scholarly journals An Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous carbonate platform from the Vâlcan Mountains (Southern Carpathians, Romania): paleoenvironmental interpretation

2012 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mihai Michetiuc ◽  
Camelia Catincuţ ◽  
Ioan Bucur

An Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous carbonate platform from the Vâlcan Mountains (Southern Carpathians, Romania): paleoenvironmental interpretationThe results of a biostratigraphic and sedimentological study of the Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous limestones cropping out in the southern sector of the Vâlcan Mountains in Romania are presented, including the definition of microfacies types, fossil assemblages and environmental interpretation. Six microfacies types (MFT 1-MFT 6) have been identified, each of them pointing to a specific depositional environment. The deposits are characteristic of a shallow carbonate platform. They contain normal marine or restricted marine facies deposited in low or high energy environments from the inner, middle and outer platform. The age attribution of these deposits (Late Jurassic to Berriasian-Valanginian-?Hauterivian, and Barremian) is based on foraminiferal and calcareous algae associations. The micropaleontological assemblage is exceptionally rich in the Vâlcan Mountains and brings new arguments for dating the Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous limestones in this area.

GeoArabia ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 545-578 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geraint Wyn Hughes

ABSTRACT The Aptian Shu’aiba Formation forms a major carbonate reservoir in the Shaybah field of eastern Saudi Arabia. Lack of exposures and poor seismic data have forced the cored intervals to be fully exploited to provide evidence of the depositional environment and layering of the reservoir rocks and associated lithofacies. Rudist, foraminiferal and coccolith evidence indicates an Aptian age for the entire Formation, most of it being early Aptian. A major unconformity at the top of the Shu’aiba separates it from the overlying Nahr Umr Formation. Rapid biofacies variations suggest possible sequence boundaries within the Shu’aiba Formation. Semi-quantitative macropaleontological and micropaleontological analyses indicate significant paleoenvironmentally influenced lateral and vertical bioassemblage variations. Lagoon, rudist-associated back-bank, bank-crest and fore-bank, and upper-ramp depositional environments have been interpreted, of which the bank represents the gradual amalgamation of earlier isolated rudist shoals. Integrating the micropaleontological analyses with rudist assemblages has facilitated the prediction of rudist-associated reservoir facies. Variations in the micro- and macrofacies permit the Formation to be divided into three layers. (1) The “lower Shu’aiba” (without rudists) is dominated by a regionally extensive, moderately deep marine planktonic foraminiferal/algal association of Palorbitolina lenticularis-Hedbergella delrioensis-Lithocodium aggregatum and the benthonic foraminifera Debarina hahounerensis, Praechrysalidina infracretacea, Vercorsella arenata and rotalids. (2) The “middle Shu’aiba” shows the significant lateral and vertical differentiation of a rudist-rimmed shallow carbonate platform typically associated with a marine highstand. A predominance of rudist species Glossomyophorus costatus and Offneria murgensis occurs together with Lithocodium aggregatum, Palorbitolina lenticularis, Trocholina spp. and miliolid foraminifera. (3) The “upper Shu’aiba” represents an expansion of the lagoon (associated with a marine transgression), and a predominance of Agriopleura cf. blumenbachi and A. cf. marticensis rudists, together with Debarina hahounerensis, Praechrysalidina infracretacea and Vercorsella arenata. The localized distribution of the rudist Horiopleura cf. distefanoi in association with corals, is a feature of the eastern flank of the field. A coarse assemblage-based biozonation for the Shu’aiba has been proposed, but a detailed scheme is precluded by rapid diachronous biofacies variations across the Shaybah field. In addition to the major biocomponent assemblages, minor variations reveal high-frequency depositional cycles that may assist in the interpretation of the distribution and correlation of reservoir facies. The identification of bioassemblages, and the paleoenvironmental interpretation of formation micro-imager logs from vertical cores in exploration wells, has assisted the calibration of images from uncored horizontal development wells.


2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 182 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Photiades ◽  
N. Carras ◽  
V. Bortolotti ◽  
M. Fazzuoli ◽  
G. Principi

Three stratigraphical sections from eastern Vourinos (Rhodiani area) to eastern Vermion massifs revealed the same age of the latérite events affecting the serpentinized ophiolite complex after its emplacement on the Pelagonian domain. All of them consist from their base upwards of serpentinized harzburgite slivers with lateritic unconformities on the top, followed by transgressive upper Lower Cretaceous neritic limestones. At Kteni locality (Rhodiani area), a laterite horizon, lying on top of serpentinites, is covered by transgressive neritic limestones with Salpingoporella urladanasi, assigning a Barremian - Albian age, followed by Orbitolinidae limestones. At Tsimodia locality (NNW to the previous), the latente horizon, lying on karstified Upper Jurassic reef limestones (which are the top member of a carbonate platform body tectonically lying on the ophiolites), is trans gres s ively overlain by iron-rich pisolith levels and Aptian limestones of the wackes tone-muds tone type, also containing Salpingoporella urladanasi, followed by Cenomanian Orbitolina limestones. Finally, the third examined locality, further north-eastward to the previous, is situated at the eastern slopes of Vermion massif and more precisely at the NWpart of Koumaria village. There, it can again be observed that the lateritized serpentinite slivers are overlain transgress ively by neritic limestones with Salpingoporella urladanasi, passing upwards into Upper Cretaceous recrystallized limestones with Orbitolinidae and rudist fragments and, finally, toflysch deposition. These features allow to recognize that the emersion and the consecutive lateritization of the thrust-emplaced ophiolites in Vourinos and Vermion massifs in the northern Pelagonian domain, starting from the Latest Jurassic, was followed by a marine transgression beginning from the Barremian - Albian, firstly under restricted and brackish carbonate platform conditions, marked by the presence of the dasycladalean alga Salpingoporella urladanasi, followed by normal salinity carbonate platform conditions. The neritic sedimentation was stable until the Early Cenomanian. Subsequently, a deepening, earlier at Vourinos and later at Vermion, resulted in deposition of pelagic and turbiditic carbonates and then offlysch.


