Journal of African Earth Sciences 104 (2015) 19–26

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Journal of African Earth Sciences

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Source-rock evaluation of the Dakhla Formation black shale in Gebel

Duwi, Quseir area, Egypt
M.M. El Kammar
Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Egypt

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: A relatively thick Upper Cretaceous–Lower Tertiary sedimentary succession is exposed in Gebel Duwi,
Received 30 June 2014 Red Sea area, through an almost horizontal tunnel cutting the NE dipping strata from Quseir to Thebes
Received in revised form 11 January 2015 formations. The black shale belonging to Dakhla Formation represents a real potential for future energy
Accepted 12 January 2015
resource for Egypt. Dakhla Formation consists mainly of organic-rich calcareous shale to argillaceous
Available online 28 January 2015
limestone that can be considered as a good to excellent source rock potential. The total organic carbon
(TOC) content ranges from 2.04% to 12.08%, and the Hydrogen Index (HI) values range from 382 to
Keywords:
1024 mg HC/g TOC. Samples of the Dakhla Formation contain mostly kerogen of types I and II that prone
Black shale
Source rock
oil and oil-gas, indicating marine organic matter derived mainly from algae and phytoplankton organisms
Duwi and proposing typical oil source kerogen. The average of the potential index (PI) value is 0.02 mg HC/g
Dakhla Formation rock, which indicates the beginning of a considerable amount of oil generation from the Dakhla
Kerogen Formation. The Tmax values range from 427 to 435 °C. Based on the Tmax data and PI values, the studied
Calorific value black shale samples are immature to early mature for hydrocarbon generation in the Duwi area. The data
reduction suggests four main factors covering about 91% of the total variances. The average of the calorific
value (459 kcal/kg) indicates unworkable efficiency of such black shale for direct combustion use in
power stations. However, selective operation of specific horizons having the highest calorific values
may provide viable resources.
Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The increased interest in black shale, all over the world during
the last few decades, seems principally to be due to their impor-
tance as natural unconventional future fuel-resources. The black
shale is widely distributed in Egypt in several horizons of different
geologic ages, particularly in the Upper Cretaceous–Lower Tertiary
formations; Duwi (phosphate-bearing), Dakhla and Esna forma-
tions in the area between Safaga and Quseir of the Red Sea region.
The black shale belonging to the Dakhla Formation represents the
real potential resources of Egypt. The average amount of oil yielded
by Fischer assay is about 20–45 gal/ton (Robison and Tröger, 1983;
Tröger, 1984). The in-place shale-oil resources in Quseir–Safaga
area is 4500 ⁄ 106 bbls (Tröger, 1984). These estimations are not
beyond doubt because they were calculated on the basis of mea-
surement of surface exposures and spot samples collected from
abandoned phosphorite mines (El-Kammar, 2014). The geological
formations of the Upper Cretaceous–Lower Tertiary are well
exposed in Gebel Duwi to the west of Quseir. It covers an area of
about 112 km2 (28 km long and 4 km wide, Fig. 1). The elevation
E-mail address: mmkammar@sci.cu.edu.eg
of this ridge ranges between 450 and 545 m above sea level. The
stratigraphic succession includes the formations from Nubia
Formation, as the oldest sedimentary unit in the region
(Cenomanian, Upper Cretaceous) to Nakheil Formation (Oligocene)
with a dip of ±20°NE.
Many studies have focused on the oil potential of the black
shale of the region. The first of these studies was performed by
Mustafa and Ghaly (1964), followed by several others such as
Tröger (1984), Ganz (1984), Khaled et al. (1987) and El-Kammar
(1987, 1993, 2014). However, most of these studies focused on
the geochemistry, depositional environment, stage of maturity
and potential for hydrocarbon generation of the black shale of
the Dakhla Formation. In addition, the organic geochemical charac-
teristics using biomarker parameters were studied by El-Kammar
(1993) in order to characterize the organic matter and its matura-
tion. More advances have recently been projected by El-Shafeiy
et al. (2014).
2. Regional geology
Geologically, Gebel Duwi area is a part of the Central Eastern
Desert of Egypt that can be subdivided into two parts; the Duwi

