Abstract
Reconstruction of sea-level changes during the Early Cretaceous from eastern part of Saudi Arabia provided an amazing picture for mixed eustatic and tectonic influences on the sea-level fluctuations during that time. The studied successions consist mainly of carbonates with minor interbedded siliciclastics, forming the Silayy, Yamamah and Buwaib formations in north of Ar Riyad city. Based on integrated sedimentary facies analysis, a relative sea-level curve for the Berriasian–Valanginian interval has been established and represented by two transgressive–regressive facies cycles. Correlation of the recognized sea-level events with those recorded from Europe provided useful information about the origin of these events. Absence of the Berriasian sea-level fall events in the study area attributed to tectonic subsidence, which created accommodation spaces for sediments to be deposited during the late Berriasian time. On the other hand, the Valanginian sea-level events of the study area are well-matched with those recorded globally, therefore supporting an isochronous formation of Valanginian facies cycles of eustatic origin.
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Bamousa, A.O. (2019). Tectonic and Eustatic Sea-Level Fluctuations During the Early Cretaceous: A Case Study from the Berriasian–Valanginian Sequences in Saudi Arabia. In: Rossetti, F., et al. The Structural Geology Contribution to the Africa-Eurasia Geology: Basement and Reservoir Structure, Ore Mineralisation and Tectonic Modelling. CAJG 2018. Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01455-1_69
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