Koeshidayatulah, A, Al-Ramadan, K, Collier, REL et al. (1 more author) (2016) Variations in architecture and cyclicity in fault-bounded carbonate platforms: Early Miocene Red Sea Rift, NW Saudi Arabia. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 70. pp. 77-92. ISSN 0264-8172
Abstract
The Early Miocene was a period of active rifting and carbonate platform development in the Midyan Peninsula, NW Saudi Arabia. However, there is no published literatures available dealing with detail characterization of the different carbonate platforms in this study area. Therefore, this study aims at presenting new stratigraphic architectural models that illustrate the formation of different carbonate platforms in the region and its forcing mechanisms that likely drove their formation. This study identified the following features formed during active rifting: a) a Late Aquitanian (N4) fault-block hangingwall dipslope carbonate ramp b) a Late Burdigalian (N7-N8) isolated normal fault-controlled carbonate platform with associated slope deposits, and c) a Late Burdigalian (N7-N8) attached fault-bounded, rimmed shelf developed on a footwall fault-tip within a basin margin structural relay zone formed coinciding with the second stage of rifting. Variations in cyclicity have been observed within the internal stratigraphic architecture of each platform and also between platforms. High-resolution sequence stratigraphic analysis show parasequences observed as the smallest depositional packages (meter-scale cycles) within the platforms. The hangingwall dipslope carbonate ramp and the attached platform demonstrate aggradational-progradational parasequence stacking patterns. These locations appear to have been more sensitive to eustatic cyclicities, despite the active tectonic setting. The isolated, fault-controlled carbonate platform reveals disorganized stratal geometries in both platform-top and slope facies, suggesting a more complex interplay of rates of tectonic uplift and subsidence, variation in carbonate productivity, and resedimentation of carbonates, such that any sea-level cyclicity is obscure. This study explores the interplay between different forcing mechanisms in the evolution of carbonate platforms in active extensional tectonic regions. Characterization of detailed parasequence-scale internal architecture allows the spatial variation in syn-depositional relative base-level changes to be inferred and is critical for understanding the development of rift basin carbonate platforms. Such concepts may be useful for the prediction of subsurface facies relationships beyond interwell areas in hydrocarbon exploration and reservoir modeling activities.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2015, Elsevier Ltd. This is an author produced version of a paper accepted for publication in Marine and Petroleum Geology. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Red Sea; syn-rift; carbonate platform; stratigraphic architecture; parasequence stacking |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Institute for Applied Geosciences (IAG) (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 17 Nov 2015 10:15 |
Last Modified: | 01 Nov 2016 21:32 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2015.10.017 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2015.10.017 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:91835 |