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Upper Neogene climate change in northern Africa based on chemical weathering indices and clay mineralogy: a case study of southeastern Tunisia (Gulf of Gabès)

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Abstract

The Upper Neogene period is considered one of the most significant episodes of environmental shift in Mediterranean history, which has been recorded and documented in every region bordering this basin. In southeastern Tunisia, the Gulf of Gabes witnessed a wide span of climate change during this period. The main objective of the present study is to assess climatic variations, during the Neogene, in the form of a geochemical signature preserved in the siliciclastic facies of the lower part of the Segui formation and Ouedhref sands. Calculations of weathering proxies from chemical composition and detailed mineralogical study of these sediments revealed that the lower part of the Segui formation had been deposited in contrasted climatic conditions with a tendency to aridity which is proved by the low values of the Chemical Index of Alteration (CIA), the low degree of elements depletion calculated for each element separately and the abundance of smectites and illites. However, weathering proxies and kaolinite abundance in clay samples from Ouedhref deposits indicate high weathering intensity within a warm and humid climatic condition. The evidence of moisture during the deposition of Ouedhref sediments is also proven by sedimentary structures and the fossils collected from the field. The source area of these sediments could be from low Cretaceous siliciclastic sediments (Bouhedma and Sidi Aich formations), which outcrop largely in southwest Tunisia.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank all the research unity staff of the Applied Geophysics of Materials and Minerals (URGAMM), the research laboratory 3G at the Faculty of Sciences of Gabes, and the National Office of Mines (ONM; Tunisia), where the analyses were carried out and the Higher Institute of Water Sciences and Techniques of Gabes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Sciences of Gabes, Research Laboratory of Geo-Systems, Geo-Resources and Geo-Environments (LR21ES05), Zrig, 6072, Gabes, Tunisia

    Faten Hallek, Mohamed Ouaja & Tahani Hallek

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Sciences of Tunis El Manar, Research Unity of Applied Geophysics to Materials and Minerals (URGAMM), Tunis, Tunisia

    Adnen Amiri & Mohamed Hèdi Inoubli

  3. University of Sousse, Higher institute of Fine Arts of sousse, Research Laboratory of Geo-systems, Geo-resources and Geo-environments (LR21ES05), Gabes, Tunisia

    Wissem Gallala

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  1. Faten Hallek
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  2. Mohamed Ouaja
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  3. Tahani Hallek
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  4. Adnen Amiri
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  5. Mohamed Hèdi Inoubli
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  6. Wissem Gallala
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study and conception of the manuscript. F.H. made the analytical part of the manuscript. M.O. helped F.H. in the field study, sample collections, and sedimentary environments understanding. T.H. and W.G. revised the manuscript, especially the interpretation, and helped F.H. in clay mineralogy and its relationship with climate variations. M.H.I. and A.A. organized the research strategy and revised figures.

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Correspondence to Faten Hallek.

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The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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Communicated by Maria Virginia Alves Martins.

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Hallek, F., Ouaja, M., Hallek, T. et al. Upper Neogene climate change in northern Africa based on chemical weathering indices and clay mineralogy: a case study of southeastern Tunisia (Gulf of Gabès). J. Sediment. Environ. 9, 317–336 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43217-024-00176-8

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