scholarly journals Lithostratigraphy of the Red Sea Region

GeoArabia ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 49-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geraint Wyn ap Gwilym Hughes ◽  
Robert S. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Red Sea ◽  
Middle Miocene ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Early Miocene ◽  
Lower Miocene ◽  
The North ◽  
Lithostratigraphic Units ◽  
Marine Carbonates ◽  
Sedimentary Succession ◽  
Proterozoic Basement

ABSTRACT The onshore and offshore Saudi Arabian Red Sea region contains a series of lithostratigraphic units that have not previously been formally defined and described. Based on an intensive study of the succession, a lithostratigraphic scheme is proposed in a lexicon format that integrates biostratigraphic, sedimentological, seismic and field studies from the Midyan Peninsula in the north, to the Jizan Coastal Plain in the south. In view of the economic aspect of the Neogene succession and greater accessibility to Neogene subsurface samples, emphasis has been placed on a revision of the Neogene lithostratigraphy. Resting upon Proterozoic Basement, the sedimentary succession was deposited during the Cretaceous to Pleistocene times. The oldest pre-rift Suqah Group nonconformably overlies the Proterozoic Basement and consists of Upper Cretaceous shales of the Adaffa Formation and Cretaceous to Palaeogene sandstones, shales and thin limestones of the Usfan Formation. A series of volcanics includes the early to middle Oligocene Matiyah Formation and the late Oligocene-early Miocene Jizan Group. The Neogene succession displays a great lithological diversity. The Tayran Group (Al Wajh, Musayr and Yanbu Formations) includes marginal marine siliciclastics of the Al Wajh Formation, and represents the earliest rift-associated sediments deposited during the earliest Miocene. These are conformably overlain by lower Miocene shallow-marine carbonates of the Musayr Formation. In some of the central Red Sea onshore basins, thick lower Miocene submarine evaporites of the Yanbu Formation were deposited under locally restricted conditions and form the third formation of the Tayran Group. Rapid subsidence during the early Miocene caused deposition of deep-marine, planktonic-foraminiferal mudstones and thick submarine fan sandstones of the Burqan Formation. Carbonates, marine mudstones and submarine evaporites of the Maqna Group (Jabal Kibrit and Kial Formations) unconformably overlie the Burqan Formation and were deposited during latest early Miocene to earliest middle Miocene. The Jabal Kibrit Formation consists of an anhydrite-carbonate facies, of which the carbonates form the Wadi Waqb Member. Siliciclastic facies of the Jabal Kibrit Formation are termed the Umm Luj Member. Above the Jabal Kibrit Formation, the Kial Formation is typified by interbedded anhydrites, calcareous siltstones and carbonates, and includes the Sidr, Nakhlah, Yuba, Rayaman and Sabya Members. Within the region, thick evaporites of the Mansiyah Formation were deposited extensively during the middle Miocene, and are overlain by poorly exposed sands, shales and thin anhydrite beds of the middle to upper Miocene Ghawwas Formation. The Lisan Group unconformably overlies the Ghawwas Formation and consists of coarse alluvial sands and gravels of possible Pliocene to Holocene age.

scholarly journals Lithostratigraphy and Depositional History of Part of the Midyan Region, Northwestern Saudi Arabia

GeoArabia ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 503-542 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Wyn Hughes ◽  
David J. Grainger ◽  
Abdul-Jaleel Abu-Bshait ◽  
M. Jarad Abdul-Rahman
Keyword(s):  
Red Sea ◽  
Upper Cretaceous ◽  
Middle Miocene ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Arabian Plate ◽  
Gulf Of Aqaba ◽  
Eastern Coast ◽  
Lower Miocene ◽  
Sedimentary Succession ◽  
The Dead

