bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Phanerozoic cycles of sea-level change on the Arabian Platform
Authors: Haq Bilal U. , Al-Qahtani Abdul Motaleb 
Published: October 2021

ABSTRACT
The Arabian Plate has experienced a complex tectonic history while also being widely influenced by eustatic sea-level changes. These diastrophic events either affected changes in the rate and/or location of subsidence that in turn led to the creation of significant new sedimentary accommodation, or caused major erosional hiatuses. As a result, both eustasy and tectonics have played important roles in the development of sedimentary sequences and in determining the locus and characteristics of reservoir, source and seal facies on the Arabian Platform. Here, we present a synthesis (Cycle Chart) of the regional sea-level fluctuations affecting the Platform that is based on Phanerozoic epi- and peri-Platform sequence-stratigraphic data. Information used for the synthesis includes sections from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the Greater Gulf area, Oman and Yemen. The regional Cycle Chart incorporates interpreted sedimentary onlap patterns on the margins of the Arabian Platform, as well as models of regional sea-level fluctuations that controlled these patterns. These are compared to eustatic data that represents the ‘global-mean’ models of sea-level changes, largely at second-order cycle level for the Paleozoic and third-order cycle level for the Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras. The comparisons reveal that Phanerozoic sediment accumulation patterns on the Platform were broadly controlled by eustasy, with a strong overprint of tectonics for several long intervals. During periods of tectonic quiescence, however, correlations with the eustatic events improve significantly. Thus, for example, during the Cambrian through early Silurian and mid Jurassic through early Paleogene intervals eustasy may have been the significant controlling factor for sedimentary patterns when long-term trends in both regional and global sea-level curves show similarities.
The use of the Cycle Chart could facilitate exploration efforts on the Arabian Platform, provide better chronostratigraphic estimates and global correlations, and prove a useful accompaniment for sequence-stratigraphic studies. This integrative effort was greatly facilitated by the recent publication of the sequence stratigraphic synthesis of the Arabian Plate. The ages of Maximum Flooding Surfaces, however, have been recalibrated to the new (GTS 2004) time scale. This synthesis also represents a new recalibration of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic eustatic curves of Haq et al. (1988) to an up-to-date numerical time scale (GTS 2004).
Generation, migration, accumulation, and dissipation of oil in Northern Iraq
Authors: Dunnington H.V. 
Published: October 2021

ABSTRACT
Most of the known oil accumulations of Northern Iraq probably originated by upward migration from earlier, deeper accumulations which were initially housed in stratigraphic or long-established structural traps, and which are now largely depleted. The earlier concentrations had their source in basinal sediments, into which the porous, primary-reservoir limestones pass at modest distances east of the present fields. Development of the region favored lateral migration from different basinal areas of Upper Jurassic and Lower-Middle Cretaceous time into different areas of primary accumulation.
Important factors affecting primary accumulation included: (1) early emergence and porosity improvement of the reservoir limestones, followed by burial under seal-capable sediments; (2) the timely imposition of heavy and increasing depositional loads on the source sediments, and the progressive marginward advance of such loads; (3) progressive steepening of gradients trending upward from source to accumulation area; (4) limitation of the reservoir formations on the up-dip margin by truncation or by porosity trap conditions. In late Tertiary time, large-scale folding caused adjustments within the primary reservoirs, and associated fracturing permitted eventual escape to higher limestone reservoirs, or to dissipation at surface.
The sulfurous, non-commercial crudes of Miocene and Upper Cretaceous reservoirs in the Qaiyarah area are thought to stem from basinal radiolarian Upper Jurassic sediments, which lie down dip, a few tens of miles east of these fields. Upper Cretaceous oils of Ain Zalah and Butmah drained upward from primary accumulations in Middle Cretaceous limestones, which were filled from basinal sediments of Lower Cretaceous age situated in a localized trough a few miles northeast of these structures. The huge Kirkuk accumulation, now housed in Eocene-Oligocene limestones, ascended from a precedent accumulation in porous Middle-Lower Cretaceous limestones, which drew its oil from globigerinal-radiolarian shales and limestones of the contemporaneous basin, a short distance east of the present field limits.
Eocene-Oligocene globigerinal sediments, considered by some the obvious source material for Kirkuk oil, seemingly provided little or no part of the present accumulation. The reservoir formation may have been filled from these sources, to lose its oil by surface dissipation during the erosional episode preceding Lower Fars deposition. Upper Cretaceous basinal sediments probably contributed nothing to known oil field accumulations, though they may have subscribed to the spectacular impregnations of some exposed, Upper Cretaceous reef-type limestones. Neither Miocene nor pre-Upper Jurassic sediments have played any discernible role in providing oil to any producing field. Indigenous oils are thought to be negligible in the limestone-reservoir formations considered.
Ostracods of the Permian-Triassic Khuff Formation, Saudi Arabia: palaeoecology and palaeobiogeography
Authors: Crasquin-Soleau Sylvie , Vaslet Denis , Le Nindre Yves-Michel 
Published: October 2021

