Luningetal2000 - SilurianhotshalesofNorthAfricaandArabia

Earth-Science Reviews 49 Ž2000.
121–200
www.elsevier.comrlocaterearscirev
Lower Silurian ‘hot shales’ in North Africa and Arabia: regional

distribution and depositional model
¨
S. Luning a,b,)
, J. Craig b, D.K. Loydell c,1 ˇ
, P. Storch d
, B. Fitches e
a
Royal Holloway UniÕersity of London, Department of Geology, Queens Building, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, UK
b
LASMO, 101 Bishopsgate, London EC2M 3XH, UK
c
School of Earth, EnÕironmental and Physical Sciences, UniÕersity of Portsmouth, Burnaby Building, Burnaby Road,
Portsmouth PO1 3QL, UK
d
Geological Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, RozÕojoÕa´ 135, 165 00, Prague 6, Czech Republic
e
Robertson Research International, Tyn-y-coed, Llanrhos, Llandudno LL30 1SA, UK
Received 7 May 1999; accepted 7 October 1999
Abstract
Lowermost Silurian organic-rich Ž‘hot’. shales are the origin of 80–90% of Palaeozoic sourced hydrocarbons in North
Africa and also played a major role in petroleum generation on the Arabian Peninsula. In most cases, the shales were
deposited directly above upper Ordovician Žperi-. glacial sandstones during the initial early Silurian transgression that was a
result of the melting of the late Ordovician icecap. Deposition of the main organic-rich shale unit in the North
AfricanrArabian region was restricted to the earliest Silurian Rhuddanian stage Ž acuminatus, ataÕus and probably early
cyphus graptolite biozones.. During this short period Ž1–2 m.y.., a favourable combination of factors existed which led to
the development of exceptionally strong oxygen-deficiency in the area. In most countries of the study area, the
post-Rhuddanian Silurian shales are organically lean and have not contributed to petroleum generation. The distribution and
thickness of the basal Silurian ‘hot’ shales have been mapped in detail for the whole North African region, using logs from
some 300 exploration wells in Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. In addition, all relevant, accessible published and
unpublished surface and subsurface data of the lower Silurian shales in North Africa and Arabia have been reviewed,
including sedimentological, biostratigraphic and organic geochemical data. The lowermost Silurian hot shales of northern
Gondwana are laterally discontinuous and their distribution and thickness were controlled by the early Silurian palaeorelief
which was shaped mainly by glacial processes of the late Ordovician ice age and by Pan-African and Infracambrian
compressional and extensional tectonism. The thickest and areally most extensive basal Silurian organic-rich shales in North
Africa occur in Algeria, Tunisia and western Libya, while on the Arabian Peninsula they are most prolific in Saudi Arabia,
Oman, Jordan and Iraq. The hot shales were not deposited in Egypt, which was a large palaeohigh at that time. The
)
Corresponding author. LASMO International, 101 Bishopsgate, London EC2M 3XH, UK. Tel.: q44-171-892-9462; fax: q44-171-892-
9292; e-mail: sebastian.luning@lasmo.com
1
E-mail: david.loydell@port.ac.uk
0012-8252r00r$ - see front matter q 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 0 1 2 - 8 2 5 2 Ž 9 9 . 0 0 0 6 0 - 4
122 ¨
S. Luning et al.r Earth-Science ReÕiews 49 (2000) 121–200
depositional model presented may help in better understanding the source potential of the basal Silurian shales in
less-explored regions of North Africa and Arabia including Morocco, northern Niger and the Kufra Basin in southeast Libya.
q 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Silurian; North Africa; Arabia; petroleum source rock; black shale; graptolite
1. Introduction the Arabian Peninsula, a fact which was discovered

only in the last two decades ŽAlsharhan and Nairn,
Lower Silurian shales, especially the characteris- 1997.. They are regarded as the source of the non-as-
tic basal organic-rich Ž‘hot’. shale unit, are the origin sociated gas in the North Field of Qatar and of the
of 80–90% of Palaeozoic-sourced hydrocarbons in oil in central Saudi Arabia on the basis of geochemi-
North Africa, where they charge both intra-Palaeo- cal fingerprinting ŽAlsharhan and Nairn, 1997..
zoic and basal Triassic reservoirs ŽFig. 1. ŽBoote et This prolific basal Silurian source level not only
al., 1998.. According to Boote et al. Ž1998., these occurs over wide areas of North Africa and Arabia,
shales are the most important petroleum source rock but source rocks are also present at a similar level in
on the entire Saharan Platform, and have total or- the Interior basins of the US, the Amazon ŽFig. 2.
ganic carbon contents ŽTOC. of up to 17%. The and on the Russian platform ŽKlemme and Ulmishek,
lower Silurian shales are also a major source rock on 1991; Macgregor, 1996.. Globally, Silurian organic-
Fig. 1. Oil and gas occurrences in North Africa inferred to have been sourced by the lower Silurian hot shales Žmodified after Macgregor,
1996..
¨
S. Luning et al.r Earth-Science ReÕiews 49 (2000) 121–200 123
Fig. 2. Simplified palaeogeographic map of Gondwana during the early Silurian Žmodified after Clifford, 1986.. Note that the broad North
Gondwanan shelf was interrupted by a major palaeohigh around Egypt and Sudan. There is currently no agreement in the literature as to
whether the Armorican terrane Žincluding Iberia and Sardinia. was still attached to the north Gondwanan margin or Žas in Fig. 7. whether it
had already drifted off northwards by mid-Ordovician times. In addition, according to biogeographic data, Sardinia seems to be composed of
two separate terranes Že.g., Barca, 1998..
rich shales account for the generation of 9% of the shales in North Africa and Arabia, synthesizing the
world’s petroleum reserves ŽKlemme and Ulmishek, large amount of, mostly, unpublished data available,
1991.. and thus to provide a platform and stimulus for
Despite their importance, little is known about the future research.
lowermost Silurian source rocks in Arabia or in In the following, we will:
North Africa. There are several reasons for this. 1. Discuss the palaeoenvironmental processes which
Firstly, most of the abundant subsurface data from led to the earliest Silurian anoxia;
petroleum exploration remains unpublished for com- 2. Present a depositional model, emphasizing the
mercial reasons. Secondly, the main focus during penecontemporaneous nature of the event and the
exploration tends to be on a field- to concession-scale, importance of the earliest Silurian palaeorelief;
which does not provide the database, nor the time, 3. Comment on the implications of the palaeoenvi-
for shelf- or continent-wide correlations Žsee also ronmental and depositional models for the strati-
DeJong and Addy, 1998.. Thirdly, the generally graphic distribution of organic matter in the Sil-
harsh desert environment and remoteness of expo- urian succession, as well as for the regional distri-
sures in North Africa and Arabia has meant that only bution of basal Silurian hot shales;
a limited number of detailed field studies has been 4. Present hot shale isopach and distribution maps
made. Finally, the limited, and often inadequate, derived from unpublished well data from Mo-
biostratigraphic control in most petroleum wells hin- rocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya;
der a detailed, continent-wide correlation of the Sil- 5. Highlight questions and discuss probable miscon-
urian shales in the subsurface. ceptions in the literature; and
The aim of this review paper is to summarize the 6. Use the depositional model based on the exten-
current knowledge of the lowermost Silurian hot sive datasets in Algeria, Libya and Saudi Arabia
124 ¨
in order to predict the source rock potential in tratigraphic graptolite data, some of which may
underexplored, frontier areas Žsuch as Morocco, require future re-assessment. As there is a clear link
northern Niger, Kufra Basin of Libya.. between the timing of onset of shale deposition and
The review is arranged on a country-by-country the presence and thickness of the basal Silurian hot
basis. The structure and length of each country de- shales ŽAoudeh and Al-Hajri, 1995., all available
scription varies significantly, depending on the kind biostratigraphic data from the lower Silurian strata of
and the amount of data available. North Africa and Arabia have been reviewed in
order to map the diachronous onset of shale deposi-
tion. A similar map has been compiled previously by
2. Material and methods Legrand Ž1985b, fig. 21. for Algeria. Graptolite data
from outcrops have proved especially useful Žbut see
The review is based on: comments below in Section 5., as they provide
Ž1. An analysis of more than 300 North African high-resolution biostratigraphic control and can be
petroleum exploration wells. Wireline logs from more clearly tied to sections, in contrast to palynology data
than 300 petroleum exploration wells from Morocco, in wells based on cuttings which are often subject to
Algeria and Libya have been analyzed and the contamination by cavings.
gamma-ray amplitudes, thicknesses, and depth inter- Ž3. A reÕiew of all releÕant literature and acces-
vals of the hot shale unit and the total shale succes- sible unpublished reports known to the authors con-
sion recorded. Six hot shale isopach maps and one cerning the early Silurian hot shales.
hot shale distribution map have been compiled on Ž4. Fieldwork in southeast and southwest Libya
the basis of this dataset ŽFig. 3.. In addition, and Morocco. In MarchrApril 1998, field work was
petroleum source rock and total Silurian Ž-lowermost carried out in the Libyan part of the Kufra Basin
Devonian. shale isopach maps have been constructed with emphasis on the basal Silurian shales. The
and the thickness trends compared with those from detailed results of this field study are included in the
the hot shale isopach maps, to evaluate the control- ¨
work Luning et al. Žin press.. In addition, some of
ling mechanisms on the deposition of the hot shales. the authors ŽS.L., J.C., B.F.. have undertaken field-
Ž2. Regional mapping of the onset of shale sedi- work and participated in numerous excursions to the
mentation during the latest OrdoÕician–early Sil- Murzuq Basin ŽSW Libya. and Morocco during
urian transgression, based mainly on published bios- which they have sampled the basal Silurian shales
Fig. 3. Database and regional coverage of hot shale isopach maps in North Africa.
¨
for graptolites and gained a better understanding of associated with organic matter ŽStocks and Lawrence,
the outcrop conditions. 1990.. A gamma-ray spectrometer can be used to
measure the abundance of the three main naturally
2.1. Wireline logs occurring radioactive elements, potassium, uranium
and thorium. In marine mudrocks, K and Th abun-
Hot shales have a typical response on wireline- dances are closely related because both are present
logs: Gamma-ray and resistivity values increase sig- mainly in the detrital clay fraction. U also occurs in
nificantly while the sonic values decrease ŽFig. 4. the detrital clay fraction, but unlike Th it is also
Žsee details below.. High gamma-ray intervals not carried partly in solution as uranyl carbonate com-
associated with high resistivity and low sonic values plexes ŽCombaz, 1986; Wignall and Myers, 1988..
can be related to lithologies other than hot shales, Under reducing conditions it may be precipitated to
e.g., shales rich in detrital K and Th, as in the enrich the sediment in ‘authigenic’ Žnon-detrital. ura-
Ordovician of SW Libya. The degree of maturation nium. The U is fixed at the sediment–water interface
also plays a role. The organic content of higher under reducing conditions and in the presence of a
mature black shales is reduced as a consequence of sorbent, which is usually organic matter or phosphate
hydrocarbon generation and expulsion while the ura- ŽWignall and Myers, 1988.. Hence, sediments en-
nium in the sediment is less affected by this process. riched in authigenic U tend to be deposited under
Quantitative TOC determinations from wireline logs anoxic conditions that allow both large amounts of
remain complicated ŽMeyer and Nederlof, 1984; organic matter to accumulate and U to be fixed
Passey et al., 1990; Stocks and Lawrence, 1990.. ŽWignall and Myers, 1988..
Some of the wells analyzed during this study were In this contribution, shales are defined as ‘hot’ if
drilled during the late 1950s and 1960s, a time when the gamma values exceed 200 API. This value corre-
the quality of geophysical wireline logging was vari- lates approximately with TOCs of 3% Žfor maturities
able. In some rare cases in these early wells, high around the oil window; lower TOCs for higher matu-
gamma-ray or high resistivity values suggest the rities., as documented in data from eastern Algeria
presence of a hot shale, but the peaks do not coincide ŽFig. 5., southwestern Libya ŽFig. 34. and Saudi
with a strong negative sonic peak, contrasting to the Arabia ŽFig. 45.. The arbitrary value of 200 API
petrophysical model for organic-rich shales. These allows a clear differentiation between the organic-
records have been excluded from our database as rich, Silurian high-gamma shales and less organic-
they provide ambiguous data. rich shales. From a statistical point of views, shales
with TOC values ) 3% Ž‘hot shales’. usually con-
2.1.1. Gamma-ray log tain marine organic matter, and are thus oil-prone if
Increases in gamma-ray values often indicate ele- immature Že.g., Demaison and Moore, 1980; Tyson,
vated amounts of TOC where non-detrital uranium is 1995.. While the ‘hot shales’ are interpreted as
Fig. 4. Typical response of organic-rich shales in wireline logs. Authigenic uranium in the hot shales is responsible for high gamma values,
while the essentially non-conductive and low-density organic matter leads to high resistivity and low sonic values.