ABSTRACT The Midyan region provides a unique opportunity in which to examine exposures of the Upper Cretaceous and Neogene sedimentary succession. Recent investigations have yielded new interpretations of its depositional environments, stratigraphic relationships, and structure. In this paper, all the lithostratigraphic units of the Midyan succession are considered to be informal in advance of an on-going process of formalization. The region is bounded to the north and northeast by mountains of Proterozoic rocks and to the west and south by the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea, respectively. The Wadi Ifal plain occupies most of the eastern half of the region, beneath which is a thick sedimentary succession within the Ifal basin. The oldest sedimentary rocks are the fluviatile Upper Cretaceous Adaffa formation and marine siliciclastics and carbonates of the lower Miocene Tayran group, unconformable on the Proterozoic basement. The Tayran group is unconformably overlain by the deep-marine lower Miocene Burqan formation that, in turn, is overlain by marine mudstones, carbonates, and evaporites of the middle Miocene Maqna group. The poorly exposed middle Miocene Mansiyah and middle to upper Miocene Ghawwas formations consist of marine evaporites and shallow to marginal marine sediments, respectively. The youngest rocks are alluvial sands and gravels of the Pliocene Lisan formation. A complex structural history is due to Red Sea Oligocene-Miocene extension tectonics, and Pliocene-Recent anti-clockwise rotation of the Arabian Plate relative to Africa on the Dead Sea Transform Fault. The Upper Cretaceous succession is a probable pre-rift unit. The Oligocene?-Miocene syn-rift 1 phase of continental extension caused slow subsidence (Tayran group). Syn-rift 2 was an early Miocene phase of rapid subsidence (Burqan formation) whereas syn-rift 3 (early to middle Miocene) was another phase of slow deposition (Maqna group). The middle to late Miocene syn-rift 4 phase coincided with the deposition of the Mansiyah and Ghawwas formations. The Lower Pliocene to Recent succession is related to the drift (post-rift) phase during which about 45 kilometers of sinistral movement occurred on the Dead Sea Fault. The structural control on sedimentation is evident: the Ifal basin was formed by east-west lithospheric extension; pull-apart basins occur along major left-lateral faults on the eastern coast of the Gulf of Aqaba; and basin-bounding faults controlled deposition of the Burqan, Ghawwas, and Lisan formations. Pliocene to Recent earth movements may be responsible for activating salt diapirism in the Ifal basin. Extensive Quaternary faulting and regional uplift caused the uplift of coral reefs to at least 6 to 8 meters above sea level.

Biostratigraphically constrained Neogene palaeoenvironments of the Red Sea rift

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geraint Hughes ◽  
Osman Varol
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Red Sea ◽  
Debris Flows ◽  
Middle Miocene ◽  
Depositional Environments ◽  
Early Miocene ◽  
Arabian Plate ◽  
Tectonic Activity ◽  
Gulf Of Suez ◽  
Gulf Of Aden

<p>Marine sediments deposited in response to the Neogene opening of the Red Sea during divergence of the African-Arabian plate margin provide micropalaeontological chronological evidence to calibrate synchronous palaeoenvironmental events from the Gulf of Suez to the Gulf of Aden. This facility provides insights to the timing and relative rates of tectonic subsidence associated with the rifting episodes of the region. Biostratigraphic index forms include planktonic and benthonic foraminifera and calcareous nannofossils. These, combined with various associated microfossils and macrofossil fragments, permit interpretation of a range of depositional environments that span intertidal to bathyal regimes. Onset and recovery from various hypersaline events are similarly interpreted by integrating microfossils and lithology. Following an episode of emergence and sporadic volcanicity, subsidence and the first Neogene marine transgression created brackish to shallow marine lagoons during the Early Miocene (Foraminiferal Letter Stage Upper Te). Rapid subsidence and accumulation of deep marine mudstones, of local hydrocarbon source-rock quality, with thinly interbedded siliciclastic and calciclastic debris flows commenced in the Early Miocene (Planktonic foraminiferal zones N5-N8; Nannofossil zones NN3-NN5). The debris flows increased in abundance and provide good hydrocarbon reservoirs. The Gulf of Suez and Red Sea experienced episodic isolation from the Indian Ocean during the latest Early Miocene and earliest Middle Miocene (Planktonic foraminiferal zones N8-N9; Nannofossil zone NN5 Foraminiferal Letter Stage Middle-Upper Tf1), resulting in hypersaline events with precipitation of submarine gypsum and halite. The isolation is attributed to constriction of the southern Red Sea, in the vicinity of the Bab El Mandab Straits, by eustatic sea level fall as well as probable tectonic activity; the synchronous Gulf of Aden succession does not display evidence for such hypersaline events. A prolonged hypersaline phase extended over most of the Middle Miocene, for which absence of biostratigraphic data precludes age control. During the latest Middle Miocene to Late Miocene, rejuvenation of the hinterland cause rapid deposition of terrestrial and fluviatile coarse and fine siliciclastics, with similar biostratigraphic paucity except for rare diatoms and palynomorphs. Renewed subsidence, associated with opening of the Aqaba Fault, combined with eustatic sea level rise caused marine deposition to recommence in the Pliocene.</p>

