Reconstruction of former channel systems in the northwestern Nile Delta (Egypt) based on corings and electrical resistivity tomography (ERT)

Altmeyer, Marina; Seeliger, Martin; Ginau, Andreas; Schiestl, Robert H.; Wunderlich, Jürgen

doi:10.5194/egqsj-70-151-2021

Cited by 7 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…In the past, 2D Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) was commonly applied to delineate sedimentological differences of the subsurface without soil disturbance (e.g., [14][15][16][17][18]). In particular, the combination of geoelectrical resistivity mapping (i.e., vertical electrical soundings, ERT) and drilling has been applied successfully in the Nile Delta and Nile Valley in related studies aiming to identify and localize buried channels (e.g., [19][20][21][22][23]).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Sacred Waterscape of the Temple of Bastet at Ancient Bubastis, Nile Delta (Egypt)

et al. 2021

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Sacred water canals or lakes, which provided water for all kinds of purification rites and other activities, were very speciﬁc and important features of temples in ancient Egypt. In addition to the longer-known textual record, preliminary geoarchaeological surveys have recently provided evidence of a sacred canal at the Temple of Bastet at Bubastis. In order to further explore the location, shape, and course of this canal and to find evidence of the existence of a second waterway, also described by Herodotus, 34 drillings and five 2D geoelectrical measurements were carried out in 2019 and 2020 near the temple. The drillings and 2D ERT surveying revealed loamy to clayey deposits with a thickness of up to five meters, most likely deposited in a very low energy fluvial system (i.e., a canal), allowing the reconstruction of two separate sacred canals both north and south of the Temple of Bastet. In addition to the course of the canals, the width of about 30 m fits Herodotus' description of the sacred waterways. The presence of numerous artefacts proved the anthropogenic use of the ancient canals, which were presumably connected to the Nile via a tributary or canal located west or northwest of Bubastis.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Sacred Waterscape of the Temple of Bastet at Ancient Bubastis, Nile Delta (Egypt)

et al. 2021

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“…This advanced the previous application of direct push colour logging as point-by-point-insight for the extension of sedimentological descriptions [25,58,80]. Additionally, direct push electrical conductivity sensing resulted in a highly depth-accurate dataset that noticeably improved the spatial significance of common, non-invasive ERT applications e.g., [22,37,81]. Thus, there is a high methodologi-cal potential for future combinations of depth-accurate direct push electrical conductivity logging as point-by-point ground-truthing with ERT data sets [17,24,82,83].…”

Section: A Multi-methods Approach With High-resolution Direct Push Sensingmentioning

confidence: 86%

High-Resolution Direct Push Sensing in Wetland Geoarchaeology—First Traces of Off-Site Construction Activities at the Fossa Carolina

et al. 2021

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Wetland environments, with their excellent conservation conditions, provide geoarchaeological archives of past human activities. However, the subsurface soil is difficult to access due to high groundwater tables, unstable sediments, and the high cost of excavation. In this study, we present a ground-based non- and minimal-invasive prospection concept adapted to the conditions of wetlands. We investigated the Fossa Carolina in South Germany, a canal that was intended in 792/793 AD by Charlemagne to bridge the Central European Watershed. Although the resulting Carolingian banks and the fairway with wooden revetments are very imposing, archaeological traces of off-site construction activities have not been identified hitherto. Based on a geophysically surveyed intensive linear magnetic anomaly parallel to the Carolingian canal, we aimed to prove potential off-site traces of Carolingian construction activities. In this context, we built up a high-resolution cross-section using highly depth-accurate direct push sensing and ground-truthing. Our results showed the exact geometry of the canal and the former banks. Thus, the magnetic mass anomaly could be clearly located between the buried organic-rich topsoil and the Carolingian banks. The thermoluminescence dating showed that the position of the magnetic mass anomaly reflected Carolingian activities during the construction phases, specifically due to heat exposure. Moreover, we found hints of the groundwater supply to the 5-metre wide navigable fairway.

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“…Therefore, modern researchers focusing on landscape reconstruction and ancient settlement patterns often design their study along river branches (Figure 2a) as each Delta settlement required at least one nearby water source (Ginau et al, 2019;Lange-Athinodorou et al, 2019). connection to waterways (Altmeyer et al, 2021;Ginau et al, 2017Ginau et al, , 2019Schiestl, 2021).…”

Section: Settlement Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing different machine‐learning techniques to date Nile Delta sediments based on portable X‐ray fluorescence data

et al. 2022

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Geomorphology generally aims to describe and investigate the processes that lead to the formation of landscapes, while geochronology is needed to detect their timing and duration. Due to restrictions on exporting geological samples from Egypt, modern geoscientific studies in the Nile Delta lack the possibility of dating the investigated sediments and geological features by standard techniques such as OSL or AMS 14 C; therefore, this study aims to validate a new approach using machinelearning algorithms on portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) data. Archaeologically dated sediments from the archaeological excavations of Buto (Tell el-Fara'in; on-site) that pXRF analyses have geochemically characterized serve as training data for running and comparing Neural Nets, Random Forests, and single-decision trees. The established pXRF fingerprints are transferred via machine-learning algorithms to set up a chronology for undated sediments from sediment cores (i.e., the test data) of the nearby surroundings (off-site). Neural Nets and Random Forests work fine in dating sediments and deliver the best classification results compared with singledecision trees, which struggle with outliers and tend to overfit the training data.Furthermore, Random Forests can be modeled faster and are easier to understand than the complex, less transparent Neural Nets. Therefore, Random Forests provide the best algorithm for studies like this. Furthermore, river features east of Kom el-Gir are dated to pre-Ptolemaic times (before 332 B.C.) when Kom el-Gir had possibly not yet been settled. The research in this paper shows the success of close interactions from various scientific disciplines (Geoinformatics, Physical Geography, Archaeology, Ancient History) to decipher landscape evolution in the long-term-settled Nile Delta's environs using machine learning. With the approach's design and the possibility of integrating many other geographical/sedimentological methods, this study demonstrates the potential of the methodological approach to be applied in other geoscientific fields.

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Reconstruction of former channel systems in the northwestern Nile Delta (Egypt) based on corings and electrical resistivity tomography (ERT)

Cited by 7 publications

References 33 publications

The Sacred Waterscape of the Temple of Bastet at Ancient Bubastis, Nile Delta (Egypt)

The Sacred Waterscape of the Temple of Bastet at Ancient Bubastis, Nile Delta (Egypt)

High-Resolution Direct Push Sensing in Wetland Geoarchaeology—First Traces of Off-Site Construction Activities at the Fossa Carolina

Comparing different machine‐learning techniques to date Nile Delta sediments based on portable X‐ray fluorescence data

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