126 ¨
providing the bulk of organic matter in the north

Gondwanan Silurian-sourced reservoirs, other Sil-
urian shales with slightly lower gamma readings
seem to be ‘warm’ and may have some source
potential with TOC values between 1% and 3%. A
cut-off value of around 150 API has been used for
determining the thickness of Silurian shales with
petroleum source rock qualities ŽTOC values greater
than 1–1.5%. in Algeria ŽFigs. 25c, 26, 27c, 28c and
29.. The hot shale thicknesses reported here repre-
sent cumulative values as any interbedded shales
- 200 API were excluded from the thickness mea-
surements.
The regionally rather consistent relationship be-
tween gamma-ray and TOC values in the lower
Silurian shales of North Africa Žsee above. allows in
this case the use of gamma-ray data as proxies for
the organic content and thus the construction of
continuous vertical TOC profiles. As a consequence,
the thicknesses of the lowermost Silurian organic-rich
unit can be more easily determined than by TOC
measurements only. A similar gamma-ray-based
isopach mapping technique has been applied by
Schmoker Ž1980, 1981. working on Upper Devonian
hot shales from the Appalachian Basin. Regional
source richness maps based solely on TOC values
are often far less reliable than maps derived from
gamma values because in many wells only a few
horizons of the hot shale are studied and the most
organic-rich part is not necessarily included. In well
ME-1 in the Algerian Mouydir Basin ŽFig. 6., for
example, a hot shale with a thickness of 22–26 m
has been identified based on the gamma-ray curve;
however, the maximum TOC data reported for the
Silurian shales in this well is 0.8% TOC.
In practice, the comparison of absolute gamma
values from different wells is not straightforward,
because the values recorded vary depending on the
setting of the gamma meter, e.g., varying distances
between the logging tool and the borehole wall. To
Fig. 5. Comparison of gamma-ray and TOC values in three wells

ŽADO-E-1, SED-1, BRD-4. from the Ghadames and Illizi basins
from Algeria Žlocation map in Fig. 25.. The comparisons show
that the 200 API cut-off value chosen to define ‘hot shales’ in this
contribution corresponds to TOC values of slightly above 3%.
Data courtesy of SONATRACH and Geomark Research Ž1996..
¨
Fig. 6. Sedimentary basins of North Africa for which the regional distribution of Silurian hot shales is discussed in the text.
allow a direct comparison, it was necessary to re- inorganic rock matrix has been replaced with low-
calibrate some of the gamma curves. In order to density Žand low velocity. solid organic carbon
define a standard, the organically lean shales which ŽStocks and Lawrence, 1990; Creaney and Passey,
make up most of the Silurian shale succession, have 1993..
been assumed to have values of around 120 API, as
is the case in most of the well logs analyzed. In cases 2.2. Seismic amplitude maps
of mismatch, the gamma scale was manually modi-
fied. In some of the older wells Žpre-1970., the Due to their very low sonic velocities, the basal
gamma values were measured in units other than Silurian hot shales produce a strong seismic reflec-
API Žsuch as mg radiumrton, RAEQ.. A quantita- tor. Regional amplitude mapping of the reflector can
tive comparison with the API-based dataset is more be used to differentiate between areas where the hot
complicated in these cases and hence these wells shale is present and those where it is absent. This
yielded only qualitative information. technique has been applied successfully in the
Murzuq Basin ŽSW Libya. where a good correspon-
2.1.2. ResistiÕity log dence between hot shales in wells and the regional
Organic matter is considered to be essentially seismic amplitude map has been observed ŽFig. 33..
non-conductive. Therefore, increases in resistivity
are expected where organic matter is present at the
expense of conductive clays. The greatest increases 3. Depositional model for Silurian shales in North
in resistivity are likely once hydrocarbon generation Africa and Arabia
has commenced and free hydrocarbons have dis-
placed part of the conductive pore water ŽStocks and Although the Silurian strata are preserved in gen-
Lawrence, 1990.. tle sag basins in North Africa ŽFig. 6. and Arabia,
the similar stratigraphy implies deposition on a uni-
2.1.3. Sonic log form shelf which underwent subsequent warping,
Organic-rich shales are usually associated with leaving the strata preserved within the basins and
low sonic values, because in immature rocks the eroded from the intervening arches ŽSelley, 1997a..
128 ¨
3.1. Late OrdoÕician glaciation
During the late Ordovician, northern Gondwana

was situated close to the South Pole ŽFig. 7. ŽCaputo
and Crowell, 1985; Scotese and Barrett, 1990;
Dalziel, 1997; Mac Niocaill et al., 1997; Smith,
1997; Grunow, 1999.. The late Ordovician glaciation
may have lasted for only 0.5–1.0 m.y. ŽBrenchley et
al., 1994. but played an important role in late Or-
dovician sedimentation ŽMcClure, 1978; Husseini,
1990; Vaslet, 1990; Semtner and Klitzsch, 1994..
Characteristic features include thick sandstones and
diamictites ŽDeynoux, 1985. and glacial-related
palaeovalleys and channel-fill structures ŽVaslet,
1990; Abed et al., 1993; Driggs, 1993; Ghienne and
Deynoux, 1998.. It is thought that a series of ad-
vances and retreats of the continental ice occurred
ŽBeuf et al., 1969, 1971.. The glacially influenced
Fig. 7. Late Ordovician–early Silurian plate reconstruction Žfrom depositional processes led to the development of a
Torsvik et al., 1996.. North Gondwana was located near the South strong palaeorelief on the northern Gondwanan shelf
Pole, which allowed late Ordovician glaciation of the region. ŽFig. 8A., superimposed on larger-scale undulations
Known localities of late Ordovician glaciogenic deposits are
indicated ŽT, after Scotese and Barrett, 1990.. Note that the
dating from the Precambrian Pan-African Orogeny
positions for the peri-Gondwanan terranes such as the and Infracambrian extensional movements Že.g.,
Armorican–Iberian Massifs and the Bohemian Massif in this Schandelmeier, 1988.. Post-glacial rebound uplift
reconstruction contrast with interpretations by other authors Že.g., processes may have added to the complex relief
Scotese and McKerrow, 1990. who consider that these terranes Že.g., Aoudeh and Al-Hajri, 1995..
were still attached to the northern margin of Gondwana during the
early Silurian Žsee Fig. 2 for an alternative interpretation..
3.2. Silurian shale and hot shale deposition
After the peak of the late Ordovician glaciation

The progressive segmentation of the northern Gond- during the Hirnantian ŽBrenchley et al., 1994., ice
wanan shelf into intracratonic basins and swells was melting led to a rapid eustatic sea-level rise ŽFigs.
mainly a consequence of the late Devonian to late 8A,B and 9. and a far-reaching southward transgres-
Carboniferous collision of northern Gondwana with sion which commenced during the latest Ordovician
Laurasia ŽBoote et al., 1998, p. 8.. persculptus graptolite Zone ŽFig. 10.. This must have
Fig. 8. General depositional model for late Ordovician to early Devonian sediments in North Africa with emphasis on the lowermost
Silurian hot shales. Systems tracts belong to a second-order sequence. ŽA. Deposition of lowstand sandstones during the late Ordovician
glaciation produces a strong glacial and periglacial relief which is superimposed on larger, structural shelf undulations, probably inherited
from the Pan-African and infracambrian tectonic phases. ŽB. Melting of the glacial ice cap during the earliest Silurian leads to a significant
sea-level rise and rapid flooding of wide parts of North Africa. Hot shale formation is restricted to the earliest phase of the transgression so
that organic-rich deposits were only deposited in palaeodepressions, whereas palaeohighs lack the hot shales. ŽC. The later stages of the
early Silurian sea-level rise eventually led to laterally uninterrupted Žbut now lean. shale deposition in most parts of North Africa. The
uppermost shales in the extreme southeast are deposited during the latest transgressive systems tract ŽTST.. ŽD. After the rate of sea-level
rise begins to decline, highstand deltas start to build out from the northern Gondwanan coast into the shaly Silurian shelfal sea. The delta
system has not reached the northwesternmost parts of North Africa by the early Devonian where pelagic limestones are deposited instead.
ŽE. A significant sea-level fall during the Early Devonian leads to deposition of fluvial lowstand sandstones Žwhich are underlain by a major
sequence boundary. in Libya and neighbouring areas. In some areas, the period is marked by non-deposition and erosion with underlying
sediments partly removed down to Cambro-Ordovician levels.
¨
130 ¨
Fig. 9. Eustatic sea-level curves for the Silurian according to Leggett et al. Ž1981., Johnson et al. Ž1991., Johnson Ž1996., Ross and Ross
Ž1996. and Loydell Ž1998a. Žmodified after Loydell, 1998a.. Note that all authors consider that the eustatic sea-level reached a maximum
during the late Llandovery. Also shown is a correlation of the numbered graptolite biozonal schemes originating from Great Britain ŽElles
and Wood, 1914. and Germany Žas depicted in Munch, ¨ 1952. with the Llandovery to early Ludlow graptolite biozones currently in wide
international use Žafter Loydell, 1998a..
been a very rapid transgression Žor sediment-starved. rippled sandstones, resulting from littoral reworking,
because shallow-marine sandwaves, strandlines and were preserved during the transgression and were
¨
Fig. 10. Correlation of Silurian series and stages with global graptolite biozones ŽElles and Wood, 1901–1918. and local chitinozoan
biozones from Saudi Arabia ŽParis et al., 1995.. The basal Silurian hot shale in North Africa and Arabia was deposited during Rhuddanian
times only Ž acuminatus Zone to ataÕus Zone, in some areas up to cyphus Zone..
subsequently buried beneath graptolitic shales Že.g., Silurian hot shale unit, therefore, is interpreted to be
Bennacef et al., 1971; Beuf et al., 1971.. related to an almost synchronous anoxic ‘event’ rather
In the earliest stages of the transgression, during than to a diachronous process as suggested by some
the latest Ordovician persculptus Zone and the earli- authors Že.g., Jaeger et al., 1975; Combaz, 1986, p.
est Silurian Rhuddanian Stage, only low-lying areas 75.. The Silurian post-Rhuddanian shales are, in
of the shelf were flooded and shales deposited ŽFig. general, organically lean and do not make a signifi-
8B. Žsee also Jaeger, 1976, p. 278; Destombes et al., cant contribution to petroleum generation ŽFig. 8c.
1985, p. 260; Combaz, 1986.. There is usually a Ž however, local exceptions occur in the
sharp contact between Ordovician strata and the Telychianrlower Wenlock as described below.. The
latest Ordovician–early Silurian shales. The North Rhuddanian anoxic event did not include the very
African and Arabian shelf at that time were charac- earliest phase of the transgression as organically lean
terized by a complex system of flooded intrashelf shales locally underlie the hot shales in places where
basins and palaeovalleys which were separated by shale deposition commenced before the anoxic event,
various tectonic and sedimentary palaeohigh struc- e.g., parts of central Saudi Arabia ŽParis et al.,
tures Žsee, e.g., Section 7.4 below.. 1995., several wells in the Libyan Murzuq Basin
Graptolite assemblages from the hot shales in ŽFig. 11., and peri-Gondwanan Europe ŽStorch, ˇ
Saudi Arabia ŽAoudeh and Al-Hajri, 1995., SW 1996..
