Abstract
The basal mudstones from the El-Nom borehole in the Gebel Abraq area in southern Egypt have yielded a diverse and relatively well
preserved terrestrial palynoflora that includes Balmeisporites holodictyus, Crybelosporites pannuceus, Foveotricolpites gigantoreticulatus,
Nyssapollenites albertensis, Retimonocolpites variplicatus and Rousea delicipollis. These suggest an Albian–Cenomanian age and deposition
in a fluvio-deltaic environment; no marine phytoplankton is reported. The fern-dominated palynoflora and the overwhelming presence
of kaolinitic clays suggest a warm, humid palaeoclimate. According to available knowledge, the mudstones in the Gebel Abraq area,
equivalents of the so-called ‘‘Timsah Formation’’, might be correlated with an older rock unit, the Maghrabi Formation, based on the
new palynological age assessment. This new definition of local stratigraphy implies that the Bernice sheet of geological map of Egypt
[Klitzsch, E., List, F., Po¨hlmann, G., 1987. Geological map of Egypt, sheet NF 36 NE Bernice, 1: 500000. Conoco and the Egyptian
General Petroleum Corporation, Cairo] ought to be reconsidered.