Cretaceous Wildfires in Egypt - Inferences for Palaeoecology and Palaeoenvironments

Based on numerous findings of fossil charcoal worldwide, the Cretaceous is considered a high-fire period in Earth’s history. Macro-charcoal, as direct evidence for the occurrence of palaeo-wildfires during deposition of Cretaceous strata, has so far been reported from three different localities in Egypt: (1) the pre-Aptian Malha Formation of Wadi Budra, Sinai, (2) the early Cenomanian Bahariya Formation at Gebel El Dist at the Bahariya Oasis in the Western Desert and (3) the Campanian Quseir Formation from the Baris Oasis in the south Western Desert. These findings support the view, that the Cretaceous was globally a high-fire world. However, further research on charcoal from additional Cretaceous deposits of Egypt is necessary to offer a more complete picture regarding the interactions between wildfires and vegetation but also dinosaurs and other animals that lived during this important time in the evolution of life.