Libya Ža well in concession NC174, Fig. 11. and The restriction of the hot shales to the Rhudda-
Morocco Žwell BJ-105, Fig. 21. clearly show that nian Stage implies that palaeohighs, which during
deposition of the main organic-rich shale unit in the latest Ordovician–early Silurian transgression
North African and Arabian was restricted to the ŽFig. 9. were flooded only during post-Rhuddanian
earliest Silurian Parakidograptus acuminatus, Cys- times, are likely to be devoid of the Silurian hot
tograptus Õesiculosus and probably early cyphus shales ŽFig. 8B,C.. The palaeorelief, therefore, con-
graptolite Zones ŽRhuddanian stage. ŽFigs. 4 and trolled not only the timing of the onset of shale
10.. During this short period, a favourable combina- deposition but also the presence, or absence and
tion of factors in parts of North Gondwana led to the Žprobably. the thickness of the hot shales. Variations
deposition of exceptionally organic-rich shales Žsee in hot shale distribution occur on a scale of a few
Section 4 below.. The laterally discontinuous basal kilometres up to a few hundred kilometres, in paral-
132 ¨
Fig. 11. Graptolite biostratigraphy of the hot shale interval in a well in NC174 ŽMurzuq Basin, location map in Fig. 32.. The age of the hot
shale can be narrowed down to post-persculptus Zone to Žpre-?. cyphus Zone.
lel with similar scale variations in the composite Timbuktu; Fig. 39. ŽR.C. Selley, pers. commun.,
tectonically and glacially controlled palaeorelief. Ar- 1998..
eas that were flooded during the Rhuddanian, but The hot shales Žwith gamma values ) 200 API.
only to very shallow water depths, are probably also in North Africa are rarely thicker than 25 m Žsee
devoid of the Rhuddanian hot shales. These areas below., so that the organic-rich interval represents
would have been exposed to strong waves and cur- only a small fraction of the total Silurian shale
rents which led to strong oxygenation and sediment succession, which in North Africa and Arabia may
by-pass or sandstone deposition. The lower Silurian reach up to 700–1000 m. Given this great overall
shales exposed in the centre of the Sahara in part shale thickness, the thin hot shale horizon empha-
directly overlie the Precambrian basement ŽSelley, sizes the relatively ‘short’ duration of the anoxic
1997a., probably indicating that these areas were event that probably lasted just 1–2 m.y., based on
palaeohighs during the transgression. These areas are the number of involved graptolite biozones. Further-
the Mourizide Horst on the southeastern flank of the more, the sedimentation rate may have been lower
Murzuq Basin ŽJacque, ´ 1962; Klitzsch, 1981., the during hot shale deposition than during deposition of
southern margin of the Tindouf Basin Žwestern Alge- the younger lean shales Žsee below.. According to
ria, Morocco, Western Sahara and Mauritania; Fig. Creaney and Passey Ž1993., most of the world’s
39. ŽDeynoux et al., 1985, p. 345., and the southern prolific source rocks are less than 30 m thick. It is
margin of the Taoudenni Basin ŽMali, southwest of clear that the Silurian source rock potential in any
¨
given area does not necessarily improve with in- cession Žas some authors have suggested, e.g., Zan-
creasing thicknesses of the total Silurian shale suc- guina et al., 1998, p. 96. but equates solely with the
Fig. 12. Simplified model for early Silurian hot shale deposition in North Africa and Arabia. Ža. During the latest stages of sea-level fall
Žlate Ordovician. and the initial sea-level rise Žearliest Silurian., Žperi-. glacial and passive structural palaeodepressions are partially filled by
sandstones Žlate lowstand systems tract ŽLST., early TST valley fill.. During the initial transgression, organic-rich shales are deposited
directly on top of the transgressive surface in areas already flooded. Palaeohigh regions only reached later by the early Silurian transgression
lack the hot shales. Žb. Schematic hot shale distribution map. Lateral distribution of hot shales in many areas of North Africa is
discontinuous with hot shales restricted to palaeodepressions, for example provided by the late Ordovician drainage systems. Žc. Typical
well log from the Murzuq Basin ŽSW Libya. with sharp basal sandstone–shale contact and Žlocally developed. strong gamma-ray peak
indicating the presence of organic-rich shales. Upper contact of shales with overlying deltaic sandstones is usually gradual.
134 ¨
presence of the Rhuddanian hot shale at the base of registered on the North African shelf, but equally
the unit Žsee also Berry and Boucot, 1973, p. 5.. very little has been published on the Aeronian and
Telychian of North Africa.
3.3. Sequence stratigraphic interpretation and Sil-
Due to a high sediment supply, progradation of
urian deltaic progradation
deltaic ŽAkakus. sandstones into the shaly shelfal sea
In terms of a sequence stratigraphic model ŽFigs. in North Africa ŽBerry and Boucot, 1967, 1973;
8 and 12., the fluvial to shallow marine upper Or- Massa and Jaeger, 1971; Jaeger, 1976; Bellini and
dovician sediments below the mostly Silurian shale Massa, 1980, p. 282. commenced near the Rhudda-
succession are interpreted as a second-order low- nian–Aeronian boundary when the sea-level rise had
stand systems tract ŽLST.. The major flooding sur- slowed enough to induce a change from retrograda-
face Žfs. at the base of the overlying shales is tion to clinoform progradation ŽFig. 8D.. The onset
considered to be the transgressive surface Žts. which of progradation in the sedimentary system marks the
separates the LST from the transgressive systems maximum flooding surface Žmfs. in the sequence.
tract ŽTST.; the TST in most cases consisting en- The mfs only coincides with the gradational shale–
tirely of uppermost Ordovician–lower Silurian shales. sandstone contact in the southernmost parts of the
Eustatic sea-level models ŽLeggett et al., 1981; John- North African shelf, e.g., in the southern Kufra Basin
son et al., 1991; Johnson, 1996; Ross and Ross, ŽChad, Sudan.. In most other areas of North Africa
1996; Loydell, 1998a. suggest that the second-order and Arabia, the mfs lies within the Silurian shale
sea level rose gradually from the latest Ordovician package and is lithologically almost imperceptible
persculptus Zone onwards until the late Rhuddanian because the deltaic sandstones had not reached these
or early Aeronian Žbut see Melchin et al., 1998a, p. areas by the early Aeronian Žsee also Tyson, 1996..
174, for discussion of possible regression during late The onset of sandstone-dominated deposition be-
acuminatus Zone., reaching a maximum level during comes younger towards the northwest across North
the late Llandovery ŽTelychian. ŽFig. 9.. Higher Africa ŽFigs. 8D and 13., a consequence of the
frequency sea-level cycles, included in the eustatic deltaic sandstone progradation. The youngest shales
sea-level curves of Johnson Ž1996. and Loydell occur in Morocco, which the sandstones had still not
Ž1998a., may have had amplitudes too small to be reached by the early Devonian Že.g., Jaeger, 1976..
Fig. 13. Progressive northwestward migration of the deltaic sandy facies during Silurian times in North Africa Žafter Berry and Boucot,
1973.. The ages for the locations of the deltaic front are based on graptolite biostratigraphy.
¨
The absence of sand influx during the Ludlow and

ˇ´ ´ in western Algeria and Morocco allowed the
Prıdolı
formation of distinctive carbonates Ž‘Ockerkalk’.
which can be also traced through SE Sardinia into
eastern Germany ŽJaeger, 1976.. These carbonates
are commonly associated with black shales, which in
places are characterized by relatively high gamma
values in the subsurface Že.g., Ahnet and parts of
Sbaa basins, Algeria.. The mechanisms which con-
trolled the deposition of these carbonates are still not
clearly understood ŽLegrand, 1994.. Legrand Ž1994.
inferred that the carbonates are associated with a
ˇ´ˇ Ž1998. suggested
slight sea-level rise, whereas Krız
that they indicate sea-level lowstands.
A drop in sea level during the early Devonian
marks a major sequence boundary Žsb., which is
characterized by the boundary between the mostly
marine Silurian Akakus sandstones and the mostly
fluvial Devonian Tadrart sandstones in the southeast-
ern part of the North African shelf in Libya ŽFig.
8E..
The concepts of sequence stratigraphy have not
been widely applied to the Lower Palaeozoic sedi-
mentary rocks of North Africa and Arabia, and
several misconceptions exist in the literature. Ac-
cording to our model, the lower Silurian hot shales
are located either at the base of, or well within, the
TST. This interpretation contrasts with those of some
authors Že.g., Droste, 1997; Wender et al., 1998.
who placed the mfs at the top of the hot shale unit,
probably on the basis of the high gamma values.
However, those values are clearly related to the high
organic content rather than a condensed section de-
posited during maximum transgression near the mfs.
3.4. Local deÕelopment of an additional (?Telychian)

Fig. 14. Gamma-ray log and palynomorph biostratigraphy ŽFJA,
hot shale interÕal 1996. of well ESR-1 ŽGhadames Basin, Libya.. About 100 m
above the basal ?Rhuddanian hot shale another hot shale is
A second, slightly younger Silurian hot shale unit developed, which has been dated as Telychian by means of
seems to occur locally on parts of the North Gond- palynology. This second hot shale seems to be represented in very
wanan shelf. Direct evidence for this second Silurian few wells in the Ghadames Basin and could be correlatable with a
similar second hot shale which has been reported from Iraq ŽFig.
anoxic event is found in the ESR-1 well in the 41.. Log data courtesy of SONATRACH.
Algerian part of the Ghadames Basin Žfor details see
Section 7.2 below and Fig. 14. which was dated by
palynomorphs as Telychian ŽFJA, 1996., about 100 well where the two hot shale units are separated
m above the basal Silurian hot shale, the latter with from each other by 60 m of lean shales ŽAqrawi,
significantly higher gamma-ray values. A similar hot 1998, see Section 8.2 below.. A second black shale
shale record has been reported from the Iraqi Akkas-1 unit in the middle part of the Silurian shale unit with
136 ¨
gamma-ray values exceeding 200 API has also been welling conditions may point to a more complex
reported by Bracaccia et al. Ž1991. from the north- combination of factors which favoured the earliest
eastern margin of the Ghadames Basin Žconcession Silurian deposition of extremely organic-rich shales
NC40Aq B.. Further evidence for a second Silurian in North Africa and Arabia ŽFig. 15..
hot shale unit comes from the Tunisian part of the Whilst high primary organic productivity in the
Ghadames Basin Žsee Section 7.8 below., where the ocean seems to have provided the general pre-condi-
hot shale in several wells was dated by graptolites as tion for organic-rich shale deposition, exceptional
‘middle or upper Llandovery to lower Wenlock’, preservational mechanisms during initial transgres-
with the Rhuddanian represented by pyritic sand- sion enhanced the shelfal oxygen-deficiency during
stones ŽJaeger et al., 1975.. the earliest Silurian and led to the accumulation of
the organic-rich basal Silurian shales. A brief charac-
terization of all processes which could have con-
4. Palaeoecological model for earliest Silurian tributed to the earliest Silurian shelfal anoxia, is
anoxia on the North Gondwanan shelf given below so that the relative importance of the
various mechanisms can be better judged ŽFig. 15..
Silurian anoxic–oxic cycles are known from many
parts of the world Že.g., Dabard and Paris, 1986;
Jeppsson, 1990; Aldridge et al., 1993; Jeppsson et 4.1. North Gondwanan upwelling
al., 1995.. The most intense Silurian anoxic event on
the North Gondwanan shelf was restricted to a short Upwelling is a complex process that brings rela-
period during the earliest Silurian Žearly Llandovery tively nutrient-rich water into the photic zone from
s Rhuddanian.. The organic matter of the hot shales moderate and great depths and often triggers high
was most probably produced in combination with plankton productivity. Pedersen and Calvert Ž1990.
upwelling along the North Gondwanan shelf margin regard upwelling-related palaeoproductivity as far
Že.g., Parrish, 1982; Finney and Berry, 1997; but see more important for the formation of organic-carbon-
also Tyson, 1995, pp. 34–37 for a critique.. How- rich sediments than primary water-column anoxia.
ever, the upwelling regime has been interpreted to According to these authors, the key to black shale
have persisted long after the cessation of hot shale formation in most cases, therefore, may lie in the
deposition Že.g., Moore et al., 1993.. The subsequent input flux of organic matter to the sediments and not
deposition of organically lean shales during up- in the redox status of the depositional basin — a
Fig. 15. Palaeoecological scheme showing all processes that potentially could have contributed to the deposition of the Rhuddanian
organic-rich shales in North Gondwana. The model includes a primary productivity and a preservational component. Upwelling close to the
North Gondwanan shelf triggered high primary organic productivity. The nutrient-rich water masses drifted onto the North Gondwanan
shelf, which during the earliest phase of the transgression was characterized by intra shelf basins protected from the open sea by palaeohigh
flow barriers allowing intense stratification of water masses in these basins. Other components, which may have contributed to the strong
anoxia, are the low clastic input onto the shelf due to the rapid transgression, influx of fresh water masses derived from the waning ice
sheets and a relatively low atmospheric oxygen pressure during Silurian times.
¨
claim which, however, is challenged by other authors dated. Ž2. Coarser-grained siliciclastics are kept out
Že.g., Demaison, 1993; Tyson, 1995, 1996.. of the system because they are trapped in river
During the early Silurian, the extensive, flooded mouths. Ž3. On large shelves, there is a favourable
North Gondwanan shelf margin lay in the zone of combination of shallow water with a small oxygen
the westerly winds between latitudes 408 and 608 reservoir and incomplete re-colonization after sea-
south. Computer simulations of a general circulation sonal anoxia.
model suggest that the winds produced intense, in
some areas seasonally restricted, upwelling and, by
extension of present-day analogues, high biological 4.2.1. Sub-basins with restricted circulation
productivity ŽParrish, 1982; Moore et al., 1993.. The Most petroleum source rocks are deposited in
resultant high flux of organic matter to the sea floor small sub-basins protected from open-ocean circula-
may have created dysoxic and anoxic conditions. tion ŽKlemme and Ulmishek, 1991.. In North Africa
However, these computer simulations suggest that and Arabia, there was a pronounced early Silurian
the North Gondwanan upwelling was active not only palaeorelief ŽFig. 15.. During the initial transgres-
during the Llandovery but also persisted throughout sion, the palaeodepressions were flooded while the
the Wenlock. The restriction of hot shale deposition palaeohighs acted as barriers to water circulation Žcf.
to the early Llandovery may indicate that other ‘puddle model’ of Wignall, 1994, p. 97; see also
processes were responsible for the termination of the Dabard and Paris, 1986., enhancing the overall oxy-
anoxic event. However, it cannot be excluded that gen-deficiency in the shelfal water masses, caused by
the hot shale period simply coincided with a pro- upwelling along the North Gondwanan continental
nounced peak in upwelling intensity. In the latter margin.
case, upwelling may have continued with lower in- Palaeohighs which during the earliest Silurian
tensity after the earliest Silurian anoxic event. were exposed or covered only by a thin water col-
umn, were present for example in parts of Morocco,
4.2. Initial transgression and basin silling Libya, Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula Žsee below..
Only Algeria seems to have been almost entirely
The most widespread Phanerozoic episodes of flooded by the initial latest Ordovician to Rhudda-
black shale deposition appear to correspond with nian transgression. However, data from northernmost
overall high sea levels ŽArthur and Sageman, 1994.. Algeria are sparse Žsee below. and, consequently, the
Black shale source rocks in many cases have been structural configuration of this part of the shelf dur-
deposited during the initial stages of transgressions ing the earliest Silurian cannot be assessed properly.
rather than at their peak ŽWignall, 1991; Wignall and For Saudi Arabia, Jones and Stump Ž1999, p. 327.
