B. Issautier, Y. L. Nindre, A. Memesh, S. Dini, S. Viseur
The Late Triassic (Norian–Rhaetian) Minjur Sandstone provides a remarkable case study for understanding and modelling the spatial distribution of sand bodies in a fluvial-deltaic system. As such it has been studied in connection with the geological storage of CO2 in complex heterogeneous formations. Detailed sedimentological mapping of the formation’s vertical and lateral variations in and around the type section at Khashm al Khalta (Khashm al Minjur), which is the area of interpreted maximum inlet/outlet activity, has provided a relatively detailed picture of the sequence stratigraphy. As originally described, shallow-marine flooding with the development of tidal mud flats and carbonate facies occurred near the middle of the formation, splitting it into a lower member dominated by subtidal, brackish and scattered fluvial environments, and an upper member marked by the appearance of meandering point bars capped upward by very proximal deposits forming thick (20 m) coarse-grained sandstone bars that can be followed over several kilometers. The general trend at formation scale is thus upward thickening and coarsening sedimentation related to an increasing clastic influx and the development of fluvial systems, with the fluvial upper member being dominated by amalgamated sand bars. The sequence stratigraphy indicates nine depositional sequences involving four depositional environments: sabkha, tidal, estuarine and fluvial-continental. The lower Minjur is a transgressive tract of four sequences of which Sequence 4 reflects maximum flooding and correlates with maximum flooding surface (MFS) Middle Norian Tr80. Sequence 5 corresponds to a meander system at the base of the upper Minjur, and is followed by sequences 6 to 9 reflecting an increasing clastic influx generating amalgamated coarse-grained bars. The upper Minjur thus represents a highstand systems tract.
晚三叠世(Norian-Rhaetian) Minjur砂岩为理解和模拟河流-三角洲体系砂体的空间分布提供了一个重要的研究案例。因此,它已经与复杂非均质地层中二氧化碳的地质储存联系起来进行了研究。对Khashm al Khalta (Khashm al Minjur)类型剖面及其周围地层的垂直和横向变化进行了详细的沉积学制图,这是解释最大入口/出口活动的区域,提供了相对详细的层序地层学图像。正如最初描述的那样,浅海泛洪与潮汐泥滩和碳酸盐相的发育发生在地层中部附近,将其分裂为以潮下、微咸和分散的河流环境为主的下部,以及以蜿蜒的点坝为特征的上部,这些点坝由非常近的沉积物覆盖,形成厚(20米)粗粒砂岩坝,可以沿着这些砂岩坝延伸数公里。随着碎屑流的增加和河流体系的发育,沉积的总体趋势是向上增厚和粗化,河流上段以混合砂坝为主。层序地层学显示出9个沉积层序,涉及4种沉积环境:沙河、潮汐、河口和河陆。下Minjur是一个由四个层序组成的海侵带,其中层序4反映了最大泛洪面,与中诺里统Tr80的最大泛洪面(MFS)相关。层序5对应Minjur上部底部的曲流体系,层序6 ~ 9反映了碎屑流的增加,形成了合并的粗粒砂坝。因此,上Minjur代表了一个高地系统区域。
{"title":"Managing clastic reservoir heterogeneity I: Sedimentology and sequence stratigraphy of the Late Triassic Minjur Sandstone at the Khashm al Khalta type locality, Central Saudi Arabia","authors":"B. Issautier, Y. L. Nindre, A. Memesh, S. Dini, S. Viseur","doi":"10.2113/geoarabia170217","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2113/geoarabia170217","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The Late Triassic (Norian–Rhaetian) Minjur Sandstone provides a remarkable case study for understanding and modelling the spatial distribution of sand bodies in a fluvial-deltaic system. As such it has been studied in connection with the geological storage of CO2 in complex heterogeneous formations. Detailed sedimentological mapping of the formation’s vertical and lateral variations in and around the type section at Khashm al Khalta (Khashm al Minjur), which is the area of interpreted maximum inlet/outlet activity, has provided a relatively detailed picture of the sequence stratigraphy. As originally described, shallow-marine flooding with the development of tidal mud flats and carbonate facies occurred near the middle of the formation, splitting it into a lower member dominated by subtidal, brackish and scattered fluvial environments, and an upper member marked by the appearance of meandering point bars capped upward by very proximal deposits forming thick (20 m) coarse-grained sandstone bars that can be followed over several kilometers. The general trend at formation scale is thus upward thickening and coarsening sedimentation related to an increasing clastic influx and the development of fluvial systems, with the fluvial upper member being dominated by amalgamated sand bars. The sequence stratigraphy indicates nine depositional sequences involving four depositional environments: sabkha, tidal, estuarine and fluvial-continental. The lower Minjur is a transgressive tract of four sequences of which Sequence 4 reflects maximum flooding and correlates with maximum flooding surface (MFS) Middle Norian Tr80. Sequence 5 corresponds to a meander system at the base of the upper Minjur, and is followed by sequences 6 to 9 reflecting an increasing clastic influx generating amalgamated coarse-grained bars. The upper Minjur thus represents a highstand systems tract.","PeriodicalId":55118,"journal":{"name":"Geoarabia","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68184773","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2012-04-01DOI: 10.2113/geoarabia1702155
H. Ghanem, M. Mouty, J. Kuss
