Petrography, geochemistry and provenance of Saudi Arabian Palaeozoic sandstones vom Fachbereich Material- und Geowissenschaften der Technische Universität Darmstadt zur Erlangung des Grades Doktor rerum naturalium (Dr. rer. nat.) genehmigte Dissertation von Diplom-Geologe Alexander Bassis aus Malsch Referenten: Prof. Dr. Matthias Hinderer Prof. Dr. Christoph Schüth Tag der Einreichung: 05.12.2016 Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 18.04.2017 Darmstadt 2017 D17 Declaration of Authorship I hereby certify that the complete work to this PhD thesis 'Petrography, geochemistry and provenance of Saudi Arabian Palaeozoic sandstones.' was done by me and only with the use of the referenced literature and the described methods. …………………………….. ……………………………… Place, date Signature 'There is no real ending. It’s just the place where you stop the story.' Frank Herbert Index Abstract Zusammenfassung 1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Aims ............................................................................................................................................ 1 1.2. Concept....................................................................................................................................... 2 1.3. Study areas ................................................................................................................................. 3 2. Geological background ..................................................................................................................... 5 2.1. Arabian Plate evolution ............................................................................................................... 5 2.2. Stratigraphic framework of northern and central Saudi Arabia................................................... 7 2.2.1. Saq Formation ....................................................................................................................... 7 2.2.2. Qasim Formation ................................................................................................................... 7 2.2.3. Sarah and Zarqa formations .................................................................................................. 8 2.2.4. Qalibah Formation: Qusaiba Member ................................................................................... 9 2.2.5. Qalibah Formation: Sharawra Member ............................................................................... 10 2.2.6. Tawil Formation ................................................................................................................... 12 2.2.7. Jauf Formation ..................................................................................................................... 12 2.2.8. Jubah Formation .................................................................................................................. 13 2.2.9. Unayzah Formation ............................................................................................................. 13 2.3. Stratigraphic framework of southern Saudi Arabia ................................................................... 15 2.3.1. Dibsiyah Formation .............................................................................................................. 15 2.3.2. Sanamah Formation ............................................................................................................ 15 2.3.3. Qalibah Formation: Qusaiba Member ................................................................................. 16 2.3.4. Khusayyayn Formation ........................................................................................................ 16 2.3.5. Juwayl Formation ................................................................................................................ 16 2.4. Provenance, chemostratigraphy and heavy mineral studies .................................................... 18 3. Provenance analysis ....................................................................................................................... 21 3.1. A short history of provenance analysis ..................................................................................... 21 3.2. Heavy minerals ......................................................................................................................... 23 3.2.1. Heavy mineral indices ......................................................................................................... 24 3.2.2. Rutile .................................................................................................................................... 25 3.2.3. Garnet .................................................................................................................................. 26 3.2.4. Zircon ................................................................................................................................... 26 4. Methods and material ..................................................................................................................... 28 4.1. Sampling ................................................................................................................................... 28 4.2. Sample preparation .................................................................................................................. 29 4.3. Petrography and standard heavy mineral analysis .................................................................. 30 4.4. Geochemical analysis ............................................................................................................... 32 4.5. Single-grain analysis ................................................................................................................. 32 5. Results ............................................................................................................................................ 33 5.1. Petrography .............................................................................................................................. 33 5.2. Geochemistry ............................................................................................................................ 36 5.3. Major elements ......................................................................................................................... 37 5.4. Trace elements ......................................................................................................................... 39 5.4.1. Large-ion lithophile elements (LILE): Rb, Ba, Sr, Cs .......................................................... 39 5.4.2. High field strength elements (HFSE): Th, U, Y, Zr, Hf, Nb, Ta ............................................ 39 5.4.3. Transition trace elements (TTE): Sc, Cu, Ni ........................................................................ 42 5.4.4. Rare earth elements (REE): La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Yb .................... 42 5.5. Standard heavy mineral analysis .............................................................................................. 47 5.5.1. Zircon-tourmaline-rutile index (ZTR) ................................................................................... 49 5.5.2. Rutile:zircon index (RZi) ...................................................................................................... 50 5.5.3. Garnet:zircon index (GZi) .................................................................................................... 50 5.5.4. Apatite:tourmaline index (ATi) ............................................................................................. 50 5.5.5. Staurolite:tourmaline index (STi) ......................................................................................... 50 5.5.6. Opaque phases ................................................................................................................... 50 5.5.7. Cross-plots ........................................................................................................................... 51 5.6. Single-grain analysis ................................................................................................................. 53 5.6.1. Rutile chemistry ................................................................................................................... 53 5.6.2. Garnet chemistry ................................................................................................................. 53 5.6.3. Zircon morphotypology ........................................................................................................ 54 [I] 6. Discussion....................................................................................................................................... 58 6.1. Source area weathering............................................................................................................ 58 6.2. Sedimentary recycling .............................................................................................................. 63 6.3. Tectonic setting ......................................................................................................................... 66 6.4. Provenance ............................................................................................................................... 72 6.5. Chemostratigraphy ..................................................................................................................