Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T16:07:51.111Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Provenance of Paleocene–Eocene red beds from NE Iraq: constraints from framework petrography

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 January 2014

MUATASAM MAHMOOD HASSAN ,
BRIAN G. JONES ,
SOLOMON BUCKMAN ,
ALI ISMAEL AL-JUBORY  and
FAHAD MUBARAK AL GAHTANI
MUATASAM MAHMOOD HASSAN*
Affiliation:
School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia Department of Geology, General Commission for Groundwater, Kirkuk, Iraq
BRIAN G. JONES
Affiliation:
School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
SOLOMON BUCKMAN
Affiliation:
School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
ALI ISMAEL AL-JUBORY
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, College of Science, Mosul University, Mosul, Iraq
FAHAD MUBARAK AL GAHTANI
Affiliation:
School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
*
†Author for correspondence: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The red-bed deposits in northern Iraq are situated in an active foreland basin adjacent to the Zagros Orogenic Belt, bound to the north by the Iranian plate thrust over the edge of the Arabian plate. The red-bed successions are composed of alternating red and brown silty mudstones, purplish red calcareous siltstone, fine- to coarse-grained pebbly sandstone and conglomerate. The red beds in the current study can be divided into four parts showing a trend of upward coarsening with fine-grained deposits at the top. A detailed petrographic study was carried out on the sandstone units. The clastic rocks consist mainly of calcite cemented litharenite with rock fragments (volcanic, metamorphic and sedimentary), quartz and minor feldspar. The petrographic components reflect the tectonic system in the source area, laterally ranging from a mixed orogenic and magmatic arc in Mawat–Chwarta area to recycled orogenic material rich in sedimentary rock fragments in the Qandel area. The Cretaceous–Palaeogene foreland basin of northern Iraq formed to the southwest of the Zagros Suture Zone and the Sanandaj–Sirjan Zone of western Iran. During Palaeogene time deposition of the red beds was caused by renewed shortening in the thrust sheets overlying the Arabian margin with uplift of radiolarites (Qulqula Formation), resulting in an influx of radiolarian debris in addition to continuing ophiolitic detritus. Mixed sources, including metamorphic, volcanic and sedimentary terranes, were present during deposition of the upper part of the red beds.

