Khaled Moumani - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Khaled Moumani
Geological Society, London, Special Publications
This contribution addresses the current state of knowledge of the mainly siliciclastic Ordovician... more This contribution addresses the current state of knowledge of the mainly siliciclastic Ordovician rocks in Jordan, Syria and southern Turkey, including advances in palaeontology, stratigraphy, depositional facies analysis and supra-regional correlation. The extensive and excellent exposures of the sedimentary succession in southern Jordan represent the regional reference for the Ordovician System in the southern Levant. We discuss the sedimentological and faunal characteristics as well as the stratigraphy and correlation of the succession. For the northern Levant (especially southeastern Turkey) and the western and eastern Taurides, the Ordovician succession and an updated sedimentary architecture is explained, and a comprehensive correlation for the region is presented. Increased knowledge on the fossil content from these regions enables correlation across the southern parts of the Arabian Plate to southern Turkey, and with the greater Gondwanan regions, far field as southwestern E...
Geobios, 2019
The fauna and facies of the Hiswah Formation in southern Jordan were investigated. The formation ... more The fauna and facies of the Hiswah Formation in southern Jordan were investigated. The formation indicates deposition under low energy, open-marine, siliciclastic shelf conditions and reflects the maximum of the first regional post-Cambrian marine transgression on the northern edge of the Arabian-Nubian Shield. This eustatic signal accompanied by a maximum flooding surface can be traced over the entire Arabian Plate and Turkey. The lower part of the Hiswah Fm. consists of pelagic mudstones with only occasional thin beds of rippled hummocky cross-bedded siltstone and mudstone concretions, and contains a distinct fauna of low diversity. The upper part of the formation is characterized by sandstone-siltstone alternations with some hummocky cross-stratification in its lower portion and trough crossbedding and ripple marks above indicating somewhat shallower conditions. A very detailed re-investigation of the fauna from the lower part of the Hiswah Fm. and extensive new fossil material indicates that the most remarkable faunal element is the planktonic graptolite Didymograptus murchisoni (Beck in Murchison, 1839) which, in the past, has been determined erroneously as D. bifidus (Hall in Berry, 1962). Numerous specimens of small obolid brachiopod Palaeoglossa sp. cf. P. attenuata (Sowerby, 1839) represent the most common benthic element within the Hiswah fauna. The exceptional arthropod Hanadirella cf. bramkampi El-Khayal, 1985, is reported for the first time from Jordan, representing its fifth known region of occurrence in addition to Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Spain, and France. For the first time, cephalopod remains are described from the Ordovician of Jordan by the occurrence of ?Dideroceras sp. and a second, indeterminate species. The biostratigraphic age of the Hiswah fauna is revised to late Darriwilian (Dw 3, upper Middle Ordovician) according to our re-investigation of the graptolites. The Hiswah fauna represents the oldest body fossils of the Ordovician marine sedimentation in southern Jordan and is palaeogeographically strongly related to northern and northeastern Saudi-Arabia and to high/mid-latitude Gondwana margins in general. Abbreviations: n.p.not preserved for convincing measurements.
Petrographic, mineralogical and geochemical investigations were carried out on representative sam... more Petrographic, mineralogical and geochemical investigations were carried out on representative samples from the Mudawwara-Quwayra Dike (MQD) in southern Jordan. The MQD intruded Pa-leozoic and Cretaceous rocks as sub-vertical basaltic plugs, striking NW-SE along a fault zone and extending for more than 100 km. The MQD forms irregularly positive features, and is represented by symmetrical, elliptical, elongated or circular hills. It comprises thin basaltic layers intercalated with pyroclastics and inclusions of different size and lithology, including limestone, sandstone, phosphate, quartzite, and marble. Petrographically, the rock exhibits phyric, porphyritic, vitro-phyric and locally glomerophyritic textures manifested by plagioclase, clinopyroxene and rare oli-vine and set in a matrix of plagioclase, pyroxene, brown glass and opaque phases. Clinopyroxene and olivine phenocyrsts show disequilibrium textures such as reaction/resorbed rims in the forms of corroded ends. The parageneti...
