Tectono-stratigraphic framework and evolution of the northwestern Arabian plate, Central Jordan

Abstract

The northwestern Arabian plate has been long influenced by various processes, including late Precambrian crustal extension, Paleozoic rifting and ice-sheet loading/unloading, and inversion during the Late Cretaceous–Late Eocene times. It has been experiencing extension in a N-S direction since the Oligocene, N-S-trending strike-slip faulting along the Dead Sea Transform Fault accompanied by the N-S extension of its surroundings, as well as shortening from E to W since the Miocene. The primary objective of this research is to examine the tectono-stratigraphic development of the Central Jordan Region (CJR), located in the northwestern Arabian plate, by employing data from seismic surveys and well logs. The CJR hosts five significant fault systems: Feinan-Zekimat AlHasa, Salwan, Karak-Wadi Al Fayha, Dana, and Hasa faults. Despite the surface expressions of these faults highlighting the tectonic impacts during the Late Cretaceous-recent period, there is a lack of comprehensive research investigating how previous tectonics influenced their structural evolution. Seismic data and well-log integration provide a unique opportunity to fill this knowledge gap. Here we identified six major stratigraphic units: upper Precambrian, Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Lower Cretaceous, and Upper Cretaceous. Using time-structure maps, we also identified several phases of fault growth, with evidence suggesting that faulting primarily occurred during the late Precambrian as part of the Najd Fault System. The reactivation of these faults can be attributed to the combined effects of the Late Ordovician ice-sheet loading and the uplift during the late Paleozoic to Early Cretaceous periods. The growth of all pre-existing faults was contemporaneous with a change in the regional stress field from the Late Cretaceous to the recent. The vertical correlation between the latest Cretaceous faulting of the CJR and the previously published topographic lineaments map suggests a tectonic control on the evolution of the surface structures.