Petrography of Sandstone for Hussainiyat Formation and the Climatic and Tectonic Evidence in Western Desert-Iraq

Abstract

The petrography of the detrital part of Hussainiyat Formation Jurassic (Upper Liassic) in its ideal section, at the western Desert, Iraq, was studied. The aim of this study was to infer the climatic and tectonic evidence that affected the deposition of the sandstones of this formation. It has been shown that the most abundant mineral in these sandstones was quartz. These sandstones were derived from a scarce area with relatively low relief topography with an equatorial humid environment. Most of these rocks were derived from continental regions of cratonic zones. However, some of them were derived from orogenic belt marginal to continental regions as a first cycle, them recycled into deposits within the craton. These rocks are mostly of granitic igneous origin, and to a less extent of metamorphic and redeposited sedimentary rocks derived from the Arabian shield.