SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHIC ARCHITECTURE OF THE MIDDLE AND UPPER JURASSIC OF THE ARABIAN PLATE - A SYNTHESIS

Based on extensive outcrop and subsurface data a regional sequence stratigraphic model has been constructed for the Middle and Upper Jurassic strata of the eastern Arabian Plate. This model documents the evolution from mixed siliciclastic-carbonate ramps to the creation and partial asymmetrical infill of large intrashelf basins along a master-transect of 2000 km from Northern Iraq to the ocean margin in Oman. This type of regional synthesis allows to address fundamental sedimentological and stratigraphic questions such as: what were the tectonic controls? what are the drivers behind the creation of intrashelf basins? what was the composition and timing of their infill? and how did the carbonate factories evolve? In addition, since the Arabian Plate was tectonically stable for most of this time interval, these rock successions provide a good proxy for eustatic sea level fluctuations.