Biostratigraphic and carbon-isotope data were used to introduce a high-resolution stratigraphic reference section of the Upper Aptian to Upper Cenomanian platform carbonates of the South Palmyrides in Syria. We studied the biostratigraphic evolution of the Zbeideh to Abou-Zounnar formations in two sections, based on 42 species of benthonic foraminifera and 38 species of planktonic foraminifera. Comparisons with other Tethyan assemblages allowed determining 11 biozones; six are based on planktonic foraminifera, and five on benthonic foraminifera. Four hiatuses (earliest Albian, Middle–Late Albian, Late Albian–Early Cenomanian, and Mid Cenomanian) are marked by hardgrounds or dolomitic intervals. The planktonic biozones Ticinella bejaouaensis, T. primula, T. praeticinensis, Rotalipora subticinensis, R. globotruncanoides and R. cushmani co-occur with the following benthonic biozones: Mesorbitolina texana partial range zone, M. subconcava range zone, Neoiraqia convexa taxon-range zone, Praealveolina iberica interval zone and Pseudedomia drorimensis range zone. Within this biostratigraphic framework, a new carbon-isotope curve from the South Palmyrides was compared with δ13C records of the Tethyan Realm and England that allows identifying several biotic events and Oceanic Anoxic Events (OAE), recorded in the Upper Albian to Upper Cenomanian succession. The combination of sequence-stratigraphic interpretations and comparisons, with our results have led to an improved understanding of the Cretaceous platform architecture of the South Palmyrides that links the Arabian Platform to the east with the Levant Platform to the southwest.
{"title":"Biostratigraphy and carbon-isotope stratigraphy of the uppermost Aptian to Upper Cenomanian strata of the South Palmyrides, Syria","authors":"H. Ghanem, M. Mouty, J. Kuss","doi":"10.2113/geoarabia1702155","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2113/geoarabia1702155","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Biostratigraphic and carbon-isotope data were used to introduce a high-resolution stratigraphic reference section of the Upper Aptian to Upper Cenomanian platform carbonates of the South Palmyrides in Syria. We studied the biostratigraphic evolution of the Zbeideh to Abou-Zounnar formations in two sections, based on 42 species of benthonic foraminifera and 38 species of planktonic foraminifera. Comparisons with other Tethyan assemblages allowed determining 11 biozones; six are based on planktonic foraminifera, and five on benthonic foraminifera. Four hiatuses (earliest Albian, Middle–Late Albian, Late Albian–Early Cenomanian, and Mid Cenomanian) are marked by hardgrounds or dolomitic intervals. The planktonic biozones Ticinella bejaouaensis, T. primula, T. praeticinensis, Rotalipora subticinensis, R. globotruncanoides and R. cushmani co-occur with the following benthonic biozones: Mesorbitolina texana partial range zone, M. subconcava range zone, Neoiraqia convexa taxon-range zone, Praealveolina iberica interval zone and Pseudedomia drorimensis range zone. Within this biostratigraphic framework, a new carbon-isotope curve from the South Palmyrides was compared with δ13C records of the Tethyan Realm and England that allows identifying several biotic events and Oceanic Anoxic Events (OAE), recorded in the Upper Albian to Upper Cenomanian succession. The combination of sequence-stratigraphic interpretations and comparisons, with our results have led to an improved understanding of the Cretaceous platform architecture of the South Palmyrides that links the Arabian Platform to the east with the Levant Platform to the southwest.","PeriodicalId":55118,"journal":{"name":"Geoarabia","volume":"11 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68184768","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Csontos László, Sasvári Ágoston, P. Tamas, Kósa László, Azad T. Salae, A. Athar
The studied area in Kurdistan Region of Iraq lies across an important topographic/structural boundary between the southern lowlands and the northern, folded and imbricated Zagros Mountains. It also encompasses a prominent change in structural orientation of the northern Zagros, from a general NW-SE “Zagros” to an E-W “Taurus” trend. Geological mapping and structural observations, both in the mountains (Mesozoic–Palaeogene) and in the lowlands (Neogene), led to the following conclusions. (1) The oldest recorded deformation is a layer-parallel shortening, coupled with southwest-vergent shear that was followed by major folding of ca. 10 km wavelength and ca. 1,000 m amplitude. Even the Upper Miocene–Pliocene Bakhtiari Formation has steep to overturned beds in some parts, and synclines preserve syn-tectonic strata of Neogene–Pliocene age. Box folding is associated with crestal collapse, internal thrusting in the core and with formation of systematic joint sets. (2) On the southern limb of the major folds, thrusting of variable offset can be observed. The thrusts on the southern and northern limbs are considered responsible for the major uplift during main folding. (3) En-échelon fold-relay patterns suggest left-lateral shear along the EW-oriented segment and right-lateral shear along the