scholarly journals Description of The Karst Phenomena Spreading Along Stratified Sequence in The Western Desert of Iraq

2021 ◽  
Vol 54 (1B) ◽  
pp. 94-101
Author(s):  
Salam Al-Hetty
Keyword(s):  
Middle Miocene ◽  
Western Desert ◽  
Maximum Diameter ◽  
The West ◽  
Stratigraphic Sequence ◽  
Lower Miocene ◽  
The North ◽  
Southern Side ◽  
Western Desert Of Iraq ◽  
The Aesthetic

The study focused on two important sites containing many caves sites located in the west of Al Anbar Governorate. The first site is Um El-Githoaa cavity in Hit region, a cave or trunks was chosen to show the aesthetic of this cave in terms of its shape and dimensions. The maximum diameter is 22.1m, while the perpendicular diameter is 18.5m. It is a dome shape and the height of its roof reaches about 2m located in the stratigraphic sequence falls within the massive gypsum, Fatha Formation (Middle Miocene). Geoelectrical exploration was chosen on the southern side of the cave to check whether the sinkholes scattered in the area are connected to subsurface caves or not. Using a Dipole-dipole array was chosen along a traverse, shown there are three sub-surface caves. This indicates that these phenomena are widespread in the region. The second location is Haditha, Barwana Village which was chosen to study where the cave is located in unconformity breccia zone between Anah Formation (Upper Oligocene- Lower Miocene) and Euphrates Formation (Lower Miocene- Middle Miocene). Barwana cave extends to the north 30 m and then tends to the west extend about 1 km within fragile breccia layer with incoherent components and ends with a small opening at the Euphrates River. This phenomenon was not present in the hard gypsum rocks in the Hit region, it was observed to have a large oval shape

The Tunissian “zone des nappes”: a slightly inverted mesocenozoic continental margin (Taberka/Jendouba; northwestern Tunisia)

2006 ◽  
Vol 177 (3) ◽  
pp. 145-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Abdoullah Ould Bagga ◽  
Saâdi Abdeljaouad ◽  
Eric Mercier
Keyword(s):  
Continental Margin ◽  
Middle Miocene ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Original Model ◽  
Early Miocene ◽  
Thrust Faults ◽  
North African ◽  
Sedimentary Records ◽  
The North ◽  
Tunisian Atlas

Abstract Detailed investigations in the western part of the “zone des nappes” in the Tunisian Atlas enable to propose an original model for this area. We show that, according to sedimentary records, these units appear to be formed by various series originally deposited on tilted crustal blocks of the North African margin. This south-easternward tilting occurred from the Triasic to the early Miocene. The first phase of inversion took place during the early to middle Miocene interval; no older compressive event can be highlighted. The shortening is associated with a system of flats and ramps thrust faults that occurs following a piggy-back sequence and that does not disrupt the paleogeographic order. Subsequently, an “out-of-sequence” event places the upper unit (Numidian Unit) onto the sub-numidian Units. The overlap length remains very moderate betwen sub-numidian Units (a few kilometers only). Finally, during the late Quaternary, the area undergoes a late shortening that folds the syn-tectonic basins.

scholarly journals Facies analyses, biostratigraphy and radiometric dating of the Lower-Middle Miocene succession near Zajecar (Dacian basin, eastern Serbia)

2019 ◽  
Vol 80 (2) ◽  
pp. 13-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ljupko Rundic ◽  
Nebojsa Vasic ◽  
Miodrag Banjesevic ◽  
Dejan Prelevic ◽  
Violeta Gajic ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Middle Miocene ◽  
Radiometric Dating ◽  
Early Miocene ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
Marine Transgression ◽  
Lake System ◽  
Stratigraphic Position ◽  
Sedimentary Succession ◽  
First Time ◽  
Magmatic Event