ABSTRACTOstracods were recovered for the first time from outcrops of the Permian-Triassic Khuff Formation in central Saudi Arabia. The fauna is exceptional in that the Khuff lithofacies were not considered favourable for their development and preservation. This ostracod fauna positions the Triassic-Permian Boundary between the Lower and Upper Khartam members of the Khuff Formation. The palaeoecological analysis shows that the Saudi Arabian Permian ostracods are typical of a shallow, intertropical, warm-water setting. The evolution of the ostracods is directly linked with variations of sea level, and particularly the two Late Permian maximum flooding events: (1) at the base of the Midhnab Member (MFI PKm), and (2) within the Lower Khartam Member (MFI PKk). Some of the species discovered in the Saudi Arabian outcrops are known from other countries. The provincialism index (PI) was used to establish the palaeobiogeographic relationships between different Palaeo-Tethyan areas. A schematic model of oceanic currents is proposed to explain the spreading of species.
Arabian Plate sequence stratigraphy: Potential implications for global chronostratigraphy
Authors: Simmons Michael D. , Sharland Peter R. , Casey David M. , Davies Roger B. , Sutcliffe Owen E. 
Published: October 2021

ABSTRACTThe ability to recognise and correlate third-order depositional sequences across Arabia and between Arabia and other plates indicates that these sequences are driven by synchronous eustatic sea-level change. This is of value in providing guidance for the definitions of stages, which are the fundamental units of chronostratigraphy. Each Phanerozoic stage requires a Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP), which is a location and specific bedding plane where the base of each stage is defined. This definition is tied to an event in the rock record useful for correlation. Progress in defining GSSPs has been delayed because of difficulties in choosing the most appropriate event and section to relate to a definition. It is recommended here that stage boundaries be related to correlative conformities of sequence boundaries. This closely links chronostratigraphy with sequence stratigraphy and honours the original concepts upon which many stages were first described in the 19th Century.
Application of Thomeer Hyperbolas to decode the pore systems, facies and reservoir properties of the Upper Jurassic Arab D Limestone, Ghawar field, Saudi Arabia: A “Rosetta Stone” approach
Authors: Clerke Edward A. , Mueller Harry W. , Phillips Eugene Craig , Eyvazzadeh Ramsin Y. , Jones David H. , Ramamoorthy Raghu , Srivastava Ashok 
Published: October 2021

ABSTRACT
We investigated the basic geological and petrophysical properties of the multimodal pore systems in the Arab D limestone facies in Ghawar field, Saudi Arabia. The study used more than 500 mercury injection capillary pressure (MICP) data, which were type-curve matched using Thomeer Hyperbolas. The new MICP sample data were drawn from 10 cored wells that transect the Ghawar field from north to south and from a previous fieldwide study with 125 MICP samples. These 500 samples have a very rich statistical foundation in that they were selected using only random decimation within each of the facies from more than 3,500 core plugs all with assigned facies. In addition to MICP data and facies, a former, smaller sample set had both facies and Dunham texture codes. A new view of these pore systems emerged, that is built upon the intrinsic, fundamental and separate maximum pore-throat diameter modal elements named porositons. Porositons are stable, recurring and intrinsic modes in the maximum pore-throat diameter of the carbonate pore systems. Analytical results derived from the MICP data showed that the pore systems of the Arab D limestones can be classified based on porositons. The benefits of this new classification are demonstrated by considering in detail the relationships to geological facies, well-log responses, permeability modeling and simple nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) well-log response. By analogy to the decoding of the Egyptian hieroglyphics using the Rosetta Stone, the use of porositons enables strong connections to be made between the geological facies, petrophysical and reservoir-flow properties of these complex carbonate rocks. The relationships between the new pore systems categories and the facies were thoroughly tested using north-south field trends.
Salt tectonics in the Thumrait area, in the southern part of the South Oman Salt Basin: Implications for mini-basin evolution
Authors: Al-Barwani Badar , McClay Ken 
Published: October 2021