NW-oriented segment. (4) A quick-look qualitative analysis of striated fault planes suggests a variable shortening trend from NE-SW to N-S, and some rare NW-SE shortening all associated with thrust faults. (5) The general structural setting of the area is linked to the north-eastwards to northwards propagation of the Arabian Margin beneath Eurasia. The ca. 30° bend in the mountain chain may be explained by the original shape of the Arabian Margin, or by pre-existing tectonic zones of E-W orientation in the northern part. Several observations suggest that there was no oroclinal bending (i.e. major rotation) of different parts of the chain, but the structures simply molded on their local buttress (almost) according to present orientations. However, a limited amount of rigid-body rotation in the different segments cannot be ruled out. The changing shortening directions generated several structural combinations on both the NW-SE Zagros and the E-W Taurus segments of the arc, many of which are still preserved. (6) Spectacular bitumen seepage in Upper Cretaceous and Palaeocene limestone originates from fractures or geodes of these formations. Many of these bitumen-filled voids are linked to the above-described Late Neogene–Recent shortening-folding process; therefore hydrocarbon migration into these voids is interpreted to be very young. This contradicts earlier ideas about massive Late Cretaceous breaching and bleeding off of hydrocarbons in this region.
{"title":"Structural evolution of the northwestern Zagros, Kurdistan Region, Iraq: Implications on oil migration","authors":"Csontos László, Sasvári Ágoston, P. Tamas, Kósa László, Azad T. Salae, A. Athar","doi":"10.2113/geoarabia170281","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2113/geoarabia170281","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The studied area in Kurdistan Region of Iraq lies across an important topographic/structural boundary between the southern lowlands and the northern, folded and imbricated Zagros Mountains. It also encompasses a prominent change in structural orientation of the northern Zagros, from a general NW-SE “Zagros” to an E-W “Taurus” trend. Geological mapping and structural observations, both in the mountains (Mesozoic–Palaeogene) and in the lowlands (Neogene), led to the following conclusions. (1) The oldest recorded deformation is a layer-parallel shortening, coupled with southwest-vergent shear that was followed by major folding of ca. 10 km wavelength and ca. 1,000 m amplitude. Even the Upper Miocene–Pliocene Bakhtiari Formation has steep to overturned beds in some parts, and synclines preserve syn-tectonic strata of Neogene–Pliocene age. Box folding is associated with crestal collapse, internal thrusting in the core and with formation of systematic joint sets. (2) On the southern limb of the major folds, thrusting of variable offset can be observed. The thrusts on the southern and northern limbs are considered responsible for the major uplift during main folding. (3) En-échelon fold-relay patterns suggest left-lateral shear along the EW-oriented segment and right-lateral shear along the NW-oriented segment. (4) A quick-look qualitative analysis of striated fault planes suggests a variable shortening trend from NE-SW to N-S, and some rare NW-SE shortening all associated with thrust faults. (5) The general structural setting of the area is linked to the north-eastwards to northwards propagation of the Arabian Margin beneath Eurasia. The ca. 30° bend in the mountain chain may be explained by the original shape of the Arabian Margin, or by pre-existing tectonic zones of E-W orientation in the northern part. Several observations suggest that there was no oroclinal bending (i.e. major rotation) of different parts of the chain, but the structures simply molded on their local buttress (almost) according to present orientations. However, a limited amount of rigid-body rotation in the different segments cannot be ruled out. The changing shortening directions generated several structural combinations on both the NW-SE Zagros and the E-W Taurus segments of the arc, many of which are still preserved. (6) Spectacular bitumen seepage in Upper Cretaceous and Palaeocene limestone originates from fractures or geodes of these formations. Many of these bitumen-filled voids are linked to the above-described Late Neogene–Recent shortening-folding process; therefore hydrocarbon migration into these voids is interpreted to be very young. This contradicts earlier ideas about massive Late Cretaceous breaching and bleeding off of hydrocarbons in this region.","PeriodicalId":55118,"journal":{"name":"Geoarabia","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68185069","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2012-04-01DOI: 10.2113/geoarabia1702121
D. Cooper, M. Searle, Mohammed Y. Ali