Maynard, 1993; ‘BT’s‘basal transgressive’ black postulated that the area ‘had full contact with the
shales after Wignall, 1994.. For example, the organi- oceanic waters of northern Gondwana’, and dis-
cally richest marine source rocks of the middle Cre- counted the presence of flow barriers and a silled
taceous were deposited during the Aptian–Albian, at basin. However, there is clear evidence that palaeo-
the beginning of a global series of transgressions that highs also existed in Saudi Arabia during the Rhud-
culminated in the Turonian ŽKlemme and Ulmishek, danian which were only flooded in post-Rhuddanian
1991, p. 1842.. Basal transgressive black shales rest times Ži.e., post-dating hot shale deposition., such as
directly on a transgressive surface and are developed in the Qusaiba area ŽFig. 40.. Very little is known
in topographic hollows at times of little or no deposi- about the age of the onset of Silurian shale deposi-
tion on topographic highs ŽWignall, 1994, p. 94.. tion in neighbouring areas on the Arabian Peninsula
The initial stages of transgressions are believed to and in countries to the north, such as Iran, Iraq and
be particularly favourable for black shale deposition Syria Žsee below..
in continental basins for the following reasons: Ž1. Progressively rising sea level might eventually
Palaeodepressions flooded during the initial trans- have led to the establishment of a fully open marine
gression are still protected from the open-ocean cir- circulation over the northern Gondwanan shelf. This
culation by flow barriers which were not yet inun- process may have included a change in the tidal
138 ¨
regime with a transition from microtidal to macroti- is characterized by organically leaner shales, most
dal, which further enhanced open marine circulation probably because of increased basin oxygenation
in the previously silled basins Žcf. Hallam and Brad- after deposition of the hot shales Žsee above.. The
shaw, 1979.. The more oxygen-rich waters possibly restriction of the early Silurian hot shales of North
oxidized most of the organic matter produced in the Gondwana to early to mid-TST- Žpre-mfs-. strata
still active upwelling system before it was buried on contrasts with the more common situation in global
the sea floor. black shale depositional systems where, in continu-
Berry and Boucot Ž1973. and Bracaccia et al. ously anoxic facies, the maximum TOC values lie in
Ž1991. have invoked tidal flat and ‘lagoonal’ regimes the most condensed section, i.e., near the mfs ŽCrea-
for the organic-rich basal Silurian shales of North ney and Passey, 1993; Tyson, 1996..
Africa. However, such palaeoenvironments can be
excluded for the Silurian hot shales on the basis of 4.2.3. Incomplete re-colonization after seasonal
fauna and sedimentary structures. anoxia
Another model for black shale formation pre-
4.2.2. Entrapment of coarse siliciclastics in riÕer dominantly during initial transgression was proposed
mouths by Tyson and Pearson Ž1991.. They assumed sea-
Although transgressions are not sufficient by sonal anoxia Žpoikilooxic conditions; Oschmann,
themselves to produce organic-rich deposits, they 1991., with the development of a thermocline during
may provide the basis for potential organic-rich ac- the summer causing restricted circulation and leading
cumulations by keeping coarser-grained siliciclastics to the deposition of black shales. During the winter,
out of the depositional system Že.g., Herbin et al., no thermocline may have been developed, allowing
1995.. The latest Ordovicianrearliest Silurian trans- re-establishment of full circulation. On wide shelves,
gression in North Gondwana was extremely rapid, however, distances are too great for effective re-col-
because the North African Shelf at that time repre- onization during the few months with full water
sented a platform rather than a ramp. Within a few circulation, explaining why aerobic benthic faunas
hundred thousand years the sea transgressed more are rarely found in fossil black shale successions. In
than 1000 km inland, following a system of in- shallow water areas, the thickness of the sub-thermo-
trashelf palaeo-depressions. The shelf was starved of cline bottom water would be small. All oxygen is
coarser-grained siliciclastic detritus because most of used up during summer anoxia. In deeper water areas
this material was trapped in the river mouths far to Že.g., during the later stages of the transgression. the
the south and around palaeohighs Že.g., Egypt. ŽFig. sub-thermocline water body, and therefore the sum-
2. as the streams adjusted their profile to the new sea mer oxygen reservoir, would be significantly larger.
level and sedimentary bodies backstepped ŽFig. 15.. Hence, anoxic conditions are unlikely to develop.
The shales of this early Silurian second-order TST As the North Gondwanan shelf was extremely
ŽFig. 8. in northern Gondwana, therefore, contain wide and initially was covered only by a very shal-
only a few siltstone and sandstone interbeds. The low sea, the mechanisms described by Tyson and
primary organic matter, is consequently less diluted Pearson Ž1991. may well be applicable to the Sil-
by coarser-grained siliciclastic material. urian hot shales of North Africa and Arabia. Accord-
Due to the platform character of the North Gond- ing to this model, cessation of hot shale deposition
wanan shelf and the resultant rapid, long-distance may have been associated with the establishment of
transgression, most of the TST represents a ‘con- an increased summer-oxygen reservoir once the con-
densed section’, which, in more gradual and shorter- tinuously rising sea-level reached a certain level.
distance transgressions, would be expected only for The seasonal anoxia may have been amplified by
the interval around the mfs. While the lower part of reduced early Silurian palaeoatmospheric oxygen
the early Silurian condensed section in North Gond- levels ŽBudyko et al., 1985; Berner and Canfield,
wana contains organic-rich strata, favoured by low 1989; Martin, 1996, p. 213., which resulted in smaller
dilution and probably low basin oxygenation, the amounts of oxygen dissolved in the photic zone of
upper part of the condensed section around the mfs the ocean and at depth.
¨
4.3. Postglacial fresh water stratification
Following the late Ordovician glaciation, large ice

masses melted and the resulting fresh water entered
the earliest Silurian sea ŽFig. 15.. Due to its lower
density, the melt water may have formed fresh water
lenses above the saline ocean water. This stratifica-
tion may have restricted the vertical exchange of
shelfal water masses in the North Gondwanan in-
trashelf basins, enhancing the oxygen deficiency at
depth caused by upwelling along the continental
margin. Once the majority of the glacial ice had
melted Žearly Llandovery?., this effect would have
disappeared. Oceanic stratification including glacial
meltwater during deposition of the Silurian hot shales
in North Africa has been previously postulated by
Combaz Ž1967, 1986., although using a different
model than outlined above. However, a lowered
surface salinity seems incompatible with the abun-
Fig. 16. Global Primo and Secundo episodes and events during the
dant graptolites found in the Rhuddanian hot shales. early Silurian reflecting episodic changes in oceanic state related
to changes in atmospheric CO 2 concentration Žafter Aldridge et
4.4. Episodic climatic changes al., 1993.. The Rhuddanian, during which the hot shales of North
Gondwana were formed, notably coincides with a Secundo Episode
The hot shales of North Gondwana were de- postulated by Aldridge et al. Ž1993.. According to these authors,
Secundo episodes are characterized by warm, anoxic, nutrient-rich
posited almost exclusively during the early Llan- oceanic bottom waters. The introduction of these oxygen-poor
dovery ŽRhuddanian; mainly acuminatus and ataÕus water masses onto the North Gondwanan shelf through upwelling
zones ŽFig. 10.; Aoudeh and Al-Hajri, 1995.. This may have further enhanced the shelfal oxygen-deficiency pro-
interval lies within the ‘Spirodden Secundo episode’ duced by the high flux of oxygen-consuming organic matter
of Aldridge et al. Ž1993. which was erected for the sinking through the water column.
period lasting from the latest Ordovician persculptus
Zone to the mid-Aeronian, mainly based on a study
in Norway ŽFig. 16.. According to Jeppsson Ž1990.,
‘secundo episodes’ are characterized by relatively
warm climates in high latitudes, dry conditions in rich oceanic bottom waters could have been trans-
low latitudes and warm, saline, anoxic oceanic bot- ported onto the shelf. The introduction of these
tom waters, whereas ‘primo episodes’ are character- oxygen-poor water masses may have further en-
ized by cooler, more humid climates and cold, oxic, hanced the shelfal oxygen-deficiency produced by
oceanic bottom waters. The contrasts between primo the high flux of oxygen-consuming organic matter
and secundo episodes are described as primarily due sinking through the water column.
to climatic differences, linked with changes in atmo- It has to be mentioned, however, that the Primo–
spheric CO 2 concentration. The principal control Secundo model ŽJeppsson, 1990, 1996; Jeppsson et
responsible for amplifying any small climatic changes al., 1995; Aldridge et al., 1993. has been strongly
is the higher storage capacity for CO 2 of the cold questioned by various authors in the past Že.g., Loy-
oceanic bottom waters of a primo episode compared dell, 1994, 1998a; Melchin et al., 1998b.. As noted
with the saline bottom waters of a secundo episode by Loydell Ž1994; 1998a., graptolite diversities and
ŽAldridge et al., 1993.. lithological changes in many cases do not correspond
During the upwelling process along the North to the predictions made by the Primo–Secundo
Gondwanan shelfal margin, warm, anoxic, nutrient- model.
140 ¨
5. Biostratigraphy 5.1.2. Differences between contemporaneous grapto-

lite assemblages
The existence of accurate, high resolution bios- Graptolite assemblages differ quite significantly
tratigraphic data is the key to sequence stratigraphic between inner and outer palaeoshelf environments
interpretations. For the lower Silurian of North Africa ˇ
Žsee, e.g., Storch, 1998a.. Outer shelf assemblages
and Arabia, graptolites and palynomorphs Žparticu- are characterized by diverse assemblages, frequently
larly chitinozoans. are the groups of greatest impor- assignable biostratigraphically to sub-biozones; inner
tance. The various biostratigraphic studies on the shelf assemblages are usually monospecific or
Silurian of North Africa and Arabia were reviewed oligospecific assemblages, quite often of long-rang-
in the still invaluable ‘Correlation of the African ing taxa. Thus, it can be difficult to date inner shelf
Silurian rocks’ by Berry and Boucot Ž1973., and in graptolite assemblages with a precision better than to
the important volumes edited by Holland Ž1981, a few biozones. Many of the faunas thus far de-
1985.. The scope for further work in the region is scribed from North Africa are of this latter, low
enormous. diversity type Že.g., the fauna described by Legrand,
When reading papers on the Silurian of Gond- 1970, from SE Algeria. reflecting their proximity to
wana, considerable caution should be exercised when land during the early Silurian ŽFig. 2.. More diverse
only a list of fossils identified is provided. For the assemblages undoubtedly exist in Morocco ŽWater-
graptolites, there has been a resurgence in the publi- lot, 1945; Willefert, 1963., but there have been no
cation of systematic, descriptive work in recent years. recent published studies.