Lower-Middle Miocene sedimentary succession and the conformable/ unconformable relationships between the lacustrine-continental systems (i.e. DLS, SLS) and Badenian marine transgression represents one of the intrigue topics. Herein, we studied five exploration boreholes (eastern Serbia) and analyzed the main facies pattern, biostratigraphic characteristics of the Miocene succession, and applied the U-Pb radiometric dating of volcanic tuffs interstratified in the sedimentary series with coal layers (borehole NRKR- 17002). The obtained concordia age of 16.9 ?0.2 Ma for all the analysed zircon grains without any inherited cores indicate a single magmatic event. We definite the freshwater series originated during Early Miocene Karpatian (= late Burdigalian). Consequently, for the first time, we demonstrated that age of ? part of the Serbian Lake System (SLS) is much older than it was previous reported. In addition, sporadic findings of foraminifers, ostracods and molluscs documented the late Badenian marine transgression in eastern Serbia. If accept this fact the flooding occurred later than in the rest of Serbia (< 14.5 Ma). However, the lack of quality data and unclear stratigraphic position of some parts of the clastic succession (? Lower-Middle Badenian) makes this claim uncertain.

New geophysical data from the northern Cordillera: preliminary interpretations and implications for the tectonics and deep geology

1994 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 891-904 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Lowe ◽  
R. B. Horner ◽  
J. K. Mortensen ◽  
S. T. Johnston ◽  
C. F. Roots
Keyword(s):  
Gravity Data ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Geophysical Data ◽  
Fault System ◽  
Tectonic Activity ◽  
Denali Fault ◽  
The North ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Proterozoic Basement ◽  
Seismic Sections

In this paper we analyze recently acquired geophysical data from the northern Cordillera and their relation to the mapped geology. A prominent gravity high (> −45 mGal (1 Gal = 1 cm/s2)) coincides with a magnetic low and an aseismic region in west-central Yukon where the underlying geology is dominated by quartzo-feldspathic rocks having moderate densities. Extension (~15%), magmatic underplating, and accretion of the anomalous region onto oceanic crust are three possible explanations.Magnetic, gravity, and seismicity data all show significant differences in the physical state of the crust on either side of the Tintina Fault and, together with geological data indicating large offset, suggest it was once a major crustal-scale strike-slip fault. The new gravity data also delineate an arcuate zone of steep gradients (up to 1.4 mGal/km) in the miogeocline, which may correlate with a west-dipping Proterozoic basement ramp mapped on deep seismic sections farther to the north and a transition from thin (east) to thick sediment cover (west). Seismicity data show that current tectonic activity is concentrated along the Pacific – North America plate margin in southwestern Yukon and adjacent Alaska and, although there is a marked decrease in activity inland of this margin, notable concentrations occur along the Denali Fault System and in the eastern miogeocline. There is a distinct absence of earthquakes in parts of the Selwyn Basin and in the northern Yukon–Tanana Terrane. Limited field studies suggest activity is confined to the upper 10–15 km of the crust.

scholarly journals Micropalaeontology and palaeoenvironments of the Miocene Wadi Waqb carbonate of the northern Saudi Arabian Red Sea

GeoArabia ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 59-108
Author(s):  
G. Wyn Hughes
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reefs ◽  
Red Sea ◽  
Middle Miocene ◽  
Planktonic Foraminifera ◽  
Saudi Arabian ◽  
Source Rocks ◽  
Early Miocene ◽  
Gulf Of Suez ◽  
The West ◽  
Shallow Marine