The Jabal Qumayrah area of the northern Oman Mountains records the evolution and subsequent destruction of a Mesozoic passive continental margin in the Oman segment of the Neo-Tethys Ocean, followed by the re-establishment of a passive margin, punctuated by phases of Tertiary compression. Almost uniquely along the Oman Mountains, it also contains intrusions of salt. Detachment of oceanic sediments and volcanics during the early phases of NE-directed subduction beneath the nascent Semail Ophiolite created an in-sequence stack of imbricated thrust units comprising distal trench units (Haybi Complex), and deep-ocean and continental rise sediments derived from the Mesozoic Oman margin (the Hawasina Complex). These were emplaced onto the depressed margin beneath and ahead of the ophiolite during its obduction in the Cenomanian– Coniacian. The Mesozoic continental slope sediments of the Sumeini Group had already been largely over-ridden by the more distal thrust sheets when the Hawasina sole thrust propagated into those sediments. This detached a Sumeini Group thrust sheet, which was transported westward for at least 7 km, carrying with it the overlying Hawasina thrust stack. Structurally lower parts of the Hawasina thrust stack (Hamrat Duru Group) also extended ahead of the Sumeini Group thrust sheet, but they were not restacked with it, indicating motion continued along this part of the Hawasina sole thrust. Further footwall collapse detached at least one more imbricate within the Sumeini Group and the combined thrust stack was then folded along a N-S axis, possibly above a frontal ramp. This was associated with complex out-of-sequence forward and back-thrusting at the lower structural levels. A right-lateral scissors fault developed at right angles to the direction of nappe transport, associated with normal faulting down-to-south. Late-stage culmination within the nappe pile created an asymmetrical west-facing dome, around which the structurally overlying Hawasina thrust sheets are folded. Passive margin sedimentation was re-established in the Campanian–Maastrichtian following subsidence of the locally emergent nappe pile and was dominated by carbonate sedimentation with little clastic input from the ophiolite or Hawasina sediments. Stable sedimentation persisted until Oligocene–Miocene compression, synchronous with the Zagros compressional event in Iran, resulted in west-facing folding along the western side of the northern Oman Mountains and their subsequent uplift. The Jabal Qumayrah massif preserves a salt intrusion composed of gypsum and anhydrite, the top of which is now exposed in the centre of the culmination. The origin of the salt remains unclear and investigations continue. Possible sources include the extension of the major regional salt basins found in the foreland, in particular those at the Ediacaran/Cambrian boundary (Ara Group), beneath the Hawasina Nappes and Semail Ophiolite. Alternatively, evaporitic basins may have develope
{"title":"Structural evolution of Jabal Qumayrah: A salt-intruded culmination in the northern Oman Mountains","authors":"D. Cooper, M. Searle, Mohammed Y. Ali","doi":"10.2113/geoarabia1702121","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2113/geoarabia1702121","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The Jabal Qumayrah area of the northern Oman Mountains records the evolution and subsequent destruction of a Mesozoic passive continental margin in the Oman segment of the Neo-Tethys Ocean, followed by the re-establishment of a passive margin, punctuated by phases of Tertiary compression. Almost uniquely along the Oman Mountains, it also contains intrusions of salt.\u0000 Detachment of oceanic sediments and volcanics during the early phases of NE-directed subduction beneath the nascent Semail Ophiolite created an in-sequence stack of imbricated thrust units comprising distal trench units (Haybi Complex), and deep-ocean and continental rise sediments derived from the Mesozoic Oman margin (the Hawasina Complex). These were emplaced onto the depressed margin beneath and ahead of the ophiolite during its obduction in the Cenomanian– Coniacian. The Mesozoic continental slope sediments of the Sumeini Group had already been largely over-ridden by the more distal thrust sheets when the Hawasina sole thrust propagated into those sediments. This detached a Sumeini Group thrust sheet, which was transported westward for at least 7 km, carrying with it the overlying Hawasina thrust stack. Structurally lower parts of the Hawasina thrust stack (Hamrat Duru Group) also extended ahead of the Sumeini Group thrust sheet, but they were not restacked with it, indicating motion continued along this part of the Hawasina sole thrust. Further footwall collapse detached at least one more imbricate within the Sumeini Group and the combined thrust stack was then folded along a N-S axis, possibly above a frontal ramp. This was associated with complex out-of-sequence forward and back-thrusting at the lower structural levels. A right-lateral scissors fault developed at right angles to the direction of nappe transport, associated with normal faulting down-to-south. Late-stage culmination within the nappe pile created an asymmetrical west-facing dome, around which the structurally overlying Hawasina thrust sheets are folded.