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2015.01.001
1464-343X/Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
20 M.M. El Kammar / Journal of African Earth Sciences 104 (2015) 19–26
range and the coastal plain. The former consists of an elongate
NW-trending ridge that drops precipitously to the southwest and
slopes gently to the northeast. The coastal plain is generally
smooth in outline, with no sharp bends or bays. It slopes gently
seaward. In general, the sedimentary rocks of Gebel Duwi area
are separable into two main divisions: the pre-rift Cretaceous–
Eocene succession (more than 1500 m thick) and the syn-rift Oligo-
cene and younger sediments (Fig. 1). The Cretaceous and Eocene
deposits occupy the troughs of synformal-like fault-folds within
the crystalline hill ranges.
The stratigraphy of Gebel Duwi area is summarized below, pri-
marily after Said (1962). The typical stratigraphic section in the
Quseir–Safaga region starts at its base with the non-fossiliferous,
cross-bedded Nubia (sandstone) Formation which represents the
oldest sediments in the area which unconformably overlie the
basement rocks. The Nubia Formation is conformably overlain by
thick multicolored shale known as Quseir (Variegated Shale) For-
mation. Both Nubia and Quseir formations have a pre-Campanian
age. The Quseir Formation constitutes the base of black shale-bear-
ing formations and is overlain by Duwi and Dakhla formations
(Fig. 1). The black shale of both Duwi and Dakhla formations are
assigned Upper Campanian to Maastrichtian age which provides
a good example of major marine transgression event. The sedimen-
tary association of that event consists of black (frequently assigned
as ‘‘oil’’) shale, limestone, phosphorite, chert, glauconite and
dolostone.
Major marine transgression during the Late Cretaceous–Early
Tertiary times covered most of the Egyptian territory southwards
up to latitude of Aswan (24°N). It was interrupted by minor mild
regressive, and some tectonic, pulses associated with uplifting
(Issawi, 1968; Said, 1990; El-Sabbagh et al., 2011). The marine
depositional conditions during the transgression maintained favor-
able conditions for accumulation and preservation of organic-rich
Fig. 1. Geologic map of the Gebel Duwi showing the different stratigraphical units of the study area (modified after Khalil and McClay (2002)).
sediments that were deposited in two main conformable geological
formations, namely; Duwi and Dakhla formations. The former is
mostly Campanian to early Maastrichtian in age and it includes
the economic phosphate deposits of Egypt. The Dakhla Formation
was deposited in near shore to deep marine environments during
Maastrichtian to Early Paleocene as indicated by the presence of
dinoflagellates, nannoplanktons, planktonic foraminifera and paly-
nology (Abdel-Malik, 1982; Schrank, 1984, 1987; El-Kammar et al.,
2013).
In the Quseir–Safaga district, the Dakhla Formation reaches its
maximum thickness in Gebel Duwi (175 m) and can be subdivided
into two members; lower Hamama (Marl) Member (Maastrichtian)
and upper Beida (Shale) Member (Paleocene). The latter is com-
posed of gray shale and unconformably overlies the Hamama
Member (Masters, 1984). El-Kammar (1987) reported a remarkable
feature in the Quseir and Safaga phosphate mines where the cap-
ping black shale caught fire by self-ignition being rich in hydrocar-
bons and pyrite.
3. Materials and methods
The Dakhla Formation, consisting of thick black shale strata,
was systematically sampled from a tunnel that was excavated in
the early 1930s almost horizontally to cut the NE dipping sedimen-
tary strata starting from Quseir Formation (old) to Thebes Forma-
tion (young). The tunnel starts at the south-western flank of the
Duwi range, near to Beida mine (at longitude 34°050 0200 E and lati-
tude 26°090 0000 N) and terminates in Wadi El-Nakeil (at longitude
34°050 5800 E and latitude 26°060 3900 N). It was dug by an Italian phos-
phate company to provide systematic profiling and sampling of the
Upper Cretaceous–Lower Tertiary sedimentary sequence, in gen-
eral, and phosphorites in particular (Fig. 1). The tunnel runs almost
 M.M. El Kammar / Journal of African Earth Sciences 104 (2015) 19–26
horizontal to traverse the NE dipping sedimentary strata. The foot
of the tunnel at its south-western side is made of the uppermost
Quseir (variegated shale) Formation whereas its north-eastern ter-
minal at Wadi El-Nakheil is mostly of Thebes (limestone) Forma-
tion. The tunnel, as such, traverses the complete section of the
Duwi, Dakhla, Tarawan and Esna formations. A total of 110 sam-
ples were collected to represent the variation in the almost non-
weathered facies of the Dakhla Formation. The TOC was analyzed
in a total of about 85 samples, where samples containing less than
2% TOC have been exempted, being classified as organic-poor sed-
iments. Sixty four samples containing more than 2% TOC from the
Dakhla Formation were selected for geochemical assessment by
Rock-Eval pyrolysis and calorific value as well as sulfur content.
Detailed descriptions of the Rock-Eval pyrolysis technique and
the interpretation of source rock parameters were performed fol-
lowing standardized procedures in Espitalié (1986), Peters (1986)
and Peters and Cassa (1994). The measured parameters include
Free Oil Content (S1 mg HC/g rock), Source Potential (S2 mg HC/g
rock), and thermal maturity (Tmax °C). Source rock parameters such
as Hydrogen Index (HI), Oxygen Index (OI), Production Index (PI)
and Pyrolyzable Carbon Index (PCI) were calculated. The Produc-
tion Index (Transformation Ratio) is the proportion of free hydro-
carbons in relation to the total amount of hydrocarbon
compounds obtained by the sample analysis (Othman, 2003). The
PI is also used to assess the relative thermal maturity of organic
matter (Peters, 1986; Tissot and Welte, 1984). In general, PI values
below 0.4 indicate immature organic matter; PI values between 0.4
