The Middle Eocene Seeb Formation of Oman: An Investigation of Acyclicity, Stratigraphic Completeness, and Accumulation Rates in Shallow Marine Carbonate Settings

Abstract

The middle Eocene Seeb Formation represents deposition on one of the earliest ''modern'' style carbonate platforms, i.e., influenced by seagrasses and mangroves, and presents an opportunity to explore controls on the preservation of Cenozoic carbonate lithofacies. In the study area, the Seeb Fm. is dominated by an anomalously thick (approximately 250 m) and uniform package of shallow marine, platform-interior sediments. These nodular, indistinctly bedded shallow-subtidal sediments display no evidence for relative sea-level change (such as subaerial exposure features), and lack the shallowingupwards cyclothems that have characterized carbonate sediments deposited in platform-interior settings throughout much of the rock record (particularly during greenhouse periods). We conclude that this is a consequence of thorough bio-retexturing of the sediment by burrowing organisms and the roots of marine vegetation, which destroyed primary fabrics, facies diversity, evidence for cyclicity, and '

Early Eocene orthophragminids and alveolinids from the Jafnayn Formation, N Oman: significance ofNemkovella stockariLess & Özcan, 2007 in Tethys

“…The uppermost beds just below the Rusayl Formation are represented by pack-to grainstone, rich in alveolinids. Nolan et al, 1990;Beavington-Penney et al 2006) and previous age assignments to the Jafnayn Formation.…”

Applications of nummulitids and other larger benthic foraminifera in depositional environment and sequence stratigraphy: an example from the Eocene deposits in Zagros Basin, SW Iran

“…The morphology and life style of large benthic foraminifers in Eocene have been well documented in the literature (Chaproniere 1975;Hottinger 1983Hottinger , 1997Reiss and Hottinger 1984;Hallock and Glenn 1986;Geel 2000;Scheibner et al 2005). and Lehmann 1974;Serra-Kiel and Reguant 1984;Sinclair et al 1998;Cosovic et al 2004;Rasser et al 2005;Amirshahkarami et al 2007;Beavington-Penney et al 2006;Papazzoni and Trevisani 2006) In this study, distribution of foraminifers and facies data-which are grouped in four main facies associations (varying from deep to shallow)-were used for sequence stratigraphic interpretation.…”

“…Measurements taken from each thin section include estimation of nummulitid and alveolinid size, as well as their test shape, because morphological characteristics of symbiont-bearing larger foraminifera tests [e.g. diameter/thickness (D/T) ratio] show variation along the palaeoenvironmental gradient (Beavington-Penney et al 2006).…”

Depositional architecture and sequence stratigraphy of the Oligo–Miocene Asmari platform; Southeastern Izeh Zone, Zagros Basin, Iran

“…The inner part of this carbonate ramp, like in the large Nummulites-dominated homoclinal ramp, is located in the Yasuj (Vazag), whereas the mid-and outer-ramp are located in the Eshgar and Anneh areas. The inner-ramp deposits consist of FA-V and FA-VI characterized by high-diversity benthic foraminiferal assemblages (seagrass community), developed in euphotic conditions, at shallow depths (Chaproniere 1975;Beavington-Penney et al 2006;Brandano and Civitelli 2007;Mateu-Vicens et al 2008;Zamagni et al 2008;Brandano et al 2009bBrandano et al , 2010Riordan et al 2012). Basinward, as light decreased, a "sandy" seafloor developed in the mid-ramp area (mesophotic conditions), in which the most prolific carbonate producers were the large nummulitids and lepidocyclinids (FA-III).…”