ABSRACT
The Upper Proterozoic - Lower Cambrian South Oman Salt Basin contains exploration targets consisting principally of slabs of carbonate encased within the infra-Cambrian Ara Salt. The southern part of the South Oman Salt Basin was reviewed by using a 40 by 50 km 3-D seismic survey, 30 2-D regional seismic lines and 15 wells. The study focused on the evolution of the Ara Salt in relation to the overlying lower Paleozoic Nimr, Mahatta Humaid and Ghudun groups. Deformation of the thick sequence of Ara Salt dominated the history of mini-basins or “Haima pods” that developed above the salt. The syn-kinematic, predominantly clastic units of the Nimr and overlying Mahatta Humaid groups were deposited in the mini-basins above the Ara Salt. These sequences vary greatly in thickness due to salt movement. In seismic cross-sections, the Ara Salt is opaque, and obscured by seismic multiples generated by sub-horizontal reflectors higher in the section. Where internal geometries are imaged, however, complex internal structures are commonly observed. The Ara Salt structures evolved through several stages of deformation that were driven mainly by phases of sediment progradation from the west and northwest. Four main evolutionary phases for the mini-basins have been identified. Pre-existing topography and regional faults also played a role in triggering and delineating the regional salt trends. The basin has retained much the same shape from the Devonian Period until today. In contrast, in northern Oman, six salt domes have pierced the surface due to the reactivation of major basement faults during the late Palaeozoic.
The Mesozoic of Afghanistan
Authors: Montenat Christian 
Published: October 2021

ABSTRACT
This paper is a review of the geology of the widely distributed Mesozoic rocks of Afghanistan. The country is a mosaic of structural blocks in a variety of geodynamic settings that were juxtaposed during the evolution of the Tethyan Ocean; the Mesozoic sedimentary, volcanic, and plutonic rocks therefore differ greatly from one block to another. Because of the adverse security situation, fieldwork has not been possible since the late 1970s and the data used in this review are therefore relatively old but are the best available. Interest in the geology of Afghanistan remains strong due to its position between the mountain chains of the Middle East and the collisional ranges of the Pamirs and Himalayas. A special feature of Tethyan geodynamics is the presence of Cimmerian (latest Triassic to earliest Cretaceous) continental blocks, microcontinents, or terranes located between the Eurasian and Indian landmasses. They are fragments of Gondwana inserted between the Paleo- and Neo-Tethys during the Mesozoic. This complex part of the Tethyan realm is well exposed in Afghanistan where the effects of the Indo-Eurasian collision were less intense than in regions of frontal collision, such as the Pamir and Himalayan ranges. It is for this reason that Afghanistan is of particular geodynamic interest and a key region in the understanding of the genesis and evolution of the Tethyan system during the Mesozoic.
Palaeomagnetism of the Mahatta Humaid Group (Cambrian – Early Ordovician, Oman), including a re-interpretation of previous Neoproterozoic palaeomagnetic data
Authors: Vizán Haroldo , Turner Peter , Millson John A. , Ixer Rob A. 
Published: October 2021

