Paleoenvironmental and Bio-Sequence Stratigraphic Analysis of the Cretaceous Pelagic Carbonates of Eastern Tethys, Sulaiman Range, Pakistan

Abstract

The Cretaceous pelagic carbonate succession, i.e., Goru Formation was studied in the Chutair Section, Sulaiman Range, representing part of the eastern Tethys for the paleoenvironment and bio-sequence stratigraphy. Eight planktonic foraminiferal biozones are identified which include: 1. Muricohedbergella planispira Interval Zone; 2. Ticinella primula Interval Zone; 3. Biticinella breggiensis Interval Zone; 4. Rotalipora appenninica Interval Zone; 5. Rotalipora cushmani Total Range Zone; 6. Whiteinella archeocretacea Partial Range Zone; 7. Helvetoglobotruncana helvetica Total Range Zone; and 8. Marginotruncana sigali Partial Range Zone representing Albian-Turonian age. The petrographic studies revealed five microfacies: 1. Radiolarians-rich wacke-packestone microfacies; 2. Radiolarians-rich wackestone microfacies; 3. Planktonic foraminiferal wacke-packestone microfacies; 4. Planktonic foraminiferal wackestone microfacies; and 5. Planktonic foraminiferal packestone microfacies; indicating deposition of the Goru Formation in outer-ramp to deep basinal settings. Based on the facies variations and planktonic foraminiferal biozones, the 2nd and 3rd order cycles are identified, which further include six transgressive and five regressive system tracts. The sea level curve of the Goru Formation showed fluctuation between outer-ramp and deep-basin, showing the overall transgression in the 2nd order cycle in the study area, which coincides with Global Sea Level Curve; however, the 3rd order cycle represents the local tectonic control during deposition of the strata.

Geomechanical assessment of the Lower Turonian AR-F limestone Member, Abu Gharadig Field, Egypt: Implications for unconventional resource development

“…Similar resources have also been reported from the Ordovician carbonates of the Ordos and Tarim basins of China (Wei et al, 2017;Chen et al, 2020). Recent studies have also focused on such potential tight carbonates from various parts of the world including offshore Malaysia (Bashir et al, 2021), Pakistan (Ali et al, 2022;Ullah et al, 2022), and China (Jiang et al, 2022). Three recent works by Boutaleb et al (2021), Radwan et al (2021) and Fea et al (2022) reported selfsourcing and self-storing unconventional carbonate intervals from the African continent.…”

Editorial for the Special Issue “Environment and Geochemistry of Sediments”

“…The eighth paper, by Ullah et al [8], focuses on studying the Goru Formation in the Chutair Section, Sulaiman Range, Pakistan, representing part of the eastern Tethys. The paleoenvironment and bio-sequence stratigraphy were studied in the Cretaceous pelagic carbonate succession.…”