AAPG Bulletin, V. 84,
No. 7 (July 2000), P. 997-1014.
Late Cretaceous-Early
Tertiary Development of Depositional Basins in Samaria as a Reflection
of Eastern Mediterranean Tectonic Evolution1
E. Rosenthal,2
G. Weinberger,2A. Almogi-Labin,3 and A. Flexer4
©Copyright 2000. The American
Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved.
1Manuscript received December 4, 1997;
revised manuscript received October 22, 1998; final acceptance December
15, 1999.
2Hydrological Service, POB 6381, IL-91063
Jerusalem, Israel; e-mail: [email protected]
3Geological Survey of Israel, 30 Malkhei
Israel St., IL-95501 Jerusalem, Israel.
4Department of Geophysics and Planetary
Sciences, Tel Aviv University, IL-69978 Ramat-Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel.
We wish to express our deep appreciation
and gratitude to F. Hirsch of the Geological Survey of Israel for critically
reading an early version of the manuscript and contributing highly valuable
advice for improving the paper. We are highly indebted to Z. Garfunkel
from the Institute for Earth Sciences of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem,
who gave us the opportunity of his wisdom and experience. Thanks are also
extended to Martin Collin of the Hydrological Service for editing the paper.
ABSTRACT
The Mt. Scopus Group in Israel consists
of chalk, chert, phosphorite, organic-rich carbonate (locally known as
oil shale), and shale of Coniacian- Paleocene age. The rock sequence includes
several rock units, including the En-Zeitim Formation (with the related
Har-Zefat Member), Mishash Formation, and Biriya Formation. Within the
study area, the thicknesses of these rock units vary considerably (100-600
m), reflecting the geometry of basins that formed after the end of the
Turonian and evolved during the early-late Senonian. Following the opening
of the South Atlantic ridge during the Late Cretaceous, the convergence
between Afro-Arabia and Eurasia generated a regional compressive regime
throughout the eastern Mediterranean region. This compression formed the
Syrian arc fold system that is characterized by a general northeastern
direction; however, preexisting northeast- and northwest-directed fold
and fault patterns responded differently in various areas. Chains of depocenters
aligned along the northwest-directed faults subsided during different time
increments. The bituminous chalk of Mt. Scopus Group preserved in these
depocenters is considered a genuine petroleum source rock with a total
organic carbon content of 10-15 wt. %. The tectonic pattern and the three-dimensional
distribution of the impermeable sediments of Mt. Scopus Group are also
important for groundwater exploitation in the area.