\u0000 Passive margin sedimentation was re-established in the Campanian–Maastrichtian following subsidence of the locally emergent nappe pile and was dominated by carbonate sedimentation with little clastic input from the ophiolite or Hawasina sediments. Stable sedimentation persisted until Oligocene–Miocene compression, synchronous with the Zagros compressional event in Iran, resulted in west-facing folding along the western side of the northern Oman Mountains and their subsequent uplift.\u0000 The Jabal Qumayrah massif preserves a salt intrusion composed of gypsum and anhydrite, the top of which is now exposed in the centre of the culmination. The origin of the salt remains unclear and investigations continue. Possible sources include the extension of the major regional salt basins found in the foreland, in particular those at the Ediacaran/Cambrian boundary (Ara Group), beneath the Hawasina Nappes and Semail Ophiolite. Alternatively, evaporitic basins may have develope","PeriodicalId":55118,"journal":{"name":"Geoarabia","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68184762","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2012-04-01DOI: 10.2113/geoarabia1702189
In Iraq the Upper Permian Chia Zairi Formation, together with the overlying Lower Triassic Mirga Mir Formation, forms the chronostratigraphic equivalent of the Khuff Formation of eastern Arabia and the Dalan and Kangan formations of Iran. The Chia Zairi Formation extends from the northern Ora outcrops near the Turkish border to southern Iraq (wells West Kifil-1 and Diwan-1), thus covering the central and eastern parts of the country. It is absent in the far western deserts at the Jordanian border and some areas near the Syrian border (i.e. Khelsia High region and south of Jabal Sinjar) due either to non-deposition or erosion. Lithologically, the Chia Zairi Formation is composed of both carbonates and siliciclastics, and the carbonate proportion increases northward and eastward. However, the formation is deeply buried in most regions except in the northwestern and potentially the southwestern region, where based on seismic, it is estimated to be around 3–5 km deep.
{"title":"The Permo–Triassic Sequence of the Arabian Plate Abstracts of the EAGE’s Third Arabian Plate Geology Workshop, Part II","authors":"","doi":"10.2113/geoarabia1702189","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2113/geoarabia1702189","url":null,"abstract":"In Iraq the Upper Permian Chia Zairi Formation, together with the overlying Lower Triassic Mirga Mir Formation, forms the chronostratigraphic equivalent of the Khuff Formation of eastern Arabia and the Dalan and Kangan formations of Iran. The Chia Zairi Formation extends from the northern Ora outcrops near the Turkish border to southern Iraq (wells West Kifil-1 and Diwan-1), thus covering the central and eastern parts of the country. It is absent in the far western deserts at the Jordanian border and some areas near the Syrian border (i.e. Khelsia High region and south of Jabal Sinjar) due either to non-deposition or erosion. Lithologically, the Chia Zairi Formation is composed of both carbonates and siliciclastics, and the carbonate proportion increases northward and eastward. However, the formation is deeply buried in most regions except in the northwestern and potentially the southwestern region, where based on seismic, it is estimated to be around 3–5 km deep.","PeriodicalId":55118,"journal":{"name":"Geoarabia","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68184808","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
M. Stephenson, L. Angiolini, M. Leng, D. Darbyshire
Brachiopods are abundant in the Oman Khuff Formation and similar brachiopod faunas are present at a few horizons in the same formation in Central Saudi Arabia. Following extensive systematic and biostratigraphic studies of these faunas, specimens from the base of the Midhnab Member of the Khuff Formation of Saudi Arabia (Buraydah Quadrangle), and from Member 3 of the Khuff Formation of the Huqf outcrop of Oman were assessed for isotope geochemistry (Sr, O and C). Dating using 87Sr/86Sr alone is not conclusive. Five pristine Oman brachiopods from biostratigraphically well-constrained lower Wordian horizons record a range of 87Sr/86Sr values that form a separate cluster offset from the current Sr isotope seawater curve, which defines the Early Permian and earliest Mid-Permian. The 87Sr/86Sr of the pristine Saudi Arabian brachiopod sits in an area which corresponds to a wide scatter of 87Sr/86Sr in the seawater curve data. However, the Saudi Arabian data does indicate that the Midhnab Member is likely younger than Member 3 of the Khuff Formation of the Huqf outcrop. The well-preserved brachiopod carbonate allows deductions to be made about the palaeotemperature of the Oman Khuff Formation Member 3 seawater using its oxygen isotope composition (δ18O). Assuming δ18O of seawater < –0.5‰, then palaeotemperature derived from brachiopods in the Oman horizons would be +25°C, +22°C and +17°C respectively. This is consistent with the trend of shallowing within Member 3, suggested by facies.
