Facies in the Unayzah Formation and the Basal Khuff Clastics in subsurface, northern Kuwait

Abstract

ABSTRACT This is the first reporting of the Unayzah Formation from a northern Kuwait deep well where a 304 ft of core was cut in the upper part of the formation. The core consists of about 202 ft of the Unayzah Formation, 74 ft of the Basal Khuff Clastics and 28 ft of the Khuff Formation. Within the Unayzah Formation six major lithofacies were interpreted: (1) high-angle cross-bedded sandstone; (2) fine-grained sandstone; (3) normally graded coarse pebbly sandstone; (4) medium- to fine-grained sandstone and siltstone; (5) red mudstone and siltstone; and (6) black shale. In the Basal Khuff Clastics, four lithofacies were recognised: (1) fine- to medium-grained clean sandstone; (2) muddy bioturbated sandstone and siltstone; (3) dark grey to black carbonaceous shale with sand interbeds; and (4) interbedded sandstone, siltstone and dolomite. These lithofacies can be subdivided into four broad palaeoenvironments; ?eolian, braided fluvial, flood plain, and coastal plain. The possible eolian facies are represented by high-angle, cross-bedded sandstones of likely dune affinity. Braided fluvial facies consist of pebbly sandstones, which may grade normally to fine-grained sandstone and siltstone. Flood-plain environments are interpreted for the red mudstone, shale, and siltstone, which consist of prominent root casts and other subaerial exposure features. This facies is prominently repeated three times within the cored zone. Coastal plain environments are represented by tidal channels consisting of fine-grained and clean sandstone, crevasse splay and interfluve sediments consisting of bioturbated sandstone, siltstone and shale and by dark grey to black shale of coastal marsh in origin. The core did not cover the lower contact of the Unayzah Formation. The upper contact of the formation with the Basal Khuff Clastics is placed at the top of the last oxidised red zone. Due to the limited palynofloral information, the age of the cored interval is not definitive but most likely is of Kazanian to Tatarian (Wordian to mid-Wuchiapingian). The Basal Khuff Clastics and the overlying Khuff Formation is equivalent to the OSPZ6 biozone and the Unayzah Formation could be in part equivalent to the OSPZ5 biozone. The sediments belonging to the Basal Khuff Clastics mark the onset of a major transgression that developed into a platform where carbonates of the overlying Khuff Formation were deposited.