Regional Distribution and Chronostratigraphy of the Qusaiba Member of the Qalibah Formation in the Nafud Basin, Northwestern Saudi Arabia: ABSTRACT

Abstract

The Qusaiba Member of the Qalibah Formation (Silurian age) is a thick sequence consisting of massive dark gray shales. Only the very basal shales are black and highly organic rich. The basal {open_quote}Hot Shale{close_quote} unit is a prolific source correlated to all the Paleozoic discoveries in Central and Eastern Saudi Arabia. In the Nafud Basin, Northwest Saudi Arabia, this same sequence acts as both source and seal to the underlying Ordovician reservoir, making the understanding of this sequence essential to the current exploration program underway in the region. Acquiring high resolution blostratigraphy and detailed source rock analysis substantially contributed to the better understanding of the regional depositional setting of the seal, source, and the reservoirs in the area. Graptolites and chitinozoans zonation were utilized to fine-tune the chronostratigraphy and to further subdivide this huge basin into more manageable subbasins. Regional chronostratigraphic analysis has indicated that the early Qusaiba transgression took place swiftly and covered all of the Arabian plate during early Rhuddanian time. Only high areas not covered by the Rhuddanian transgression and areas that experienced later uplift and erosion lack the Rhuddanian deposits.