The document establishes a lithostratigraphic scheme and depositional history for the Midyan region of northwestern Saudi Arabia. It describes the various rock formations from the basement rocks through the Pleistocene, including their lithology, age, and depositional environments. The structural history involved four phases of rifting associated with the opening of the Red Sea beginning in the Oligocene, as well as later drift phase movement along the Dead Sea fault system.

1. Lithostratigraphy and Depositional History of
Part of the Midyan Region,
Northwestern Saudi Arabia
Presented by:
Radwan, Omar
201306050

2. AUTHORS
G. Wyn Hughes (Saudi Aramco)
Dogan Perincek (King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals)
David J. Grainger (Gulf PetroLink)
Abdul-Jaleel Abu-Bshait (Saudi Aramco)
Abdulrahman Jarad (King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals)

3. CONTENTS
 INTRODUCTION
 LITHOSTRATIGRAPHY
 BIOSTRATIGRAPHY
 STRUCTURAL HISTORY
 PALEOENVIRONMENTS
 CONCLUSIONS

4. INTRODUCTION

5. INTRODUCTION
The aims of the present study have been to establish a lithostratigraphic
scheme and depositional history for the Midyan region

7. LITHOSTRATIGRAPHY
Basement
• borders the Midyan region
• 600 to 700 million years old
• consists of ultramafic, metavolcanic, and metasedimentary rocks and granitic
plutons, that have been intruded by basalt, rhyolite, and dolerite dikes
• fractured and leached

8. LITHOSTRATIGRAPHY
Suqah group
consists of the Adaffa, Usfan, and Matiyah Fms
includes pre-rift Upper Cretaceous to Paleogene successions exposed in SA Red Sea.
Adaffa formation
thin basal conglomerate overlain by approximately 300 ft of yellow to reddish
brown cross-bedded sandstone and gray-green shale

9. Tayran group
consists of the Al Wajh, Musayr, andYanbu formations
associated with the early period of Red Sea rifting
Al Wajh formation
consists of poorly sorted sandstone and conglomerate
Yanbu formation
Halite and anhydrite
Musayr formation
Basal calcareous sandstone overlain by skeletal grainstone and
packstone carbonates; rich in both macro- and micro-fauna.
LITHOSTRATIGRAPHY

10. Tayran group
consists of the Al Wajh, Musayr, andYanbu formations
associated with the early period of Red Sea rifting
Al Wajh formation
consists of poorly sorted sandstone and conglomerate
Yanbu formation
Halite and anhydrite
Musayr formation
Basal calcareous sandstone overlain by skeletal grainstone and
packstone carbonates; rich in both macro- and micro-fauna.
LITHOSTRATIGRAPHY

11. Burqan formation
Turbidites, conglomerates, and sandstones in the Nutaysh member.
calcareous mudstones in the Subayti member.
LITHOSTRATIGRAPHY

12. • Maqna group
– A distinctive feature of the Midyan area is the extensive blanket of
gypsum and anhydrite that covers much of the central part.
– consists of :
the Jabal Kibrit formation of early to middle Miocene age
the middle Miocene Kial formation
Jabal Kibrit formation
consists of calcarenite, marl, sandstone, siltstone, and shale
Wadi Waqb member
carbonate unit that is an important hydrocarbon reservoir in the
Midyan region and also occurs in outcrop.
typically rich in corals and rhodoliths.
Kial formation
consists at the surface and in the subsurface of four members From
top to bottom they are:
member 1, siliciclastics and minor carbonate, sandstone, and
mudstone; members 2 and 4 evaporites (anhydrite with local halite),
and thin beds of mudstone and siltstone;
member 3, generally calcareous mudstone, with minor carbonate
and sandstone
LITHOSTRATIGRAPHY

13. LITHOSTRATIGRAPHY

14. LITHOSTRATIGRAPHY

15. LITHOSTRATIGRAPHY

16. LITHOSTRATIGRAPHY

17. LITHOSTRATIGRAPHY

18. Mansiyah formation
consists of massive halite, gypsum, and anhydrite, with thin interbeds of
calcareous shale and mudstone, and subordinate sandstone and siltstone.
LITHOSTRATIGRAPHY

19. LITHOSTRATIGRAPHY
Ghawwas formation
consists of conglomerate, sandstone, minor claystone,
carbonates, and local evaporites
Lisan formation
consists of rhythmic, poorly consolidated fluviatile sandstones
and conglomerates.
Pleistocene sediments
undifferentiated sands and gravels, and locally with sand
dunes
Seven uplifted carbonate reef terraces are exposed along the
coast south of Maqna village

