scholarly journals Late Albian, Cenomanian and Turonian Natih Supersequence of Oman: Type section for Orbiton 7 (103.6–89.0 Ma)

GeoArabia ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 125-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moujahed I. Al-Husseini
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Time Scale ◽  
Structural Deformation ◽  
Arabian Plate ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Geological Time ◽  
Geological Time Scale ◽  
Type Section ◽  
Subaerial Exposure ◽  
Sequence Boundaries

ABSTRACT The Upper Albian, Cenomanian and Turonian Natih Formation in Oman was interpreted by previous authors in terms of the regional Natih I to V depositional sequences comprising 34 higher-order subsequences (referred to as the Adopted Interpretation in this paper). It mainly consists of limestones, and is separated from the underlying Albian shales of the Nahr Umr Formation by the Natih Sequence Boundary. The interpreted position of the Cenomanian Stage within the formation differs substantially depending on carbon-isotope and/or biostratigraphic data (ammonite, microfaunal and nannofossil). The top of the Natih Formation is a regional subaerial exposure surface (incised by channels with depths reaching 150–200 m) that was transgressed by Lower Coniacian marine shales (Muti Formation at outcrop, and Shargi Member of the Fiqa Formation in subsurface; Fiqa Transgression above the Fiqa Sequence Boundary). Over paleohighs the lower part of the Fiqa, Natih and older formations are eroded by the Campanian angular Intra-Fiqa Unconformity that is attributed to far-field compressional tectonism along the margins of the Arabian Plate. The paper tunes the 34 Natih subsequences (each named a Straton) at 405 Ky/cycle: the period of the long-eccentricity signal of the Earth’s orbit. They are dated using a time scale that is based on an orbital-forcing model of glacioeustasy, which consists of ca. 14.58 My (36 stratons) repeating, orbital cycles named orbitons. Orbitons are predicted to be separated by major glacio-eustatic lowstands (regional sequence boundary), with Orbiton 1 spanning ca. 16.1 to 1.5 Ma. The Natih Formation completely falls within Orbiton 7 (ca. 103.6–89.0 Ma) in the Late Albian – Turonian time interval of the Geological Time Scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (GTS). The Formation consists of only 34 subsequences (compared to the 36 predicted for a complete orbiton). This implies two stratons are represented by a hiatus (ca. 810 Ky) between ca. 89.8–89.0 Ma near the end of Orbiton 7 and the Turonian/Coniacian boundary (88.6 Ma in GTS). The hiatus corresponds to a Late Turonian – ?earliest Coniacian biostratigraphic break at the Sub-Fiqa Unconformity and is correlated to a model-predicted major polar glaciation and sea-level lowstand. The hiatus is unrelated to the structural deformation in Interior Oman (First Alpine Event), which started some 10 My later in Campanian time. Orbiton 7 (ca. 103.6–89.0 Ma) correlates by architecture (sequence boundaries and maximum flooding surfaces) and age to the global Late Albian – Turonian UZA 2 Supersequence inclusive of the shortlived 100+ m sea-level drop in latest Turonian (ca. 102.5–88.6 Ma in empirical time scale). The Formation is proposed as the Natih Supersequence and the type section of Orbiton 7.

scholarly journals Calibrating Mid-Permian to Early Triassic Khuff sequences with orbital clocks

GeoArabia ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 171-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moujahed I. Al-Husseini ◽  
Robley K. Matthews
Keyword(s):  
Time Scale ◽  
Radiometric Dating ◽  
Arabian Plate ◽  
Early Triassic ◽  
Geological Time ◽  
Triassic Boundary ◽  
Geological Time Scale ◽  
Type Section ◽  
Geologic Time Scale ◽  
Permian Triassic Boundary