ABSTRACT The Saudi Arabian Red Sea stratigraphy consists of a variety of lithologies that range from evaporites, deep- and shallow-marine siliciclastics and carbonates, biostratigraphically constrained to range from the Late Cretaceous, Campanian, to Late Pliocene. The succession consists of pre-rift Mesozoic and Palaeogene sediments, and syn-rift and post-rift late Palaeogene and Neogene sediments. Three main episodes of shallow-marine carbonate deposition can be determined, including those of the earliest Early Miocene Musayr Formation of the Tayran Group later Early Miocene Wadi Waqb Member of the Jabal Kibrit Formation and of the Pliocene Badr Formation of the Lisan Group. The Midyan area of the northern Red Sea offers a unique window into the Cretaceous and Miocene succession that is otherwise only present in the deep subsurface. The sediments are of hydrocarbon interest because of the presence of source rocks, siliciclastic and carbonate reservoirs. The Wadi Waqb reservoir is hosted within the Wadi Waqb Member of the Jabal Kibrit Formation, and is of latest Early Miocene to possibly earliest Middle Miocene age. It is considered to have formed a fringing reef complex that formed a steep, fault-influenced margin to a narrow platform, similar to Recent coralgal reefs of the Red Sea. The Wadi Waqb Member is exposed on the east and west flanks of the Ifal Plain. The bioclasts are considered to have traveled as a submarine carbonate debris flow 25 km from their presumed source to the east and possibly the west, and consist mostly of rhodoliths, echinoid and coral fragments together with the benthonic larger foraminifera Operculinella venosa, Operculina complanata, Heterostegina depressa and Borelis melo. The planktonic foraminifera include species of Globigerina, Globigerinoides and Praeorbulina; no specimens of the Middle Miocene planktonic foraminiferal genus Orbulina have yet been encountered in the thin sections. The presence of Borelis melo melo, and of B. melo curdica within the region, indicates a latest Early Miocene age. No specimens of the age-equivalent larger benthonic foraminiferal genera Miogypsina or Lepidocyclina have been observed, and this is consistent with evidence from the Wadi Waqb equivalent carbonates elsewhere in the Red Sea and Gulf of Suez. In the east, the Wadi Waqb is represented by discontinuous fringing rhodolith and coral reefs that are welded to steep cliffs of granitic basement. In Wadi Waqb, located in hills that form the western margin to the Ifal Plain, the Wadi Waqb carbonates consist of packstones containing autochthonous planktonic foraminifera and abundant shallow-marine microfossils that are considered to have been derived from the basement-founded rhodolith and coral reefs in the east. The Wadi Waqb reservoir is located beneath the central part of the Ifal Plain, approximately midway down a ramp between the in situ rhodolith-coral reefs and the mixed allochthonous and autochthonous facies at Wadi Waqb. The reservoir contains biofacies similar to those exposed in Wadi Waqb, and indicative of a deep-marine environment, in excess of 50 m water depth. The Wadi Waqb carbonates display sedimentological and petrographic features that closely resemble those described from stratigraphically equivalent carbonates from the localities along the west coast of the Gulf of Suez, including Abu Shaar, where three depositional facies have been defined. It is apparent that these shallow-marine carbonates were established along the west and east rift margins of the Red Sea-Gulf of Suez rift complex prior to their dislocation during the Late Miocene and Pliocene by the left-lateral Aqaba faulting.

scholarly journals An Early Miocene biserial foraminiferal event in the Transylvanian Basin (Romania)

2010 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Beldean ◽  
Sorin Filipescu ◽  
Ramona Bălc
Keyword(s):  
Middle Miocene ◽  
Planktonic Foraminifera ◽  
Early Miocene ◽  
High Abundance ◽  
Calcareous Nannoplankton ◽  
Lower Miocene ◽  
Precise Identification ◽  
Pacific Area

An Early Miocene biserial foraminiferal event in the Transylvanian Basin (Romania)Investigations of the Lower Miocene of the Transylvanian Basin reveal particularly high abundances (> 90 % of total foraminifera) of small sized biserial foraminifera (Bolivina/Streptochilus). This biotic event has not been noticed in the Transylvanian Basin so far probably owing to the facies misinterpretation and the small size of the specimens. SEM investigations allow more precise identification of biserial planktonic taxa and more accurate taxonomic interpretations. The high abundance ofBolivina/Streptochilusassemblages provide evidence for paleogeographic connections to the Indo-Pacific area and support new paleoenvironmental interpretations at the transition from the Early to Middle Miocene in relation to the paleoceanographic events. Both planktonic foraminifera and calcareous nannoplankton suggest a late Burdigalian age. A newBolivina/StreptochilusAbundance Biozone is proposed just below the Early/Middle Miocene boundary.

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