and 1.0 indicate mature organic matter; and PI values above 1.0 are
indicative of over mature organic matter.
The Pyrolyzable Carbon Index is a maximum amount of hydro-
carbon that a sample is able to generate during the analysis, and
mathematically can be expressed as PCI = 0.83  (S1 + S2) (Reed
and Ewan, 1986; Pimmel and Claypool, 2001; Shaaban et al.,
2006). The PCI can be used to estimate the kerogen type and its
hydrocarbon potential (Reed and Ewan, 1986; Shaaban et al.,
2006). The PCI values: P75 indicates type I; 40–50 represents type
II; and <15 indicates type III (Reed and Ewan, 1986). The samples
were analyzed in the organic geochemistry laboratories of the
Strato Chem ServicesÓ in Cairo, Egypt. The analysis of calorific val-
ues and sulfur content were done by Oxygen Combustion Bomb
and Leco-analyzer techniques, respectively, in the Central Labora-
tories of the Ministry of Electricity of Egypt.
4. Results and discussions
The present work is based on original Rock-Eval analysis data
and calorific measurements of 64 samples, representing the com-
plete section of the Dakhla Formation in Gebel Duwi in the Quseir
area.
4.1. Organic richness
In the following context, samples containing less than 2% TOC
have been marginalized, since the main concern is the evaluation
of the organic-rich sediments. Therefore, the data rank (n = 64)
represents the sediments containing >2% TOC of the Dakhla Forma-
tion where thickness, lithology, organic-richness, kerogen type and
limits of maturation vary significantly from one horizon to the
other. The highest TOC content (12.08%) of the transgressive Dak-
hla Formation depends on the rate of the primary bio-productivity,
the terrestrial contribution, the preservation and dilution of
organic matter. This agrees with conclusions reported by Glenn
and Arthur (1985), Betts and Holland (1991), Tyson (1987, 2001,
2005), Katz (2005) and El-Kammar (2014). The TOC values of the
study black shale samples range between 2.04% and 12.08%, with
21
an average of 4.35% (Table 1). The aforementioned data suggest
that the sediments of the Dakhla Formation are markedly rich in
organic content and can be considered as good to excellent source.
Typical oil-prone, marine source rocks contain 2–5% TOC, but
strata in the range of 10–20% are known to occur in high yield
petroleum systems (Peters et al., 2005). The highest TOC content
determined for the study samples is 12.08%, but much higher val-
ues of 22% and 24%, were obtained for spot samples by Mustafa and
Ghaly (1964) and El-Kammar (1993), respectively.
In spite of the fact that the TOC is an important criterion for the
source rock evaluation, other parameters such as the kerogen type,
sulfur content and lithology are even more imperative. The distri-
bution of the sulfur content seems to be independent on the
organic carbon richness (Fig. 2). Recognition of sulfur in the form
of framboidal pyrite suggests microbial activity under euxinic con-
ditions. The sulfur content ranges from 0.04% to 2.64% with an
average of 1.18%.
4.2. Kerogen type
Based on the results of the pyrolysis analysis, the S1 values are
in the range of 0.13–2.40 with an average of 0.52 mg HC/g rock
(Table 1). On the other hand, the S2 values, which represent the
fraction of the organic matter that can be transformed into hydro-
carbons during catagenesis via high temperature and pressure,
range from 10.0 to 112.7 mg HC/g rock, suggesting good to excel-
lent source rock character, where most of the samples have S2
more than 10 mg HC/g rock. The plot of the obtained data on the
TOC versus S2 diagram illustrates that kerogen belongs mostly to
type I and/or type II (Fig. 3). In agreement with Dahl et al.
(2004), the depositional environments were lacustrine and marine
where organic matter is mostly derived from marine algae and
phytoplankton organisms, suggesting a typical ‘‘oil source’’
kerogen.
The distribution of the hydrogen index confirms the conclusion
that Dakhla Formation incubates the highest proportion of kerogen
types I and/or II, reflecting higher contribution of marine organic
matter. However, for more precise designation of the kerogen qual-
ity, the plot of the Hydrogen Index (HI in mg HC/g TOC) versus the
Oxygen Index (OI in mg CO2/g TOC) has been constructed (Fig. 4).
The HI values are in the range of 382–1024 with an average of
678 mg HC/g TOC. The best quality of organic matter that possesses
HI 1024 mg HC/g TOC has been encountered in the lowermost part
of the Dakhla Formation. The number of cases belonging to kero-
gen quality of type I, that possesses HI > 600 mg HC/g TOC, are
about 50 samples out of total 64 samples. This distribution signi-
fies that the quality of kerogen is essentially controlled by the
transgression of the depositional sea and, consequently, higher
contribution of the autochthonous, relative to the allochthonous,
organic matters.
The Genetic Potential (S1 + S2) of a given formation is defined as
the amount of petroleum (oil and gas) that kerogen is able to gen-
erate, if it is subjected to an adequate temperature during a suffi-
cient interval of time (Tissot and Welte, 1984). This potential
depends on the nature and abundance of kerogen, which is, in turn,
related to the original organic input at the time of deposition, and
to the conditions of microbial degradation, and the re-arrangement
of organic matter in the sediments. The Genetic Potential gives a
qualitative estimate of hydrocarbon resource potential; however,
it cannot be used to predict the type of hydrocarbons (gaseous or
liquid) that will be produced during pyrolysis. The potentiality of
the study succession has been proposed on basis of the relationship
between the TOC content and the Genetic Potential values
obtained for the analyzed samples. The organic matters within
the study samples have high potentiality for hydrocarbon
generation, ranging mostly between good and excellent (Fig. 5).
22 M.M. El Kammar / Journal of African Earth Sciences 104 (2015) 19–26