This has involved major revisions of species first From the point of view of using graptolites to date
described in the last century or in the early decades the ‘hot shale’ one of the more serious deficiencies
of this. Whilst much still remains to be done, it is of the described North African faunas is that the
clear that many species have been regularly misiden- lower Rhuddanian biozonal index, Parakidograptus
tified. As a result, the biostratigraphic conclusions acuminatus, is absent from many areas, e.g., the
now drawn from a particular graptolite collection Hodh area, Mauritania ŽUnderwood et al., 1998. and
might well differ from those made originally. A southern Algeria ŽLegrand, 1970, 1976, 1986, 1998..
major re-assessment of many existing North African In southern Jordan, earliest Rhuddanian graptolites
graptolite collections is required. Similar taxonomic have been recorded ŽRickards, pers. commun., 1990
problems afflict palynomorphs and a major thrust of in Aoudeh and Al-Hajri, 1995, p. 149., but it is not
current research activity is in tightening up the tax- stated whether P. acuminatus is present. Underwood
onomy of the various groups so that palynologists et al. Ž1998, p. 91. suggested that during the earliest
are talking a common language. Silurian ‘conditions won the Gondwanan shelfx were
hostile to warm water Silurian graptolites’. However,
5.1. Graptolites Melchin et al. Ž1991; 1998b. noted that in sections in
Arctic Canada Žwhich lay just north of the equator in
5.1.1. High-resolution biostratigraphy the early Silurian; Scotese and McKerrow, 1990. P.
The planktic graptoloid graptolites offer the means acuminatus is also either absent or very rare indeed.
of very precise subdivision of the Silurian. For ex- It seems unlikely, therefore, that temperature was
ample, in the Llandovery, there are 18 internationally the principal factor controlling the distribution of this
recognised graptolite biozones Žsee, e.g., Loydell, index species. Legrand Ž1998, p. 209. suggested that
1998a, fig. 1.; thus, on average each biozone repre- the absence of the genus Parakidograptus Žand oth-
sents less than 500,000 years Žtaking the duration of ers. from southern Algeria was due it having ‘been
the Llandovery as 8.6 m.y.; Harland et al., 1990.. mechanically fragile and unsuited to life in a shallow
Several of these biozones are divisible into sub-bio- sea.’ Williams Žpers. commun. 1997 in Underwood
zones Žsee, e.g., Loydell, 1991. or informally into et al., 1998, p. 97. suggested that ‘the absence win the
lower, middle and upper, in which case the precision Hodh areax of Parakidograptus and Akidograptus is
of dating in absolute terms may be to the nearest due, at least in part, to their preference for deeper-
100,000 or 200,000 years. water environments.’ It is more likely, however, that
¨
these genera were water mass rather than water-de- tion from deeper water environments, with a full
pth specific, as is the case with many Silurian grapto- range of biostratigraphically important graptolite
lites Žsee Loydell, 1994. and that they lived only species, into shallower water environments where
over the outer shelf, slope and basinal environments. such forms are rarerabsent.
It is interesting to note that Parakidograptus
acuminatus has been recorded from the Aın-De- ¨
liouine section in the southern Anti-Atlas close to the 5.1.3. Endemicity
Atlantic coast Žsee Jaeger, 1976, figs. 4–5., from Not only are the North African inner shelf grapto-
Eastern Jebilet ŽMoulay bou Anane section. and lite faunas of low diversity, but several of the taxa
from the eastern Anti-Atlas ŽTizi ou Mekhazni sec- exhibit some degree of endemicity. Some species
tion. ŽDestombes and Willefert, 1988., localities far have been recorded from only a very limited geo-
from the early Silurian shoreline ŽFig. 2.. As a result graphical area, e.g., Normalograptus tilokensis
of this absence of P. acuminatus in many areas of ŽLegrand, 1986., known only from SW Algeria and
inner and mid-shelf Gondwana, dating a deposit as SE Libya ŽLoydell, 1998b.. Other species originally
early Rhuddanian is largely dependent, at present, described from North Africa are now being identi-
upon recognising underlying beds as of latest Hir- fied also in peri-Gondwanan Europe where they
nantian and overling beds as of later Rhuddanian co-occur with diverse, precisely dateable assem-
age. As exceptions, specimens of Cystograptus blages, e.g., Metaclimacograptus asjeradi ŽLegrand,
Õesiculosus, indicative of mid-Rhuddanian levels, 1995. and Parapetalolithus meridionalis ŽLegrand,
have been found in two cores from exploration wells 1998. first described from south-central Algeria have
in southeastern Tripolitania and southern Tunisia ˇ
been found to be common in Spain ŽStorch, 1998b..
ŽMassa, 1988; and unpublished data.. On the other hand, Paraclimacograptus? brasiliensis
Aeronian faunas, which are usually very diverse, ŽRuedemann. described from Brazil, and reported
show the same, remarkably low diversity in Libya, from Argentina ŽRickards et al., 1996. and from
Tunisia and Algeria. Even such prolific genera as Libya ŽJaeger, 1976. suggests the existence of some
Rastrites and Petalolithus are represented by single faunal elements common to the larger part of NW
and rare species ŽMassa and Jaeger, 1971; Parizek et Gondwana.
al., 1984; Massa, 1988.. Higher in the Silurian, the This evidence for graptolite endemicity is at vari-
rarity of ‘Cyrtograptidae’ referred to by Legrand ance with previously held ideas. For example, Berry
Ž1994, p. 275. in Algeria other than in the Ougarta and Boucot Ž1973, p. 7. stated that the ‘relatively
chains ŽW Algeria, close to the Moroccan border. abundant Silurian graptolites, conodonts, and organic
and in the northern Saharan basins, is probably a microfossils of the North African Silurian show no
reflection of a similar control on distribution to that evidence for faunal provincialism any more than do
affecting Rastrites and Parakidograptus acuminatus the same planktonic groups elsewhere within the
Ži.e., water mass specificity.. Similarly, in North Silurian of the world.’ Whether the endemicity is
Greenland, cyrtograptids appear to have been most evident in outer shelf assemblages also must await
abundant on platform edge and slope environments the thorough description of faunas from Morocco in
ŽBjerreskov, 1986. and are virtually unknown in particular. Destombes et al. Ž1985, p. 314. stated that
nearer shore and deep basinal deposits. Undoubtedly, the ‘Silurian seas of Morocco did not witness the
when more is known of North African graptolite development of endemic forms’: it is impossible on
faunas and their distributions, further examples of present evidence to comment on the veracity of this
these differences between inner and outer shelf grap- statement.
tolite assemblages will emerge Žsee also Legrand,
1998..
It may be hoped that, in the future, integrated 5.1.4. Biostratigraphic and chronostratigraphic
biostratigraphical studies Žsuch as that of Loydell et schemes
al., 1998, in the Baltic, involving graptolites, con- A large number of different biostratigraphic and
odonts and chitinozoans. may allow precise correla- chronostratigraphic schemes have been utilised in
142 ¨
Fig. 17. Correlation of Bohemian and Saharan stratigraphical divisions with the ‘Global Standard’ for the Silurian Žsee Holland and Bassett,
1989.. Saharan stages and substages after Legrand Ž1985a; b..
publications on the North African Silurian. Because referred to using only their index taxon and not by a
of the endemicity of the majority of Rhuddanian taxa number.
in southern Algeria, the approach of Legrand Ž1970, Figs. 17 and 18 summarize the ‘Global Standard’
1986. has been to erect local biozones and then to series and stages of the Silurian as ratified by the
attempt to correlate these with the graptolite bio- International Commission on Stratigraphy Žsee Hol-
zones used elsewhere. Others, however, have chosen land, 1989. and indicate how other chronostrati-
to adopt the biozones, stages and series used in graphical divisions which have been used in North
Europe, particularly in Great Britain and Bohemia. Africa relate to them. Precise correlation should not
Legrand Ž1985b, p. 54. considered that use of the be inferred.
numeric graptolite zone notation of Elles and Wood It is important to remember that the position of
Ž1914. had ‘bedevilled’ studies of graptolites in the the Ordovician–Silurian boundary was redefined in
Sahara and stated that ‘it is sad to see the system of 1985 ŽBassett, 1985., so that the persculptus grapto-
notation created for the zones in the British Isles lite Biozone, previously the lowest biozone of the
utilized in the Algerian Sahara, all the more because Silurian became the highest biozone of the Ordovi-
this has not been employed in its country of origin cian. Clearly, in papers published prior to this redefi-
for several decades.’ Another point, not raised by
Legrand, is that in Germany a different numeric
¨
notation arose for graptolite zones Žsee, e.g., Munch,
1952.. An indication of how the British and German
numeric zones correlate with the Silurian graptolite
biozones in wide international use today is given in Fig. 18. Correlation of chronostratigraphical divisions used for the
Fig. 9. To avoid ambiguity and confusion it is rec- Llandovery in some regional contributions Že.g., extensively in
ommended that in the future biozones should be Destombes et al., 1985..
¨
nition the early Llandovery equates to a different that several species of the most abundantly recorded
time period than it does in those papers published chitinozoans in the lower Silurian of Saudi Arabia
more recently. are typical components of contemporaneous chitino-
A list of publications with descriptions andror zoan assemblages from the subsurface of Libya and
illustrations of graptolites from the Llandovery of Algeria ŽParis et al., 1995..
North Africa and Arabia, the series of most impor-
tance from the point of view of the development of
the ‘hot shale’, can be found in Appendix A. 6. Type of organic matter in the lowermost Sil-
urian organic-rich shales of North Africa and
5.2. Palynology Arabia
The lower Silurian organic matter is composed

There are few published palynological studies of
primarily of Type II kerogen, which was predomi-
the lower Silurian of North Africa and Arabia ŽLibya:
nantly derived from marine plankton Žmainly
Combaz, 1966, 1967, 1986; Richardson and Ioan-
prasinophytes; Tyson, 1995.. Terrestrial vascular
nides, 1973; Radulovic, 1984a; Hill and Molyneux,
plants were only in the early stages of evolution
1988; Grigagni et al., 1991; Egypt: Gueinn and
during the early Silurian. A detailed geochemical
Rasul, 1986; Saudi Arabia: McClure, 1988a; Paris
characterisation of the organic-rich lowermost Sil-
and Al-Hajri, 1995; Paris et al., 1995. and the Sil-
urian shales of northern Gondwana has not been
urian biostratigraphic schemes based on paly-
attempted in this study. Important papers discussing
nomorphs, in general, have much lower resolutions
the organic geochemical aspects include Tissot et al.
than those based on graptolites. In many biostrati-
graphic palynomorph studies, the Llandovery is sub-
´
Ž1984. Žeastern Algeria., Laggoun-Defarge Ž1989.
Žwestern Algeria., Grantham et al. Ž1990. ŽOman.,
divided into three biozones. The Rhuddanian Silurian
and Cole et al. Ž1994a,b. ŽSaudi Arabia.. Most of the
North Gondwanan hot shale Žsee above. would be
geochemical data from the Silurian of North Africa
expected to occur only in part of the lowermost
and Arabia remain unpublished. Organic geochemi-
biozone. However, this biozone has only rarely been
cal data has been included in the country sections
documented in previous Žmainly commercial. stud-
below where available.
ies, probably for one or more of the following rea-
sons. Firstly, the main index form Belonechitina
postrobusta seems to be very rare and may, there-
fore, often be missing in the usual sample quantities 7. Silurian shales on the North African shelf
studied. Secondly, most subsurface palynological
studies of the Silurian in North Africa and Arabia are Important contributions dealing with the lower
mainly based on cuttings, with the likelihood of Silurian shales in North Africa and Arabia have been
downhole contamination with younger sediment due made by Klitzsch Ž1968., Mahmoud et al. Ž1992.,
to caving. Thirdly, usually only a few horizons are Aoudeh and Al-Hajri Ž1995., and Jones and Stump
studied from the total Silurian shale interval, and Ž1999.. Klitzsch Ž1968. elaborated on the early Sil-
ages are erroneously extrapolated to the base of the urian transgression in northeast Africa and presented
Silurian shale succession. the first inter-basinal synthesis of the subject. Mah-
A higher-resolution biostratigraphic scheme in- moud et al. Ž1992. and Aoudeh and Al-Hajri Ž1995.
cluding eight Llandovery biozones based on chitino- studied the lower Silurian shales and hot shales in
zoans was presented by Paris et al. Ž1995. for Saudi the subsurface and at outcrop in Saudi Arabia and
Arabia ŽFig. 10.. In the Rhuddanian, the scheme developed a biostratigraphically controlled deposi-
reaches a biostratigraphic resolution comparable to tional model, which appears to be applicable for the
the graptolite schemes. However, the scheme has not whole north Gondwanan shelf.
been tested in other areas so that the biozones may The following descriptions of the Silurian shales
be only locally applicable. Nevertheless, it was found in North Africa are compiled on a country-by-coun-
144 ¨
Fig. 19. Present-day distribution of Silurian shales in outcrops and the subsurface of North Africa Žafter Boote et al., 1998.. The Silurian
shales have been regionally eroded across North Africa, mainly during the Hercynian Orogeny.
try basis. They commence from the northwestern- 7.1. Morocco

most point of the shelf in Morocco eastwards to-
wards Egypt, whereas the description of the coun- 7.1.1. Silurian outcrops
tries to the south starts with Sudan and continues The Silurian surface geology of Morocco was
westwards towards Mauritania. The basin locations described in great detail in a benchmark paper by
are shown in Fig. 6, and the present-day distribution Hollard and Willefert Žin Destombes et al., 1985..
of Silurian rocks in outcrop and subsurface is illus- According to these authors, Silurian strata are known
trated in Fig. 19. An overview of selected lithostrati- from all the Palaeozoic massifs of Morocco ŽFig.
graphic terms used for the Silurian shale unit in the 20.. Because of their argillaceous nature, they are
different North African and Arabian countries is found mainly in low-lying regions and are often
given in Table 1. covered by Quaternary deposits. The present-day
Table 1
Overview of Žselected. stratigraphic terms for the Silurian shale unit in North Africa and Arabia
Country Stratigraphic name of Silurian shale unit References
Morocco Oued Ali Fm. Destombes et al. Ž1985.
