Callovian–Oxfordian bivalves from central Saudi Arabia: Systematic paleontology and paleobiogeography (original) (raw)
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Upper Cretaceous (CenomanianTuronian) bivalves from northern Jordan, Middle East
Revista mexicana de …, 2006
Twelve species of bivalves are described for the Upper Cretaceous Ajlun Group of northern Jordan. The specimens were collected in three localities of the Fuheis (?middle to late Cenomanian), Hummar (late Cenomanian), and Shuayb (early Turonian) formations. Some of the species here described are reported for the fi rst time in Jordan and confi rm Tethyan paleobiogeographic affi nities.
Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, 2017
Four Middle-Upper Jurassic sections from central Saudi Arabia have been investigated to evaluate microfacies types and macro-invertebrate paleocommunities and to interpret their paleoecology and paleoenvironments. The studied Jurassic successions are part of the Middle-Upper Callovian Tuwaiq Mountain Limestone and the Middle-Upper Oxfordian Hanifa Formation. Three main facies were recorded, including mud-supported microfacies, grain-supported microfacies and boundstones. A data matrix comprising 48 macrobenthic species in 35 samples collected from four sections were grouped into fifteen assemblages and one poorly fossiliferous interval by means of a Q-mode cluster analysis. The recorded macrofaunal assemblages have been subdivided into low-stress and high-stress on the basis of hydrodynamic conditions, substrate type, nutrient supply and hypoxia. The low-stress assemblages occur in (a) high-energy paleoenvironments with firm substrates; (b) high-energy shoals with unstable substrates of low cohesion and in (c) low-energy open marine environments with soft-substrates. The moderate-to high-stress assemblages occur in (a) oligotrophic environments with reduced terrigenous input in shelf lagoonal or in restricted inner ramp settings; (b) low-energy, soft substrate environments with hypoxia below the sediment-water interface; and, in (c) high-energy shoals and shelf lagoonal environments. The temporal distribution patterns of epifaunal and infaunal bivalve taxa are controlled by variations in water energy, substrate characteristics and productivity level. The reported litho-and biofacies confirmed that the Callovian Tuwaiq Mountain Limestone and the Oxfordian Hanifa Formation were deposited across wide spectrum of depositional environments, ranging from restricted lagoon to moderately deeper open marine basin, and providing the perfect conditions for macrofossils.
26 species belong to 24 genera and 16 families have been described and illustrated from the Callovian Tuwaiq Mountain Limestone, Khashm Al-Qaddiyah, central Saudi Arabia. 10 of the identified species belong to scleractinian corals, 7 to brachiopods, 4 to bivalves, 4 to gastropods and one to cephalopods. Actinastraea pseudominima, Thamnasteria nicoleti, Enallocoenia crassoramosa, Collignonastraea cf. grossouvrei, Burmirhynchia jirbaensis, Pholadomya (Bucardiomya) somaliensis, Pseudomelania (Rhabdoconcha) raabi and Nautilus giganteus are believed to be recorded for the first time from the Jurassic rocks of central Arabia. The identified species have close affinity to Tethyan faunas known from parts in Asia, Africa and Europe. They indicated shoaling of the sea floor persisted throughout the deposition of the Tuwaiq Mountain Limestone, in water depth ranging from 20 to 30 m. The low diversity of invertebrates in the studied section may attribute to paleoenvironmental conditions prevailed during the Callovian age as high rate of sedimentation.
The Callovian-Oxfordian Tuwaiq Mountain Limestone and Hanifa formations of Central Saudi Arabia contain an assemblage of abundant trace fossils, including Chondrites intricatus Thalassinoides isp. This assemblage is considered to belong to the Cruziana ichnofacies. Traces of this assemblage have been described for the first time from this interval of the present area. Ethologically, the trace makers reflect a wide range of behaviours with Chemichnia (Chondrites), domichnia (Palaeophycus), complex mining "domichnia/fodinichnia" (Thalassinoides), Fodinichnia (Phycodes), Repichnia (Curvolithus) and pascichnion and possible chemichnion (Hillichnus). The trace fossil association is comparatively rich in the Hanifa Formation than those recorded in the Tuwaiq Mountain Limestone Formation. The ichnogenus Thalassinoides is the dominant trace fossil and well distributed in the whole section. On the other hand, Chondrites is predominant in the marly limestone bed at the base of the Hanifa Formation. In the studied area, The Cruziana ichnofacies reflects moderate to relatively low energy in infralittoral to shallow circalittoral substrates and below the fair-weather wave base, but not storm wave base environments.