ABSTRACTWe carried out a palaeomagnetic study in the Al-Huqf region (Sultanate of Oman) on rocks that belong to different units of the Cambrian – Ordovician Mahatta Humaid Group. Thirty-nine samples were systematically collected from a succession ca. 520–495 Ma old. Seventeen samples showed characteristic remanent magnetization components with two antipodal polarities carried by hematite. Evidence suggests that these components have a primary origin. A detailed petrographic analysis revealed syntaxial overgrowths parallel to the easy plane of magnetization of the magnetic carriers that has probably enhanced and reinforced the primary magnetization. A palaeopole computed with the mean direction of the 17 characteristic remanent magnetization components was considered alongside previously published Neoproterozoic – early Palaeozoic palaeomagnetic data, which we placed in an updated chronostratigraphic framework for the Neoproterozoic – Cambrian Huqf Supergroup. Two interpretations were considered: (1) Oman was detached from the Arabian-Nubian craton until ca. 660 Ma, and it became attached (or was nearby) to it by ca. 630 Ma. In this interpretation, an apparent polar wander (APW) path of Arabia is proposed between ca. 630 and 500 Ma. The palaeomagnetic directions of Mirbat obtained by Killner et al. (2005) in rocks 720–660 Ma old are therefore assumed as primary, and taking into account that Oman was an independent block of the Arabian-Nubian craton, the corresponding palaeopole is not considered in the proposed segment of the Arabian APW path. (2) The Neoproterozoic data belong to two different tectonic blocks within the Arabian-Nubian craton and were involved in left-lateral, strike-slip movements along NW-trending faults. One block included the localities of Al Jabal al-Akhdar and Al-Huqf and may have rotated counter-clockwise c. 45° about a vertical axis between ca. 600 and 500 Ma. The other block included the locality of Mirbat and rotated counter-clockwise c. 25° about a vertical axis between ca. 600 and 550 Ma. These suggested block rotations may have played a role in generating the underlying fabrics for some of the sedimentary basins in Oman. In the second model, the rocks sampled by Killner et al. (2005) in Mirbat were re-magnetized during the intrusion of dike swarms at ca. 615–600 Ma.
Cenomanian - Turonian rudist assemblages and sequence stratigraphy on the North Sinai carbonate shelf, Egypt
Authors: Saber Shaban Ghanem , Salama Yasser F. , Scott Robert W. , Abdel-Gawad Gouda Ismail , Aly Mohamed Fouad 
Published: October 2021

ABSTRACT
The Middle to Upper Cenomanian Halal and Turonian Wata formations crop out at Gabal Minsherah, Gabal Yelleg and Gabal Maaza in the northern Sinai Peninsula, Egypt. This paper describes the rudist assemblages of the two formations in a sequence stratigraphic framework. Tabular thickets of conical to cylindrical elevator radiolitid rudists were the most common benthic type on the northern Cenomanian – Turonian Sinai shelf. The thickets were either single beds or multiple beds intercalated with marl or packstone. Most biostromes were laterally restricted and do not extend to nearby outcrops. The Cenomanian rudist biostromes are thin and composed mainly of several species of Radiolitidae and less common Caprinidae together with coralline sponges and benthic foraminifers. The Turonian rudist biostromes are composed of several species of Radiolitidae.
The Cenomanian Halal Formation grades upward from basal quartz arenite into bioclastic-oolitic grainstone overlain by bioclastic packstone and wackestone. Dolomite beds are part of the highstand facies. The Formation is composed of transgressive-regressive Halal Sequences 1 and 2. The base of the overlying Wata Formation is Sequence Boundary 3 at the base of Wata Sequence 3, which is Lower to Middle Turonian. The sequence boundary between the Halal and the Wata is marl-on-marl with Upper Cenomanian ammonites overlain by a condensed interval with ammonites of several Lower Turonian zones that are particularly well exposed at Gabal Minsherah. The boundary is interpreted by graphic correlation as a million-year-long hiatus after which carbonate deposition resumed and low-diversity rudist assemblages recovered. The hiatus is correlated to the global anoxic event OAE 2. Following OAE 2 carbonate deposition resumed and produced microfacies similar to those of the Cenomanian. The Upper Turonian Wata Formation is composed of Wata Sequences 4 and 5.
Sequence-stratigraphic interpretation of structurally controlled deposition: Middle Miocene Kareem Formation, southwestern Gulf of Suez, Egypt
Authors: Abd El-Naby Ahmed I.M. , Ghanem Hussam , Boukhary Mohamed , Abd El-Aal Mohamed H. , Lüning Sebastian , Kuss Jochen 
Published: October 2021

