bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Late Ediacaran to early Cambrian (Infracambrian) Jibalah Group of Saudi Arabia
Authors: Al-Husseini Moujahed 
Published: October 2021

ABSTRACT
This paper is one of a series that document the Neoproterozoic – Cambrian rock units in the Middle East Geologic Time Scale. It is focused on the oldest sedimentary succession in Saudi Arabia, the late Ediacaran – early Cambrian (Infracambrian) Jibalah Group (ca. 585 to 530–520 Ma). The group crops out in disconnected, pull-apart basins (ca. 10–100 km long and up to 20 km wide) along the NW-trending, strike-slip Najd Fault System in the Arabian Shield. It was described and mapped in the 1960s to 1980s, and several formations were defined and named in two areas separated by ca. 400 km. The stratigraphic successions in these two areas have not been correlated, nor has their relationship to the subsurface been resolved. This paper reviews the nomenclature, type sections, lithologies and ages of the formations and members (sometimes units and/or facies) of the Jibalah Group.
The Jibalah Group unconformably overlies the Ediacaran Shammar Group (ca. 620–585 Ma, consisting mainly of rhyolite or granitic plutons), or older Proterozoic rocks. The age of the intervening Sub-Jibalah Unconformity is here estimated at ca. 585 Ma based on radiometric data and regional correlations. The lower part of the Jibalah Group is defined in the northern Arabian Shield in the Mashhad area, where it consists of three formations, in ascending order: (1) undated Rubtayn Formation, divided informally into the “Volcanic Conglomerate Member” (up to ca. 700 m thick), “Polymictic Conglomerate Member” (up to ca. 1,500 m thick) and “Sandstone Member” (up to ca. 1,000 m thick); (2) poorly dated Badayi Formation consisting of andesite-basalt flows (ca. 150 m thick); (3) undated Muraykhah Formation (330–370 m thick) consisting of the informal “Cherty Limestone Member” (ca. 135 m thick), “Siltstone and Mudstone Member” (ca. 20 m thick) and “Dolomitic Limestone Member” (ca. 135–175 m thick).
The Rubtayn, Badayi and Muraykhah formations in the northern Arabian Shield, by stratigraphic position and lithology, correspond to the Umm Al ‘Aisah Formation in the Najd pull-apart basins of the central Arabian Shield. In particular, the Cherty Limestone unit (300–500 m thick) of the Umm Al ‘Aisah Formation is correlated to the Muraykhah Formation, which represents a marine flooding event. Above the Muraykhah Formation, the uppermost part of the group is defined in the central Arabian Shield by the undated Jifn Formation (up to ca. 2,500 m thick). The Jibalah Group is unconformably overlain by the lower Cambrian Siq Sandstone Formation (Asfar Sequence), and the intervening Sub-Siq Unconformity (Angudan Unconformity) has an estimated age between ca. 530–520 Ma.
Toarcian and Bajocian ammonites from the Haushi-Huqf Massif of southwestern Oman and the Hawasina Nappes of the Oman Mountains: Implications for paleoecology and paleobiogeography
Authors: Énay Raymond 
Published: October 2021

ABSTRACT
New and rare Jurassic ammonites have been found in Oman. A latest Bajocian Arabian Platform-type species was discovered in the Haushi-Huqf Massif autochthon of southwestern Oman, and Bajocian species typical of the Mediterranean Tethys and northwestern Europe were found in the Kawr-Misfah exotic unit of the Hawasina Nappes in the Oman Mountains.
The dates provided by the new fauna have resulted in a reinterpretation of the geologic history of the containing rocks, and of their paleoecology and paleobiogeography. It is significant that ammonites from shallow-marine environments of the Arabian Platform are in close proximity to species from open-sea environments of the Mediterranean Tethys and northwestern Europe. This shows that endemism of the Arabian Province resulted from ecological isolation, whereas open-marine environments on the Oman margin, especially the pelagic seamounts off the margin, form part of a migration route between western and eastern Tethys (or Indo-Southwest Pacific), and perhaps far beyond. The occurrences among the Tethyan and pandemic components of ammonite faunas in the Canadian Pacific Cordillera of most of the taxa of the open-marine environments on the Oman margin reopens the question of Pacific biogeography during the Early Jurassic before the Hispanic oceanic corridor was completely open. Among the proposed models, the Pantropic Distribution Model of Newton is examined in the light of the Cretaceous paleobiogeography, with particular reference to rudists.
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: Issautier Benoît , Nindre Yves-Michel Le , Memesh Abdullah , Dini Saleh , Viseur Sophie 
Published: October 2021

ABSTRACT
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.
Facies, sequence stratigraphy and reservoir/seal potential of a Jilh Formation outcrop equivalent (Wadi Sahtan, Triassic, Upper Mahil Member, Sultanate of Oman)
Authors: Obermaier Michael , Aigner Thomas , Forke Holger C. 
Published: October 2021

ABSTRACT
The investigated Middle to Upper Triassic Upper Mahil Member, representing a Jilh outcrop equivalent in the Northern Oman Mountains, illustrates the proximal portion of a flat epeiric carbonate ramp. A sedimentological study of well-exposed outcrops in Wadi Sahtan may serve as a reference section for a sequence-stratigraphic framework and detailed facies description of the Upper Mahil Member. It also provides an insight into the seal and reservoir potential of carbonates in a low-accommodation inner ramp setting.
Outcrop observations and thin section analyses yielded 14 different lithofacies types ranging from a supratidal marsh to high-energy subtidal shoal environment. Vertical facies stacking patterns show three basic small-scale cycle motifs (fifth-order). While mud-rich backshoal cycles with claystone intercalations and rooted/bioturbated mud-/wackestones illustrate potential baffles and seal units around the center of the Upper Mahil, potential reservoir units occur stratigraphically in the upper part of the formation. There, a few meter-thick trough cross-bedded oolitic-/peloidal-rich grainstone depicts maximum accommodation within backshoal to shoal cycle types below the erosional base-Jurassic unconformity.
The investigated outcrop section in Wadi Sahtan was subdivided into nine almost complete third-order sequences. Two to four of these sequences are further stacked into three second-order super-sequences which are well reflected in the gamma-ray pattern. The highest reservoir potential occurs around second-order maximum floodings. Internal seals can be observed at third-order sequence boundaries where shales and muddy carbonates are up to 20 m thick.
A regional correlation with subsurface data from Yibal and Lekhwair in Oman shows that the apparent thickness changes in the Upper Mahil (Jilh) are mainly determined by the Late Triassic/Early Jurassic erosional truncation. The occurrence of thick anhydrite units in the subsurface indicates a more proximal setting towards the southwest.
Early diagenesis of Late Cretaceous chalk-chert-phosphorite hardgrounds in Jordan: Implications for sedimentation on a Coniacian-Campanian pelagic ramp
Authors: Powell John H. , Moh’d Basem K. 
Published: October 2021

ABSTRACT
Hardgrounds and omission surfaces are rare in the predominantly pelagic and hemi-pelagic chalk, chert and phosphorite lithofacies association that forms the Upper Cretaceous (Coniacian to Maastrichtian) Belqa Group succession in central Jordan. However, newly-described hardgrounds of regional extent at the base of the Dhiban Chalk Member (Campanian) in central and south Jordan reveal a complex history of sedimentation and early diagenesis. Following drowning of the Turonian carbonate platform during the Coniacian, the chalk-chert-phosphorite association was deposited on a pelagic ramp in fluctuating water depths. The Mujib Chalk and Dhiban Chalk members represent highstand sea levels, separated by a regressive, lowstand chert-rich unit (Tafilah Member). Hardground successions can be traced over 100 km, and show an early diagenetic history of phosphatisation and biogenic silica lithification from opal-A to opal-CT and quartz that resulted in penecontemporaneous chert deformation, followed by submarine bioerosion and colonisation by corals and/or bivalves. Subsequent deposition of detrital, remanié phosphatic chalk passing up into pelagic coccolith-rich ooze reflects a transgressive third-order sea-level rise during the Early Campanian. These events provide a time-frame for early silica diagenesis and subsequent hardground development. Regional variations in the hardground successions and their early diagenesis are attributed to their precursor host sediment and relative palaeogeographic position on a homoclinal ramp at the southern margin of the Neo-Tethys Ocean.
Middle to Upper Khuff (Sequences KS1 to KS4) outcrop-equivalents in the Oman Mountains:Grainstone architecture on a subregional scale
Authors: Koehrer Bastian , Aigner Thomas , Forke Holger , Pöppelreiter Michael 
Published: October 2021

