We report detrital zircon U-Pb ages in the Fort Worth Basin (southern USA) aimed at understanding sediment dispersal patterns on the southern margin of Laurentia before and during the Laurentia-Gondwana collision. The ages from two Cambrian fluvial-marginal marine sandstone and six Pennsylvanian deltaic-fluvial sandstone samples span from Archean to early Paleozoic time. In the Cambrian sandstones, 80% of zircons are of Mesoproterozoic age (1.451-1.325 Ga) and 18% are of Grenvillian age. The high abundance of the Mesoprotero zoic population suggests that the grains were dispersed by a local river draining the midcontinent granite-rhyolite province located in the Texas Arch to the northwest of the Fort Worth Basin. In the Pennsylvanian sandstones, 26% of zircons are of Archean-early Mesoproterozoic age, 47% are of Grenvillian age, 15% are of Neoproterozoic-earliest Paleozoic age (800-500 Ma), and 10% are of early Paleozoic age (500-318 Ma), indicating a different dispersal pattern during the Pennsylvanian relative to the Cambrian. Compared to other early Paleozoic detrital zircon records on the southern margin of Laurentia, our Pennsylvanian sandstones have a distinct age peak at ca. 650-550 Ma, which we interpreted to be a result of transport by local rivers draining a peri-Gondwana terrane, most likely the Sabine terrane in the Ouachita orogen. The high abundance of Grenvillian zircons reflects either direct transport from the Appa lachians by an axial river or recycling from Mississippian-Pennsylvanian sedimentary rocks incorporated in the Ouachita orogenic front. The similarity of detrital zircon age distributions in the Fort Worth Basin, the Arkoma Basin, and the southern Appalachian forelands seems to favor sediment dispersal by a major river with headwaters in the southern Appalachians.

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Kuwait has proven conventional oil reserves of about 100 billion barrels which makes it one of the major oil-producing countries worldwide. Most of this reserve is found in Cretaceous and Jurassic with minor quantities in the Paleogene sedimentary successions. Most hydrocarbon production comes from the siliciclastic Burgan Formation which is the most important reservoir in Kuwait. The Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous exhibit good quality source rocks that charged most of the hydrocarbon reservoirs in Kuwait and entered the oil window in Late Cretaceous to Eocene. Most of the hydrocarbon is trapped in very gentle four-way closure structures that are related to the deep-seated fault system of the Arabian Peninsula such as Khurais-Burgan Anticline. Hydrocarbon reservoirs in Kuwait are sealed and capped mainly by shale rocks and to a less extent by evaporites. In the last 15 years, Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) displayed interest in commercially exploiting unconventional hydrocarbon reserves and started laying significant emphasis on the exploration and development of unconventional resources. The aim of this work is to summarize the different petroleum systems of Kuwait including the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic systems.