Stratigraphy ﺔ ـــــــ ـــــ ـــــ اﻟطﺑﺎﻗﯾ
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Iraqi Bull. Geol. Min. Special Issue, 2007: Geology of Iraqi Western Desert p 51 124 STRATIGRAPHY Varoujan K. Sissakian * and Buthaina S. Mohammed ** ABSTRACT The stratigraphy of the Iraqi Western Desert is reviewed. The oldest exposed rocks are Permian in age, belong to the Ga`ara Formation, whereas the youngest are Pliocene – Pleistocene, belong to the Zahra Formation. The exposed stratigraphical column is represented by 32 formations. Morover, eight main types of Quaternary deposits, which have wide geographic extent are reviewed too. For each exposed formation, the exposure areas, subsurface extension, main lithology as described inform of members and/ or informal units, thickness, fossils, age, depositional environment and the lower contact is described. Because, almost all formations are described by different authors from different localities, therefore all descriptions of different authors are reviewed, with occasional comments.The paleogeography is reviewed briefly. Each formation is discussed, for majority of them the present author`s opinion are given, with many recommendations for future studies. Some new ideas dealing with many aspects for many formations including proposals for establishing new formations are given, too. الطباقيـــــــــــــــــة فاروجان خاجيك سيساكيان* و بثينة سلمان محمد** المستخلص تمت مراجعة طباقية الصحراء الغربية العراقية من اقدم الصخور المتكشفة والتي تعود الى عصرالبيرمي المتمثلة بتكوين الكعرة والى عصر البﻻيوسين – البﻻيستوسين المتمثلة بتكوين الزھرة. ان العمود الطباقي في الصحراء الغربية العراقية يتمثل باثنين وثﻻثين تكوين متكشف، اضافة الى ثمانية انواع رئيسية من ترسبات العصر الرباعي ذات اﻹمتداد الجغرافي الواسع والسمك الكبير. لكل تكوين متكشف، تم وصف التوزيع الجغرافي السطحي وتحت السطحي، الصخارية وكما جاء في وصف كل عضو او وحدة في التكوين، السمك، المتحجرات، العمر، البيئة الترسيبية والحد اﻻسفل. نظرا لكون غالبية التكوينات تتكشف في مناطق مختلفة جغرافيا، فقد تم دراسة ھذه التكوينات من قبل العديد من المؤلفين، لذا تم وصف المكونات المذكورة في اعﻻه لكل تكوين وكما جاء في وصف المؤلفين في المناطق المختلفة. وذكرت الجغرافية القديمة باختصار. كما تمت مناقشة كل التكوينات مع إبداء الرأي لغالبيتھا وإعطاء المقترحات للدراسات المستقبلية وكذلك اضيفت افكار جديدة لبعض التكوينات ومقترحات لتسمية تكوينات جديدة في عدة مناطق. ____________________________________ * Expert, State Company of Geological Survey and Mining, P.O.Box 986, Baghdad, Iraq e-mail: [email protected] ** Senior Chief Geologist, State Company of Geological Survey and Mining 51 Stratigraphy Varoujan K. Sissakian and Buthaina S. Mohammed INTRODUCTION During the last three decades of the last century, huge amount of data were acquired concerning the stratigraphy of the Iraqi Western Desert. These were mainly achieved through the regional geological survey, which started in 1970 and was terminated in 1982. The second stage, of data collection, achieved through detailed geological survey, which was mainly forwarded for mineral investigation in selected areas. During this stage, which started in 1984, detailed stratigraphical studies were conducted, too. Through both aforementioned stages, many new formations were established, others were amended and their new statuses were elucidated more clearly than before. Based on the regional geological survey data, GEOSURV compiled the Geological Map of Iraq, scale 1: 1 000 000, in 1986 (Jassim et al., 1986). The second edition was issued in 1990 (Jassim et al., 1990), based on some additional detailed geological data. The third (last) edition was issued in 2000 (Sissakian, 2000), based on all executed regional and detailed geological surveys, utilizing the compiled series of geological maps scale 1: 250 000 (39 sheets). Within the three editions of the Geological Map of Iraq, scale 1: 1 000 000, main differences could be recognized when concerning the stratigraphy of the Iraqi Western Desert. This paper is an attempt to review and explain the stratigraphy of the Iraqi Western Desert, aiming to elucidate the geology of the Western Desert.The best available data is used to acquire this paper, which represents GEOSURV`s opinion. LOCATION The Iraqi Western Desert covers considerable part of the whole Iraqi territory. Its areal coverage is about 104 000 Km². It extends from the Euphrates River, in the north and northeast to the Iraqi – Jordanian and Iraqi – Saudi Arabian borders, in the west and south, respectively; and to wadi Al-Khir in the east (Fig.1). This wadi divides the desert into two parts, western and southern. Formerly they were called “Al-Badiya Al-Shimaliya and Al-Badiyah Al-Jinoobiyah”, respectively. GENERAL TOPOGRAPHY The Iraqi Western Desert is characterized by different topographic natures. The nature of the topography reflects the type of the exposed rocks, their thicknesses and the structural effect. Generally, three main different topographical forms could be recognized, this is mainly due to the presence of Rutbah Uplift, in the middle part. The three parts are: 1– The eastern part, which consists of rocky surface dissected by shallow valleys running northeastwards, with shallow depressions of karst nature. It covers the area extending from wadi Al-Khir to Al-Habbariyah Depression and till the Euphrates River, northwards (Fig.1). The oldest exposed rocks are Paleocene in age and range to Pleistocene. 