Mokattam Shale Jabour and Nakayama Ž1988.
Algeria Gothlandien argilleux Legrand Ž1985b.
Libya Tanezzuft Fm. Desio Ž1936.
Egypt ŽNW. Kohla Fm. Keeley Ž1989.
SudanrChad Bedo Fm. De Lestang Ž1968.
Jordan Mudawwara Fm. Keegan et al. Ž1990.
Batra Member of the Mudawarra Fm. Žoutcrop. Alsharhan and Nairn Ž1997, p. 109.
Batra Fm. Žsubsurface. Alsharhan and Nairn Ž1997, p. 109.
Syria Tanf Fm. Lababidi and Hamdan Ž1985.
Iraq Akkas Fm. Aqrawi Ž1998.
Oman Samah Member of Safiq Fm. Hughes Clarke Ž1988.
Samah Fm. of Safiq Group Droste Ž1997.
Qatar Shaly Member of the Sharawra Fm. Alsharhan and Nairn Ž1997.
Saudi Arabia Qusaiba Member of the Qalibah Fm. Mahmoud et al. Ž1992.
United Arab Emirates Rann Fm. Hudson et al. Ž1954.
¨
regional distribution of the Silurian shales is compli- Morocco affected by the Hercynian Orogeny. In
cated because much of the succession was eroded other parts of North Africa Že.g., SW Libya., the
during the ‘Hercynian Orogeny’. laterally variable amplitude of this reflector can be
According to Destombes et al. Ž1985., the thickest used as a proxy for the presencerabsence of the
preserved Silurian section is in the Anti-Atlas region basal Silurian hot shale unit. The apparent lack of
with up to 1400 m of strata in the northern Tindouf seismic resolution in this interval in Morocco pre-
Basin area. Their thickness in the High Atlas cannot vents the application of this valuable tool.
be determined accurately because of tectonic compli- Of the 15 wells drilled in the Tindouf Basin,
cations. Hollard Ž1970. described marked changes in including three relatively shallow water wells, 11
the thickness Ž600–1300 m. of the Silurian shales penetrated the Silurian interval. On the southern
Žand limestones. along the 500-km-long Draa flank of the basin, a high gamma-ray, black shale of
ŽTindouf. valley outcrops. Llandovery age was found in most wells, up to 15 m
In the eastern Anti-Atlas the Silurian succession is thick and with TOC values of up to 3%.
generally thinner than in the western Anti-Atlas.
Whereas in the eastern Anti-Atlas deposition of the 7.1.3. Rhuddanian shales
Silurian shales continued into the Lochkovian, sandy Detailed graptolite biostratigraphic work on out-
neritic limestones were deposited in the western crop samples has shown that early Silurian shale
Anti-Atlas during the Lochkovian ŽDestombes et al., deposition in many areas of Morocco began either in
1985, pp. 263–264.. The increasing sand content in the Aeronian or Telychian, or in rare cases, even in
¨
the Lochkovian shales at Aın-Deliouine ŽDraa val- the late Wenlock or Ludlow ŽDestombes et al., 1985;
ley. seems to reflect the existence of a prograding Destombes and Willefert, 1988. ŽFig. 20.. These
delta. areas with a post-Rhuddanian onset of shale deposi-
tion are characterized by sandstone deposition, non-
7.1.2. Subsurface eÕidence for hot shales deposition or erosion during the earliest Silurian
The distribution of basal Silurian ‘‘hot shales’’ in ŽRhuddanian. organic-rich depositional phase in
Morocco is poorly understood. The upper Ordovician North Africa ŽDestombes et al., 1985, p. 260.. Nev-
to lowermost Silurian stratigraphic interval has been ertheless, early Rhuddanian shales, which are often
penetrated by only a few petroleum exploration wells. siliceous, are described from several localities in
Typical lowermost Silurian ‘‘hot shales’’, with thick- Morocco ŽDestombes et al., 1985; Destombes and
nesses of up to 15 m, occur in the wells DOT-1 Willefert, 1988. Žlocalities 1–10, 12, 17 in Fig. 20.,
ŽDoukkala Basin., and BJ-105, KAT-1 and KAT-2 indicating the possibility of local to regional ‘‘hot
Žall Tadla Basin. ŽFig. 21., with the basal shales in shale’’ deposition in these areas. The strongly di-
KAT-1 reaching a maximum TOC of 10.5% TOC. achronous onset of Silurian shale deposition has
The Rhuddanian hot shales are considered to be the previously been interpreted by Berry and Boucot
source for oil and gas shows in the KAT-1 well Ž1967, p. 1518. to be a consequence of pronounced
ŽFJA, 1992.. The same organic-rich unit is clearly Silurian palaeorelief.
absent from MKL-102, MKL-104 Žboth Essaouira At outcrop, many of these Silurian shales today
Basin. and KMS-1 ŽTadla Basin.. In all other Mo- are greenish, violet, or light greyish, rather than
roccan wells studied, the basal Silurian shales are black, because of desert-related, deeply penetrating
either not reached Že.g., BJ-101, BJ-102. or were oxidation processes ŽDestombes et al., 1985, p. 248.
eroded during the Hercynian Orogeny Že.g., BHL-1, and, locally, because of anchimetamorphism. Con-
MKL-1, DRZ-1.. The basal Silurian interval in versely, in some areas of Morocco, the entire Sil-
OYB-1 is represented by igneous rocks ŽOYB-1.. In urian shale succession is black at outcrop, although
addition, the stratigraphic ages of shales in the wells this does not necessarily indicate uniformly high
MKL-106, BJ-104 are unclear. TOC values as the black colour may be partly caused
On seismic lines from the Essaouira Basin, the by finely disseminated pyrite. The colour of the
Ordovician–Silurian boundary cannot be properly shales at outcrop, therefore, cannot be used as evi-
resolved, as is probably the case in most areas in dence for the presence or absence of Rhuddanian
146 ¨
¨
‘‘hot shales’’. At least locally, additional non-Rhud- The map ŽFig. 22. derived from this integrated
danian organic-rich horizons occur in the Silurian– data set shows clearly that grouping of data points
¨
lower Devonian shale succession of Morocco ŽLuning allows the differentiation of ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ areas
et al., in prep., however, little is known about the ranging between 1 and 100s km across. A major
lateral extent of these organic-rich units. anoxic depocentre seems to have existed in a belt
An early Rhuddanian age for the basal shales was trending northeastwards from Marrakech for at least
also established by graptolites Žincluding Parakido- 400 km towards the Mediterranean coast. This area
graptus acuminatus, Diplograptus modestus, Cli- includes parts of the Tadla Basin and the northern
macograptus rectangularis. in well BJ-105 ŽTadla Middle Atlas and seems to have been structurally
Basin. ŽDestombes and Willefert, 1988. which, ac- low enough during the earliest Silurian to accommo-
cording to a strong basal peak in the gamma log, also date the basal Silurian hot shales ŽFig. 22.. In con-
contained the basal Silurian ‘hot shales’. The rela- trast, the area of the Khouribga–Oulmes anticlino-
tionship between age and organic richness in BJ-105 rium towards the northwest seems to have been a
supports the validity of the general North African palaeohigh during that time, as indicated by the
‘hot shale’ depositional model for Morocco. absence of Rhuddanian shales and, therefore, of the
hot shales.
7.1.4. Hot shale distribution map Pronounced changes in earliest Silurian palaeore-
Fig. 22 combines subsurface gamma-ray, TOC lief on a kilometre-scale seem to have existed in the
and biostratigraphic surface data to aid interpretation central and eastern Anti-Atlas area, leading to a
of the regional distribution of the basal Silurian hot complex, patchy hot shale distribution ŽFig. 22.. For
shales in Morocco. The regional distribution of the example, at Mel’Alg Žlocality 12 in Fig. 20. the
hot shales has been mapped using the relationship basal Silurian shales are of early to mid-Aeronian
between timing of onset of Silurian shale sedimenta- age, whereas just 3.5 km to the northwest they are of
tion and associated deposition or non-deposition of Rhuddanian age ŽDestombes et al., 1985, p. 253..
the Rhuddanian hot shales. Areas where the hot The existence of a more continuous hot shale unit
shales are or were present or potentially present have towards western Algeria is indicated by the two hot
been identified based on the existence of basal Sil- shale-bearing wells GSL-2 and HMY-1. Data density
urian gamma peaks in well logs or the presence of in this region, however, is still too low to allow
Rhuddanian shales in outcrops. Similarly, areas confident regional reconstructions. This is also true
where the hot shales are or were absent or potentially for the Essaouira and Doukkala basins. While parts
absent have been identified based on the absence of of the Essaouira Basin seem to represent an early
basal Silurian gamma peaks in well logs or the Silurian palaeohigh lacking the hot shales Žbased on
absence of Rhuddanian shales at outcrop. wells in the Meskala Field., the proximity of hot
Fig. 20. Silurian and pre-Silurian outcrops, location of sedimentary basins and biostratigraphic graptolite ages of the lowermost shales of the
uppermost Ordovician–Silurian succession in Morocco. See text for details. References: Ž1. Eastern Jbilet, Moulay bou Anane ŽDestombes
¨ oui n’Deliouine ŽDestombes et al., 1985, p. 240ff.; Ž3. Tizi ou Mekhazni ŽDestombes et al., 1985, pp. 240 and
and Willefert, 1988.; Ž2. Aın
260.; Ž4. Bou Leggou ŽDestombes and Willefert, 1988.; Ž5. east of Tinghaza ŽDestombes and Willefert, 1988.; Ž6. Rhogoult ŽDestombes
and Willefert, 1988.; Ž7. well BJ-105 ŽDestombes and Willefert, 1988.; Ž8. Central Massif, Bou-Ourarh ŽDestombes and Willefert, 1988.;
Ž9. North Middle Atlas, Tazekka ŽDestombes and Willefert, 1988.; Ž10. North Middle Atlas, Immouzer du Khandar ŽDestombes and
X X
Willefert, 1988.; Ž11. SW Foum-Zguid ŽDestombes et al., 1985, p. 245ff.; Ž12. Aeronian: Mel’Alg, Rhuddanian: 3.5 km NW Mel’Alg
ŽDestombes et al., 1985, p. 253.; Ž13. Ben-Zireg ŽJaeger and Massa, 1965.; Ž14. Maider and at Tazzarine ŽDestombes et al., 1985, p. 260.;
Ž15. near Talmakent wtectonic contact between Ordovician and Silurianx ŽDestombes et al., 1985, p. 266.; Ž16. Mechra-Ben Abbou area
wincomplete section due to tectonismx ŽDestombes et al., 1985, p. 269.; Ž17. Oulad-Saıd ¨ well ŽOS-1. ŽDestombes et al., 1985, p. 271.; Ž18.
Khouribga–Oulmes ` anticlinorium wlateral transition of early Telychian shales into sandstonesx ŽDestombes et al., 1985, p. 279.; Ž19.
Eguer–Iguiguena section Žgraptolite zone 17. ŽDestombes et al., 1985, p. 286.; Ž20. near Taliouine ŽDestombes et al., 1985, p. 297.; Ž21.
Tamlelt inlier ŽDestombes et al., 1985, p. 310.; Ž22. Hamar Lagdad ŽTafilalt area., zones 23–25. ŽJaeger, 1976, p. 278.; Ž23. Destombes et
al. Ž1985, p. 259.; Ž24. Tizi n’Tichka, Ouanaimi Ž1998.. Locations not restored to pre-Hercynian or pre-Alpine positions. Geological base of
this figure and Figs. 24, 31 and 37–40 derived from an online GIS data set provided by Cornell University ŽSeber et al., 1997..
¨ 148
Fig. 21. Correlation of selected wells from Morocco in which the lower Silurian interval was penetrated. Hot shales occur in the wells KAT-1, KAT-2 and BJ-105 Žall Tadla
Basin, Fig. 20., while they are absent in MKL-104 and MKL-102 in the Essaouira Basin ŽFig. 20..
