This study documents the deposits of an ephemeral, shallow lake that is recharged mainly from floods and torrential rainfalls from the Red Sea Mountains, in addition to seawater seepage at its western margin. The lake is desiccated in the summer months into several smaller, ephemeral pans and sabkhas due to excessive evaporation of its waters and decreased inflow of seawater seepage accompanied by the lowered hydraulic gradient between the Red Sea and the lake floor. The formation and distribution of microbial mats, gypsum and halite are discussed with respect to water supply and salinity. Microbial mats dominate the floor of the wintertime lake, and in the summertime, coastal pans where salinity is less than 126%. Gypsum crystals encrust microbial mats at salinities in excess of 182%. The central and eastern pans are floored with halite crusts at a salinity > 250% that develop into tepee polygons through desiccation. The slightly higher topographic sabkha areas around these pans contain subsurface, displacive, lenticular and tabular gypsum crystals, and clear, mosaic halite cement. Most of the water supplied to the supralittoral lake is during the wintertime, from episodic floods from the hinterland with a general increase in salinity towards the sea. However, the pattern of distribution and abundance of microbial mats-gypsum-halite facies are in a reverse order to the direction of water supply and increases in salinity. This ambiguity can be explained by the intermittent supply of seawater seepage from the Red Sea through an artificial barrier that is controlled by tidal range and fluctuations of sea level.

这项研究记录了一个短暂的浅湖的沉积物，该湖的补给主要来自红海山脉的洪水和暴雨，此外还有其西缘的海水渗漏。由于湖水过度蒸发、海水渗漏流入量减少以及红海与湖底​​之间水力梯度降低，该湖在夏季干燥成几个较小的、短暂的平地和萨布哈。就供水和盐度而言，讨论了微生物垫、石膏和石盐的形成和分布。微生物垫在冬季湖底占主导地位，而在夏季则在盐度低于 126% 的沿海盆地中占主导地位。当盐度超过 182% 时，石膏晶体会结壳微生物垫。中部和东部的平地覆盖着盐度 > 250% 的石盐结壳，通过干燥发展成圆锥形圆锥形。这些盆地周围地形稍高的萨布哈地区含有地下、位移、透镜状和板状石膏晶体，以及透明的马赛克岩盐水泥。向滨海湖泊供应的大部分水是在冬季，来自内陆的间歇性洪水，随着流向大海的盐度普遍增加。然而，微生物垫-石膏-石盐相的分布和丰度格局与供水和盐度增加的方向相反。这种模糊性可以用红海通过受潮差和海平面波动控制的人工屏障间歇性供应海水渗漏来解释。