The phosphorites of Jabal Kabid (Campanian-Maastrichtian), crops out along the southeastern exten... more The phosphorites of Jabal Kabid (Campanian-Maastrichtian), crops out along the southeastern extension of Ras En Naqab Batn Al Ghul escarpments, are up to 20 m thick and unconformably overlie the Upper Cretaceous-Batn Al Ghul Group. The phosphorite sequence in the study area shows lateral variations in lithology, thickness and distribution of the phosphorite beds. Generally, phosphates at these localities form approximately 50% of the sequence and occur as beds, up to 1.4 m thick. The petrographic studies indicate the presence of phosphate pellets, bone fragments, fish teeth, and phosphate intraclasts. The main phosphate mineral is francolite. Chemical results indicate that P 2 O 5 content of the phosphate beds increases upwards in the sequence from 8.0 to 26.42 %. The SEM-EDS results indicate that the P2O5 content ranges between 36.9841.67%. The phosphorites, in the study area, were deposited in a marginal marine environment close to the shore line.
The Levant fault is a major tectonic structure located east of the Mediterranean Sea. It is a 120... more The Levant fault is a major tectonic structure located east of the Mediterranean Sea. It is a 1200 km-long leftlateral strike-slip fault, which accommodates the northward movement of the Arabic plate relatively to the Sinai micro-plate, with a ∼ 5mm/year slip-rate. This slip-rate has been estimated over a large range of time scales, from a few years (gps) to several hundred thousands of years (geomorphology). The geometry of the southern part of the Levant fault, the Wadi Araba fault, is linear with only a few bends and steps. The Middle-East is a region where there is an important and complete historical record of past earthquakes. Nevertheless, due to the arid and unpopulated nature of the Wadi Araba, to constrain location and lateral extent of those past earthquake with accuracy remains challenging.
Journal of African Earth Sciences
Abstract First detailed palaeoichnological research is presented from all the Ordovician formatio... more Abstract First detailed palaeoichnological research is presented from all the Ordovician formations and members of the Southern Desert of Jordan. The exclusively siliciclastic succession is of fluvial, fluvial-deltaic and fully marine origin and develops continuously from Cambrian strata until late Hirnantian glacial deposits. The ichnofauna occurs on large outcrop surfaces and is quite rich and of high diversity. Based on numerous taxonomic identifications from the excellently preserved material of various stratigraphic levels a biostratigraphic determination of the sequence is concluded as late Early to early Late Ordovician. Twenty-four ichnotaxa, two morphotypes and fifteen ichnogenera within five ethological groups based on the categories of architectural designs were identified. (1) horizontal burrows and trails (arthropod traces): Cruziana rugosa, C. furcifera, C. goldfussi, C. rouaulti, C. almadenensis, C. isp., Diplichnites cf. D. gouldi, D. morphotype A, D. morphotype B, Monomorphichnus cf. lineatus, cf. Monomorphichnus, Rusophycus didymus, R. aff. petraeus, ?R. aff. almadenensis; (2) vertical burrows: Arenicolites isp., Monocraterion isp., Rosselia socialis, Skolithos linearis; (3) plug-shaped burrows: Bergaueria perata, B. sucta; (4) horizontal branched burrows: Treptichnus cf. T. pedum; (5) horizontal burrows and trails: Gyrochorte isp., Palaeophycus tubularis, Planolites beverleyensis, Psammichnites gigas, Zoophycos isp. Whereas the ichnofauna of the Early Ordovician upper Disi Formation (Fm.) is dominated by cruzianid (C. rugosa group) and diplichnid arthopod traces (“trilobite highways”), the late Middle to early Late Ordovician Dubaydib Fm. contains distinctly smaller, nearly monoichnospecific, but completely surface covering arthropod tracks (C. almadenensis). In places, an amazing monospecific mass occurrence (Skolithos piperock ichnofabric) points to very special palaeoecological conditions during the deposition of the lower Dubaydib Fm. Ichnoassociations of the lower part of the Mudawwara Fm. (middle Late Ordovician) indicate a primarily shallow environment (e.g., Zoophycos isp.). Based on the trace fossil content and lithofacial characteristics, a correlation with North African regions is possible. So, the upper part of the Disi Fm. and the lower part of the Umm Sahm Fm. From Jordan is correlated with the Early Ordovician strata from southeastern Libya by the occurrence of C. goldfussi and C. furcifera. Additional correlations are possible by the shared occurrence of C. rouaulti with western Egypt, Sudan and western Libya. Within the Middle East (Jordan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Iran and Turkey), similar trace fossil assemblages composed of the C. rugosa group and related traces as well as common lithofacies characteristics point to closer palaeogeographic vicinity on a connected shallow shelf region along the costal margin of the Gondwana palaeocontinent.
