Gulf of Suez
{{short description|Gulf of the Red Sea separating African Egypt from the Sinai Peninsula}}
{{Infobox body of water
| name = Gulf of Suez
| image = Gulf of Suez from orbit 2007.JPG
| caption = Visible bodies are the Gulf of Suez (west, left in photo), the Gulf of Aqaba (east, right in photo), and the Red Sea (south, bottom left in photo). Photo dated February 2009.
| image_bathymetry = Gulf of Suez map.jpg
| caption_bathymetry=
| location = North Africa and West Asia
| coords = {{coord|28|45|N|33|00|E|type:waterbody_scale:2500000|display=inline,title}}
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| basin_countries = Egypt
| length = {{convert|314|km|mi|abbr=on}}
| width = {{convert|32|km|mi|abbr=on}}
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| depth = {{convert|40|m|ft|abbr=on}}
| max-depth = {{convert|70|m|ft|abbr=on}}
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Image:Suez1856.jpg on the map of 1856]]
The Gulf of Suez ({{langx|ar|خليج السويس|khalīǧ as-suwais}}; formerly {{lang|ar|بحر القلزم}}, {{Transliteration|ar|baḥar al-qulzum}}, {{small|lit.}} "Sea of Calm") is a gulf at the northern end of the Red Sea, to the west of the Sinai Peninsula. Situated to the east of the Sinai Peninsula is the smaller Gulf of Aqaba. The gulf was formed within a relatively young but now inactive Gulf of Suez Rift rift basin, dating back about 26 million years.http://geoinfo.amu.edu.pl/wpk/geos/GEO_2/GEO_PLATE_T-37.HTML Detailed geological information on the Gulf It stretches some {{convert|300|km|mi}} north by northwest, terminating at the Egyptian city of Suez and the entrance to the Suez Canal. Along the mid-line of the gulf is the boundary between Africa and Asia.{{cite web|url=http://www.earthkam.ucsd.edu/public/images/Egypt.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031027190013/http://www.earthkam.ucsd.edu/public/images/Egypt.shtml|url-status=dead|archive-date=2003-10-27|title=ISS EarthKAM: Images: Collections: Composite: Gulf of Suez, Egypt and Saudi Arabia}} The entrance of the gulf lies atop the mature Gemsa oil and gas field.{{cite web|url=http://geology.cr.usgs.gov/energy/WorldEnergy/OF99-50A/province.html |title=USGS Open File Report OF99-50-A Red Sea Basin Province (Province Geology)}}
The gulf is considered one of the world's important maritime zones due to being an entrance to the Suez Canal.
Geography
The gulf occupies the northwestern arm of the Red Sea between Africa and the Sinai Peninsula. It is the third arm of the triple junction rift system, the second arm being the Gulf of Aqaba.
=Extent=
The length of the gulf, from its mouth at the Strait of Gubal (alternate name: Strait of Jubal){{cite web|url=http://www.tageo.com/index-e-eg-v-00-d-m459600.htm|title=Madiq jubal|publisher=Tageo.com database of geographic coordinate information}} to its head at the city of Suez, is {{convert|195|mi|km}}, and it varies in width from {{convert|12|to|20|mi|km}}.
The International Hydrographic Organization defines the southern limit of the gulf as "A line running from Ras Muhammed (27°43'N) to the South point of Shadwan Island (34°02'E) and thence Westward on a parallel (27°27'N) to the coast of Africa".{{cite web|url=https://iho.int/uploads/user/pubs/standards/s-23/S-23_Ed3_1953_EN.pdf|title=Limits of Oceans and Seas, 3rd edition|year=1953|publisher=International Hydrographic Organization|access-date=28 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111008191433/http://www.iho.int/iho_pubs/standard/S-23/S-23_Ed3_1953_EN.pdf|archive-date=8 October 2011}}
Geology
{{Main|Gulf of Suez Rift}}
The Gems Field was discovered in 1869, but did not produce until 1910. The Hurghada Field produced in 1913. By 1998, over 1900 wells had been drilled and 120 fields identified. The major oil source rock is the Upper Cretaceous marine Sudr Formation, the limestone Campanian Brown/Duwi Member in particular, which is {{cvt|25–70|m}} thick in the gulf.{{cite book |last1=Lindquist |first1=Sandra |title=The Red Sea Province: Sudr-Nubia(!) and Maqna(!) Petroleum Systems, USGS Open File Report 99-50-A |date=1998 |publisher=US Dept. of the Interior |pages=6, 8}}
The gulf sedimentary basin stratigraphic section consists of prerift Paleozoic to Oligocene clastic rocks and carbonates, and synrift and postrift Miocene to Holocene clastics and evaporites.{{rp|236}}
Three large oil fields are in the gulf: the El Morgan discovered in 1964, Belayim discovered in 1955, and the October Field discovered in 1977.Lelek, J.J., Shepherd, D.B., Stone, D.M., and Abdine, A.S., 1992, October Field, In Giant Oil and Gas Fields of the Decade, 1978-1988, AAPG Memoir 54, Halbouty, M.T., editor, Tulsa: American Association of Petroleum Geologists, {{ISBN|0891813330}}{{rp|238}} The October Field produces from the Cretaceous Nubia Formation, the Upper Cretaceous Nezzazat Formation, the Miocene Nukhul Formation, and the Miocene Asl Member of the Upper Rudeis Formation.{{rp|236}}
Ecology
{{Further|Red Sea#Ecosystem}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{commons category|Gulf of Suez}}
- [http://egypt.africa-atlas.com/images.htm Satellite photographs of the Gulf, and of the Suez Canal]
{{List of African seas}}
{{List of seas}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Bodies of water of the Red Sea
Category:Bodies of water of Egypt