ABSTRACT The Middle East Geologic Time Scale (ME GTS) seeks to document and age-calibrate Arabian Plate transgressive-regressive (T-R) depositional sequences using: (1) Geological Time Scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (GTS), and (2) Arabian Orbital Stratigraphy time scale (AROS). AROS is based on an orbital-forcing glacio-eustatic model that offers three orbital clocks to date T-R sequences: (1) Stratons @ ca. 405 Ky; (2) Dozons @ ca. 4.86 My (12 stratons); and Orbitons @ ca. 14.58 My (36 stratons, three dozons). The Earth today is in Orbiton 0, which started ca. 1.5 Ma (SB 0); the ages of lower boundaries of orbitons can be estimated with the formula SB n = n × 14.58 + 1.5 Ma. This scheme was used to calibrate the Arabian Plate’s Mid-Permian to Early Triassic Khuff sequences, which contain one of the largest gas-bearing carbonate reservoirs in the World. The Khuff and equivalent formations have been interpreted by several authors in terms of six long-period sequences in outcrop belts and subsurface sections (Khuff sequences KS6 to KS1 in ascending order). Their type sections are briefly reviewed with emphasis on their boundaries, higher-order architecture and stage assignments. The age calibration starts at the basal Khuff Sequence Boundary (Khuff SB, Sub-Khuff Unconformity) defined in a type section in Al Huqf outcrop in Oman. Above the Khuff SB (ca. 268.9 Ma) the type sections of the oldest Khuff sequences KS6 (ca. 268.9–264.0 Ma) and KS5 (ca. 264.0–259.1 Ma) are defined in Oman and interpreted to each consist of twelve subsequences (stratons) with the predicted architecture of two consecutive dozons. By biostratigraphy they span the Mid-Permian (Guadalupian Epoch), Wordian and Capitanian stages. Type-Sequence KS4 (ca. 259.1–254.2 Ma) is defined in Iran and corresponds to the Wuchiapingian Stage. The Iranian type-Khuff Sequence KS3 (ca. 254.2–249.4 Ma) contains nine subsequences (stratons) grouped between two major exposure surfaces. By correlation to the Changhsingian Stage and Permian/Triassic Boundary (PTrB) type section in South China, it is interpreted as a dozon with three missing stratons. Khuff Sequence KS2 (ca. 249.4–247.8 Ma) contains the PTrB with an orbital age of ca. 249.0 Ma, compared to 251.0 ± 0.4 in GTS and 249.0–253.0 Ma by radiometric dating in its type section. Khuff sequences KS2 and KS1 contain 13 subsequences (stratons) between ca. 249.4–244.1 Ma spanning latest Permian and Early Triassic. The boundary of the Khuff with the overlying Sudair Formation, Sudair Sequence Boundary, is defined in Borehole SHD-1 (Central Saudi Arabia) and calibrated at ca. 244.1 Ma falling near the age of the Early/Mid-Triassic Boundary in GTS. The enclosed Chart shows a work-in-progress correlation of the six Khuff sequences across the Arabian Plate.

scholarly journals MIDDLE EAST GEOLOGIC TIME SCALE 2013

GeoArabia ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-52
Author(s):  
Moujahed I. Al-Husseini
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Time Scale ◽  
Average Duration ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Independent Study ◽  
Arabian Plate ◽  
Oceanic Anoxic Event ◽  
Sea Level Fluctuations ◽  
Geologic Time Scale ◽  
Sequence Boundaries

ABSTRACT During the Aptian 28 to possibly 34 transgressive-regressive “fourth-order” sequences were deposited on the Arabian Plate. The sequences were controlled by sea-level fluctuations with a relative amplitude of 5–20 m. The fluctuations are interpreted as the glacio-eustatic response to orbital-forcing and assumed to have an average duration of 405 Kyr corresponding to the long-eccentricity orbital cycle. The sequences are referred to as “stratons” and calibrated in the orbital time scale of Matthews and Al-Husseini (2010, abbreviated M&H-2010). An independent study by Huang et al. (2010) counted nearly 33 cycles of 405-Kyr in a deep-marine Aptian succession in the Piobicco core in central Italy. The Italian cycles and Arabian stratons can be correlated in GTS 2004 by the position and age of the oceanic anoxic event OAE1a (Selli Interval, ca. 124.5–123.1 Ma). Two lowermost Aptian stratons and at least nine upper Aptian ones show stratigraphic geometries that imply 40–50 m box-like drops in relative sea level. They provide evidence for the formation of an ice sheet, mainly in Antarctica, that held several 10s of meters sea-level equivalent. The ca. 5-Myr-long late Aptian drop started at Global SB Apt 5 (ca. 117.9 Ma), which correlates to a major eccentricity minimum predicted at 118.2 Ma in the M&H-2010 scale. Similar minima are predicted to recur every 14.58 Myr (36 × 405 Kyr), and to cause major glacio-eustatic drops and regional sequence boundaries (SB). The youngest SB 0 is predicted at 1.586 Ma, and SB 8 (118.2 = 1.586 + 8 × 14.58 Ma) is interpreted to have triggered the late Aptian glaciation. The M&H-2010 scale was tested against the high-resolution sea-level curve derived from benthic foraminiferal δ18O isotopes for the late Miocene to Holocene (9.25– 0.0 Ma, Miller et al., 2005, abbreviated Metal-2005). Antarctica’s glacio-eustatic signature is interpreted as high-frequency sea-level fluctuations with a period of 41 Kyr (obliquity) above -20 m relative to present-day sea level. The fluctuations ride up-and-down on longer-period sea-level cycles (transgression-regression) with amplitudes of 20–40 m. The cycles are bounded by prominent lowstands, have durations of 325–545 Kyr, and an average duration of 405 Kyr. Sequence Boundary SB 0 (predicted at 1.586 Ma) is interpreted at 1.54 Ma, and correlated to Calabrian Global sequence boundary Cala1 (1.54 Ma).