Scientific reports, Jan 14, 2018
Temporal distribution of earthquakes is key to seismic hazard assessment. However, for most fault... more Temporal distribution of earthquakes is key to seismic hazard assessment. However, for most fault systems shortness of large earthquake catalogues makes this assessment difficult. Its unique long earthquake record makes the Dead Sea fault (DSF) exceptional to test earthquake behaviour models. A paleoseismological trench along the southern section of the DSF, revealed twelve surface-rupturing earthquakes during the last 8000 years, of which many correlate with past earthquakes reported in historical chronicles. These data allowed us building a rupture scenario for this area, which includes timing and rupture length for all significant earthquakes during the last two millenaries. Extending this rupture scenario to the entire DSF south of Lebanon, we were able to confirm the temporal-clustering hypothesis. Using rupture length and scaling laws, we have estimated average co-seismic slip for each past earthquake. The cumulated slip was then balanced with long-term tectonic loading to est...
Geological Society, London, Special Publications
This contribution addresses the current state of knowledge of the mainly siliciclastic Ordovician... more This contribution addresses the current state of knowledge of the mainly siliciclastic Ordovician rocks in Jordan, Syria and southern Turkey, including advances in palaeontology, stratigraphy, depositional facies analysis and supra-regional correlation. The extensive and excellent exposures of the sedimentary succession in southern Jordan represent the regional reference for the Ordovician System in the southern Levant. We discuss the sedimentological and faunal characteristics as well as the stratigraphy and correlation of the succession. For the northern Levant (especially southeastern Turkey) and the western and eastern Taurides, the Ordovician succession and an updated sedimentary architecture is explained, and a comprehensive correlation for the region is presented. Increased knowledge on the fossil content from these regions enables correlation across the southern parts of the Arabian Plate to southern Turkey, and with the greater Gondwanan regions, far field as southwestern E...
