Stratigraphic Traps Generation in Abu Dhabi as a Consequence of Ensuing Late Cretaceous Plate Collision and Obduction at the Eastern Arabian Plate Margin

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernardo Jose Franco ◽  
Maria Agustina Celentano ◽  
Desdemona Magdalena Popa ◽  
Ahmed Taher ◽  
Mohamed Al-Shehhi
Keyword(s):  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Abu Dhabi ◽  
Arabian Plate ◽  
Plate Collision ◽  
Plate Margin

Regional Tectonics to Basin Fill Architecture from Aptian Shuaiba Fm to Miocene Fars Gp of Abu Dhabi

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernardo Jose Franco ◽  
Maria Agustina Celentano ◽  
Desdemona Magdalena Popa
Keyword(s):  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Foreland Basin ◽  
Late Eocene ◽  
Age Dating ◽  
Abu Dhabi ◽  
Arabian Plate ◽  
Accommodation Space ◽  
Climatic Disturbances

Abstract Objectives/Scope Aptian (Shuaiba-Bab) and Cenomanian (Mishrif-Shilaif) intra-shelf basins were extensively studied with their genesis focused on environmental/climatic disturbances (Vahrenkamp et al., 2015a). Additionally, local tectonic events can also affect the physiography of these basins, especially the Cenomanian intra-shelf basin subjected to NE compressional regime. As this ongoing regime increased at Late-Cretaceous and Miocene, it led to more tectonic-driven basin physiography. This paper investigates the areal extent, interaction, and commonalities between the extensional Aptian intra-shelf basin, compressional Late-Cretaceous intra-shelf basin, Late-Cretaceous-Paleogene foreland basin, and Late Oligocene-Miocene salt basin. Methods, Procedures, Process To understand the genesis, driving forces, and distribution of these basins, we used a combination of several large-scale stratigraphic well correlations and seismic, together with age dating, cores, and extensive well information (ADNOC proprietary internal reports). The methodology used this data for detailed mapping of 11 relevant time stratigraphic intervals, placing the mapped architecture in the context of the global eustatic sea level and major geodynamic events of the Arabian Plate. Results, Observations, Conclusions Aptian basin took place as a consequence of environmental/climatic disturbances (Vahrenkamp et al., 2015a). However, environmental factors alone cannot explain isolated carbonate build-ups on salt-related structures at the intra-shelf basin, offshore Abu Dhabi. Subsequently, the emplacement of thrust sheets of Tethyan rocks from NE, and following ophiolite obduction (Searle et al., 1990; Searle, 2007; Searle and Ali, 2009; Searle et al., 2014), established a compressional regime in the Albian?-Cenomanian. This induced tectonic features such as: loading-erosion on eastern Abu Dhabi, isolated carbonate build-ups, and reactivation of a N-S deep-rooted fault (possibly a continuation of Precambrian Amad basement ridge from KSA). This N-S feature was probably the main factor contributing the basin axis change from E-W Aptian trend to N-S position at Cenomanian. Further compression continued into the Coniacian-Santonian, leading to a nascent foreland basin. This compression established a foredeep in eastern Abu Dhabi, separated by a bulge from the northern extension of the eastern Rub’ Al-Khali basin (Ghurab syncline) (Patton and O'Connor, 1988). Numerous paleostructures were developed onshore Abu Dhabi, together with several small patch-reefs on offshore salt growing structures. Campanian exhibits maximum structuration associated to eastern transpression related to Masirah ophiolite obduction during India drift (Johnson et al., 2005, Filbrandt et al., 2006; Gaina et al., 2015). This caused more differentiation of the foredeep, onshore synclines, and northern paleostructures, which continued to cease through Maastrichtian. From Paleocene to Late-Eocene, paleostructure growth intensity continued decreasing and foreland basin hydrological restriction began with the Neotethys closure. Through Oligocene until Burdigalian this situation continued, where the Neotethys closed with the Zagros Orogeny (Sharland et al., 2001), causing a new environmental/climatic disturbances period. These disturbances prevented the continued progradation of the carbonate factory into the foredeep, leading to conspicuous platform-basin differentiation. Additionally, the Zagros orogeny tilted the plate northeastward, dismantling the paleostructures generated at Late-Cenomanian. Finally, during an arid climate in the Burdigalian to Middle-Miocene, the confined Neogene sea filled the foredeep accommodation space with massive evaporites. Novel/Additive Information Little has been published about the outline and architecture of these basins in Abu Dhabi and the detailed circumstances that led to their genesis using subsurface information.