scholarly journals Arabian Orbital Stratigraphy revisited – AROS 2015

GeoArabia ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 183-216
Author(s):  
Moujahed I. Al-Husseini
Keyword(s):  
Time Scale ◽  
Published Data ◽  
Orbital Forcing ◽  
Before Present ◽  
Geological Time ◽  
Geological Time Scale ◽  
Depositional Sequences ◽  
Sequence Boundaries ◽  
Orbital Cycle

ABSTRACT ‘Arabian Orbital Stratigraphy’ (AROS) is an R&D program aimed at dating Arabia’s transgressive-regressive (T-R) depositional sequences using the ‘Orbital Scale’ of Matthews and Al-Husseini (2010). The scale consists of time-rock units named ‘orbitons’, ‘dozons’ and ‘stratons’ that are tuned by orbital-forcing of glacio-eustasy. Orbitons have durations of 14.58 million years (Myr), and are bounded by regional sequence boundaries (SB, hiatus, unconformity, disconformity, lowstand deposits). Orbiton 1 was deposited between SB 1 at 16.166 million years before present (Ma) and SB 0 (zero) at 1.586 Ma. The interval between SB 0 and the Precambrian/Cambrian Boundary (PCB) consists of 37 orbitons; at least 30 can be identified in Arabia based on published data. SB 37 is predicted at 541.046 Ma (1.586 + 37 × 14.58 Myr), and correlates to the PCB, calibrated in Oman at 541.0 Ma. An orbiton consists of 36 stratons. Stratons are T-R sequences that tracked the long-eccentricity orbital cycle (E-cycle). The age of base Straton 1 is 0.371 Ma. Their durations can range between about 300 thousand years (Kyr) and 550 Kyr, but average 405 Kyr over several million years. The Phanerozoic Era consists of 1,336 stratons that are typically referred to as 4th-order sequences or cycle sets. Approximately 200 stratons are identified in this paper, and tentatively dated in the Orbital Scale. An orbiton also consists of three dozons, which are generally bounded by regional SBs. Dozons typically consist of 12 stratons (4.86 Myr). Examples of dozons are illustrated in this paper for the Permian–Triassic in Arabia. AROS predicts ages for Arabian and global T-R sequences that are deterministic, and they may be more accurate than those estimated by the Geological Time Scale GTS 2015. The paper proposes that the global T-R sequences should be recast in terms of stratons (E-cycles), and that stratons be used to calibrate biostratigraphy, magneto-stratigraphy and other global stratigraphic markers in future GTSs.

Progress in assessment of the Anthropocene Series in the Geological Time Scale (GTS)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin N. Waters ◽  
Jan Zalasiewicz ◽  
Mark Williams
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Time Scale ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Temporal Variations ◽  
Earth System ◽  
Geological Time ◽  
Geological Time Scale ◽  
Geologic Time ◽  
Species Invasions ◽  
Geologic Time Scale