Table 1
Descriptive statistics of the resulted data for Lower and Upper Dakhla Formation.

Geological formation Lower Dakhla Formation Upper Dakhla Formation

Variables Min. Max. Mean (n = 34) Std. deviation Min. Max. Mean (n = 30) Std. deviation
TOC % 2.33 12.08 4.52 1.67 2.04 10.69 4.16 1.55
S1 mg HC/g rock 0.13 2.40 0.46 0.41 0.17 2.39 0.59 0.58
S2 mg HC/g rock 11.57 112.74 33.51 17.64 10.01 60.54 28.09 12.75
S3 mg HC/g rock 0.89 1.59 1.25 0.18 0.52 3.86 1.28 0.73
Tmax °C 422 435 428 3 413 434 427 5
HI mg HC/g TOC 456 1024 712 114 382 959 640 143
OI mg CO2/g TOC 7.43 52.93 30.61 9.49 18.56 69.21 30.50 12.98
S1/TOC 5.60 29.11 9.35 4.65 4.50 35.07 12.25 8.00
PI 0.01 0.03 0.01 0.00 0.01 0.04 0.02 0.01
GP 11.70 115.14 33.97 18.02 10.20 62.93 28.68 13.26
PCI 9.70 95.60 28.23 14.94 8.50 52.20 23.81 11.00
Sulfur % 0.07 2.64 1.36 0.62 0.04 1.75 0.97 0.39
Calorific value kcal/kg 210 1139 502 180 231 858 408 130
HI/OI 9.37 126.65 27.63 19.52 6.35 43.69 24.30 10.33

Fig. 2. Sulfur content versus TOC contents of the black shale samples of Dakhla
Formation.

