Geology of Cairo, Egypt

Abstract
The engineering geology of Cairo, Egypt, is essentially influenced by the Quaternary alluvial deposits of the River Nile and the adjacent desert dry streams, as well as by the Tertiary shallow marine carbonates of the ancient Mediterranean Sea and the terrestrial quartzitic sandstone. The alluvial deposits, developed mainly into a top silty clay layer and a lower sandy and gravel layer, have a thickness of about 300 m. The white Tertiary carbonates and the red quartzitic sandstone dominate the elevated plateau and the disconnected buttes and mesas in the area east of the Nile and have a thickness of about 500 m. These are locally overlain by gypsiferous clay deposits having a thickness of about 50 m. Buildings and other structures in the lower Nilotic Cairo are dominantly supported by drilled pier piles and/or continuous mat foundations, but in the elevated or hilly portions of Cairo the structures are supported by raft foundations and/or isolated footings. Cairo is located on the southern side of the “mobile folded belt” on the edge of the “Mediterranean Geosyncline.” That belt is oriented NE-SW and is dominantly crossed, in the northwest-southeast direction, by a belt of normal faults. The intersection of the two geological structural belts has a bearing upon the seismicity of Cairo. Ecological constraints in Cairo comprise the shifting sand and dust, particularly in spring time, the continuous rising of the ground-water surface and the air pollution.

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