Effect of tectonic prominence and growth of the Arabian shield on Paleozoic sandstone successions in Saudi Arabia
- PDF / 602,939 Bytes
- 9 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 79 Downloads / 180 Views
ORIGINAL PAPER
Effect of tectonic prominence and growth of the Arabian shield on Paleozoic sandstone successions in Saudi Arabia Mohammad Eesa Al-Dabbagh
Received: 9 March 2011 / Accepted: 29 May 2011 / Published online: 15 June 2011 # Saudi Society for Geosciences 2011
Abstract Paleozoic successions in Saudi Arabia are exposed around and bordering the south, north, and northeastern edge of the Arabian shield. They are represented by the Wajid group in the south and by the Taymah, Tabuk, Qalibah, Huj, and Buraydah groups in the north and northeast. The Wajid group includes Dibsiyah, Sanamah, Khusayyan, and Juwayl formations. The Taymah group includes Siq, Amai’er, Quweira, Saq, and Qasim formations. The Tabuk group includes Zarqa, Sara, and Hawban formations. The Qalibah group includes Baq’a, Qusaiba, and Sharawra formations. The Huj group includes Tawil, Jauf, and Jubah formations. The Buraydah group includes Berwath, Unayzah, and Khuff formations. The Wajid group form one block in the south and the other groups form another block in the north, and they can be correlated. There are similarities between the northern belt which consists of the Cambro-Ordovician formations of the Tayma and Tabuk groups and the southern belt which consists of the Dibsiyah and Sanama formations of the Wajid group. Similarities include sandstone composition, sedimentary environment, paleocurrent directions, unconformities, tectonic events, and influence of Gondwana glaciations. These formations and probably some or all the rest of the Paleozoic formations used to form one block but later separated after erosion caused by gradual tectonic growth, uplift, and prominence of the Arabian shield. During early Paleozoic time, the process started by poststabilization then sedimentation and at a later stage the growth and uplift of the shield occurred gradually. Growth of shields is a fact and it is the only way to explain the exposure of the Wajid sandstone on top of the highest mountain of the shield which exceeds 3,000 m in As Sawdah in Asir area in
M. E. Al-Dabbagh (*) Department of Geology and Geophysics, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia e-mail: [email protected]
southwestern Saudi Arabia. The sandstone sediments of these outcrops were deposited on a low lying basin before been raised to this elevation. Keywords Prominence and growth of the Arabian Shield . Cambro - Ordovician Tabuk and Wajid groups
Introduction Many studies have been carried out on the Paleozoic of Arabia and North Africa. During the Paleozoic Era, Arabia was attached to and part of the African continent. They both form an important part of Gondwana. Paleozoic formations are exposed around and bordering the south, the north, and the northeastern edge of the Arabian shield. Paleozoic successions in Saudi Arabia have brought the attention of many geologists and oil exploration specialists in recent years (Mahmoud et al. 1992; McGillivray and Husseini 1992 and Wender et al. 1998). It became important and many specialists focused their att
Data Loading...