Fig. 4. HI versus OI cross plot of Dakhla Formation in Gebel Duwi Tunnel (Espitalié,
1986).

easily concluded that the organic matter in the black shale of the
Fig. 3. The hydrocarbon potentiality of Dakhla Formations as shown by using TOC % Dakhla Formation is mostly of marine origin and is capable to gen-
versus S2. erate mostly oil and rarely gas.

4.3. Thermal maturity

Considering that the main lithology of the Dakhla Formation is
argillaceous limestone, it can be assigned as good to excellent
source rock. However, the highest TOC content (12.08%) is
recorded in the lower part of the Dakhla Formation. Similar trend
can be supposed for the pyrolyzable organic content (GP) as
expressed by S2 values as well as the bituminous content (S1),
where S1 measures 2.4 mg HC/g rock.
The kerogen type classification diagrams; namely S2 versus TOC
(Fig. 3) and HI versus Tmax (Fig. 6), confirm the aforementioned
recorded kerogen types, where most of the analyzed samples
belong to type I and I/II kerogen field whereas few samples plot
in the type III kerogen field. Based on the above data, it can be
Level of thermal maturity for the different types of organic
matter may be estimated from the Tmax range and Production Index
(Peters and Cassa, 1994; Bacon et al., 2000). The measured Tmax val-
ues confirm the immature nature of the organic matter, just close
to the early oil maturation window. The plot of the hydrogen index
versus Tmax (Fig. 6) suggests that the definition of kerogen type is
only restrained on basis of HI, since the variation in Tmax is very
limited (generally between 413 and 435 °C). The vitrinite reflec-
tance (Ro) can be estimated from the Tmax values obtained from
the Rock-Eval pyrolysis (Dembicki Jr., 2009). The conversion can
be mathematically expressed as: Rcalculated = (0.018 ⁄ Tmax)  7.16.
 M.M. El Kammar / Journal of African Earth Sciences 104 (2015) 19–26 23

100 ppm, concluded that the heat produced from uranium decay
cannot explain the heterogeneous spatial distribution of the matu-
ration levels that may reach 10%. He added that the straightfor-
ward explanation of the sporadic high maturation in the high
grade oil shale of Quseir area can only be attributed to temperature
and pressure triggered by tectonics related to rifting of the Red Sea
and dragging of sedimentary sequence during the uplift of crystal-
line rocks. The present author believes, however, that maturation is
related directly or indirectly to the kerogen type. The liptinitic ker-
ogen is liable to produce bitumen much faster than other kerogen
classes. This assumption is supported by the positive correlation
between the HI/OI ratio, as a straight measure for kerogen type,
and S1/S2, as a maturity indicator (Fig. 7). The maturity levels for
the oil window depend on the type of organic matter (Bacon
et al., 2000).
Fig. 5. The hydrocarbon potentiality of Dakhla Formation by using TOC % versus GP
(S1 + S2).
4.4. Calorific value