20. BIOSTRATIGRAPHY
Adaffa formation
The co-existence of Albian-Maastrichtian dinosaur bones and
Cretaceous to Recent turtle plates provides an Albian to
Maastrichtian age for the Adaffa formation.
AlWajh formation
presence of Acanthaceae-type pollen (evolution at base
Miocene), Fenestrites spinosus (evolution at base Miocene)
Musayr formation
presence of the benthonic foraminiferal genera
Miogypsinoides and Miogypsina within the carbonates
indicate an early Miocene age
Burqan formation
early Miocene age has been assigned, based on the presence
of age-diagnostic planktonic foraminifera and calcareous
nannofossils
Maqna group
early to middle Miocene, based on the presence of age-
diagnostic planktonic foraminifera and calcareous
nannofossils
Mansiyah formation
Middle Miocene based on its stratigraphic position (in the
absence of age-diagnostic biostratigraphic evidence) above
the biostratigraphically constrained basal middle Miocene
Kial formation, and beneath the middle to upper Miocene
Ghawwas formation.

21. A. The shallow-marine benthonic
foraminifera Borelis melo is
diagnostic of the Wadi Waqb
member; maximum diameter 2
mm.
B. Deep-marine planktonic
foraminifera Praeorbulina spp.
from the deep-marine
carbonate facies of the Wadi
Waqb member; maximum
diameter 0.8 mm.
C. Admixture of autochthonous
deep-marine planktonic
foraminifera with
allochthonous shallow-marine
bivalve debris within the deep-
marine facies of the Wadi
Waqb member; average size of
grains 1 mm.
D. Shallow-marine benthonic
foraminifera Operculinella
venosa and Heterostegina spp.
as allochthonous, transported
grains within the deep-marine
facies of the Wadi Waqb
member; maximum size of
grains 5 mm.

22. STRUCTURAL HISTORY
The Gulf of Suez
was formed by the
northward
propagation of the
Red Sea opening in
Late Oligocene to
early Miocene times
by rifting and the
formation of pull-
apart basins
thinned continental
crust underlying the
eastern side of the
Red Sea is the result
of continental
stretching between
the mobile Arabian
Plate and the stable
African Plate
the entire Red Sea is a
response to wrench
faulting that
eventually culminated
in the Dead Sea strike-
slip fault

23. STRUCTURAL HISTORY
Gulf of Aqaba is the
surface expression of
the southern segment
of the Dead Sea
Transform Fault that
connects the Red Sea
rift zone with the Bitlis-
Zagros subduction
zone of southern
Turkey ] 100 and 105
kilometers (km) of left-
lateral offset since the
Cretaceous. [.

24. STRUCTURAL HISTORY
The northeast-trending en
echelon anticlines in the study
area are consistent with the
major left-lateral strike-slip fault
system in the Gulf of Aqaba.
West to west–northwest-
trending right-slip (synthetic)
shear faults (R1, R2)
North–northwest trending left-
slip (antithetic) shear faults (L1)
in the southwestern part of the
study area are the products of a
simple shear-stress field.
The Dead Sea Fault system
caused extensive fracturing in
the Miocene-Quaternary section
including the reservoir rock of
the Jabal Kibrit formation

25. STRUCTURAL HISTORY

26. STRUCTURAL HISTORY & PALEOENVIRONMENTS
Syn-rift 1
This early phase of Oligocene-Miocene rifting caused
slow subsidence. Sedimentation in the Ifal basin began
in the early Miocene with the deposition of the marginal
and shallow-marine sediments of the Tayran group.
Syn-rift 2
The Burqan formation was deposited in response to
rapid subsidence and the creation of a deep, steep-sided
marine basin. From northwest to southeast, a proximal
fan grades into mid-fan and distal fan depositional
environments
Syn-rift 3
The onset of restricted marine conditions, as indicated
by the regional deposition of evaporites of the Maqna
group, suggests a possible decrease in the subsidence
rate.
Syn-rift 4
The deposition of shallow-marine mixed siliciclastics and
evaporites of the Ghawwas formation resulted from
basin infilling during the late Miocene. This onset of
shallow and marginal marine sedimentation may be
related either to the global eustatic sea-level fall during
the late Miocene, or to a decrease in the rate of vertical
subsidence of the Red Sea region.

27. post-rift
The Lower Pliocene to Recent succession is related to
the drift (post-rift) phase during which about 45
kilometers of sinistral movement occurred on the Dead
Sea Fault.
Pliocene to Recent earth movements may be
responsible for activating salt diapirism in the Ifal basin.
Extensive Quaternary faulting and regional uplift caused
the uplift of coral reefs to at least 6 to 8 meters above
sea level.
STRUCTURAL HISTORY & PALEOENVIRONMENTS