The influence of Late Cretaceous tectonic processes on sedimentation patterns along the northeastern Arabian plate margin (Fars Province, SW Iran)

2010 ◽  
Vol 330 (1) ◽  
pp. 211-251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alireza Piryaei ◽  
John J. G. Reijmer ◽  
Frans S. P. van Buchem ◽  
Mohsen Yazdi-Moghadam ◽  
Jalil Sadouni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Arabian Plate ◽  
Fars Province ◽  
Tectonic Processes ◽  
Plate Margin ◽  
Sw Iran

A review of the tectonics of the northern Middle East region

1984 ◽  
Vol 121 (6) ◽  
pp. 577-587 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. E. R. Lovelock
Keyword(s):  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Kinematic Model ◽  
Continental Collision ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Plate Motion ◽  
Arabian Plate ◽  
Southern Boundary ◽  
The North ◽  
The Dead ◽  
Two Stages

AbstractThe structure of the northern part of the Arabian platform is reviewed in the light of hitherto unpublished exploration data and the presently accepted kinematic model of plate motion in the region. The Palmyra and Sinjar zones share a common history of development involving two stages of rifting, one in the Triassic–Jurassic and the other during late Cretaceous to early Tertiary times. Deformation of the Palmyra zone during the Mio-Pliocene is attributed to north–south compression on the eastern block of the Dead Sea transcurrent system which occurred after continental collision in the north in southeast Turkey. The asymmetry of the Palmyra zone is believed to result from northward underthrusting along the southern boundary facilitated by the presence of shallow Triassic evaporites. An important NW-SE cross-plate shear zone has been identified, which can be traced for 600 km and which controls the course of the River Euphrates over long distances in Syria and Iraq. Transcurrent motion along this zone resulted in the formation of narrow grabens during the late Cretaceous which were compressed during the Mio-Pliocene. To a large extent, present day structures in the region result from compressional reactivation of old lineaments within the Arabian plate by the transcurrent motion of the Dead Sea fault zone and subsequent continental collision.

scholarly journals Geochemistry of the Late Cretaceous Pandan Formation in Cebu Island, Central Philippines: Sediment contributions from the Australian plate margin during the Mesozoic

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 309-330
Author(s):  
Jerali D. Rodrigo ◽  
Jillian Aira S. Gabo‐Ratio ◽  
Karlo L. Queaño ◽  
Allan Gil S. Fernando ◽  
Leopoldo P. Silva ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Plate Margin ◽  
Australian Plate

A 3-D crustal model of the eastern Arabian plate margin below the Oman Ophiolite

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Weidle ◽  
Lars Wiesenberg ◽  
Amr El-Sharkawy ◽  
Thomas Meier ◽  
Frank Krüger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Shear Wave ◽  
Wave Velocity ◽  
Shear Wave Velocity ◽  
Arabian Plate ◽  
Eastern Coast ◽  
Moho Depth ◽  
Study Region ◽  
Oman Ophiolite ◽  
Oman Mountains ◽  
Plate Margin

