TECTONIC AND STRUCTURAL EVOLUTION OF AL-JAZIRA AREA

Abstract

A comprehensive tectonic and structural analysis of Al-Jazira Area (including Khleissia Heigh) using seismic, drill-hole and surface geological data is carried out, and some new obtained information is introduced. Though it lacks significant surface structures, Al-Jazira Area is dominated by a network of subsurface intracontinental ENE – WSW and NW – SE trending Late Cretaceous rift basins with Campanian – Maastrichtian synrift sediments. Several geological evidences point out to the recent activity of Khleissia Graben after a considerable period of quiescence. The nature of the stratigraphic sequence and the associated truncations reflect that the area was a subject to a repeated geological activity during the Mesozoic Era, but became almost stable during most of the Paleogene – Neogene Period. However, by considering its Late Mesozoic – Cenozoic stratigraphic and structural evolution, and its relation to the main tectonic zones of the Iraqi territory, Al-Jazira Area has been regarded as the northwestern extension of the Mesopotamia Foredeep of the Unstable Shelf of the Arabian Platform rather than a part of the Stable Shelf as proposed earlier.