New insights into the age and palaeoenvironments of the Upper Cretaceous Fiqa formation of Oman using calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy and inorganic geochemistry

Al Rawahi, Zainab (2020). New insights into the age and palaeoenvironments of the Upper Cretaceous Fiqa formation of Oman using calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy and inorganic geochemistry. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

Planktonic microfossils recovered from the deep marine shales and marls of the Fiqa Formation, Oman, deposited through ∼15 Ma, from the late Coniacian to earliest Maastrichtian provide a window into Late Cretaceous tropical, pelagic ecosystems. In this thesis I present new records based on well-preserved calcareous nannofossil assemblages and inorganic geochemistry to provide new information on the chronostratigraphic subdivision, palaeoenvironments, high-resolution correlation and sequence stratigraphy of the Fiqa Formation. This study is based on the examination of 341 cuttings and side core samples from 11 hydrocarbon exploration wells distributed across a palaeobathymetric gradient within the Upper Cretaceous Aruma Basin. Results include the first detailed taxonomic analysis of Late Cretaceous nannofossils from the Fiqa Formation including the identification of two new species; a new biozonation scheme for the Fiqa Formation that is correlated into the global UC biozonation scheme of Burnett et al. (1998); new biostratigraphic correlations across the basin and integration with regional sequence stratigraphy; and finally, integration of nannofossil assemblage data with detailed bulk rock carbon isotope and element composition analysis and the reconstruction of long-term palaeoenvironmental change and basin evolution, both in space across Oman and through time.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):