{"title":"Geochemistry, and carbon, oxygen and strontium isotope composition of brachiopods from the Khuff Formation of Oman and Saudi Arabia","authors":"M. Stephenson, L. Angiolini, M. Leng, D. Darbyshire","doi":"10.2113/geoarabia170261","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2113/geoarabia170261","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Brachiopods are abundant in the Oman Khuff Formation and similar brachiopod faunas are present at a few horizons in the same formation in Central Saudi Arabia. Following extensive systematic and biostratigraphic studies of these faunas, specimens from the base of the Midhnab Member of the Khuff Formation of Saudi Arabia (Buraydah Quadrangle), and from Member 3 of the Khuff Formation of the Huqf outcrop of Oman were assessed for isotope geochemistry (Sr, O and C). Dating using 87Sr/86Sr alone is not conclusive. Five pristine Oman brachiopods from biostratigraphically well-constrained lower Wordian horizons record a range of 87Sr/86Sr values that form a separate cluster offset from the current Sr isotope seawater curve, which defines the Early Permian and earliest Mid-Permian. The 87Sr/86Sr of the pristine Saudi Arabian brachiopod sits in an area which corresponds to a wide scatter of 87Sr/86Sr in the seawater curve data. However, the Saudi Arabian data does indicate that the Midhnab Member is likely younger than Member 3 of the Khuff Formation of the Huqf outcrop.\u0000 The well-preserved brachiopod carbonate allows deductions to be made about the palaeotemperature of the Oman Khuff Formation Member 3 seawater using its oxygen isotope composition (δ18O). Assuming δ18O of seawater < –0.5‰, then palaeotemperature derived from brachiopods in the Oman horizons would be +25°C, +22°C and +17°C respectively. This is consistent with the trend of shallowing within Member 3, suggested by facies.","PeriodicalId":55118,"journal":{"name":"Geoarabia","volume":"2021 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68184815","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Egypt’s Late Oligocene–Early Miocene Nukhul Formation was deposited during the earliest geological evolution of the Gulf of Suez and Red Sea Rift System. In this paper the formation is cast as a depositional sequence based on published sections, and correlated across the Gulf of Suez and northern Red Sea. The resulting correlations indicate that deposition was initiated in local grabens by the oldest continental clastics of the lower member of the Nukhul Formation, the Shoab Ali Member. The member overlies the Suez Rift Unconformity, a term proposed for the entire Red Sea. Although this member can attain a thickness of ca. 1,000 ft (305 m) locally in grabens, it is generally absent over horsts. Sedimentary facies of the member are interpreted as indicating an initial alluvial-fluvial setting that evolved to an estuarine and coastal setting. The upper part of the Nukhul Formation records a regional shallow-marine transgression, which can be subdivided into three correlative Upper Nukhul members. These sediments are absent over the highest paleo-horsts, but reach up to 900 ft (275 m) in thickness in grabens. In the southern Gulf of Suez the Ghara Member represents the Upper Nukhul members. In places it consists of four cycles, each of which starts with an anhydrite bed and is overlain by deposits of mixed lithology (sandstone, marl, and limestone). The four cycles are interpreted as transgressive-regressive subsequences that can be correlated across ca. 60 km in the Gulf of Suez. The Ghara Member correlates to Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu Formation, which consists of massive salt in wells drilled on the Red Sea coastal plains. The Yanbu Salt is dated by strontium-isotope analysis at ca. 23.1–21.6 Ma (earliest Aquitanian). The Nukhul Formation is capped by the Sub-Rudeis Unconformity or correlative Rudeis Sequence Boundary, and overlain by the Rudeis Formation. The Nukhul Formation is here proposed as the Nukhul Sequence and defined in the Wadi Dib-1 Well, wherein it consists of Nukhul subsequences 1 to 10 (in descending order, ranging in thickness between 33–84 m). The lower six Nukhul subsequences 10 to 5 are characterized by shale-to-sandstone cycles of the Shoab Ali Member, and the upper four are represented by the cycles of the Ghara Member. The 10 subsequences are interpreted as tracking the 405,000 year eccentricity signal of the Earth’s orbit and to span ca. 4.0 million years between ca. 25.0 and 21.0 Ma.