ABSTRACT
The upper part of the Saiq and lower part of the Mahil formations in the Oman Mountains represent outcrop time-equivalents to the highly prolific, hydrocarbon-bearing subsurface Middle and Upper members of the Khuff Formation (K4-K1 reservoir intervals). In this study, four outcrops sections on the northern flank of the Oman Mountains (Al Jabal al-Akhdar region) are sedimentologically documented and integrated with the sequence-stratigraphic scheme initially developed at the Saiq Plateau reference section.
The focus of this study is the description of the distribution and textural variation of grainstones as potential reservoir facies on a subregional (ca. 60 x 40 km) scale. Stratigraphic cross-sections are constructed based on two sequence-stratigraphic orders: (1) one second-order supersequence (DS2 18) that provides a well-constrained general framework and (2) four third-order depositional sequences (KS1-KS4), within which subtle temporal and spatial variations of grainstones occur. From these correlations predictive rules and correlation lengths of shoal bodies are extracted.
The presence of Khuff grainstones is strongly governed by stratigraphic position. Thicker and more abundant grainstones are present during the early transgressive (KS4) and late regressive (KS1) portions of the supersequence. Thinner and less abundant grainstones are present during the late transgression (KS3 and lower KS2) and early regression (upper KS2). They are absent around the second-order zone of maximum flooding (middle KS2). High lateral continuity of correlated cycle sets is observed, suggesting the absence of significant tectonic activity of the area during the Late Permian and Early Triassic.
Integrated litho-, bio-and sequence stratigraphy provides a robust framework for correlation on a regional scale (ca. 700 km). The Oman Mountains area shows a more distal facies pattern on the Khuff platform compared with other Khuff reservoir sections in the region. This is especially evident around KS2 maximum flooding with muddy foreshoal and offshoal deposits in contrast to mainly oolitic shoal deposits in the Musandam (UAE) and offshore Fars (Iran) area.
Palynology and alluvial architecture in the Permian Umm Irna Formation, Dead Sea, Jordan
Authors: Stephenson Michael H. , Powell John H. 
Published: October 2021

ABSTRACT
A series of lithofacies associations are defined for the Permian Umm Irna Formation indicating deposition in a fluvial regime characterised by low-sinuosity channels with deposition on point bars, and as stacked small-scale braided channels. Umm Irna Formation floodplain interfluves were characterised by low-energy sheet-flood deposits, shallow lakes and ponds, and peaty mires. Floodplain sediments, where not waterlogged, are generally pedogenically altered red-beds with ferralitic palaeosols, indicating a fluctuating groundwater table and humid to semi-arid climate. The Dead Sea outcrop provides a field analogue for similar fluvial and paralic depositional environments described for the upper Gharif Formation alluvial plain ‘Type Environment P2’ in the subsurface in Oman and the upper the basal clastics of the Khuff Formation at outcrop and in the subsurface in Central Saudi Arabia. Coarse-grained clasts within channel sandstones are mineralogically immature; their palaeocurrent directions and new evidence of glaciogenic sediments from Central Saudi Arabia suggests derivation from Pennsylvanian–Early Permian glaciofluvial outwash sandstones located to the east-southeast.
The palynology of the Umm Irna Formation is remarkably varied. Samples from argillaceous beds of fluvial origin appear to contain a palynomorph representation of the wider hinterland of the drainage basin of the river including floodplain plants and more distant communities. In restricted water bodies like oxbow lakes or other impermanent stagnant floodplain ponds and peaty mires (immature coals), a higher proportion of purely local palynomorphs appear to be preserved in associated sediments. One of the assemblages representing local plant communities displays a Cathaysian palaeophytographic affinity, while others from similar levels within the Umm Irna Formation present a Gondwanan affinity. This indicates the risk of generalisation from single borehole or limited outcrop studies.
The presence of Protohaploxypinus uttingii suggests an age range of Wordian–Capitanian to early Wuchiapingian (Middle to early Late Permian) for the Umm Irna Formation. The quantitative character of the Umm Irna Formation assemblages is very close to those of the basal Khuff clastics in the Central Saudi Arabian wells Dilam-1, Nuayyim-2 and Haradh-51. The lithological character and palynology of the transition between the Sa’ad and Arqov formations in the West Bank, west of the Dead Sea are similar to those of the transition between the Umm Irna Formation and overlying Ma’in Formation in Jordan.
Khuff Sequence KS5 outcrop-equivalents in the Oman Mountains, Sultanate of Oman: Variations to the simple “layer-cake” stratigraphy
Authors: Walz Lisa , Aigner Thomas , Koehrer Bastian 
Published: October 2021

ABSTRACT
The Khuff Formation is a major producer of non-associated gas and an exploration target in the Middle East. The Middle Permian to Lower Triassic Khuff carbonates were deposited on a gently inclined epeiric carbonate ramp, which formed on the margin of the Neo-Tethys Ocean. The formation represents a supersequence consisting of transgressive-regressive sequences KS6 to KS1 from oldest to youngest. This paper focuses on a detailed sedimentological analysis of Khuff Sequence KS5 in outcrops in Al Jabal al-Akhdar in the Oman Mountains, Sultanate of Oman. Based on the sedimentological analysis of five outcrop sections, 11 facies types were identified in KS5. These were grouped into six facies associations, which represent environments ranging from a tidal flat to offshoal. Based on the 1-D analysis of sequences and their stacking patterns, 2-D correlations were constructed on a scale of several tens of kilometers. These correlations were used to build the framework for 3-D facies models.
In contrast to the typical “layer-cake”-type Upper Khuff sequences KS4 to KS1 in terms of facies associations and cyclicity prominent lateral facies association changes and thickness variations are common in KS5, which makes correlation challenging. Different correlation strategies were tested, all resulting in complex cycle and stratal geometries with cycle pinch-outs and apparent cycle set downlaps/onlaps. Due to the dynamic depositional changes throughout KS5, the lateral extent of shoal-associated grainstones is limited. The appearance of these potential reservoir bodies is mainly governed by paleogeography and stratigraphic position. The observed depositional patterns represent significant variations from a rather simple “layer-cake”-type stratigraphic architecture and are possibly due to effects of differential subsidence on a subregional scale. This study contributes to a more detailed understanding of the Lower Khuff’s reservoir distribution and continuity, which is a key to ensuring future success in Khuff exploration and the efficient recovery in producing fields.
Calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy of Eocene oil shales from central Jordan
Authors: Alqudah Mohammad , Hussein Mohammad Ali , Podlaha Olaf G. , den Boorn Sander van , Kolonic Sadat , Mutterlose Jörg 
Published: October 2021