This formula is applicable for type II and type III kerogen as sta-
The calorific value is determined for 64 samples to assess the
ted by Peters et al. (2005). The obtained calculated Ro data are rea-
efficiency of the study black shale as energy donor. The calorific
sonable, when the analyzed samples have S2 values more than
0.5 mg HC/g rock and samples with Tmax <420 °C or >500 °C
(Peters et al., 2005). The calculated vitrinite reflectance (Rcalculated)
values of the Dakhla Formation samples indicate immaturity to
early maturity, where all samples show Rcalculated values less than
0.67 (Fig. 6).
The maturated fraction of the organic matter, even at the 2%
level, cannot be explained in terms of burial catagenesis, because
the depth of the study Dakhla Formation is about 100 m. Khaled
(1991) attributed maturation in Quseir area to heat produced by
decay of uranium in phosphorite underlying these prolific hori-
zons. Mapping of radioactive heat production from airborne spec-
tral gamma-ray of Gebel Duwi was constructed by Salem et al.
(2005). They concluded that the sedimentary rocks in Gebel Duwi
area have higher heat production value (0.25–3.09 lW m3) than
the crustal average for sedimentary rocks. El-Kammar (2014),
based on the fact that the average uranium content in the sedimen-
tary succession of Duwi and Dakhla formations in Quseir area is
Fig. 7. Plot of HI/OI versus S1/S2 of Dakhla Formation in Gebel Duwi Tunnel.
only 9.4 ppm and its maximum concentration in phosphorite is

Fig. 6. T max and vitrinite reflectance versus the Hydrogen Index (HI) cross plot after Espitalié (1986) gives an overview of the thermal maturity and variation of organic matter
quality for Dakhla Formation. T max values correlate directly with vitrinite reflectance values.
24 M.M. El Kammar / Journal of African Earth Sciences 104 (2015) 19–26

value of the analyzed samples defines the suitability of the organic Table 2
rich samples for direct combustion utilization, such as power sta- Summary of the resulted data reduction of the Dakhla Formation in Quseir area
(Number of samples = 64).
tions. The obtained values range from 210 to 1139 kcal/kg with
an average of 459 kcal/kg. The Russian UTT-3000 and the Finish Factor 1 Factor 2 Factor 3 Factor 4
EnfitÓ technology, among other technologies, can operate black Eigenvalue value 7.82 2.12 1.68 1.09
Variance % 55.84 15.14 12.03 7.81
shale quality of 900 kcal/kg. Factors’ name Maturation Dead carbon Calorific value Sulfur
Therefore, the average quality of the black shale belonging to
TOC 0.89 0.02 0.33 0.08
the Dakhla Formation in Quseir area is much beyond the workable S1 0.9 0.33 0.14 0.16
limits. However, selective mining operation of the prolific horizons S2 0.97 0.12 0.11 0.14
can satisfy part of the increasing energy gap in Egypt. It is impor- S3 0.16 0.75 0.53 0.31
tant to notice that the calorific value is a function of TOC content Tmax 0.76 0.27 0.28 0.19
HI 0.72 0.24 0.2 0.36
as well as the Pyrolyzable Carbon Index (Fig. 8).
OI 0.51 0.65 0.33 0.24
S1/TOC 0.7 0.44 0.47 0.23
PI 0.47 0.67 0.4 0.36
4.5. Statistics and data evaluation GP 0.97 0.11 0.11 0.13
PCI 0.97 0.11 0.11 0.13
The data reduction suggests four main factors covering about Sulfur 0.28 0.1 0.55 0.7
Calorific value 0.72 0.02 0.56 0.15
91% of the total variances. The first and the most influential factor
HI/OI 0.83 0.45 0.11 0.02
covers about 56% of the variances and expresses the influence of
the organic richness as the factor loads positively for TOC, S1, S2 Italic = Positively Loaded. Bold = Negatively Loaded.
and hydrogen index (Table 2).
The second factor expresses 15% of the total variances rational-
izing the effect of the degraded carbon (S3) and the Oxygen Index
(OI). The third and fourth factors represent the influence of calorific of 2400 kcal/kg, for the black shale at the lowermost Dakhla For-
value and sulfur content, respectively. Accordingly, it can be stated mation in Nakhiel mines area. However, the intervals that contain
that the heat yield, as measured by calorific value, is not straight- workable pyrolyzable kerogen or heat content feasible for direct
forward dependent on TOC or S2. The present author believes that combustion or retorting on a commercial scale are limited and
the calorific value is possibly a function of multi-variables includ- can only be exploited through selective subsurface mining opera-
ing kerogen type in addition to TOC, sulfur content and humidity. tions. The low sulfur content of the study black shale can be con-
In spite of the fact that Dakhla Formation in the Quseir area is sidered as positive technical property. The high content of sulfur
diagnostically enriched in organic matter, the kerogen of the lower may enhance the harmful atmospheric emission of hydrogen sul-
part seems relatively to be of superior class. The lower and upper fide during combustion or retorting.
parts of the Dakhla Formation have almost similar TOC content; The S1 content expresses the maturated proportion of the
4.52% and 4.16%, respectively, but the important differences are organic matter and the S1/S2 ratio can be considered as a measure
those recorded in the pyrolyzable kerogen (S2) as well as Hydrogen of the maturation level. In the present work, the S1 content varies
Index (HI) and calorific value (Table 2). The high S2 (up to 112.7 mg between 0.13 and 2.4 mg HC/g rock, whereas the S2 content ranges
HC/g rock) and HI (up to 1023.6 mg HC/g TOC) are clear symptoms between 10.01 and 112.74 mg HC/g rock (Fig. 8), suggesting insig-
of the better class of kerogen. This, in turn, explains the higher heat nificant level of maturation. However, considering the fact that the
yield of the calorific value for the lower Dakhla Formation which sampled tunnel was excavated at the early 20th century, the mat-
reaches 1139 and averaging 501 kcal/kg, whereas the highest value urated volatile bituminous materials must have escaped. The pres-
for the upper part is 857 and averaging 408 kcal/kg. The lowermost ent S1 content represents less than 2% of the total organic content,
horizon of the Dakhla Formation, adjacent to contact with the while the data of core samples in Quseir area contain more than
Duwi Formation is apparently the most prolific horizon. This 10%, as reported by El-Kammar (2014). The measured S1 in the
agrees with data given by Tröger (1984), El-Kammar et al. (1990) present work may represent the residual bitumen after surface
and El-Kammar (1993). The last author quoted much higher value degradation for about a century (see Fig. 9).

