Neogene Stratigraphic Development of the Arabian (Persian) Gulf
Abstract
The Arabian Gulf is a shallow (<100 m), epicontinental sea connected to the Gulf of Oman through the Straits of Hormuz. This basin, besides being an important military, economic, and political region, serves as an excellent model for sequence stratigraphic studies of an arid littoral environment. Neogene sediments in the Gulf comprise a northeast-thickening wedge (0.1-2.0 km) of clastics shed from the Zagros uplift in Iran. Our long-term goal is to understand how variations in sediment source, tectonic subsidence, climate, and sea level affected sedimentary processes and stratigraphic development of an arid, shallow-marine environment. Our objectives include mapping Quaternary channels, deltas, and sequence stratigraphy across the entire basin and correlating these to wells and surface sediment cores. Our previous work in the Arabian Gulf revealed an unconformity dating to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and a sequence of deltas along the northern Iranian margin (Uchupi et al., 1996, 1998). Radiocarbon ages suggested that the basin was subsiding in apparent contradiction to previous interpretations of seafloor topography. In the initial part of the present study, our objectives include mapping the LGM unconformity and the overlying Holocene unit, mapping channels in the LGM surface beneath the soft delta marls, tracing these features into the deeper regions of the basin, and using the topography of the seafloor and the LGM surface to test the hypothesis that the Iranian side of the basin was subsiding more rapidly than the Arabian side to the southwest.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 30, 2000
- Accession Number
- ADA609712
Entities
People
- David A. Ross
- Stephen A. Swift
Organizations
- Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution