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MESOZOIC‐PALAEOGENE BASIN DEVELOPMENT WITHIN THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN BORDERLAND
Author(s) -
AbuJaber N. S.,
Kimberley M. M.,
Cavaroc V. V.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
journal of petroleum geology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.725
H-Index - 42
eISSN - 1747-5457
pISSN - 0141-6421
DOI - 10.1111/j.1747-5457.1989.tb00241.x
Subject(s) - geology , structural basin , paleontology , cretaceous , paleogene , mediterranean climate , continental margin , rift , mesozoic , mediterranean basin , mediterranean sea , tethys ocean , extensional definition , subduction , tectonics , geography , archaeology
Pre‐Alpine structures in the SE Mediterranean (Levant) are characterized by regional extensional features, which are associated with opening of the Mediterranean Sea. Marginal marine basins apparently began forming during the Triassic and Jurassic, and reached their apex during the Cretaceous. Stress patterns attributed to early development of the Mediterranean are similar to those seen in the relatively stable adjacent continental margin. The two major structural‐basin trends in the continental margin are orthogonal, e.g. the NW‐SE trend of the Sirhan Basin, and the NE‐SW trend of the Palmyra Basin. The western convergence of these two basins is marked by basaltic flows and volcanoclastic deposits, probably related to basaltic volcanism in the nearby Mediterranean Sea. These two basins maintained a largely unimpeded circulation of seawater with the opening Mediterranean, and therefore they contain few highly carbonaceous beds. Post‐rift shortening apparently produced minor petroleum resources.