<p>The Oman ophiolite is one of the best preserved and studied ophiolites, where oceanic lithosphere was obducted on top of a continent. It covers an area of about 700 x 140 km² but its 3D geometry, as well as the properties of the underlying continental lithosphere are largely unknown. We operated a temporary broadband seismic network with 40 instruments for continuous, passive seismic registration for 27 months, complemented by 18 permanent stations in the study region. Ambient noise cross-correlation functions are calculated for vertical and transverse components for all station pairs. We derive azimuthally anisotropic phase velocity maps for Rayleigh- and Love waves in the period range 2 – 40s which show velocity anomalies that are very consistent with geological features at the shortest periods (<10s). At longer periods (>15s) the velocity pattern subdivides the study region into a faster eastern and slower northwestern part below the Oman Mountains. </p><p>We then invert local dispersion curves to shear wave velocity profiles using a novel implementation of a radially anisotropic, probabilistic inversion. Combination of the obtained 1D models to a 3D model provides the first three-dimensional view of shear wave velocity variations along the Eastern Arabian Plate margin. The model highlights at shallow levels strong lateral velocity contrasts between unconsolidated young sediments south of the Oman Mountains (slow) and areas covered by ophiolite and where autochtonous shelf sediments are exposed (fast).</p><p>At middle to lower crustal levels, we image linearly northeast trending velocity contrasts that we attribute to assembly of the Arabian plate in late Proterozoic. These features are overprinted by obduction-related convergence in late Cretaceous with thickening of the middle to lower crust below the Oman mountains. Moho depth is around 40-45km northwest of Semail Gap but shallows significantly east of it to 20km at the eastern coast. This is largely in consistency with independent estimates from Receiver Functions calculated with the same data.</p>

scholarly journals Kinematic interpretation and structural evolution of North Oman, Block 6, since the Late Cretaceous and implications for timing of hydrocarbon migration into Cretaceous reservoirs

GeoArabia ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacek B. Filbrandt ◽  
Salah Al-Dhahab ◽  
Abdullah Al-Habsy ◽  
Kester Harris ◽  
John Keating ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Seismic Velocity ◽  
Horizontal Stress ◽  
Arabian Plate ◽  
Late Cenozoic ◽  
Oblique Collision ◽  
Oman Mountains ◽  
Structural Style ◽  
Platform Margin ◽  
Maximum Horizontal Stress

ABSTRACT On the basis of structural style and differences in Late Cretaceous evolution, the carbonate platform in northern Oman and the allochthonous wedge comprising deepwater sediments and oceanic crust in the Oman Mountains form distinct structural domains. Imbrication associated with the emplacement of the Semail Ophiolite and predominantly SW-verging thrusting of the Arabian Platform margin culminated in the late early Campanian. The structural grain of NW-trending thrust faults and contractional folds contrasts markedly with the style and grain of the region immediately south of the Oman Mountains (our study area) and implies strong strain partitioning. Kinematic indicators from subsurface data, combined with the age of growth faulting, provide the basis for the interpretation that maximum horizontal stress was oriented NW-SE in this foreland region rather than NE-SW during the Campanian. The dominant tectonic control on the formation of faults is believed to have been an oblique “collision” of the Indian Continent with the Arabian Plate during the Santonian-Campanian. Deformation in this domain was dominated by distributed strike-slip and normal faulting. This period of faulting was significant for two reasons: (1) The faults both enhanced existing structures and formed new traps. They also allowed vertical migration of hydrocarbons from Palaeozoic reservoirs (e.g. Haushi clastic accumulations) into Shu’aiba and Natih carbonates above. Until that time, some 75 Ma ago, oil was retained in Late Palaeozoic and older traps. This period of deformation is a “Critical Event” within the context of Oman’s hydrocarbon distribution.(2) Faults with NNW and WNW orientations that developed at that time appear to be directly associated with important fracture systems that affect the productivity of several giant fields comprising Natih and Shu’aiba carbonate reservoirs (e.g. Lekhwair, Saih Rawl). Following this tectonic event, late Maastrichtian to Palaeocene uplift and erosion in excess of 1,000 m, is recorded by truncation of the Aruma Group and Natih Formation, as well as part of the Shu’aiba Formation below the base Cenozoic unconformity. Seismic velocity and porosity anomalies from Lekhwair field in the northwest to the Huqf-Haushi High in the southeast, provide additional support for the areal distribution of this event. Around the Lekhwair and Dhulaima fields, the circular to elliptical subcrop pattern below this unconformity does not support the notion of a peripheral bulge related to the emplacement of the allochthon. The stress field changed during the late Cenozoic with the opening of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, and the collision of the Arabian Plate with the Iranian Plate. NE-SW-oriented maximum horizontal stress during the late Cenozoic led to the formation of major folds resulting in, for example, the surface anticlines over the Natih and Fahud fields as well as causing inversion along the Maradi Fault Zone. This may also have led to the uplift of the Oman Mountains. The regional northerly subsidence caused by crustal loading of the Arabian Plate gently tilted traps during the Pliocene-Pleistocene from Lekhwair to Fahud.

