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Facies Associations and Sequence Stratigraphy of the Toarcian Marrat Formation (Saudi Arabia) and Their Equivalents in Some Gondwanaland Regions

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Abstract

The Toarcian Marrat Formation is exposed in outcrops in central Saudi Arabia and displays a variety of clastic and carbonate facies associated with well-preserved depositional geometries. It is unconformably overlies the Triassic Minjur Formation and it in turn is overlaid by the Middle Jurassic Dhruma Formation. Thirteen lithofacies types can be identified that permit the recognition of five lithofacies associations in a mixed clastic/carbonate platform. These lithofacies range from low-energy peritidal, intertidal, and back-shoal to moderate- and high-energy shoal and foreshoal lithofacies associations. The Marrat Formation exhibits three depositional sequences, each sequence is grouped into a transgressive systems tract (TST) and a highstand systems tract (HST) and then bounded by sequence boundary surfaces (SBSs). The TSTs are generally identified in clastic tidal-flat beds and back-shoal wackestones, while the HST is generally recorded in the carbonate tidal-flat and shoal. The vertical succession of facies associations from peritidal to foreshoal depositional environments is indicative of a deepening upward and retrogradational systems tract, from Lower to Upper Toarcian. The correlation between the studied sections reveals a general shallowing towards the south and the similarities between the studied sequences and others in the Arabian Gulf, the northern Neo-Tethys Plate, and Gond-wanaland countries.

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Acknowledgments

The authors extend their appreciation to Researchers Supporting Project (No. RSP2023R139), King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The authors also are grateful to Dr. Lars Reuning (Kiel University, Germany) for valuable suggestions, stimulating discussions, and advice. The final publication is available at Springer via https://doi.org/10.1007/s12583-020-1379-6.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Zagazig University, Zagazig, 44519, Egypt

    Mohamed Tawfik

  2. Geology and Geophysics Department, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia

    Abelbaset S. El-Sorogy & Khaled Al-Kahtany

Authors
  1. Mohamed Tawfik
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  2. Abelbaset S. El-Sorogy
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  3. Khaled Al-Kahtany
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mohamed Tawfik.

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Facies Associations and Sequence Stratigraphy of the Toarcian Marrat Formation (Saudi Arabia) and Their Equivalents in Some Gondwanaland Regions

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Tawfik, M., El-Sorogy, A.S. & Al-Kahtany, K. Facies Associations and Sequence Stratigraphy of the Toarcian Marrat Formation (Saudi Arabia) and Their Equivalents in Some Gondwanaland Regions. J. Earth Sci. 34, 242–259 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12583-020-1379-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12583-020-1379-6

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