Geobios, 2019
The fauna and facies of the Hiswah Formation in southern Jordan were investigated. The formation ... more The fauna and facies of the Hiswah Formation in southern Jordan were investigated. The formation indicates deposition under low energy, open-marine, siliciclastic shelf conditions and reflects the maximum of the first regional post-Cambrian marine transgression on the northern edge of the Arabian-Nubian Shield. This eustatic signal accompanied by a maximum flooding surface can be traced over the entire Arabian Plate and Turkey. The lower part of the Hiswah Fm. consists of pelagic mudstones with only occasional thin beds of rippled hummocky cross-bedded siltstone and mudstone concretions, and contains a distinct fauna of low diversity. The upper part of the formation is characterized by sandstone-siltstone alternations with some hummocky cross-stratification in its lower portion and trough crossbedding and ripple marks above indicating somewhat shallower conditions. A very detailed re-investigation of the fauna from the lower part of the Hiswah Fm. and extensive new fossil material indicates that the most remarkable faunal element is the planktonic graptolite Didymograptus murchisoni (Beck in Murchison, 1839) which, in the past, has been determined erroneously as D. bifidus (Hall in Berry, 1962). Numerous specimens of small obolid brachiopod Palaeoglossa sp. cf. P. attenuata (Sowerby, 1839) represent the most common benthic element within the Hiswah fauna. The exceptional arthropod Hanadirella cf. bramkampi El-Khayal, 1985, is reported for the first time from Jordan, representing its fifth known region of occurrence in addition to Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Spain, and France. For the first time, cephalopod remains are described from the Ordovician of Jordan by the occurrence of ?Dideroceras sp. and a second, indeterminate species. The biostratigraphic age of the Hiswah fauna is revised to late Darriwilian (Dw 3, upper Middle Ordovician) according to our re-investigation of the graptolites. The Hiswah fauna represents the oldest body fossils of the Ordovician marine sedimentation in southern Jordan and is palaeogeographically strongly related to northern and northeastern Saudi-Arabia and to high/mid-latitude Gondwana margins in general. Abbreviations: n.p.not preserved for convincing measurements.
Petrographic, mineralogical and geochemical investigations were carried out on representative sam... more Petrographic, mineralogical and geochemical investigations were carried out on representative samples from the Mudawwara-Quwayra Dike (MQD) in southern Jordan. The MQD intruded Pa-leozoic and Cretaceous rocks as sub-vertical basaltic plugs, striking NW-SE along a fault zone and extending for more than 100 km. The MQD forms irregularly positive features, and is represented by symmetrical, elliptical, elongated or circular hills. It comprises thin basaltic layers intercalated with pyroclastics and inclusions of different size and lithology, including limestone, sandstone, phosphate, quartzite, and marble. Petrographically, the rock exhibits phyric, porphyritic, vitro-phyric and locally glomerophyritic textures manifested by plagioclase, clinopyroxene and rare oli-vine and set in a matrix of plagioclase, pyroxene, brown glass and opaque phases. Clinopyroxene and olivine phenocyrsts show disequilibrium textures such as reaction/resorbed rims in the forms of corroded ends. The parageneti...
The phosphorites of Jabal Kabid (Campanian-Maastrichtian), crops out along the southeastern exten... more The phosphorites of Jabal Kabid (Campanian-Maastrichtian), crops out along the southeastern extension of Ras En Naqab Batn Al Ghul escarpments, are up to 20 m thick and unconformably overlie the Upper Cretaceous-Batn Al Ghul Group. The phosphorite sequence in the study area shows lateral variations in lithology, thickness and distribution of the phosphorite beds. Generally, phosphates at these localities form approximately 50% of the sequence and occur as beds, up to 1.4 m thick. The petrographic studies indicate the presence of phosphate pellets, bone fragments, fish teeth, and phosphate intraclasts. The main phosphate mineral is francolite. Chemical results indicate that P 2 O 5 content of the phosphate beds increases upwards in the sequence from 8.0 to 26.42 %. The SEM-EDS results indicate that the P2O5 content ranges between 36.9841.67%. The phosphorites, in the study area, were deposited in a marginal marine environment close to the shore line.
The Levant fault is a major tectonic structure located east of the Mediterranean Sea. It is a 120... more The Levant fault is a major tectonic structure located east of the Mediterranean Sea. It is a 1200 km-long leftlateral strike-slip fault, which accommodates the northward movement of the Arabic plate relatively to the Sinai micro-plate, with a ∼ 5mm/year slip-rate. This slip-rate has been estimated over a large range of time scales, from a few years (gps) to several hundred thousands of years (geomorphology). The geometry of the southern part of the Levant fault, the Wadi Araba fault, is linear with only a few bends and steps. The Middle-East is a region where there is an important and complete historical record of past earthquakes. Nevertheless, due to the arid and unpopulated nature of the Wadi Araba, to constrain location and lateral extent of those past earthquake with accuracy remains challenging.
