Gulf of the Red Sea separating African Egypt from the Sinai Peninsula
Gulf of Suez
Visible bodies are the Gulf of Suez (west, left in photo), theGulf of Aqaba (east, right in photo), and theRed Sea (south, bottom left in photo). Photo dated February 2009.
Northernmost part of Gulf of Suez with townSuez on the map of 1856
TheGulf of Suez (Arabic:خليج السويس,romanized: khalīǧ as-suwais; formerlyبحر القلزم,baḥar al-qulzum,lit. "Sea of Calm") is agulf at the northern end of theRed Sea, to the west of theSinai Peninsula. Situated to the east of the Sinai Peninsula is the smallerGulf of Aqaba. The gulf was formed within a relatively young but now inactiveGulf of Suez Riftrift basin, dating back about 26 million years.[1] It stretches some 300 kilometres (190 mi) north by northwest, terminating at the Egyptian city ofSuez and the entrance to theSuez Canal. Along the mid-line of the gulf is the boundary between Africa and Asia.[2] The entrance of the gulf lies atop the mature Gemsa oil andgas field.[3]The gulf is considered one of the world's important maritime zones due to being an entrance to the Suez Canal.
The gulf occupies the northwestern arm of theRed Sea between Africa and the Sinai Peninsula. It is the third arm of thetriple junction rift system, the second arm being theGulf of Aqaba.
The length of the gulf, from its mouth at theStrait of Gubal (alternate name: Strait of Jubal)[4] to its head at the city of Suez, is 195 miles (314 km), and it varies in width from 12 to 20 miles (19 to 32 km).
TheInternational Hydrographic Organization defines the southern limit of the gulf as "A line running fromRas Muhammed (27°43'N) to the South point ofShadwan Island (34°02'E) and thence Westward on a parallel (27°27'N) to the coast of Africa".[5]
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 theUpper Cretaceous marine SudrFormation, thelimestoneCampanian Brown/DuwiMember in particular, which is 25–70 m (82–230 ft) thick in the gulf.[6]
^Lindquist, Sandra (1998).The Red Sea Province: Sudr-Nubia(!) and Maqna(!) Petroleum Systems, USGS Open File Report 99-50-A. US Dept. of the Interior. pp. 6, 8.
^abcLelek, 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,ISBN0891813330
.svg)