2– The middle part, in which the Ga`ara Depression is the main upstanding feature. It covers the area between Al-Habbariyah Depression and almost to longitude 40, northwards to Euphrates River (Fig.1). The area is dissected by dense and deep valleys. The oldest exposed rocks are Permian in age and range to Pleistocene. 3– The western part, which covers the remaining part of the Iraqi Western Desert west of longitude 40 (Fig.1).It consists of flat area usually covered by thin venir of residual soil, dissected by valleys and shallow depressions,which are characterized usually by small and circular shapes, mainly of karst origin. The oldest exposed rocks are Paleocene in age and range up to Oligocene. 52 Iraqi Bull. Geol. Min. Special Issue, 2007: Geology of Iraqi Western Desert p 51 124 0 50 100 150 Km Fig. 1: Location map of the Iraqi Western Desert, with three tentative parts, which are introduced in this study 53 Stratigraphy Varoujan K. Sissakian and Buthaina S. Mohammed STRATIGRAPHY OF THE EXPOSED ROCKS Although the Iraqi Western Desert belongs, tectonically to the Stable Shelf, but the tectonic and structural effects have controlled the type of the exposed rocks, thickness and the extension of the formations. The Rutbah Uplift and Ga`ara Depression have exposed Permian rocks followed by Triassic and Jurassic rocks, which are absent in other parts of the Iraqi Western Desert and the surrounding areas, even in the nearby areas of the neighboring countries. The Rutbah Uplift also has affected the type of the exposed rocks, causing lateral facial changes, due to change in the depositional basin. On the other hand, Nukhaib Graben has caused the deposition of huge amounts of gravel deposits and Pliocene – Pleistocene rocks of Zahra Formation and dividing some depositional basins. In order to facilitate the description of the exposed geological formations in the Iraqi Western Desert, they are divided, age wise into Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic Eras, the eras are divided into epoches. Moreover, each formation is described in a systematic style, starting with the type locality, exposure areas, subsurface extensions, lithology as divided into members and/ or informal units, fossils, age, depositional environment and the lower contact. The whole involved area is divided into the aforementioned three parts, which are used as reference for the geographical locations (Fig.1). Each formation, generally, is divided by different authors into many members and/ or units. Usually, the same formation is divided into different members and/ or units, by different authors in different localities. Consequently, different names are given to them, within the same formation. The name of the members and units are mentioned in bold letters, as it is proposed by different authors, from different geographic locations, even if they contradict the rules of the International Code of Startigraphic Nomenclature. The name of some formations, however are ammended, from the original name to be in accordance with the rules of the International Code of Stratigraphic Nomencalture. For example the Ga`ara Sandstone Formation is mentioned, hereinafter as Ga`ara Formation. The adopted age by GEOSURV is mentioned between parentheses, beside the name of each formation. The adopted descriptions of formations with their geographical distribution and other mentioned data is based on the regional and detailed geological survey reports, which attain 21 reports. These are utilized in compilation of geological maps of sacle 1: 100 000, based on the original geological base maps (scale 1: 25 000), which were used in compilation of the published geological maps of scale 1: 250 000. Within each epoch and/ or period, the paleogeography is reviewed briefly, including the shape of the depositional basin and the effect of the tectonics. This is mainly adopted from Jassim and Buday in Jassim and Goff (2006) and Al-Bassam et al. (1990) The exposed geological formations, from the oldest to the youngest are described hereinafter. Their geographical distribution is elucidated by a geological map, scale 1: 2 000 000 (Figs.2, 3 and 4). The location of the type localities and / or sections is presented in Fig. (5), their reference numbers are mentioned in Table (1).