{"title":"Late Oligocene–Early Miocene Nukhul Sequence, Gulf of Suez and Red Sea","authors":"M. Al-Husseini","doi":"10.2113/geoarabia170117","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2113/geoarabia170117","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Egypt’s Late Oligocene–Early Miocene Nukhul Formation was deposited during the earliest geological evolution of the Gulf of Suez and Red Sea Rift System. In this paper the formation is cast as a depositional sequence based on published sections, and correlated across the Gulf of Suez and northern Red Sea. The resulting correlations indicate that deposition was initiated in local grabens by the oldest continental clastics of the lower member of the Nukhul Formation, the Shoab Ali Member. The member overlies the Suez Rift Unconformity, a term proposed for the entire Red Sea. Although this member can attain a thickness of ca. 1,000 ft (305 m) locally in grabens, it is generally absent over horsts. Sedimentary facies of the member are interpreted as indicating an initial alluvial-fluvial setting that evolved to an estuarine and coastal setting.\u0000 The upper part of the Nukhul Formation records a regional shallow-marine transgression, which can be subdivided into three correlative Upper Nukhul members. These sediments are absent over the highest paleo-horsts, but reach up to 900 ft (275 m) in thickness in grabens. In the southern Gulf of Suez the Ghara Member represents the Upper Nukhul members. In places it consists of four cycles, each of which starts with an anhydrite bed and is overlain by deposits of mixed lithology (sandstone, marl, and limestone). The four cycles are interpreted as transgressive-regressive subsequences that can be correlated across ca. 60 km in the Gulf of Suez. The Ghara Member correlates to Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu Formation, which consists of massive salt in wells drilled on the Red Sea coastal plains. The Yanbu Salt is dated by strontium-isotope analysis at ca. 23.1–21.6 Ma (earliest Aquitanian).\u0000 The Nukhul Formation is capped by the Sub-Rudeis Unconformity or correlative Rudeis Sequence Boundary, and overlain by the Rudeis Formation. The Nukhul Formation is here proposed as the Nukhul Sequence and defined in the Wadi Dib-1 Well, wherein it consists of Nukhul subsequences 1 to 10 (in descending order, ranging in thickness between 33–84 m). The lower six Nukhul subsequences 10 to 5 are characterized by shale-to-sandstone cycles of the Shoab Ali Member, and the upper four are represented by the cycles of the Ghara Member. The 10 subsequences are interpreted as tracking the 405,000 year eccentricity signal of the Earth’s orbit and to span ca. 4.0 million years between ca. 25.0 and 21.0 Ma.","PeriodicalId":55118,"journal":{"name":"Geoarabia","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68184434","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2012-01-01DOI: 10.2113/geoarabia1701103
A. G. Hewaidy, S. Farouk, Haitham M. Ayyad
The Nukhul Formation is the oldest syn-rift rock unit in the Gulf of Suez rift system in Egypt. The age of the formation is inadequately resolved by biostratigraphy and it is generally assigned to the Lower Miocene by stratigraphic position. For this study a surface section was measured and sampled at Wadi Baba, located in the southwestern Sinai Peninsula. It yielded 17 planktonic foraminiferal species and 17 foraminiferal benthonic species. The planktonic foraminiferal assemblage was used to divide the formation into two planktonic foraminiferal zones: (1) Globigerina ciperoensis Zone (O6) of Late Oligocene Chattian age; and (2) Globigerinoides primordius Zone (M1) of Early Miocene Aquitanian age. The two zones coincide with depositional sequences: (1) Chattian Lower Nukhul Sequence, with its upper boundary coinciding with the Chattian/Aquitanian (Oligocene/Miocene) boundary; and (2) Aquitanian Upper Nukhul Sequence, with its upper sequence boundary coinciding with the Aquitanian/Burdigalian boundary.
{"title":"Nukhul Formation in Wadi Baba, southwest Sinai Peninsula, Egypt","authors":"A. G. Hewaidy, S. Farouk, Haitham M. Ayyad","doi":"10.2113/geoarabia1701103","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2113/geoarabia1701103","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 The Nukhul Formation is the oldest syn-rift rock unit in the Gulf of Suez rift system in Egypt. The age of the formation is inadequately resolved by biostratigraphy and it is generally assigned to the Lower Miocene by stratigraphic position. For this study a surface section was measured and sampled at Wadi Baba, located in the southwestern Sinai Peninsula. It yielded 17 planktonic foraminiferal species and 17 foraminiferal benthonic species. The planktonic foraminiferal assemblage was used to divide the formation into two planktonic foraminiferal zones: (1) Globigerina ciperoensis Zone (O6) of Late Oligocene Chattian age; and (2) Globigerinoides primordius Zone (M1) of Early Miocene Aquitanian age. The two zones coincide with depositional sequences: (1) Chattian Lower Nukhul Sequence, with its upper boundary coinciding with the Chattian/Aquitanian (Oligocene/Miocene) boundary; and (2) Aquitanian Upper Nukhul Sequence, with its upper sequence boundary coinciding with the Aquitanian/Burdigalian boundary.","PeriodicalId":55118,"journal":{"name":"Geoarabia","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68184711","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2012-01-01DOI: 10.2113/geoarabia1701125
G. Crippa, L. Angiolini
Thirty-three brachiopod species from the Guadalupian Ruteh Limestone of North Iran are here systematically described and illustrated. Brachiopods have been collected bed-by-bed along five stratigraphic sections and in one fossiliferous locality in the region between Dorud and Shirinibad in the Alborz Mountains. Four new species and one new genus are erected in the present paper: Haydenella eminens n. sp. Perigeyerella rutehiana n. sp., Martinia bassa n. sp. and Bisolcatelasma iraniana n. gen. n. sp. Quantitative biostratigraphic analysis of the brachiopod data based on the Unitary Association method (Guex, 1991) has lead to the construction of a local sequence of three discrete biozones: the Squamularia sp. B-M. bassa Biozone at the base of the formation, the H. kiangsiensis-N. (N.) asseretoi Biozone in its middle part and the R. exile-R. gemmellaroi Biozone at its top. The latter however has been recognized only in the Shirinabad section. As already envisaged for the Carboniferous and Lower Permian brachiopod faunas from North Iran, the Guadalupian fauna is comprised mostly of cosmopolitan taxa, confirming the role of the Iranian microplate as a staging-post for most of the late Palaeozoic. When compared to the younger Lopingian faunas collected in the same regions of North Iran, the Ruteh brachiopods appear significantly different, indicating a marked biotic change in the brachiopod communities across the end-Guadalupian biotic crisis.
