Chapter 5 - The Early-Late Paleozoic of the Middle East: The Kaskaskia Cycle

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of the early-late Paleozoic of the Middle East. The late Paleozoic-early Mesozoic includes two sedimentary megacycles that follow the end of the Tippecanoe Cycle in the Early Devonian; the Kaskaskia Cycle that extends from the late Early Devonian to latest Mississippian (Early Carboniferous); and the early part of the Absaroka Cycle that extends from the post-late Mississippian to Early Jurassic. The break between the Kaskaskia and Absaroka cycles is quite distinct and marks the end of a long period of platform subsidence that had persisted since the early Phanerozoic consolidation of Gondwana, the result of uplift and erosion. As a type area for the development of sediments of the Kaskaskia sequence, the least well-represented cycle in the Middle East, the Widyan Basin near A1 Jauf in Saudi Arabia, is chosen as the region where the most complete sequence has been penetrated by the drill. The chapter also provides details regarding the three principal areas in Iraq where Paleozoic sediments are known—the thrust zone in north, over the top of the Rutbah Uplift in western Iraq, and in deep wells between Khleissia and Mosul in central northern Iraq.