Journal of African Earth Sciences
Abstract First detailed palaeoichnological research is presented from all the Ordovician formatio... more Abstract First detailed palaeoichnological research is presented from all the Ordovician formations and members of the Southern Desert of Jordan. The exclusively siliciclastic succession is of fluvial, fluvial-deltaic and fully marine origin and develops continuously from Cambrian strata until late Hirnantian glacial deposits. The ichnofauna occurs on large outcrop surfaces and is quite rich and of high diversity. Based on numerous taxonomic identifications from the excellently preserved material of various stratigraphic levels a biostratigraphic determination of the sequence is concluded as late Early to early Late Ordovician. Twenty-four ichnotaxa, two morphotypes and fifteen ichnogenera within five ethological groups based on the categories of architectural designs were identified. (1) horizontal burrows and trails (arthropod traces): Cruziana rugosa, C. furcifera, C. goldfussi, C. rouaulti, C. almadenensis, C. isp., Diplichnites cf. D. gouldi, D. morphotype A, D. morphotype B, Monomorphichnus cf. lineatus, cf. Monomorphichnus, Rusophycus didymus, R. aff. petraeus, ?R. aff. almadenensis; (2) vertical burrows: Arenicolites isp., Monocraterion isp., Rosselia socialis, Skolithos linearis; (3) plug-shaped burrows: Bergaueria perata, B. sucta; (4) horizontal branched burrows: Treptichnus cf. T. pedum; (5) horizontal burrows and trails: Gyrochorte isp., Palaeophycus tubularis, Planolites beverleyensis, Psammichnites gigas, Zoophycos isp. Whereas the ichnofauna of the Early Ordovician upper Disi Formation (Fm.) is dominated by cruzianid (C. rugosa group) and diplichnid arthopod traces (“trilobite highways”), the late Middle to early Late Ordovician Dubaydib Fm. contains distinctly smaller, nearly monoichnospecific, but completely surface covering arthropod tracks (C. almadenensis). In places, an amazing monospecific mass occurrence (Skolithos piperock ichnofabric) points to very special palaeoecological conditions during the deposition of the lower Dubaydib Fm. Ichnoassociations of the lower part of the Mudawwara Fm. (middle Late Ordovician) indicate a primarily shallow environment (e.g., Zoophycos isp.). Based on the trace fossil content and lithofacial characteristics, a correlation with North African regions is possible. So, the upper part of the Disi Fm. and the lower part of the Umm Sahm Fm. From Jordan is correlated with the Early Ordovician strata from southeastern Libya by the occurrence of C. goldfussi and C. furcifera. Additional correlations are possible by the shared occurrence of C. rouaulti with western Egypt, Sudan and western Libya. Within the Middle East (Jordan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Iran and Turkey), similar trace fossil assemblages composed of the C. rugosa group and related traces as well as common lithofacies characteristics point to closer palaeogeographic vicinity on a connected shallow shelf region along the costal margin of the Gondwana palaeocontinent.
Scientific reports, Jan 14, 2018
Temporal distribution of earthquakes is key to seismic hazard assessment. However, for most fault... more Temporal distribution of earthquakes is key to seismic hazard assessment. However, for most fault systems shortness of large earthquake catalogues makes this assessment difficult. Its unique long earthquake record makes the Dead Sea fault (DSF) exceptional to test earthquake behaviour models. A paleoseismological trench along the southern section of the DSF, revealed twelve surface-rupturing earthquakes during the last 8000 years, of which many correlate with past earthquakes reported in historical chronicles. These data allowed us building a rupture scenario for this area, which includes timing and rupture length for all significant earthquakes during the last two millenaries. Extending this rupture scenario to the entire DSF south of Lebanon, we were able to confirm the temporal-clustering hypothesis. Using rupture length and scaling laws, we have estimated average co-seismic slip for each past earthquake. The cumulated slip was then balanced with long-term tectonic loading to est...