ABSTRACT
The structural evolution and sequence-stratigraphic architecture of the syn-rift Middle Miocene (Langhian) Kareem Formation were studied in the Western Sub-Basin (WSB) of the Gulf of Suez, Egypt. Biostratigraphic data, facies interpretations, and log data from thirteen wells were used to construct six tectono-sedimentary scenarios and lithofacies-distribution maps, which illustrate the paleogeography during six systems tracts. Abrupt thickness and facies changes reflect deep basins and adjacent high-relief areas created by differential fault-block movements. Within the WSB seven individual fault blocks record complex, tectonically controlled deposition of the Kareem Formation, which we subdivide into two third-order sequences. Earlier tectonic interpretations, facies analysis, and stratigraphic correlations from individual fault blocks were used to interpret the varying depositional settings during six systems tracts and, as a consequence, to discern the structural evolution of the WSB during the Middle Miocene.
Heavy mineral stratigraphy of the Unayzah Formation and Basal Khuff Clastics (Carboniferous to Permian) of Central Saudi Arabia
Authors: Knox Robert W.O’B. , Cocker Joshua D. , Filatoff John 
Published: October 2021

ABSTRACT
A study of heavy mineral assemblages in the Unayzah Reservoir sandstones of Central Saudi Arabia has identified successive changes in provenance signature. These define four heavy mineral units that are of regional extent and largely coincident with the four main depositional units defined by previous authors: Unayzah C, Unayzah B, Unayzah A and the Basal Khuff Clastics. Sandstone bodies with anomalous mineral signatures also occur, however, especially within the Unayzah B Member. These are attributed to local supply of sand from pre-Unayzah Paleozoic sandstones exposed on the Central Arabian Arch and on intra-basinal highs.
The stratigraphic changes in mineralogy reflect successive developments in the geography and climate of the region and in the pattern of sand sourcing and transport. The Unayzah C sands and the majority of Unayzah B sands were derived from the south but whereas the southerly derived Unayzah C sands appear to have been derived from pre-existing mature sandstones, those of Unayzah B were sourced from a wider range of rock types including crystalline basement. This contrast is interpreted as indicating that a significant hiatus may separate the two units. The Unayzah B sands are also characterised by the common presence of apatite, indicating that the source rocks were relatively unweathered. This observation is compatible with the glacial origin attributed to many of the Unayzah B sediments.
A further change in provenance signature takes place at the base of the newly recognised ‘un-named middle Unayzah member’, equivalent to the basal part of Unayzah A of previous authors. This is associated with the onset of red-bed sedimentation throughout the area. Unayzah A sedimentation was terminated by a fall in sea level that led to the formation of a widespread unconformity and to the development of deeply incised valleys along the western basin margin. In most of the study area this unconformity corresponds to the base of the Khuff Formation, but in the east of the area, where the succession is more complete, it is believed to occur within the Unayzah Formation, at a level equivalent to the base of the Upper Gharif Member of Oman.
By identifying lateral and vertical changes in sand provenance, heavy mineral analysis provides an important additional tool in the stratigraphic analysis of the Permian sandstone succession of Saudi Arabia, both at the regional scale and at the scale of individual reservoir sandstone successions.
Tournaisian (Mississippian) brachiopods from the Mobarak Formation, North Iran
Authors: Bahrammanesh Maryamnaz , Angiolini Lucia , Antonelli Anselmo Alessandro , Aghababalou Babak , Gaetani Maurizio 
Published: October 2021

ABSTRACTFollowing detailed stratigraphic work on the Mississippian marlstone and bioclastic limestone of the Mobarak Formation of the Alborz Mountains in North Iran, forty-eight of the most important brachiopod taxa are here systematically described and illustrated. The ranges of the taxa are given along the Abrendan and Simeh Kuh stratigraphic sections, located north of Damgham. The examined brachiopod species date the base of the Mobarak Formation to the Tournaisian, in absence of age-diagnostic foraminifers. Change in brachiopod settling preferences indicates a shift from high energy, shallow-water settings with high nutrient supply in the lower part of the formation to quieter, soft, but not soppy substrates, with lower nutrient supply in the middle part of the Mobarak Formation. Brachiopod occurrence is instead scanty at its top. The palaeobiogeographic affinity of the Tournaisian brachiopods from North Iran indicates a closer relationship to North America, Western Europe and the Russian Platform than to cold-water Australian faunas, confirming the affinity of the other biota of the Alborz Mountains. This can be explained by the occurrence of warm surface-current gyres widely distributing brachiopod larvae across the Palaeotethys Ocean, where North Iran as other peri-Gondwanan blocks acted as staging-posts.