Syn-depositional continental rifting of the Southeastern Neo-Tethys margin during the Albian–Cenomanian: evidence from stratigraphic correlation

Sequence Stratigraphy, Palaeogeography and Petroleum Plays of the Cenomanian – Turonian Succession of the Arabian Plate: An Updated Synthesis

“…Progradational shelf margins are also documented in the Shilaif Basin (Burchette and Briton, 1985;Burchette, 1993;Wharton, 2015;Vahrenkamp et al, 2015;Perrotta et al, 2017;Franco et al, 2018;Lü et al, 2018) (Fig. 6) and in intrashelf basins in Khuzestan, SW Iran (Vincent et al, 2015;Navidtalab et al, 2020;Kalanat et al, 2021) (Fig. 9).…”

“…In SW Iran, regional transects demonstrate significant changes in the thickness and preservation of the Cenomanian-Turonian depositional sequences, as well as variations in the palaeogeography (Figs 9 and 14). There is a partial correlation between the development of Cenomanian intrashelf basins in Iran and the occurrence of WNW-ESE and ENE-WSE trending basement faults such as the Sarvestan, Nezambad and Kazerun faults in Fars Province (Figs 9, 11 and 12) (Navidtalab et al, 2020;Kalanat et al, 2021). There is a regional differentiation between the southern Fars Province and the area to the north of the Kazerun Fault.…”

“…Outcrops of the mid-Cretaceous stratigraphic interval occur in the Al Hajar Mountains and the Jebel Akhdar area in northern Oman and in the Zagros Mountains of SW Iran, and provide an opportunity to build a reference model that can be applied in the subsurface and regionally across the Arabian Plate. These outcrops have been studied extensively: in Oman by van Buchem et al (1996van Buchem et al ( , 2002, Grelaud et al, (2006Grelaud et al, ( , 2010; Homewood et al (2008) and Razin et al (2017); and in Iran by Razin et al (2010), Vincent et al (2015), Navidtalab et al (2019), Navidtalab et al (2020) and Kalanat et al (2021). The outcrops are valuable for reference as they enable depositional sequences to be identified in age-constrained sections and correlated into the subsurface, and allow the depositional morphology to be characterized in three dimensions.…”

“…However, sectors of the Sarvak intrashelf basin in SW Iran appear to have developed in an extensional setting with structurally controlled margins (e.g. Navidtalab et al, 2020). Structural control on the Garau Basin in western Iran and NE Iraq (Fig.…”

“…An alternative interpretation for the presence of active highs and horst-graben architecture during the Cenomanian invokes an extensional regime that occurred prior to Turonian inversion (Navidtalab et al, 2020;Kalanat et al, 2021). Extension along basement structures gave rise to troughs while contemporaneous salt movements created structural highs.…”