Architectural development of a land-attached carbonate platform in the African–Arabian Desert Belt: the late Pleistocene to Holocene evolution of the Al Wajh Platform, NE Red Sea, Saudi Arabia

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ABSTRACT Carbonate platform architectures are indicators of environmental changes, such as sea level, climatic variations, and tectonic influence, which all control platform evolution. While analog studies on modern carbonate platforms have predominantly focused on tropical settings, limited attention has been given to arid and semiarid environments, although many ancient carbonate sequences were developed under these settings. This study aims to bridge this gap by investigating the Al Wajh carbonate platform lagoon in the NE Red Sea, Saudi Arabia, using geophysical and remote-sensing data to unravel its architecture and development since the last interglacial highstand (MIS 5e). We collected and analyzed sub-bottom profiles extending over 675 km and airborne lidar multibeam bathymetry data covering an area of 1700 km2. Surface sediment samples and vibracores with a maximum penetration of three meters were integrated to strengthen our interpretation. Furthermore, a recently published Red Sea sea-level curve was used to establish an age model and supplemented by available climate data to reconstruct depositional models. The Al Wajh lagoon is a “bucket” structure hosting five distinct depositional units since the late Pleistocene: U0 (pre-MIS 5e and MIS 5e), U1, U2, U3, and U4 (MIS 1), which are composed of five hydroacoustic facies, ranging from mounded to wavy laminated facies. Based on combining climate data, sea-level curves, and platform topography with our geophysical data, we conclude that the lagoon hosts carbonate, siliciclastic (fluvial and eolian), and potentially evaporitic deposits of open-marine and playa-lake origin. Intriguingly, karst architecture (i.e., sinkholes, caves, and collapsed cavities) is absent despite intermittent pluvial episodes and exposure during the late Pleistocene. Data analysis indicates that the Al Wajh lagoon architecture and development since the late Pleistocene are controlled by a combination of antecedent topography, sea-level variation, climate fluctuation, siliciclastic influx, carbonate production, and reef growth and drowning. Finally, insights from this study enhance our understanding of the architecture and sedimentary infill of ancient land-attached carbonate platforms deposited in a mature rift basin under alternating arid and pluvial climate settings.