Keywords

Palaeogenepalaeogeographysubduction complexsuture zone
Type
Original Articles
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 151 , Issue 6 , November 2014 , pp. 1034 - 1050
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abanda, P. A. & Hannigan, R. E. 2006. Effect of diagenesis on trace element partitioning in shales. Chemical Geology 230, 42–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Abdel-Kireem, M. R. 1983. A study of the palaeoecology and bathymetry of the foraminiferal assemblages of the Shiranish Formation (Upper Cretaceous), northeastern Iraq. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 43, 169–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Agard, P., Omrani, J., Jolivet, L., Whitechurch, H., Vrielynck, B., Spakman, W., Monié, P., Meyer, B. & Wortel, R. 2011. Zagros orogeny: a subduction-dominated process. Geological Magazine 148, 692–725.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alavi, M. 1994. Tectonics of the Zagros orogenic belt of Iran: new data and interpretations. Tectonophysics 229, 211–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alavi, M. 2004. Regional stratigraphy of the Zagros fold-thrust belt of Iran and its proforeland evolution. American Journal of Science 304, 1–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Al-Mehaidi, H. M. 1975. Tertiary Nappe in Mawat Range, NE Iraq. Journal of Geological Soceity of Iraq 8, 31–44.Google Scholar
Al-Qayim, B. 1993. Petrofacies analysis and tectonic evolution of Zagroside flysch suites from northeastern Iraq. In Petrology of Sandstones in Relation to Tectonics (eds Kumon, A. C. & Kus, A. A.), pp. 33–34. VSP BV, The Netherlands.Google Scholar
Al-Rawi, Y. 1980. Petrology and Sedimentology of the Gercus red beds Formation (Eocene), Northeastern Iraq. Iraq Journal of Science 21, 132–88.Google Scholar
Andersen, C. B. 1995. Provenance of mudstones from two Ordovician foreland basins in the Appalachians. In Stratigraphic Sequences in Foreland Basins (eds Dorobek, S. L. & Rosss, G. M.), pp. 53–63. Society for Sedimentary Geology, Special Publications 52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Asiedu, D. K., Asiedu, D. K., Suzuki, S., Nogami, K. & Shibata, T. 2000. Geochemistry of Lower Cretaceous sediments, Inner Zone of Southwest Japan: constraints on provenance and tectonic environment. Geochemical Journal 34, 155–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Basu, A. 1975. Re-evaluation of the use of undulatory extinction and polycrystallinity in detrital quartz for provenance interpretation. Journal of Sedimentary Research 45, 873–82.Google Scholar
Basu, A. 1976. Petrology of Holocene fluvial sand derived from plutonic source rocks; implications to paleoclimatic interpretation. Journal of Sedimentary Research 46, 694–709.Google Scholar
Bellen, V. R. C., Bellen, V. R. C., Dunnington, H. V., Wetzel, R. & Morton, D. 1959. Lexique Stratigraphique Interntional. Asie, Iraq, 333 pp.Google Scholar
Bjorlykke, K. 1989. Sedimentology and Petroleum Geology. Springer Verlag, Berlin, 363 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blatt, H. 1967 a. Original characteristics of clastic quartz grains. Journal of Sedimentary Research 37, 401–24.Google Scholar
Blatt, H. 1967 b. Provenance determinations and recycling of sediments. Journal of Sedimentary Research 37, 1031–1044.Google Scholar
Blatt, H. & Christie, J. M. 1963. Undulatory extinction in quartz of igneous and metamorphic rocks and its significance in provenance studies of sedimentary rocks. Journal of Sedimentary Research 33, 559–79.Google Scholar
Blatt, H., Middleton, G. & Murray, R. 1972. Origin of Sedimentary Rocks. Prentice–Hall, New Jersey, 634 pp.Google Scholar
Boggs, S. J. 1968. Experimental study of rock fragments. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 38, 1326–39.Google Scholar
Boggs, S. J. 2009. Petrology of Sedimentary Rocks, 2nd edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 599 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bokman, J. W. 1955. Sandstone classification-relation to composition and texture. Journal of Sedimentary Research 25, 201–206.Google Scholar
Buday, T. 1980. Regional Geology of Iraq. In Stratigraphy (eds Kassab, I. I. M. & Jassims, S. Z.), 445. Geological Society of Iraq, Baghdad, Geological Survey Mining 1.Google Scholar
Cameron, K. L. & Blatt, H. 1971. Durabilities of sand size schist and ‘volcanic’ rock fragments during fluvial transport, Elk creek, Black Hills, South Dakota. Journal of Sedimentary Research 41, 565–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Condie, K. C., Lee, D. & Farmer, G. L. 2001. Tectonic setting and provenance of the Neoproterozoic Uinta Mountain and Big Cottonwood groups, northern Utah: constraints from geochemistry, Nd isotopes, and detrital modes. Sedimentary Geology 141, 443–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Critelli, S. & Ingersoll, R. V. 1995. Interpretation of neovolcanic versus palaeovolcanic sand grains: an example from Miocene deep-marine sandstone of the Topanga Group (southern California). Sedimentology 42, 783–804.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Critelli, S., Marsaglia, K. M. & Busby, C. J. 2002. Tectonic history of a Jurassic backarc-basin sequence (the Gran Cañon Formation, Cedros Island, Mexico), based on compositional modes of tuffaceous deposits. Geological Society of America Bulletin 114, 515–27.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Critelli, S., Mongelli, G., Perri, F., Martín-Algarra, A., Martín-Martín, M., Perrone, V., Dominici, R., Sonnino, M. & Zaghloul, M. N. 2008. Compositional and geochemical signatures for the sedimentary evolution of the Middle Triassic–Lower Jurassic continental redbeds from western-central Mediterranean Alpine Chains. Journal of Geology 116, 375–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dickinson, W. R. 1970. Interpreting detrital modes of graywacke and arkose. Journal of Sedimentary Research 40, 695–707.Google Scholar
Dickinson, W. R. 1985. Interpreting provenance relations from detrital modes of sandstones. In Provenance of Arenites (ed. Zuffa, G. G.), pp. 333–61. D. Reidel, Dordrecht, NATO Advanced Study Institute Series 148.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dickinson, W. R. & Rich, E. I. 1972. Petrologic intervals and petrofacies in the Great Valley Sequence, Sacramento Valley, California. Geological Society of America Bulletin 83, 3007–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dickinson, W. R. & Selley, D. R. 1979. Structure and stratigraphic of fore-arc reagions. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin 63, 2–31.Google Scholar