Oxfordian biofacies and palaeoenvironments of Saudi Arabia
The Hanifa Formation in Saudi Arabia consists of a succession of carbonates, over 100 m thick, that were deposited during the Late Jurassic. It consists of two depositional sequences represented by the lower Hawtah Member and an upper Ulayyah Member, respectively. The Hawtah Member is assigned an Early (?) to Middle Oxfordian age, based on brachiopod, nautiloid and coccolith evidence. The Ulayyah Member is assigned a Late Oxfordian age based on ammonite, nautiloid, coccolith and foraminiferal evidence.
Revision of Jurassic Protobranch Bivalves from Gebel Maghara, northern Sinai, Egypt
Journal of Paleontology
The Jurassic rocks of Gebel Maghara, northern Sinai, Egypt, contain a well-preserved and highly diverse macrobenthic fauna, dominated by bivalves. This fauna, particularly bivalves and gastropods, have received little attention in the last 100 years. In an attempt to provide a sound database on the marine bivalve diversity of Egypt during the Jurassic period, a first faunal group, the protobranch bivalves, is reviewed in detail. Sixteen taxa (three of them new), belonging to two orders, five families, and nine genera are systematically described and compared to closely related Jurassic taxa from various locations, particularly in Europe and India. New species are Nuculoma douvillei n. sp., N. sinaiensis n. sp., and Palaeoneilo aegyptiaca n. sp. In addition, Palaeonucula cuneiformis (J. de C. Sowerby), P. muensteri (Goldfuss), Dacryomya diana (d'Orbigny), D. lacryma (J. de. C. Sowerby), and Praesaccella juriana Cox are identified from Jurassic strata of Egypt for the first time. ...
Palaeontologische Zeitschrift, 2009
Cambrian bivalves from the Middle East are reported here for the first time. They come from early “Middle Cambrian” and latest “Early Cambrian” limestones of the lower Çal Tepe Formation at the type locality (near Seydişehir, western Taurides). The majority of the new findings consists of Pojetaia runnegari Jell, 1980, but a few specimens of Fordilla sp. represent the first report of this genus from “Middle Cambrian” strata. Based on a compilation of the hitherto reported, but mostly revised Cambrian bivalves, the today widely accepted taxa are discussed. The genera Pojetaia Jell, 1980 and Fordilla Barrande, 1881 are critically evaluated, and three valid species are included in Pojetaia: P. runnegari Jell, 1980, P. sarhroensis Geyer and Streng, 1998, and—with limitations—P. ostseensis Hinz-Schallreuter, 1995. Fordilla also includes three species: F. troyensis Barrande, 1881, F. sibirica Krasilova, 1977, and F. germanica Elicki, 1994. The Cambrian genera Tuarangia MacKinnon, 1982, Camya Hinz-Schallreuter, 1995, and Arhouriella Geyer and Streng, 1998 most probably belong to the class Bivalvia. Palaeoecologically, the Cambrian bivalves of the Western Perigondwanan shelf seem to occur in a relatively small window of low-energy, subtidal, open-marine, warm-water conditions on a muddy carbonate ramp or platform with reduced sedimentation rate. The frequently interpreted infaunal mode of life of Pojetaia and Fordilla is questioned by observations of similarly organized modern bivalves. The palaeogeographical distribution of Pojetaia and Fordilla is discussed with respect to their early ontogeny and to differences in the recent state of knowledge on shelly fossils from Cambrian carbonate successions of Perigondwana. Erstmals für den Mittleren Osten werden Funde kambrischer Muscheln gemeldet. Sie entstammen Kalksteinen untermittelkambischer und höchstunterkambrischer Bereiche der tieferen Çal Tepe Formation an der Typuslokalität Çal Tepe (nahe Seydişehir) im westlichen Taurusgebirge. Die Muscheln werden überwiegend durch die Art Pojetaia runnegari Jell, 1980 und untergeordnet durch Fordilla sp. repräsentiert. Letztere stellt den ersten Nachweis dieser Gattung