Sequence Stratigraphy and Rudist Facies Development of the Upper Barremian‐Lower Cenomanian Platform, Northern Sinai, Egypt

Abstract

The Lower Cretaceous sections in northern Sinai are composed of the Risan Aneiza (upper Barremian‐middle Albian) and the Halal (middle Albian‐lower Cenomanian) formations. The facies reflect subtle paleobathymetry from inner to outer ramp facies. The inner ramp facies are peritidal, protected to open marine lagoons, shoals and rudist biostrome facies. The inner ramp facies grade northward into outer ramp deposits. The upper Barremian‐lower Cenomanian succession is subdivided into nine depositional sequences correlated with those recognized in the neighbouring Tethyan areas. These sequences are subdivided into 19 medium‐scale sequences based on the facies evolution, the recorded hardgrounds and flooding surfaces, interpreted as the result of eustatic sea level changes and local tectonic activities of the early Syrian Arc rifting stage. Each sequence contains a lower retrogradational parasequence set that constituted the transgressive systems tracts and an upper progradational parasequence set that formed the highstand systems tracts. Nine rudist levels are recorded in the upper Barremian through lower Cenomanian succession at Gabal Raghawi. At Gabal Yelleg two rudist levels are found in the Albian. The rudist levels are associated with the highstand systems tract deposits because of the suitability of the trophic conditions in the rudist‐dominated ramp.

Biostratigraphy, Microfacies and Depositional Environment of the Sarvak Formation at the Pyun Anticline (Zagros Basin, Southwest of Iran)

“…A similar microfacies has been identified in the Sarvak Formation in Zagros Basin by Ghabeishavi et al (2010), Mehrabi et al (2015), Assadi et al (2018) and Gholami Zadeh et al (2019). Also, this microfacies was recorded from Cenomanian strata of Iraq (Aqrawi et al, 1998;Mahdi et al, 2013;Al-Ali et al, 2019), Turkey (Mülayim, 2013;Mülayim et al, 2019;Özkan and Altiner, 2019), Mexico (Omaña et al, 2014), Jordan (Schulze et al, 2005) and Egypt (Salama et al, 2018).…”

“…A similar microfacies has been documented in the Sarvak Formation in Zagros Basin by Ghabeishavi et al (2010), Mahmoudi Renani and Taheri (2012), Mahdi et al (2013), Mehrabi et al (2015), Rikhtegarzadeh et al (2016), Assadi et al (2018) and Gholami Zadeh et al (2019). Also, this microfacies has been identified in the Cenomanian strata of Iraq (Mahdi et al, 2013), Turkey (Mülayim et al, 2019;Solak et al, 2019), Oman (van Buchem et al, 1996Razin et al, 2017) and Egypt (Saber et al, 2009;Salama et al, 2018).…”

“…Bioclastic intraclast grainstone microfacies has been reported at the rudist facies of the Zagros (Afghah and Fadaei, 2015). Also, this microfacies was recorded from the Cenomanian strata of Iraq (Aqrawi et al, 1998;Mahdi et al, 2013;Al-Ali et al, 2019), Turkey (Mülayim et al, 2019), Oman (van Buchem et al, 1996Razin et al, 2017) and Egypt (Kuss and Schlagintweit, 1998;Saber et al, 2009;Salama et al, 2018).…”

Cyclic nature of the biotic attributes of macroinvertebrate communities in the Cenomanian–Turonian strata of Sinai: water depth-driven biological responses

“…The fossil distribution, both stratigraphically and geographically, is highly predictable relative to the stratigraphic architecture, principles have been developed from numerical models (e.g., Holland 2000Holland , 2001Holland , 2012 and have been supported by numerous case studies, in both paleobiological and biostratigraphic research (e.g., Brett 1998;de Araujo Carvalho et al 2006;Smith et al 2006;Hewaidy et al 2013;Abdelhady and Fürsich 2015;Davtalab et al 2017;Salama et al 2018;Fung et al 2019;. Many authors found cyclic patterns of the biotic attributes of different faunal communities including Foraminifera, Mollusca, and Echinoidea, but research in bio-sequence stratigraphy (faunal-based sequence stratigraphic analyses), is still missing a standardized approach to be followed in defining high-resolution cycles and parasequences.…”

Rudists (Bivalvia) from a Cretaceous Platform in Northern Egypt: Taxonomy and Paleobiogeography

“…Fig. 10d (from Salama et al 2018) Material: An anterior-posterior ls in the upright growth position was collected from the Barremian-Aptian at the Raghawi section.…”