这里系统地描述和说明了伊朗北部瓜达卢普Ruteh石灰岩中的33种腕足动物。在阿尔布尔斯山脉多鲁德和希里尼巴德之间的5个地层剖面和1个化石点逐层收集了腕足动物。本文建立了4个新种和1个新属:Haydenella eminens n. sp. Perigeyerella rutehiana n. sp.、Martinia bassa n. sp.和Bisolcatelasma iraniana n. gen. sp.。基于统一关联方法(Guex, 1991)的腕足动物数据定量生物地层分析,构建了3个离散生物带的局部序列:Squamularia sp. B-M.;在地层底部的bassa生物带,H. kiangsiensis-N。(N.)中部的asseretoi Biozone和R. exile-R.;gemmellaroi Biozone在它的顶端。然而,后者只在希里纳巴德部分得到承认。正如已经对伊朗北部石炭纪和下二叠纪腕足动物群的设想一样,瓜达卢普的动物群主要由世界各地的分类群组成,这证实了伊朗微板块作为大部分晚古生代的中继站的作用。当与在伊朗北部同一地区收集的更年轻的Lopingian动物群相比,Ruteh腕足动物表现出明显的差异,表明在瓜达卢普末期腕足动物群落发生了显著的生物变化。
{"title":"Guadalupian (Permian) brachiopods from the Ruteh Limestone, North Iran","authors":"G. Crippa, L. Angiolini","doi":"10.2113/geoarabia1701125","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2113/geoarabia1701125","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Thirty-three brachiopod species from the Guadalupian Ruteh Limestone of North Iran are here systematically described and illustrated. Brachiopods have been collected bed-by-bed along five stratigraphic sections and in one fossiliferous locality in the region between Dorud and Shirinibad in the Alborz Mountains. Four new species and one new genus are erected in the present paper: Haydenella eminens n. sp. Perigeyerella rutehiana n. sp., Martinia bassa n. sp. and Bisolcatelasma iraniana n. gen. n. sp.\u0000 Quantitative biostratigraphic analysis of the brachiopod data based on the Unitary Association method (Guex, 1991) has lead to the construction of a local sequence of three discrete biozones: the Squamularia sp. B-M. bassa Biozone at the base of the formation, the H. kiangsiensis-N. (N.) asseretoi Biozone in its middle part and the R. exile-R. gemmellaroi Biozone at its top. The latter however has been recognized only in the Shirinabad section.\u0000 As already envisaged for the Carboniferous and Lower Permian brachiopod faunas from North Iran, the Guadalupian fauna is comprised mostly of cosmopolitan taxa, confirming the role of the Iranian microplate as a staging-post for most of the late Palaeozoic. When compared to the younger Lopingian faunas collected in the same regions of North Iran, the Ruteh brachiopods appear significantly different, indicating a marked biotic change in the brachiopod communities across the end-Guadalupian biotic crisis.","PeriodicalId":55118,"journal":{"name":"Geoarabia","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68184795","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2012-01-01DOI: 10.2113/geoarabia1701181
R. A. Fattah, S. Meekes, Y. Schavemaker, E. Guasti, J. Bouman, M. Schmidt, J. Ebbing
{"title":"11892 Heterogeneous gravity data combination for geophysical exploration research: Applications for basin and petroleum system analysis in the Arabian Peninsula","authors":"R. A. Fattah, S. Meekes, Y. Schavemaker, E. Guasti, J. Bouman, M. Schmidt, J. Ebbing","doi":"10.2113/geoarabia1701181","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2113/geoarabia1701181","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":55118,"journal":{"name":"Geoarabia","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68184493","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}