Fig. 8. The positive interrelationship of calorific value versus TOC and Pyrolyzable Carbon Index of the Dakhla Formation in Gebel Duwi Tunnel.
 M.M. El Kammar / Journal of African Earth Sciences 104 (2015) 19–26
Fig. 9. Mutual distribution of bitumen (S1), kerogen (S2) and dead carbon (S3) of
Dakhla Formation in Gebel Duwi.
5. Conclusions
A total of 110 samples were collected to represent the variation
in the almost non-weathered facies of the Dakhla Formation from a
tunnel located near to Beida mine in Duwi Range in Quseir area.
The Rock-Eval parameters besides TOC, calorific value and sulfur
content were analyzed to evaluate the Dakhla Formation as a
source rock.
The maximum TOC content of the study Dakhla (black shale)
Formation is 12.08%, and averaging 4.35% and can be classified as
good to excellent source. Independent on TOC, sulfur (0.04% and
2.64%) occurs mostly as framboidal pyrite formed by microbial
activity. The insignificant quotient of bitumen (0.13–2.40 mg HC/
g rock) as measured by S1 value suggests a rather immature nature
of the Dakhla Formation in Quseir area. In contrary, the kerogen
fraction (S2) represents the majority (more than 100 mg HC/g rock)
of the organic matter.
The Hydrogen Index (HI) ranges between 382 and 1024 mg HC/
g TOC, but most samples are above 600 mg HC/g TOC (i.e., kerogen
type I) and the maximum value is confined to the lowermost part
of the Dakhla Formation. The quality of kerogen is essentially con-
trolled by the transgression of the depositional sea and, conse-
quently, to the relative contribution of the autochthonous
organic matter with subsidiary allochthonous input to the basin.
The maturation is directly or indirectly related to the kerogen type.
The liptinitic kerogen is liable to produce bitumen much faster
than other kerogen classes. This explains the sporadic increase in
S1 which was attributed by previous studies to the effect of heat
resulting from decay of uranium in phosphate rocks.
The calorific value ranges from 210 to 1139 kcal/kg with an
average of 459 kcal/kg. The average quality is not workable for
retorting or even direct combustion. However, selective mining
of the prolific horizons can satisfy a part of the increasing energy
gap in Egypt. The calorific value is not a function of TOC content
or even the pyrolyzable kerogen content (S2) but it is possibly a
function of different variables including kerogen type in addition
to TOC, sulfur content and humidity.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to acknowledge Prof. E.R. Phillobos and
Prof. G. Phillip for their critical revising of the manuscript.
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