Palynomorph biostratigraphy of the Cretaceous (Hauterivian-lower Cenomanian) of the South Sallum Well, North Western Desert, Egypt

A palynological analysis has been carried out on the lower-middle Cretaceous rock units encountered in the subsurface section of the South Sallum well, north Western Desert of Egypt. Eighty-three ditch cutting samples have been analyzed palynologically and produced 71 species belonging to 49 genera, which allow recognizing ten informal sporomorph zones restricted to northern Western Desert ranging from early Cenomanian to Hauterivian. The erected palynozones are not only applicable to the western part of the Western Desert, but valid to the north Western Desert as well. They are correlated with well-documented zonations established for the same interval from other localities in the north Western Desert of Egypt and outside in north Africa.