Dorsey, R. J. 1988. Provenance evolution and unroofing history of a modern arc-continent collision; evidence from petrography of Plio-Pleistocene sandstones, eastern Taiwan. Journal of Sedimentary Research 58, 208–18.Google Scholar
Feniak, M. W. 1944. Grain sizes and shapes of various minerals in igneous rocks. American Mineralogist 29, 415–21.Google Scholar
Folk, R. L. 1962. Petrography and origin of the Silurian Rochester and McKenzie Shales, Morgan County, West Virginia. Journal of Sedimentary Research 32, 539–78.Google Scholar
Folk, R. L. 1980. Petrology of Sedimentary Rocks. Hemphill's, Austin, Texas, 154 pp.Google Scholar
Garzanti, E., Critelli, S. & Ingersoll, R. V. 1996. Paleogeographic and paleotectonic evolution of the Himalayan Range as reflected by detrital modes of Tertiary sandstones and modern sands (Indus transect, India and Pakistan). Geological Society of America Bulletin 108, 631–642.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garzanti, E., Doglioni, C., Vezzoli, G. & Andò, S. 2007. Orogenic belts and orogenic sediment provenance. Journal of Geology 115, 315–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Helmold, K. P. 1985. The effect of grain size on detrital modes; a test of the Gazzi-Dickinson point-counting method; discussion and reply. Journal of Sedimentary Research 55, 618–21.Google Scholar
Hulka, C. & Heubeck, C. 2010. Composition and provenance history of Late Cenozoic sediments in southeastern Bolivia: implications for Chaco Foreland Basin evolution and Andean uplift. Journal of Sedimentary Research 80, 288–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ingersoll, R. V. & Suczek, C. A. 1979. Petrology and provenance of Neogene sand from Nicobar and Bengal fans, DSDP sites 211 and 218. Journal of Sedimentary Research 49, 1217–28.Google Scholar
Jargal, L. & Lee, Y. I. 2006. Detrital modes of the East Gobi Basin (Ondor-Bogd area) sandstones (Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous) in southeastern Mongolia and their geological implications. Geosciences Journal 10, 1–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karim, K. H., Koyi, H., Baziany, M. M. & Hessami, K. 2011. Significance of angular unconformities between Cretaceous and Tertiary strata in the northwestern segment of the Zagros fold-thrust belt, Kurdistan region, NE Iraq. Geological Magazine 148, 925–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krynine, P. D. 1940. Petrology and genesis of the Third Bradford Sand. Pennsylvania State College Bulletin 29, 134 pp.Google Scholar
Lee, Y. I. & Kim, J. Y. 2005. Provenance of the Hayang Group (Early Cretaceous) in the Yeongyang Subbasin, SE Korea and its bearing on the Cretaceous palaeogeography of SW Japan. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 228, 278–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Le Pera, E., Josè, A., Salvatore, C. & Salvatore, T. 2001. The effects of source rocks and chemical weathering on the petrogenesis of siliciclastic sand from the Neto River (Calabria, Italy): implications for provenance studies. Sedimentology 48, 357–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mack, G. H., Thomas, W. A. & Horsey, C. A. 1983. Composition of Carboniferous sandstones and tectonic framework of southern Appalachian-Ouachita orogen. Journal of Sedimentary Research 53, 931–46.Google Scholar
Milliken, K. L. 1988. Loss of provenance information through subsurface diagenesis in Plio-Pleistocene sandstones, N Gulf of Mexico. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 58, 992–1002.Google Scholar
Milliman, J. D. & Meade, R. H. 1983. World-wide delivery of river sediment to the oceans. Journal of Geology 91, 1–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mousinho De Meis, M. R. & Amador, E. D. S. 1974. Note on weathered arkosic beds. Journal of Sedimentary Research 44, 727–37.Google Scholar
Nichols, G. J. 2004. Sedimentology and Stratigraphy. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 355 pp.Google Scholar
Perri, F., Critelli, S., Martín-Algarra, A., Martín-Martín, A., Perrone, V., Mongelli, G. & Zattin, M. 2013. Triassic redbeds in the Malaguide Complex (Betic Cordillera - Spain): petrography, geochemistry and geodynamic implications. Earth-Science Reviews 117, 1–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pettijohn, F. J., Potter, P. & Siever, R. 1972. Sand and Sandstone. Springer-Verlag, New York, 619 pp.Google Scholar
Scholle, P. A. 1979. A Color Illustrated Guide to Constituent, Texture, Cements, and Porosities of Sandstone and Associaited Rocks. American Assosiation of Petrolum Geologists, Memoir 28, 201.Google Scholar
Schumacher, J. C. 1988. Stratigraphy and geochemistry of the Ammonoosuc Volcanics, central Massachusetts and southwestern New Hampshire. American Journal of Science 288, 619–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smyth, H. R., Hall, R. & Nichols, G. J. 2008. Significant volcanic contribution to some quartz-rich sandstones, East Java, Indonesia. Journal of Sedimentary Research 78, 335–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thoreau, H. D. 1982. Conglomerates and sandstones: composition. In Sedimentary Petrology (ed. Blatt, H.), 564 pp. H. F. Freeman, New York.Google Scholar
White, N. M., Pringle, M., Garzanti, E., Bickle, M., Najman, Y., Chapman, H. & Friend, P. 2002. Constraints on the exhumation and erosion of the High Himalayan Slab, NW India, from foreland basin deposits. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 195, 29–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Young, S. W. 1976. Petrographic textures of detrital polycrystalline quartz as an aid to interpreting crystalline source rocks. Journal of Sedimentary Research 46, 595–603.Google Scholar
Zaghloul, M. N., Critelli, S., Perri, F., Mongelli, G., Perroni, V., Sonnino, M., Tucker, M., Aiello, M. & Ventimiglia, C. 2010. Depositional systems, composition and geochemistry of Triassic rifted-continental margin redbeds of the Internal Rift Chain, Morocco. Sedimentology 57, 312–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Hassan Supplementary Material

Figures and Tables

Download Hassan Supplementary Material(File)
File 9 MB