indicates the fan delta was deposited in water depths ranging from middle neritic to marginal marine or continental. Fan delta deposition ceased within the Kareem Formation, when a relative rise in sea level or a cessation of sediment input resulted in drowning of the fan delta. Sandstones within the fan delta were capped with shales and evaporites, thus setting the stage for creation of a giant oil field.

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