im „Mittelkambrium” überhaupt dar. Ausgehend von einer Zusammenstellung der bisher beschriebenen und größtenteils wieder revidierten kambrischen Muscheln, werden die heute weitgehend akzeptierten Formen diskutiert. Insbesondere für die Gattungen Pojetaia Jell, 1980 und Fordilla Barrande, 1881 und deren Arten werden taxonomisch verwendbare Merkmale kritisch bewertet. Danach ergeben sich im Bestand von Pojetaia folgende gültige Arten: P. runnegari Jell, 1980, P. sarhroensis Geyer and Streng, 1998 und—mit Einschränkung—P. ostseensis Hinz-Schallreuter, 1995. In der Gattung Fordilla werden die Arten F. troyensis Barrande, 1881, F. sibirica Krasilova, 1977 und F. germanica Elicki, 1994 geführt. Als höchstwahrscheinlich den Bivalvia zuzuordnende, weitere kambrische Gattungen werden Tuarangia MacKinnon, 1982, Camya Hinz-Schallreuter, 1995 und Arhouriella Geyer and Streng, 1998 angesehen. Paläoökologisch scheinen die kambrischen Muscheln des Perigondwana-Schelfs innerhalb eines relativ schmalen Fensters aufzutreten, welches niedrigenergetische, subtidale, offenmarine Warmwasserverhältnisse auf einer feinkörnigen Karbonatrampe oder -plattform mit geringer Sedimentationsrate repräsentiert. Die zumeist interpretierte, infaunale Lebensweise von Pojetaia und Fordilla erscheint im Vergleich mit ähnlich gebauten rezenten Muscheln als nicht hinreichend belegt. Die paläogeographische Verbreitung von Pojetaia und Fordilla wird mit Blick auf deren frühe Ontogenese und hinsichtlich des Bearbeitungsstandes von Schalenfossilien kambrischer Karbonatfolgen Perigondwanas diskutiert.
Late Oxfordian micropalaeontology, nannopalaeontology and palaeoenvironments of Saudi Arabia
GeoArabia, 2008
The Hanifa Formation in Saudi Arabia consists of a succession of carbonates, over 100 m thick, that were deposited during the Late Jurassic in an equatorial position on the west flank of the Neo-Tethys Ocean. It consists of the Hawtah and overlying Ulayyah members, each of which is considered as a third-order depositional sequence. The Hawtah Member is assigned an ?Early to Mid-Oxfordian age, based on brachiopod, nautiloid and coccolith evidence; ammonite, nautiloid, coccolith and foraminiferal evidence indicate a Late Oxfordian age for the Ulayyah Member. A detailed study of the microbiofacies and lithology of the late highstand succession of the Ulayyah member sequence was conducted in 41 cored wells distributed across Saudi Arabia. The aim of the study was to determine the most likely locations for porous and permeable grainstone lithofacies that host the Hanifa Reservoir in the region. A range of palaeoenvironments has been determined which include shallow-lagoon packstones and ...
Middle to Late Jurassic Biofacies of Saudi Arabia
Rivista Italiana Di Paleontologia E Stratigrafia, 2004
Saudi Arabian Jurassic carbonate hydrocarbon reservoirs were firsr exan.rined strarigraphically using microfauna. Current microfaunal studies concentrate on the identification and constraint of palaeoenvironmental variations and determination of high-resolution depositional cyclicity of the reservoir carbonares. It is apparent that the environmental sensitivity of benthonic foraminifera provides a potentially valuable technique for rhe determining subtle variations in the depositional environment and also providing à proxy for sealevel fluctuations. Riassunto. Il presente lavoro tratta lo studio stratigrafico di reservoirs carbonatici dell'Arabia Saudita utilizzando associazioni a foraminiferi benronici. Gli studi microfaunistici sono srari utilizz-ati anche per la determinazione delle variazioni paleoambientali e della ciclicità deposizionale ad alta risoluzione. La dipendenza delle associazioni microfaunistiche bentoniche dalle caratteristiche ambientali, ha fornito importanti informazioni sulle cararrerisriche degli arnbienti deposizionali e sulle fluttuazioni del livello marino.