Salah Marov Amasha
1st March 1997 - 28th June 2001
Egypt Government
The study area lies in the north -eastern corner of Arab Republic of Egypt. It is situated on the border between Asia and Africa and comprises an area of 4360 km2 of the Sinai North Governorate and falls between 30° 26' N to 31° 27' N and 32° 33' E to 34° 25' E. It consists of several physicgraphic regions with a typical pattern of aerial photographs: Wadi El Arish , El Tina Plain, Coastal northeast, El Bardwiel Lake, and Sand dunes regions. Background information, including aerial photographs, and field samples are used to produce a land classification and suitability for the study area. Published methodologies are found to be not entirely suitable and modifications of these are introduced for this study to take account of the nature of the study area. Factors of soil formation varied from factor to another. Climate is the principal formation agent of the area in the past and present. Fieldwork included more detailed soil sampling than would be normal in such a survey. These soil samples were analysed in the laboratory for physical and chemical properties. The variations in these soil properties can be related to land systems is assessed. Available data were sufficient for only limited statistical analysis but it is determined that reliable predictions of physical and chemical properties, should be possible from the land type map whereas variations in properties are shown significant related climate system. For the former group of soil properties maps of their distributions are drawn and the variation and correlation methods between them are shown. The soils of the area are not primarily a product of the arid environment of today. Most of them are Solonchaks, Fluvial, and Aronosols. A land classification showed that Aronosols type is the most common in the study area. Moreover, the management of the limited water and soil resources would present such sticky problems that a reclamation would be better avoided. Examination of similar land classifications carried out in Sinai by soil properties, especially texture that are used to define land suitability classes for various land uses.