Abstract
This study presents new insights into the depositional environment and stratal sequences of Lower Cretaceous (LC) siliciclastic sediments in Northwest Libya. The LC rocks in the study area consist of cross-bedded sandstones with subordinate occurrences of mudstones and are exposed over > 300 km along the Nafusa escarpment. They are explored as reservoirs for hydrocarbons and groundwater and are known to contain dinosaur fossils and petrified wood. Due to these fossils and to their position between two marine carbonates, theses siliciclastics have been mistakenly interpreted as having a continental origin. Recent surveys of quarries and road cuts revealed new sedimentary information that have not been previously considered. The most important of these are the dominance of marine indicators over the continental ones, as well as the identification of paleosol intervals with contrasting degrees of maturity. The study thus concluded that the majority of these LC strata were deposited on a marine clastic shelf rather than in a fluvial environment. The spatial variations within these strata can be ascribed mainly to sea level fluctuations in the presence of local paleo highs, of which some were episodically subjected to pedogenesis. The study also revealed the occurrence of at least three episodes of sea level oscillations during the LC.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Mr. Ahmed Asker, Salem Marah, and Ashraf Burgig from the city of Nalut for their hospitality and the help they provided during the field survey. Mr. Asker the manager of Nalut museum was very generous in accompanying us to many important outcrops and fossil locations. Special thanks go to the Program PAUSE and the Strasbourg University (ITES UMR7063) for their continuous support to the 1st author. Grateful as well to the reviewers for their valuable efforts to improve the manuscript.
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Abouessa, A., Burgig, K., Swei, G. et al. New insights into the lower cretaceous siliciclastic sediments of northwest Libya: environmental re-interpretation and sequential pattern, outcrop study. Arab J Geosci 16, 509 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-023-11621-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-023-11621-9