Geochemistry of sediments and surface soils from the Nile Delta and lower Nile valley studied by epithermal neutron activation analysis

•36 elements in 40 soil and sediment samples from the Egyptian Nile River basin were determined.•The majority of elements present contents close to the Upper Continental Crust.•Multivariate statistics was used to characterize the experimental results.•Potential polluting elements Ni, Cu, Zn and As did not show any systematic increase.