¨
shales in the well DOT-1 in the neighbouring pre-Hercynian burial, some of the Silurian strata
Doukkala Basin leaves open the question as to could have been protected from Hercynian Žover-.
whether that hot shale package extends into the maturation in structurally high-lying pockets above
northern Essaouira Basin. the oil generating window. In these cases, subse-
quent Mesozoic burial may have been sufficient to
7.1.5. ReÕiew of additional outcrop data renew generation during the Late Cretaceous or Early
According to Destombes et al. Ž1985, p. 239. the Tertiary. Such a scenario was proposed by Boote et
base of the lowest Llandovery shales Žwhere present. al. Ž1998, p. 60. for the Meskala gas field in the
is marked by a thin red horizon and often by an Essaouira Basin. Boote et al. Ž1998. speculated that
irregular erosion surface. The latter seem to point to similar fields may be present in areas where the
the development of a ravinement surface character- Silurian source has been protected from over-matura-
ized by non-deposition during the very initial stages tion, e.g., on the more gently deformed offshore
of the sea-level rise which commenced during the shelf.
latest Ordovician. According to the same authors, the According to Beauchamp et al. Ž1996, p. 1478. a
Rhuddanian argillaceous deposits are often very favourable maturation history for Silurian strata may
siliceous in Morocco, with abundant radiolarians Žand occur also in the Missour Basin ŽNW Morocco. and
also graptolites.. The probably radiolarian-related at the marginsrshoulder areas of the palaeo-Atlas
siliceous component could be a result of high surface rift system. In contrast, Palaeozoic source rocks in
water productivity associated with upwelling during the Atlas rift have almost certainly been buried too
the Rhuddanian. deeply to have any remaining generating potential.
A unit of pyritic, grey and black ‘Orthoceras’ In the Tindouf Basin ŽMoroccan and Algerian
limestones with interbedded black shales of about parts discussed here together., the Silurian shales
ˇ´ ´ age ŽJaeger, 1976, p. 278. is com-
Ludlow–Prıdolı were buried during the Carboniferous beneath a thick
monly intercalated with the Silurian to lower Devo- wedge of detritus shed from the rising orogen ŽBoote
nian shale succession in Morocco ŽDestombes et al., et al., 1998, p. 57.. According to Boote et al. Ž1998.,
1985, p. 243. and Algeria. Only a few carbonate the shales achieved maturities of 1.0–2.5% R o by
beds occur below the chimaera Zone Žlower Ludlow, the Late Carboniferous along the northern flank with
equates approximately with the upper nilssoni and significant generation of oil and gas. As intensity of
scanicus biozones of Britain. ŽJaeger, 1976, p. 278.. deformation increased during the late Hercynian, the
The upper Silurian Orthoceras limestone unit is Tanezzuft shale in the Tindouf Basin reached a high
sometimes rich in organic matter, as evidenced by level of maturity Ž) 3.0% R o .. It appears too high to
sharp gamma spikes on well logs, and may form a be explained by the overburden alone and is proba-
second major Silurian petroleum source rock in parts bly related to regionally elevated heat flow associ-
of the region. ated with widespread igneous intrusive activity
ŽBoote et al., 1998, p. 57.. However, some of the
7.1.6. Maturation of Silurian source rocks in Mo- generated gasrcondensate may have also escaped
rocco destruction during the Late Carboniferous, especially
The lower Silurian source rocks in Morocco have in the southern part of the basin where lower matu-
high maturities Žmostly overmature. and are now rity values were recorded for the Silurian shales ŽFig.
effectively spent. The fact that high residual TOC 23.. Shales in GSL-2 ŽFig. 20. are in the wet gas
values occur, despite the high levels of thermal zone today whereas those in GSL-3 are effectively
maturation, suggests that the shales were originally spent.
very organic-rich. Deep pre-Hercynian burial of Sil- For the Tadla Basin, Jabour and Nakayama Ž1988.
urian source rocks generally resulted in pre- calculated that the Silurian source rocks probably
Hercynian maturation and expulsion in Morocco. started generating hydrocarbons at the beginning of
Most of the associated hydrocarbon accumulations the Carboniferous. These authors reported vitrinite
were probably destroyed during the Hercynian reflectances of more than 2.0% for highly mature,
Orogeny. However, in some areas with shallower organic rich ŽF 2% TOC., gas-prone graptolitic shale
150 ¨
¨
Fig. 23. Maturity map for the Silurian to lower Devonian shales in the Tindouf Basin Žafter Costagliola Anass, 1992.. SCI scheme cf.
Collins Ž1990..
from the western part of the Tadla Basin. High urian shales with petroleum source rock qualities
palaeotemperatures for the Ordovician to Devonian ŽTOC values greater than 1–1.5%., and for the total
succession in the Tadla Basin were also interpreted Silurian Ž-lower Devonian. shale-dominated succes-
by Cramer and Dıez´ Ž1976. on the basis of thermal sion. Areas covered ŽFig. 24. are the Ghadames and
alteration of palynomorphs. Average R o values of Illizi basins ŽFig. 25., Oued Mya and Mouydir basins
around 1.3% were reported by Chakor Alami and ŽFig. 26., Sbaa Basin ŽFig. 27., Ahnet Basin ŽFig.
Haloui Ž1995. from Silurian shales from the Tichka 28. and Timimoun Basin ŽFig. 29.. The Algerian
area in the High Atlas Žlocality 24 in Fig. 20.. part of the Tindouf Basin was discussed in Section
7.1 Žsee above..
7.2. Algeria In contrast with Morocco and Libya, the basal
Silurian hot shales in the sedimentary basins studied
7.2.1. Subsurface hot shale isopach maps from Algeria form a laterally almost continuous unit.
Many wells have penetrated the Silurian succes- TOC values as high as 17% TOC, of predominantly
sion in Algeria. From this extensive well data base, types I–II kerogen, have been reported ŽDaniels and
about 300 well logs were made available for this Emme, 1995; Boote et al., 1998.. The thickness of
study. Isopach maps were constructed for the basal the hot shale unit, however, varies regionally be-
Silurian hot shale Žgamma values ) 200 API., Sil- tween a few metres and 28 m. Only in two cases
Fig. 22. Lowermost Silurian hot shale distribution map for Morocco as interpreted from well logs, TOC data and graptolite biostratigraphy.
Dark shading indicates areas in which hot shales have been proven or could be potentially present because Rhuddanian-aged shales occur at
outcrop. Note that a basal Silurian hot shale in well BJ-105 has been dated as early Rhuddanian by graptolites ŽDestombes and Willefert,
1988.. In areas shaded in light grey, the Silurian hot shales were found to be absent or are potentially absent because shale deposition only
commenced in post-Rhuddanian times. For references, see Fig. 20.
152 ¨
¨
does the hot shale reach an exceptional 37 and 44 m high maximum TOC values reported for the basal
Žsee below.. The hot shales are completely absent in Silurian shales of these wells ŽHBA-1: 11.96%;
only a few wells in the study area. FDN-1: 26.2%., a surprisingly low maximum TOC
In the GhadamesrIllizi Basin, the hot shale unit is value of only 0.8% was measured in the ME-1 well
absent over a NW-trending belt Žmarked by the wells in the second depocentre. It is assumed here that the
RN-101, BTF-1, REO-1; Fig. 25b. which seems to low TOC value was derived from shales above Žor
have been a palaeoridge during the Rhuddanian. below. the hot shale. This example of an obvious
Other Rhuddanian palaeohighs in the GhadamesrIl- mismatch between gamma-ray values and reported
lizi Basin, as indicated by the absence of the hot TOC values emphasizes the importance of gamma-
shales, seem to have been located around wells ray-derived hot shale isopach maps in predictions of
IRSW-1 in the southern and around ES-101 in the the regional source rock distribution. The hot shale
eastern parts of the basin ŽFig. 25b.. Depocentres for unit represents a relatively thin unit compared with
the hot shales with thicknesses exceeding 20 m the total Silurian shale thickness and could be easily
existed in the area around wells SED-1, SED-E-1 missed in widely spaced geochemical sampling sur-
and ET-101 ŽAlgeria., and in the southern Tunisian veys. Furthermore, the hot shale unit in North Gond-
part of the Ghadames Basin around wells AMC-1 wana usually contains several organically lean shale
and OZ-1. interbeds Že.g., Fig. 5c. which, if sampled by chance,
The trends in thickness of the hot shale ŽFig. 25b. are of course not representative for the whole inter-
and of the total Silurian shale isopach ŽFig. 25a. val.
correspond well with each other only in a few areas. In the Sbaa Basin, the hot shale unit ranges from
While larger-scale trends of the hot shale isopach 1 to 28 m thick ŽFig. 27b., and the shales with
can be found in the source rock isopachs, smaller- source rock qualities are 12–50 m thick. Two hot
scale trends are already markedly different. The sub- shale depocentres are developed around wells
tle earliest Silurian palaeorelief, which is interpreted OTRA-2rOTLA-1 and OTRT-1. An exceptional hot
to have been responsible for the thickness distribu- shale thickness of 44 m Ž90 m of shales with gamma
tion of the hot shales, seems to have been infilled values ) 150 API, TOC ) 1%. occurs in well ERA-1
quickly. Other processes, such as regionally variable ŽFig. 24., which is interpreted as a pronounced
sediment input, deltaic progradation, currentsrwaves, Rhuddanian palaeodepression in this area. The exis-
or ?intra-Silurian tectonics, apparently controlled the tence of a palaeolow around well ERA-1 is
regional distribution of the total Silurian shale thick- also indicated by a total Silurian–early Devonian
ness. shale thickness of 895 m, in contrast to a maximum
In the Oued Mya and Mouydir basins, the hot of 560 m ŽBDW-1, Fig. 27a. elsewhere in the Sbaa
shales range in thickness from 3 to 37 m ŽFig. 26.. Basin.
Two depocentres with hot shale thicknesses exceed- A connection between the trends in thicknesses of
ing 20 m are located around wells MA-1rME-1 and the hot shales and the total shale succession has been
HBA-1rFDN-1, with the hot shale in HBA-1 reach- observed also in other parts of the basin. The east-
ing an exceptional 37 m in thickness. The hot shale ward thinning of the hot shales from well BD-1-BIS
thickness data have been compared with TOC data Ž18 m. towards well GNF-1 Ž3 m., a trend developed
available for some of the wells. While the HBA- in a similar way also in the source rock isopach ŽFig.
1rFDN-1 hot shale depocentre matches well with 27c., seems to be reflected also in the distribution of
Fig. 24. Silurian and pre-Silurian outcrops, location of sedimentary basins and ages of the lowermost shales of the uppermost
Ordovician–Silurian succession in Algeria. See text for details. References: Ž1. Oued in Djerane, Legrand Ž1986. and Legrand Ž1988.; Ž2.
Legrand Ž1988.; Ž3. Gourara area, Legrand Ž1985b, p. 62., Telychian present but lowermost 10 m of shales without fauna Ž?Rhuddanian,
?Aeronian.; Ž4. Jaeger and Massa Ž1965., Jaeger Ž1976, p. 278., Legrand Ž1985b, p. 62.; Ž5. Legrand Ž1985b, p. 67.; Ž6. western Tassili
N’Ajjer, Legrand Ž1985b, p. 69., Ž7. Legrand Ž1985b, p. 72.; Ž8. Claret and Tempere Ž1965., shales from Z.14 ŽAshgill. to Z.19 ŽAeronian.;
Ž9. Jaeger et al. Ž1975..
154 ¨
the total Silurian to early Devonian shale thickness which suggests the presence of relatively steep
which shows a similar eastward thinning trend in this palaeoslopes in this region. In other parts of the
area ŽFig. 27.. The upper part of the Silurian shales Ahnet Basin, the thickness of the hot shales changes
is eroded in the southern part of the Sbaa Basin so little, with a general thickening towards the northeast
that the present-day total shale thicknesses cannot be ŽFig. 28b.. Comparison with the total Silurian to
used for comparisons with the hot shale thicknesses early Devonian shale ŽFig. 28a. and source rock
and, therefore, interpretations of depositional condi- ŽFig. 28c. isopach maps shows that the trends in
tions during the Silurian. thickness differ markedly in many areas. This sug-
The hot shales in the Ahnet Basin reach a thick- gests that the total shale thicknesses in the Ahnet
ness of 22 m in several areas ŽFig. 28b.. Close to Basin are controlled by mechanisms other than the
such a depocentre around well MKRN-1, the hot earliest Silurian palaeorelief, which seems to have
shales were found to be absent in well MKRS-1, lost its influence on deposition early in the Silurian.
Fig. 25. Total Silurian shale Ža., hot shale Ž) 200 API. Žb. and source rock Ž) 150 API. isopach maps for the Ghadames Žs Berkine. and
Illizi basins ŽAlgeria and Tunisia.. See text for discussion.
¨
Fig. 25 Žcontinued..
