Abstract

After detailed quantitative palynological analyses of subsurface core samples from the middle Cretaceous of northern Egypt, very marked and correctable vertical relationships were observed between the changes in abundance and diversity of marine organic walled microplankton and terrestrial miospores.

This work comprises more refinement of quantitative palynological analyses in order to give more precise and correct interpretations as to whether these changes are resulting from changes in the water depth, palaeodepositional setting, palaeoecological or palaeoclimatological changes. Application of this technique enables the sequence stratigrapher to avoid misinterpretations such as the wrong prediction of a marine regression while the main reason of quantitative change is due to palaeoclimatic changes. Moreover, the observed changes were highly correctable between nearby boreholes.

This refinement of results helps improve the use of quantitative biostratigraphic techniques in integrated sequence stratigraphic interpretations.

This is primarily due to accurate predictions of palaeobathymetric prediction and secondly to help in palaeoenvironmental interpretation and high resolution correlation of time and facies, even in intervals not correctable by other methods. Subsequently, this will help estimate potential hydrocarbon plays more accurately.