Publications

The lower section of the lower Silurian Qusaiba Member, Qalibah Formation, is characterized by regionally developed organic-rich shales that have sourced many of the large Paleozoic petroleum systems of Saudi Arabia. In northern Saudi Arabia these high total organic carbon (TOC) horizons are being assessed for their unconventional shale-gas potential.

Depositional interpretation and sequence stratigraphic analysis of carbonate mudrocks requires numerical analysis and data integration to achieve quantitative, predictive stratigraphic and geochemical models. A depositional and sequence stratigraphic analysis is built for a basinal interval of the Tuwaiq Mountain and Hanifa Formations, Saudi Arabia.

The Natih Formation in Oman is an exceptionally well–exposed and studied example of a large (>1000 km [621 mi]) epeiric, shallow marine, tropical carbonate platform system with adjacent organic-rich intrashelf basins. It serves as an outcrop analog for many of the mid-Cretaceous giant oil reservoirs as well as for unconventional reservoirs in the Mesozoic of the Arabian plate.

The Mut Basin in southcentral Turkey contains a rich variety of Cenozoic carbonate deposits that developed on a complex pre-Miocene topography and can be studied in seismic-scale, three-dimensional outcrops. These include open and rimmed carbonate shelves with steep slopes, small isolated platforms, and mixed carbonate–siliciclastic systems showing reciprocal sedimentation.