The Drainage System in Sinai (With a Special Reference to Wadi El‐Arish)

Abstract

The drainage system of Sinai is inherited from past wet climates. Therefore, present-day hyper-arid climate had a negligible effect on its inherent characteristics. With the exception of the NW area that has internal drainage, Sinai drainage is external, running toward the Mediterranean Sea, Gulf of Suez, and Gulf of Aqaba. The radial pattern dominates the drainage system in Sinai. With its large area (nearly one third of Sinai), Wadi El Arish basin is the largest drainage system. Its net has a denderitic pattern, starting from the extreme southern tip of El-Egma Plateau to the Mediterranean Sea (more than 350 km). Although all its sectors are well fitted in one drainage network, they, however, differ greatly in their geomorphic characteristics.