Correlating Continental Palaeozoic Clastic Sediments of the Middle East

Abstract

The continental clastic successions in the Carboniferous and Permian of the Middle East contain few fossils apart from palynomorphs (defined as organic-walled microfossils 5–500 µm in diameter), and so their use is vital in regional and field-scale correlation and stratigraphic or palaeoecological analysis. In this talk I will outline the main techniques of palynostratigraphy, including their successes and limitations - and then illustrate some of the more innovative techniques including studies of the glacigene rocks of Oman, the pre-Unayzah (Hercynian) unconformity in Iraq, and the fluvial sediments of the Permian of Jordan. Techniques aim at understanding thickness and facies variations across fields and basins, continuity of sand units for water disposal, identifying hiatuses, and connectivity and identification of sand units for higher and higher precision drilling.

AAPG Datapages/Search and Discovery Article #90360 © 2019 AAPG Middle East Region Geoscience Technology Workshop, 3rd Edition of the Siliciclastic Reservoirs of the Middle East, Muscat, Oman, October 28-30, 2019