Journal of Petroleum Geology, Vol.12, No.1, pp. 85-102, 1989

©Copyright 2000 Scientific Press, Ltd.

CHRONOSTRATIGRAPHY AND HYDROCARBON PROSPECTS OF THE SAKAKA FORMATION, NORTHERN ARABIA

F.A. Sharief* and M.A. Moshrif**

* Faculty of Earth Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

** Geology Department, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

The age of the so-called Sakaka Sandstone exposed in the al-Jawf area, northern Saudi Arabia, has in the past been disputed. It is assigned here to the Middle - Late Devonian and Middle Cretaceous. This age has been established from correlations of surface--subsurface sections utilising palynological and lithological data, and also from the regional geological framework. The sequence is divided into two units. The lower unit, composed of non-marine clastic sediments, is Middle-Late Devonian. The upper unit, consisting of clastic and mixed fine-clastic and calcareous shoreline-shallow marine deposits, is considered to be part of the Middle Cretaceous Wasia Formation.