Chapter 5 Tectonic evolution of the Oman Mountains

10.1144/m54.5 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-103
Author(s):  
Andreas Scharf ◽  
Frank Mattern ◽  
Mohammed Al-Wardi ◽  
Gianluca Frijia ◽  
Daniel Moraetis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Subduction Zone ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Tectonic Evolution ◽  
Oceanic Lithosphere ◽  
Passive Margin ◽  
Arabian Plate ◽  
Continental Lithosphere ◽  
Oman Mountains ◽  
Semail Ophiolite ◽  
Arabian Platform

AbstractThe tectonic evolution of the Oman Mountains as of the Neoproterozoic begins with a major extensional event, the Neoproterozoic Abu Mahara rifting. It was followed by the compressional Nabitah event, still during the Neoproterozoic, in Oman but possibly not in the study area. During the earliest Cambrian, the Jabal Akhdar area was affected by the Cadomian Orogeny, marked by NE--SW shortening. It is unclear, whether the Saih Hatat area was exposed to the Cadomian deformation, too. Still during the lower Cambrian, the Angudan Orogeny followed, characterized by NW--SE shortening. An episode of rifting affected the Saih Hatat area during the mid-Ordovician. During the mid-Carboniferous, both dome areas were deformed by tilting and large-scale open folding in the course of the ‘Hercynian’ event. As a consequence, a major unconformity formed. As another Late Paleozoic event, the Permian break-up of Pangaea and subsequent formation of the Hawasina ocean basin, are recorded in the Southeastern Oman Mountains. As a result, a passive margin formed which existed until the mid-Cretaceous, characterized by deposition of mostly shelfal carbonates. This interval of general tectonic quiescence was interrupted during the early Jurassic by uplift and tilting of the Arabian Platform. The platform collapsed during the late Cretaceous, related to the arrival of the obducted allochthonous nappes including the Semail Ophiolite, transforming the passive margin to an active margin.The Semail Ophiolite formed most likely above a subduction zone within the Neo-Tethys Ocean during the Cenomanian while parts of the Arabian Plate were subducted to the NE. Formation of oceanic lithosphere and SW-thrusting was broadly coeval, resulting in ophiolite obduction onto the Hawasina Basin. The Semail Ophiolite and the Hawasina rocks combined were thrust further onto the Arabian Plate. Their load created a foreland basin and forebulge within the Arabian Platform. Once the continental lithosphere of the Arabian Platform was forced into the subduction zone, a tear between the dense oceanic lithosphere and the buoyant continental lithosphere developed. This led to rapid uplift and exhumation of subducted continental lithosphere of the Saih Hatat area, while obduction was still going on, causing in multiple and intense folding/thrusting within the eastern Saih Hatat Dome. Exhumation of the Saih Hatat Dome was massive. The emplacement of the ophiolite was completed during the Campanian/Maastrichtian. For completeness, we also present alternative models for the developmental history of the Semail Ophiolite.Immediately after emplacement, the Arabian lithosphere underwent intense top-to-the-NE extensional shearing. Most of the Saih Hatat Dome was exhumed during the latest Cretaceous to Early Eocene, associated with major extensional shearing at its flanks. Further convergence during the late Eocene to Miocene resulted in exhumation of the Jabal Akhdar Dome and some gentle exhumation of the Saih Hatat Dome, shaping the present-day Southeastern Oman Mountains. In the coastal area, east and SE of the Saih Hatat Dome, some late Cretaceous to present-day uplift is evident by, e.g., uplifted marine terraces. The entire Oman Mountains are uplifting today, which is evident by the massive wadi incision into various rock units, including wadi deposits which may form overhangs.

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