Field Seminars

Date: 3rd December Timing: 1:30pm – 4pm Field Trip Leader: Salvatore Di Simone, Saudi Aramco If you wish to register, please email Cora Navarro at This field trip will let you trace back the footsteps of the geologists who first surveyed Dhahran in search of oil, back in the 1930’s. There will be a stop by Dammam-7, the “Prosperity Well”, to discuss the history of oil exploration in Saudi Arabia. Additionally, attendees will get a chance to see the Cenozoic carbonate formations that outcrop in the area through easily accessible roadside stops.

Field Trip Leader: Andreas Scharf, Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) Date: 12th December Time: 7.30am – 7pm Fee: $400 Registration Deadline: 20th November The Jabal Akhdar in the Oman Mountains forms a ~90 km x 60 km large dome. The core of this dome consists of Precambrian sedimentary rocks, including source rocks. These rocks are separated by the overlying rocks by an angular unconformity. Rocks above this unconformity are the Permo-Mesozoic shelf carbonates of the Arabian passive margin. During the Late Cretaceous, the Arabian shelf was overthrust by the Semail Ophiolite and Hawasina rocks. Final doming was during the Eocene to Miocene. Thus, the Jabal Akhdar Dome provides insights to several deformation events. [PFImageShortCode|id:45006|width:300px|height:300px|lightbox:false|class:|align:none|title:false|description:true|margintop:5|marginright:5|marginbottom:5|marginleft:5|PFImageShortCode] [PFImageShortCode|id:45007|width:300px|height:300px|lightbox:false|class:|align:none|title:false|description:true|margintop:5|marginright:5|marginbottom:5|marginleft:5|PFImageShortCode] [PFImageShortCode|id:45008|width:300px|height:300px|lightbox:false|class:|align:none|title:false|description:true|margintop:5|marginright:5|marginbottom:5|marginleft:5|PFImageShortCode] This field trip will start near Al-Hamra and traverse the Jabal Akhdar Dome from the southern margin. Our road leads to a spectacular vista point at about 2000 m elevation. From this site we will study the regional folds in Precambrian formations as well the impressive cliffs of Permo-Mesozoic rocks. Within the core of the dome we will investigate Paleozoic refolded folds as well as syndepositional extensional faults within the Precambrian strata (Figs. 1 & 2). In Wadi Bani Kharous, the angular unconformity is superbly exposed (Fig. 3). The field trip will further inspect ductile and brittle deformation in the Mesozoic shelf carbonates (Fig. 4). Deformation is due to gravitational collapse and related extension immediately after ophiolite emplacement and final doming.

Field Trip Leader: Frank Mattern, Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) Date: 12th December Time: 8am – 5pm Fee: $170 Registration Deadline: 20th November The field trip will lead to the Sunub/Ansab area to discuss the postobductional extensional, NW-striking Frontal Range Fault which formed in the course of gravitational collapse of the Saih Hatat and Jabal Akhdar domes. The fault is marked by the occurrence of listwaenite. The vertical displacement amounts to a few to several kilometers. Shearing ensued in two intervals, during the late Cretaceous to early Eocene and probably Oligocene. At this fault segment, the first stage is characterized by extension. The second stage is marked by dextral motion, including local transtension. The listwaenite dispalys the unusual feature of a ductile shear zone which trends obliquely to the Frontal Range Fault. [PFImageShortCode|id:44990|width:300px|height:300px|lightbox:false|class:|align:none|title:false|description:true|margintop:5|marginright:5|marginbottom:5|marginleft:5|PFImageShortCode] [PFImageShortCode|id:44995|width:300px|height:300px|lightbox:false|class:|align:none|title:false|description:true|margintop:5|marginright:5|marginbottom:5|marginleft:5|PFImageShortCode] [PFImageShortCode|id:44996|width:300px|height:300px|lightbox:false|class:|align:none|title:false|description:true|margintop:5|marginright:5|marginbottom:5|marginleft:5|PFImageShortCode] At the hot spring of Hammam Al Ali the Frontal Range Fault is superbly exposed. The presence of the hot spring may well be related to the fault’s transtensional releasing bend as well as the occurrence of a nearby basalt which intruded the Paleocene-Eocene Jafnayn Formation. Gravitational collapse also created contractional structures due to E-W compression. Near Jafnayn, a wide open syncline in Eocene formations will be shown whose axis trends N-S, and on the SQU campus a syndepositional, E-dipping Miocene thrust formed within the Barzamen Formation. It displays ramps and an intervening flat. In Al-Khod Village, pillow basalt was pressed over a mudflow deposit along a west-dipping reverse fault. The two compressive faults could have formed coeval conjugate faults. Compression is related to convergence of downthrown hanging wall blocks.