<p>The Anthropocene as a concept originated in 2000, suggested by Paul Crutzen in an Earth System science context. Only later was it considered as a putative geological series, including in GTS2012 (Zalasiewicz et al. 2012). This was barely three years after the establishment of the Anthropocene Working Group (AWG), tasked by the Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy to examine the Anthropocene for potential inclusion in the GTS and to formulate a definition. In GTS2012 a likely generalised stratigraphic signature was postulated to comprise: a) lithostratigraphic signals, both direct modification of the landscape and indirect influences on sedimentary facies through rapidly modifying drivers; b) sequence stratigraphic signals due to modern sea-level rises, envisaging a near-future marine transgression; c) biostratigraphic signals through increased extinction rates, range changes especially through unprecedented rates of species invasions; and d) chemostratigraphic signals including inorganic and organic contaminants, isotopic shifts of carbon and nitrogen and fallout from nuclear bomb testing. By the time of GTS2020 (Zalasiewicz et al. 2020), not only could specific examples of temporal variations in many of these proxies be demonstrated, but also numerous new proxies, such as inorganic crystalline mineral-like compounds, microplastics, fuel ash and black carbon had been demonstrated and more information was available on the scale of human terraforming of landscape and anthropogenic modification of river systems. Further, the intervening eight years had seen a strengthening of the evidence of climate warming, sea-level rise and ocean acidification.</p><p>In GTS2012, three levels for the beginning of the Anthropocene were considered: the Early Holocene; the onset of the Industrial Revolution; and the mid-20<sup>th</sup> century, and only the first option was definitively excluded. GTS 2020 was able to report the findings of the AWG that the Anthropocene represented “geological reality”, was best considered at epoch level, should be linked with the plethora of proxies that initiate or show marked perturbations at around the 1950s and is best defined using a GSSP. In GTS2020, the ongoing task of researching potential GSSP candidate sections for the Anthropocene Series was also outlined and this work is anticipated to be completed by 2022. The eleven current sites encompass diverse environments that will best preserve the extensive range of proxies suitable for characterising the prospective Holocene–Anthropocene transition. All sections will be in borehole/drill cores, most showing annually resolved laminations that can be independently dated radiometrically to confirm a complete succession extending back to pre-Industrial times. The strengths and weaknesses of distinct environments are discussed in GTS2020 for lake deposits, marine anoxic basins, estuaries and deltas, speleothems, glacial ice, coral reefs, trees and peat. The evidence collected already suggests that the Anthropocene may be widely recognised and delineated as a sharply distinctive chronostratigraphic unit reflecting major Earth System change that will have geologically lasting consequences.</p><p>Zalasiewicz, J., Crutzen, P.J. & Steffen, W. 2012. Chapter 32: The Anthropocene. The Geologic Time Scale 2012. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-59425-9.00032-9 </p><p>Zalasiewicz, J., Waters, C. & Williams, M. 2020. Chapter 31: The Anthropocene. The Geologic Time Scale 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-824360-2.00031-0</p>

Neogene and Quaternary coexisting in the geological time scale: The inclusive compromise

2009 ◽  
Vol 96 (4) ◽  
pp. 249-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian McGowran ◽  
Bill Berggren ◽  
Frits Hilgen ◽  
Fritz Steininger ◽  
Marie-Pierre Aubry ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Scale ◽  
Geological Time ◽  
Geological Time Scale

Biostratigraphy of Paleocene-Eocene deposits of the Ukrainian Carpathians based on planktonic foraminifera

2021 ◽  
Vol 3-4 (185-186) ◽  
pp. 56-64
Author(s):  
Svitlana Hnylko
Keyword(s):  
Benthic Foraminifera ◽  
Time Scale ◽  
Planktonic Foraminifera ◽  
Complete Sequence ◽  
Geological Time ◽  
Geological Time Scale ◽  
The Carpathians ◽  
Geological Maps ◽  
Sponge Spicules

Paleogene deposits are the main reservoir of hydrocarbon resources in the Carpathians and creation of the modern stratigraphic scheme of these deposits is the basis for improving the efficiency of geological search works. The reliable stratification is a necessary precondition for the preparation of geological maps. Stratification of the Paleocene–Eocene sediments is provided by foraminifera, nannoplankton, dinocysts, radiolarians, sponge spicules, palynoflora. Planktonic foraminifera is the main stratigraphic group of the Paleogene fauna. In the predominantly non-calcareous flysch of the Paleocene–Eocene of the Carpathians, mainly agglutinated benthic foraminifera of siliceous composition are developed. Planktonic foraminifera are distributed locally – in calcareous facies. The most complete sequence of Paleocene–Eocene planktonic foraminifera is represented in the Metova Formation (the Vezhany nappe of the Inner Carpathians). The results of own researches of natural sections of sediments distributed within the Magursky, Monastyretsky and Vezhany nappes of the Ukrainian Carpathians together with the analysis of literature sources are used. The article presents a generalized biozonal division of the Paleocene–Eocene of the Ukrainian Carpathians by planktonic foraminifera. On the basis of certain correlation levels, a comparison with the Geological Time Scale was made. The Parvularugoglobigerina eugubina Zone (lowermost Danian), Globoconusa daubjergensis Zone (middle Danian), Praemurica inconstans Zone (upper Danian); Morozovella angulata Zone (lower Selandian); Globanomalina pseudomenardii Zone fnd Acarinina acarinata Zone (upper Selandian–Thanetian); Morozovella subbotinae Zone (lower Ypresian), Morozovella aragonensis Zone (upper Ypresian); Acarinina bullbrooki Zone (lower Lutetian), Acarinina rotundimarginata Zone (upper Lutetian); Hantkenina alabamensis Zone (Bartonian); Globigerinatheka tropicalis Zone (lower Priabonian) and Subbotina corpulenta Zone (upper Priabonian) based on planktonic foraminifera are characterized in studied deposits.

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