Upper Khuff Formation Carbonate Sequence Development and Facies Distribution in Ghawar Field, Saudi Arabia

R. Al-Dukhayyil¹, A.A. Al-Tawil¹, and J.F. Read²

Abstract

Detailed Logging of cores of the Upper Permian and Lower Triassic Khuff Formation, Ghawar, Saudi Arabia, has enabeled generating a comprehensive high resolution sequence stratigraphic framework, along with a more refined relative sea-level curve for the region. The lithofacies of this huge, arid epeiric ramp succession include: subaqueous -and supratidal anhydrite, tidal flat laminites, lagoonal mudstone, ooid-peloid grainstone, and subtidal off-shoal open marine mudstone. Facies are packaged into meter-scale parasequences, often separated by exposure surfaces at sequence boundaries.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90188 ©GEO-2014, 11th Middle East Geosciences Conference and Exhibition, 10-12 March 2014, Manama, Bahrain