Journal of Petroleum Geology, Vol.13, No.3, pp. 247-266, 1990

©Copyright 2000 Scientific Press, Ltd.

A REVIEW OF THE CRETACEOUS FORMATIONS IN THE ARABIAN PENINSULA AND GULF: PART III. UPPER CRETACEOUS (ARUMAGROUP) STRATIGRAPHY AND PALEOGEOGRAPHY

A.S. Alsharhan* and A.E.M. Nairn**

* Geology Department, United Arab Emirates University, PO. Box 15551, Al-Ain, UAE.

** Earth Sciences and Resources Institute, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA.

Abstract

A historical review of the development of the stratigraphy of Upper Cretaceous rocks in the Arabian Peninsula and Gulf provides a partial explanation for many of the different formational names. A type section is presented for the United Arab Emirates, and lithofacies variations within the region are related to it. In addition to the simple model of migration of predominantly shallow-water facies belts across a shelf: the Upper Cretaceous also contains deep-water facies due to the onset of plate-margin tectonic activity, which resulted in the emplacement of the Hawasina complex and the Semail ophiolites of Oman.