Similarities in the Paleozoic successions of north Africa and Arabia and implications for petroleum exploration

Conference · Mon Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1988 · AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (USA)

OSTI ID:5720749

Clark-Lowes, D D ^[1]

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1. Scott Pickford and Associates Ltd., Surrey (England)

From field studies in southwest Libya and northwest Saudi Arabia, the facies of the Paleozoic succession of the north African/Arabian stable cratonic margin of Gondwanaland are interpreted as fluvial, estuarine, deltaic, shallow marine, and glacial deposits. The facies of the Saq and Tabuk Formations of Saudi Arabia bear witness to a sedimentary history that is very similar to that of north Africa, the Saq Formation (Cambrian-Arenig) being equivalent to the Hassaouna Formation of Libya and the Tabuk Formation being subdivided and correlated using well-dated shale members to the following formations: Haouaz (Llanvirn-Llandeilo), Melez-Chograne (Caradoc), Memouniat (Ashgill), Tanezzuft/Acacus (Llandovery-Ludlow), and Tadrart (Gedinnian -Emsian). The Cambrian-Ordovician succession comprises Nubian-type fluvial and estuarine sandstones which pass up to regressive deltaic/shallow marine sequences overlain by Upper Ordovician glacial deposits that lie in deeply incised paleovalleys recorded from Saudi Arabia and north Africa. The Silurian succession comprises the deposits of a postglacial marine transgression of vast lateral extent and a subsequent regression, the sandstones of which are markedly diachronous. The Lower Devonian succession comprises fining-upward retrogradational deltaic (transgressive) sequences of Nubian-type sandstones (fluvial to shallow marine) which form widespread blanket sandstone bodies. The prospectivity of these strata is well known from Algeria in the west to Jordan in the east, the Llandoverian oil-prone source rocks providing the key to Cambrian-Ordovician and Lower Devonian plays. The significance of underlying paleovalley-fill fluvioglacial sandstones as linear reservoir targets has yet to be fully appreciated.

• OSTI ID: 5720749
• Report Number(s): CONF-8809346--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (USA) Journal Volume: 72:8
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020200* -- Petroleum-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
AFRICA
ALLUVIAL DEPOSITS
ASIA
CAMBRIAN PERIOD
CARBONATE ROCKS
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
DEVONIAN PERIOD
EXPLORATION
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
LIBYA
MINERAL RESOURCES
ORDOVICIAN PERIOD
PALEOZOIC ERA
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
RESERVOIR ROCK
RESOURCES
ROCKS
SANDSTONES
SAUDI ARABIA
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
SHALES
SOURCE ROCKS