2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 306-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Merve Özyurt ◽  
M. Ziya Kırmacı ◽  
Ihsan S. Al-Aasm

The Upper Jurassic – Lower Cretaceous Berdiga Formation of the Eastern Pontides, Turkey, represents a carbonate platform succession composed of pervasively dolomitized intra-shelf to deep-shelf facies. In this area, polymetallic deposits occur as veins and lenses within the Berdiga Formation in close proximity to its upper contact with the overlying formation. Three different types of replacive dolomites occur in the formation: (i) microcrystalline dolomite, (ii) fabric-preserving dolomite, and (iii) fabric-destructive dolomite. Replacive dolomites are Ca rich and nonstoichiometric (Ca56–58Mg42–44) and are characterized by a pronounced negative shift in oxygen (–11.38‰ to –4.05‰ Vienna Pee Dee Belemnite (VPDB)), δ13C values of 0.69‰ to 3.13‰ VPDB, radiogenic 87Sr/86Sr ratios (0.70753 to 0.70884), and extremely high Fe (2727–21 053 ppm) and Mn (1548–27 726 ppm) contents. All dolomite samples have low Y/Ho ratios (23–40), and they also contain highly variable contents of rare earth elements (REE) (7–41). REE patterns of dolomites normalized to Post-Archean Australian shale show a distinct positive Eu anomaly (1.3–2.1) and slightly flattened Ce anomalies (0.8–1.1). Integration of petrographic and geochemical studies reveals the history of a variety of diagenetic processes highly affected by hydrothermal alteration, which include dolomitization, recrystallization, dissolution, silicification, and pyrite mineralization associated with the emplacement of the polymetallic mineralization.


2004 ◽  
Vol 141 (3) ◽  
pp. 257-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
OSMAN PARLAK ◽  
ALASTAIR ROBERTSON

The Mersin Melange underlies the intact Mersin Ophiolite and its metamorphic sole to the south of the Mesozoic Tauride Carbonate Platform in southern Turkey. The Melange varies from chaotic melange to broken formation, in which some stratigraphic continuity can be recognized. Based on study of the broken formation, four lithological associations are recognized: (1) shallow-water platform association, dominated by Upper Palaeozoic–Lower Cretaceous neritic carbonates; (2) rift-related volcanogenic–terrigenous–pelagic association, mainly Upper Triassic andesitic–acidic volcanogenic rocks, siliciclastic gravity flows, basinal carbonates and radiolarites; (3) within-plate-type basalt–radiolarite–pelagic limestone association, interpreted as Upper Jurassic–Lower Cretaceous seamounts with associated radiolarian sediments and Upper Cretaceous pelagic carbonates; (4) ophiolite-derived association, including fragments of the Upper Cretaceous Mersin Ophiolite and its metamorphic sole. Locally, the ophiolitic melange includes granite that yielded a K/Ar radiometric age of 375.7±10.5 Ma (Late Devonian). This granite appears to be subduction influenced based on ‘immobile’ element composition.The Mersin Melange documents the following history: (1) Triassic rifting of the Tauride continent; (2) Jurassic–Cretaceous passive margin subsidence; (3) oceanic seamount genesis; (4) Cretaceous supra-subduction zone ophiolite genesis; (5) Late Cretaceous intra-oceanic convergence-metamorphic sole formation, and (6) latest Cretaceous emplacement onto the Tauride microcontinent and related backthrusting.Regional comparisons show that the restored Mersin Melange is similar to the Beyşehir–Hoyran Nappes further northwest and a northerly origin best fits the regional geological picture. These remnants of a North-Neotethys (Inner Tauride Ocean) were formed and emplaced to the north of the Tauride Carbonate Platform. They are dissimilar to melanges and related units in northern Syria, western Cyprus and southwestern Turkey, which are interpreted as remnants of a South-Neotethys. Early high-temperature ductile transport lineations within amphibolites of the metamorphic sole of the Mersin ophiolite are generally orientated E–W, possibly resulting from vertical-axis rotation of the ophiolite while still in an oceanic setting. By contrast, the commonly northward-facing later stage brittle structures are explained by backthrusting of the ophiolite and melange related to exhumation of the partially subducted northern leading edge of the Tauride continent.


Facies ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
L. M. Nieto ◽  
M. Reolid ◽  
F. J. Rodríguez-Tovar ◽  
J. M. Castro ◽  
J. M. Molina ◽  
...  

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