The Tórtola Fluvial System: An Analogue for the Upper Gharif of the Sultanate of Oman

The late Oligocene to early Miocene Tórtola Fluvial System of the Loranca Basin, Central Iberian Peninsula is interpreted as an analogue outcrop of the upper member of the Gharif Formation in West Central Oman. The analysis of the depositional environment of the Tórtola and its controlling factors are used to understand the three-dimensional architecture of the Upper Gharif. The distribution of facies and sedimentological variability of the Tórtola is presented in terms of numerical data. Thickness variations from 3 to 16 meters, and average widths of approximately 300 meters, of the Gharif channel sandstones in fields located in West Central Oman, are similar to those of the Tórtola succession. A climatic-controlled model is described and used to explain and predict the occurrence, continuity and evolution of sandstone bodies, both laterally and longitudinally.