الفهرس 
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Abstract
Rod El-Hamal area was considered as one of the most important outcrops in Wadi Araba, western side of the Gulf of Suez where the Carboniferous marine sediments are exposed. Wadi Araba is a topographically low area of easily eroded Carboniferous rocks. It represents a NE-SW doubly-plunging anticline, with an axis dipping at opposite directions. The exposed late Carboniferous sediments at Rod El-Hamal area are represented by the Rod El-Hamal Formation, subdivided into five units. The studied sections were taken from the area between Latitude 29° 08`N to 29° 15`N and Longitude 32° 20`E to 32° 30`E. The investigated units are composed mainly of colored sandstones, mudstones, shales, dolomite, and thin carbonate interbeds.
Rod El-Hamal Formation is highly fossiliferous since it contains various faunal associations, either as hand specimens including brachiopods, gastropods and bivalves, or in thin sections including brachiopods, bryozoans, crinoids, gastropods, and bivalves. The identified brachiopod fauna is dominated by diverse species of Athyridida, Orthotetida, Productida, Rhynchonellida, Spiriferida, and Terebratulida. Composita is the dominant brachiopod genus that represented by six species. The bryozoans are also diverse group including Cystoporata, Fistuliporoida, Trepostomata and Fenestrata, which are known from the limestone beds in Rod El-Hamal Formation. The paleobiogeography of the benthic assemblages including brachiopods and bryozoans was highlighted. Paleoecological analysis of the recognized fauna is discussed. The articulated shells of the Brachiopoda display damage resulting from predation.
The microfacies analysis of the fossiliferous limestone beds indicates a deposition in shallow intertidal to subtidal environments, with different water energy. Different diagenetic processes, including micritization, bioturbation, geopetal structures, cementation, neomorphism, dissolution, and dolomitization, were recorded. Phylloid algal-Microbial biostromes are characteristic in the middle part of Unit (IV) of the Rod El-Hamal Formation. The growth structures, composition and fabric of the biostromes are studied in detail through longitudinal sections, together with polished and thin-sections. A genetic model is proposed for the construction of phylloid algal–microbial framework.