Micropaleontology and Biostratigraphy of Zgaimat Al-Hasah Anticline, SE-Jordan

Habes Mohammad Al-Mashakbeh

doi:10.4236/ojg.2020.1012061

Abstract

This study presents the first attempt to recognize the planktonic foraminiferal biozones and to determine the time of deposition of the carbonate deposits exposed in the Zgaimat Al-Hasah anticline, Southeastern Jordan. Five equivalent planktonic foraminiferal biozones; Zones E3 (P6a), E4 (P6b), E5 (P7), E6 (P8), and E7 or E7a were identified by analyzing twenty-eight samples from a 20 m thick section. Ten planktonic foraminiferal species belonging to seven genera and thirteen benthic foraminiferal species representing eleven genera were recorded. An Early Eocene age was assigned to the carbonate deposits exposed in Zgaimat Al-Hasah anticline based on some typical index species of calcareous planktonic foraminifera.

Highlights

IntroductionThis study focuses on the planktonic foraminiferal biostratigraphy of the outcrop of Zgaimat Al-Hasah along the fault zone of Zgaimat Al-Hasah in the Wadi Sirhan Basin in the southeastern desert of Jordan, near the border of Saudi Arabia (Figure 1)
This study presents the first attempt to recognize the planktonic foraminiferal biozones and to determine the time of deposition of the carbonate deposits exposed in the Zgaimat Al-Hasah anticline, Southeastern Jordan
Ten planktonic foraminiferal species belonging to seven genera and thirteen benthic foraminiferal species representing eleven genera were recorded

Summary

Introduction

This study focuses on the planktonic foraminiferal biostratigraphy of the outcrop of Zgaimat Al-Hasah along the fault zone of Zgaimat Al-Hasah in the Wadi Sirhan Basin in the southeastern desert of Jordan, near the border of Saudi Arabia (Figure 1). The carbonate facies at Zgaimat al-Hasah outcrop studied in general works dealing with the sedimentology and geology of Jordan [1] [2] [3] [4]. Planktonic foraminifera, which is one of the most important fossil groups for local and regional biostratigraphic zonation and correlation [5] [6], has not yet received attention from previous studies conducted in the study area. Planktonic foraminifera have been deposited over an extensive portion of the world’s oceans and seas during various geological periods, and are frequently.

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