ABSTRACTCretaceous and Paleogene marls, rich in total organic carbon, are widespread throughout Jordan and adjoining areas. Based on planktonic foraminifera these oil shales have been assigned a late Campanian–Paleocene age in previous studies. For the current analysis a total of 283 smear slides from five wells in central Jordan have been investigated for calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy. Findings suggest a much more differentiated age model of the oil shales than previously proposed. The oil shales studied contain abundant calcareous nannofossil taxa of Eocene age along with varying abundances of Maastrichtian and Paleocene taxa. The encountered marker species Rhomboaster cuspis, Tribrachiatus bramlettei, Tribrachiatus orthostylus, Discoaster lodoensis, Coccolithus crassus, Discoaster sublodoensis, Nannotetrina quadrata, Reticulofenestra umbilicus and Chiasmolithus solitus, indicate an Early to Middle Eocene age, while the presence of Maastrichtian and Paleocene forms suggests major reworking. The presence of Cretaceous taxa reflects either subaerial erosive input from the hinterland or submarine reworking of Cretaceous strata within the basin. The highly variable amount of reworked material and associated deposition rates in the basin may represent changes in the tectonic setting during the Eocene. We propose that the high abundances of Cretaceous and Paleocene taxa reflect an increase in accommodation space by active graben flank movements. A dominance of Eocene taxa, on the other hand, indicates either periods of little accommodation space due to graben infill or inversion-type movements of the graben itself. In any case, the youngest Eocene and autochthonous taxa represent shallower or low topography graben phases.
Gravity anomalies of the United Arab Emirates: Implications for basement structures and infra-Cambrian salt distribution
Authors: Ali Mohammed Y. , Watts Anthony B. , Farid Asam 
Published: October 2021

ABSTRACT
Gravity measurements onshore and offshore of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have been used to construct a new Bouguer gravity anomaly map of the region. The gravity data, which has been gridded at 2,700 m × 2,700 m interval, has been used to constrain the tectonic elements, major lineation trends and structures of the Neoproterozoic basement of the Arabian Plate and the distribution of infra-Cambrian salt basins. Advanced transformation techniques (including first vertical derivative, total horizontal derivative, tilt derivative and Euler deconvolution) were applied to identify gravity source edges as an aid to structural interpretation and geological modelling of the study area.
Three major structural provinces (fold-and-thrust belt, foreland and salt tectonic provinces) were identified based on the residual Bouguer gravity anomaly field. The eastern fold-and-thrust belt province is associated with short-wavelength positive gravity anomalies, which are attributed to the allochthonous series of the Semail Ophiolite and its related thrust sheets. The central foreland basin province is characterised by NNW-oriented negative gravity anomalies associated with deepening of the basement and thickening of Aruma and Pabdeh sediments in the foredeep basins and flexure of the top and base of the crust by the load of the Semail Ophiolite. The western salt tectonic province displays well-defined local gravity lows superimposed on a regional gravity high, which probably reflects the swelling of infra-Cambrian salt above a shallowing of the basement and thinning of the foredeep sediments. In addition, gravity modelling constrained by seismic and well data indicates the presence of substantial infra-Cambrian salt bodies in all basins of the UAE both onshore and offshore including the southern area of the Rub’ Al-Khali Basin.
An extensive array of previously unmapped N-S, NW- and SW-trending lineaments affecting the basement and possibly overlying sediments are mapped in the UAE. The N-S Arabian trending lineament represents the effect of a major structure, along which many important oilfields are located (e.g. Bu Hasa). The SW trend has regular spacing and is dominant in the southern and central part of Abu Dhabi, east of the Falaha syncline. The NW-SE lineament is the most striking and includes two well-defined trends that cross Abu Dhabi Emirate, which in this paper are named as the Abu Dhabi Lineaments. These lineaments are associated with a linear gravity high extending from the southwestern border with Oman to the offshore close to Zakum oilfield. They are probably related to the Najd Fault System.