Continental margin evolution of the northern Arabian platform in Syria

Journal Article · Mon Feb 01 00:00:00 EST 1993 · AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (United States)

OSTI ID:6106720

Best, J A; Barazangi, M ^[1]; Al-Saad, D; Sawaf, T; Gebran, A ^[2]

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1. Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States)
2. Syrian Petroleum Company, Damascus (Syrian Arab Republic)

Synthesis of available geological and geophysical data in the Syrian Arab Republic permits a descriptive account of the pre-Cenozoic geologic history of the northern Arabian platform. The northern Arabian platform appears to be a composite plate similar up to that interpreted in the rocks of the Arabian shield. The structural and stratigraphic relationships of the Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary sections in Syria record the transformation of an eastward-facing Gondwana passive margin in the early Paleozoic into a westward-facing Levantine margin in the Mesozoic, at which time the northern platform was closely associated with the creation of the eastern Mediterranean basin. Timing of the margin transformation is inferred from the orientation and thickness variations of Lower Triassic rocks, but the transformation may have initiated as early as the Permian. The diversity and timing of geological features in Syria suggest that the northern Arabian platform did not behave as a rigid plate throughout its geological history. The present-day Palmyride mountain belt, located within the northern Arabian platform in Syria and initiated in the early Mesozoic as a northeast-trending rift nearly perpendicular to the Levantine margin, subsequently was inverted in the Cenozoic by transpression. The location of the rift may be associated with the reactivation of a zone of crustal weakness, i.e., a Proterozoic suture zone previously proposed from modeling of Bouguer gravity data. Thus, the northern and southern parts of the Arabian platform are similar in their respective geologic histories during the Proterozoic and Paleozoic; however, the northern Arabian platform was greatly affected by Mesozoic rifting and the creation of the eastern Mediterranean basin during the Mesozoic. 13 figs.

• OSTI ID: 6106720
• Journal Information: AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (United States), Vol. 77:2; ISSN 0149-1423
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
58 GEOSCIENCES
CONTINENTAL MARGIN
ORIGIN
SYRIA
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
BASEMENT ROCK
CENOZOIC ERA
GEOLOGIC FAULTS
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
GONDWANA
MESOZOIC ERA
PALEOZOIC ERA
PLATE TECTONICS
RIFT ZONES
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
ARAB COUNTRIES
ASIA
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC FRACTURES
MIDDLE EAST
ROCKS
TECTONICS
020200* - Petroleum- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
580000 - Geosciences