Date: Friday December 13, 2019 Location: Central coastal Lebanon north of Beirut. The visited towns will include Qartaba, Laqlouq, Tannourine, Chekka and Byblos Fees: US$ 550 (Members) | US$ 750 (Non-members) Trip Objectives: Investigate the Cretaceous to Miocene carbonate platforms in Lebanon to draw analogy to Zohr, Explore the depositional environment of the Campanian source rocks, visualise the large structures of the Levant margin (e.g. the Qartaba structure) analogous to the offshore structures and have a concept of the scale. Itinerary: Departure time: 8:00 AM from hotel Stop 1: Qartaba village: Overview of the stratigraphy and depositional environment of the Levant margin by looking at a panoramic view of the stratigraphic succession. Stop 2: Laqlouq: quick stop to visualize the folding of the Qartaba anticline Stop 3: Tannourine: Overview of the large E-W strike-slip faults and discussion on their geodynamic history and implications on the petroleum system Stop 4: Tannourine-Douma road: Overview of the Cretaceous carbonate monocline and discussion on facies variation Stop 5: Chekka quarry: Examine the Campanian thermogenic source rocks and the Paleocene depositional systems. Stop 6: Ras Chekka: observe the Eocene carbonates, the Miocene reefs and the hiatus between the Lutetian-Burdigalian End of the trip by 5:00 PM Figure 1: The map of the region visited in this fieldtrip Figure 2: Map showing the road that will be followed during the trip and the location of the stops

Date: January 30th, 2020 Time: 8am – 3pm Start/Return Point: Abu Dhabi Equipment Required: Sturdy boots/shoes, sun protection (hat, sunglasses, sun-cream, etc.). Fitness: Most places require light walking (100s meters / comparatively flat). Sabkha outcrop will involve some wading in ankle-deep water/mud. Field Trip Leaders: Hesham Shebl, Ibrahim Al Ali and Hani El Sahn The modern carbonate-evaporite depositional environments along the Abu Dhabi shoreline and offshore Abu Dhabi belong to the few areas of the world where the geoscientist can observe the interplay between carbonate and evaporite sedimentation. The analysis of modern analogs is one of the few means by which high-resolution spatial complexity of stratigraphic systems can be described. If the horizontal dimensions of facies belts are less than the typical well spacing, modern analogs, together with seismic and production data help to construct realistic geologic and simulation models of subsurface reservoirs. Supratidal (sabkha) to intertidal (microbial mat), and lowermost intertidal to shallow subtidal (lagoon: skeletal-peloid tidal-flat) environments will be studied along the Abu Dhabi coastline in the vicinity of Al-Qanatir Island. Al-Qanatir Island: In the vicinity of the road to Al-Qanatir Island participants will be able to study a complete and undisturbed lateral facies succession of the upper supratidal to the shallow subtidal environments: Upper supratidal stranded beach ridges Topographic highs, some cm above the adjacent upper sabkha environment Upper sabkha (upper supratidal) Surface covered by polygonally-cracked halite crust Middle sabkha (middle supratidal) Surface covered by finely-crystalline, whitish anhydrite polygons Lower sabkha (lower supratidal) Surface covered by shiny, sparkling gypsum crystals Upper to lower intertidal microbial mat Crenulated or crinkled microbial mat above gypsum mush facies Blistered and pinnacle microbial mat Polygonal and tufted microbial mat Lowermost intertidal to shallow subtidal. Peloid-skeletal tidal-flat. This trip provides an insight into recent to modern evaporitic coastal depositional systems, that can be considered analogues to parts of the Mesozoic reservoir systems of the Middle East (e.g. intra-Arab & Hith anhydrites). Itinerary 8:00 am Depart for Sabkha outcrops at Al-Qanatir 9:00 am Arrive at Al-Qanatir Island 9:15 am Introduction Stop 1: Lateral Sabkha Sequence Stop 1a: Upper, Middle, and Lower Supratidal Sabkha Environment Stop 1b: Upper, Middle and Lower Intertidal Microbial Mat Environment Stop 1c: Lowermost Intertidal to Shallow Subtidal Peloid-Skeletal Tidal-Flat Environment Lunch 2:00 pm Depart Sabkha for Abu Dhabi *Registration will be opening shortly

Date: January 30th, 2020 Time: 8:00 am – 3:00 pm Start/Return Point: Abu Dhabi Equipment Required: • We cannot stress enough the importance of good sturdy field boots. If you are buying new boots, spend a few days “breaking in” the boots before coming to field. • Good solid hiking or work boots (leather) (no long heels for field work) &bull: Clothing for both hot and cold weather • Personal hygiene items. • Rain gear (waterproof, breathable) (in case) Field Trip Leaders: Dr. Abdelwahab Noufal and Ismail Al Hosani The one day field trip to Jabal Hafit is tailored to offer participants the opportunity to study the structural style and fracturing of carbonate rocks analogous to reservoir units of the globally important UAE oil province. The clear exposure of these carbonate rocks in this tectonically complicated area provides a significant opportunity to study and explain the structural style and deformation history of the region, with emphasis to study fractures pattern and fracturing mechanism with relation to the paleostress and in‐situ stresses, and the link to fractures hydraulic conductivity. The proposed locations to be visited on this fieldtrip will demonstrate the stratigraphic relationship of the various rock units and their fracture systems that have been developed during long geological deformation. There are significant similarities between these exposed rocks and those units seen in the Abu Dhabi oil fields by means of depositional characteristics and fracture system and fracture related diagenesis (cementation/host rock alteration) with its impact on sealing potential. List of the observation stops made over Jabal Hafit with their GPS record, lithology and structures: *Registration will be opening shortly