Only a few wells were available for study from which indicates that those authors used a lower
the Timimoun Basin ŽFig. 29.. A thick hot shale Ž22 gamma-ray cut-off value than used here. This be-
m. occurs in well MZR-1 while the unit is absent comes also clear when the maximum ‘hot shale’
nearby in well OTG-2, indicating a relatively steep thicknesses of 70–80 m described by Logan and
palaeoslope in this area ŽFig. 29b.. The total Silurian Duddy Ž1998. for the Ahnet Basin are compared to
to early Devonian shale isopach map shows a gen- our 22 m based on a 200-API cut-off value.
eral thinning northwards ŽFig. 29a., but this trend is
not reflected in the hot shale isopach ŽFig. 29b.. 7.2.2. Silurian outcrops
Unfortunately, wells from the Reggane Basin were The Silurian succession crops out extensively
not available for this study. Thick, organic-rich shales around the Hoggar Massif ŽFig. 24.. Outcrops also
were described from the northern part of the Reg- occur around the Tindouf and Reggane basins, in the
gane Basin by Logan and Duddy Ž1998.. They de- Ougarta Range and about 200 km north of the
scribed ‘hot shale’ thicknesses of more than 100 m, Ougarta Range near the Moroccan border. The Sil-
156 ¨
Fig. 25 Žcontinued..
urian stratigraphy of Algeria was summarized in an shales has been compiled in Fig. 24. The database is,
important work by Legrand Ž1985b.. unfortunately, not as detailed as that in, for example,
Morocco and no data were found for the Silurian
7.2.3. Onset of shale deposition outcrops in the Algerian portion of the southern
The biostratigraphy of the graptolites in the Sil- margin of the Tindouf Basin or for the outcrops
urian shales of Algeria has been studied in detail, between the Reggane and Ahnet basins ŽFig. 24..
mainly by Legrand Že.g., Legrand, 1985b, 1986, A post-Rhuddanian onset of shale deposition has
1988.. As in other parts of North Gondwana, the been recorded in NW Algeria near the Moroccan
onset of shale deposition is strongly diachronous and border ŽRef. 4 in Fig. 24., and in parts of the
ranges from late Ordovician to late Wenlock in age Ougarta range ŽRefs. 2 and 3 in Fig. 24.. These areas
ŽLegrand, 1985b, p. 53.. The accessible, published seem to have been palaeohighs during the Rhudda-
information on graptolite ages of the basal Silurian nian anoxic event and were characterized by non-de-
¨
Fig. 26. Hot shale isopach map for the Oued Mya and Mouydir basins ŽAlgeria.. Also shown are the thicknesses of the total Silurian Žand
early Devonian. shales and basal Silurian shales with TOC values greater than 1–1.5% Žpetroleum source rocks, ) 150 API.. See text for
discussion.
¨ 158
Fig. 27. Total Silurian–lower Devonian shale Ža., hot shale Žb., and petroleum source rock Žc. isopach maps for the Sbaa Basin ŽAlgeria.. See text for discussion.
¨
Fig. 28. Total Silurian–lower Devonian shale Ža., hot shale Žb., and petroleum source rock Žc. isopach maps for the Ahnet Basin ŽAlgeria..
See text for discussion.
position, erosion or sandstone sedimentation during described from the outcrops around the Hoggar ŽFig.
the Rhuddanian. 24., indicating that a structural low existed in this
A Rhuddanian or even latest Ordovician Ž per- area during earliest Silurian times. It must remain a
sculptus Zone. onset of shale deposition has been matter of speculation as to whether these palaeolows
160 ¨
Fig. 29. Total Silurian–lower Devonian shale Ža., and hot shale Žb. isopach maps for the Timimoun Basin ŽAlgeria.. Also shown are the
thicknesses of Silurian shales with TOC values greater than 1–1.5% Žpetroleum source rocks, ) 150 API.. See text for discussion.
¨
extended over the central Hoggar area or merely Other graptolite biostratigraphic data from the sub-
fringed a huge island, since all previously deposited surface have been reported from the El Golea Basin
Silurian strata were stripped off the central Hoggar Žs Oued Mya Basin. by Legrand Ž1994, p. 280..
area during Hercynian and later uplift phases. The Without giving details about studied wells, positions
Hoggar Massif formed during the Pan African of samples in the lithological column, etc., he indi-
Orogeny and possibly resulted from the continental cated that Llandovery to early Wenlock shales would
collision between the West African craton and an only be present in the regions of Oued Žs Wadi.
East African block Že.g., Dautria and Lesquer, 1989.. Rharbi and Oued Namous. Elsewhere in the basin,
Dautria and Lesquer Ž1989. inferred that peneplaina- Legrand Ž1994. claimed that the mid-Wenlock shales
tion of the Hoggar occurred during the Cambrian. Ž rigidus Zone. directly overlie the Ordovician
They assumed a platform stage for the Ordovician to Mederba sandstone. Unfortunately, it is not clear
Late Carboniferous. It is unclear, however, whether how these statements relate to our observation that
the Hoggar was completely peneplained during the the Ž?. Rhuddanian hot shales occur in all the wells
Cambrian or whether a residual relief Žor relief asso- studied from the Oued Mya ŽFig. 26..
ciated with glaciation. still existed during the early
Silurian. 7.2.4. Lateral correlatability of intra-hot shale
The existence of an extensive early Silurian gamma cycles
palaeodepression in or around the Hoggar may be Cyclicity in the gamma-ray curves of the hot
supported by the documented widespread deposition shale unit Že.g., Fig. 5. may be used for correlation
of thick basal Silurian hot shales in the sedimentary purposes on a field scale. Larger-scale intra- or
basins north of the Hoggar. As the hot shales are inter-basin correlations, however, are more compli-
interpreted to be of Rhuddanian age, a large cated as evidenced by strong differences observed in
palaeodepression seems to have existed in central the various gamma curves of the basal hot shale unit.
Algeria which was flooded during or before the The basal Silurian gamma peak in the Murzuq Basin
Rhuddanian and accommodated the basal Silurian well from concession NC174 illustrated in Fig. 11,
hot shales which are considered to be the source of for example, is lacking any significant cyclicity
the majority of the hydrocarbon occurrences in Alge- which, in contrast was observed in some other wells
ria. As Rhuddanian shales have also been described in the concession.
from the southern Hoggar ŽRefs. 7 and 8 in Fig. 24., Fine-scale lateral correlations based on the gamma
the palaeodepression may have well extended into curve of the hot shale interval are probably compli-
the northern Iullemeden Basin in Niger Žsee Section cated by the following processes: Ž1. Onset of hot
7.3 below.. shale sedimentation often occurred within, rather
Due to the lack of data, it is unclear whether the than before, the Rhuddanian anoxic period. There-
northernmost part of Algeria was already flooded by fore, the duration of the basal Silurian hiatus varies
the Rhuddanian sea or was a palaeohigh. It could be locally and, consequently, basal completeness of cy-
speculated that the northernmost stretch of Algeria cles varies accordingly. Ž2. Environmental changes
acted as a flow barrier, which restricted the exchange may have had different effects in areas with different
of water masses between the open sea to the north palaeobathymetry and exposure to currents. For ex-
and the anoxic basins to the south. Such a barrier ample, an increase in oxygenation may have led to
may also explain the endemism observed in grapto- dysoxic or oxic conditions near palaeohighs, whereas
lite faunas from Algeria by Legrand Ž1985b.. anoxic conditions may have persisted in the deeper
Despite their commercial importance, the basal or more protected parts of the shelf.
Silurian hot shales in Algeria have rarely been bios-
tratigraphically dated using graptolites. According to 7.2.5. Additional (Telychian) hot shale horizon
the limited graptolite data available, the basal shales A second hot shale unit occurs in a few wells in
in well ZM-1 Žabout 20 m of hot shales, see Fig. the GhadamesrIllizi Basin. In ESR-1 ŽFigs. 14 and
25b. in the GhadamesrIllizi Basin have an undiffer- 25., a 12-m-thick second hot shale with gamma
entiated Llandovery age ŽLegrand, 1985b, p. 63.. values up to 300 API occurs about 100 m above the
162 ¨
probably Rhuddanian, basal Silurian hot shale where from SEREPT in the Tunisian part of the Ghadames
gamma values reach up to 700 API. The minor, Basin in the extreme south of Tunisia have pene-
second hot shale was dated by palynomorphs as trated the Silurian shale succession ŽBonnefous, 1963;
Telychian ŽFJA, 1996.. Notably, the Telychian hot Jaeger et al., 1975; Legrand, 1985a; Cunningham,
shale interval in ESR-1 is not developed in the 1988.. Here, upper Ordovician sandy shales are over-
neighbouring wells, which suggests a very localized lain by about 500 m of shales and marls with fine
occurrence. sandstone intercalations. An unconformity may exist
at the base of the upper Wenlock, explaining the
7.2.6. Onset of Silurian sandstone deposition absence of graptolites from the lower Wenlock.
In well ESR-1 in the GhadamesrIllizi Basin, the Graptolites from the upper part of the shale unit
first sandstones overlying Silurian shales were dated suggest the lower Ludlow ŽLegrand, 1985a.. The
by palynomorphs as early Wenlock ŽFJA, 1996. shale unit is overlain by 400 m of alternating sand-
ŽFigs. 14 and 25.. This date corresponds well with stones and shales. Graptolites again indicate the lower
the Telychian or Wenlock which Jardine´ and Ya- Ludlow ŽLegrand, 1985a..
paudjian Ž1968. described for the Illizi Basin as a
whole. Further to the northwest of the North African 7.3.2. Lower Silurian hot shales
shelf, such as between Laghouat and Ghardaia ŽNW Thick basal Silurian hot shales occur in southern
Algeria., the uppermost shales partly reach into the Tunisia in wells AMC-1 Ž24 m. and OZ-1 Ž20 m.
middle Lower Devonian ŽJaeger, 1976, p. 281.. ŽFig. 25b.. Farther to the north and northeast, a
probably non-age-equivalent gamma-ray peak is de-
veloped at the base of shales in the wells SN-1, Tt-1,
7.2.7. Maturation of Silurian source rocks in Algeria
Lg-3, Lg-1 and ST-1, which were drilled by SEREPT
The original TOC content of the lowermost Sil-
between 1956 and 1964 ŽJaeger et al., 1975.. Jaeger
urian shales in the Illizi Basin was probably fairly
et al. Ž1975. dated this gamma-ray peak by grapto-
high throughout the basin, but was subsequently
lites as mid- or late Llandovery to early Wenlock.
reduced in areas of more elevated maturities ŽDaniels
Although the absolute amplitude of the gamma peak
and Emme, 1995.. According to Daniels and Emme
Ž1995., it now varies from less than 2% in the east is not indicated in the figures of Jaeger et al. Ž1975.,
the values must be well above 200 API because
rising to 4% in the north and 8% in the west.
associated TOC values reach more than 20% ŽMassa,
Maturities range from 1.1% R o equivalent in the
1988, fig. 63..
central part of the basin to 1.75% R o in the south-
According to Jaeger et al. Ž1975., the Lower
west and northeast. Local very high maturities are
Llandovery in the SEREPT wells is represented by
associated with laccolith intrusions ŽDaniels and
pyritic, fine-grained sandstones, dated by rare grapto-
Emme, 1995.. In the Ahnet Basin, the Silurian source
lites to ‘zones 16–18’ Žs Rhuddanian.. This bios-
rocks are overmature today ŽFig. 30.. A pre- to
tratigraphic data show that the area of the SEREPT
syn-Hercynian hydrocarbon generation has been sug-
wells represented a palaeohigh during the Rhudda-
gested ŽMacgregor, 1998.. In contrast, the Silurian
nian hot shale depositional period. The Rhuddanian
shales in parts of the Sbaa Basin are only in the oil
sea level was still low enough that marine sandstones
window Žwell OTRA-1. or are even immature Žwell
could be deposited in this area. The pyrite in the
OTLA-1. ŽFig. 30.. The burial history of the Alge-
sandstones may indicate the anoxic period that de-
rian Palaeozoic sedimentary basins has been mod-
posited organic-rich shales in neighbouring palaeo-
elled by Makhous et al. Ž1997..
depressions. Shale deposition in the SEREPT area
commenced during the Aeronian or Telychian ŽBon-
7.3. Tunisia nefous, 1963; Jaeger et al., 1975.. In the absence of
the main Rhuddanian hot shale, the gamma peaks
7.3.1. Stratigraphy reported by Bonnefous Ž1963. and Jaeger et al.
The Lower Palaeozoic succession does not crop Ž1975. are interpreted as being associated with an
out in Tunisia. However, several exploration wells additional, locally restricted hot shale depositional
¨
Fig. 30. Maturity map for the lower Silurian shales of the Ahnet, Sbaa and Reggane basins Žmodified after Logan and Duddy, 1998.. The
area is generally characterized by very high maturities, apart from a few exceptions such as immature Silurian shales in well OTLA-1 and
relatively low maturity values around it.
period, which is also known from other parts of the 7.4. Libya
Ghadames Basin and Iraq. The ‘upper Wenlockian’
gamma peak in Tt-1 referred to by Bonnefous Ž1963. 7.4.1. Lithostratigraphy
is reported to be associated with carbonates. Similar The lower Silurian shales in Libya are termed the
ˇ´ ´., with
carbonates Žhowever, dated as Ludlow–Prıdolı Tanezzuft Formation and are underlain by the sand-
interbedded high gamma black shales, occur in many stones of the Memouniat Formation and overlain by
areas of NW Africa, e.g., in many wells in the Ahnet the sandstones of the Akakus Formation ŽFig. 12..
Basin, Sbaa Basin and in Morocco. The term ‘Tanezzuft Formation’ was introduced by
The Silurian shales in Central Tunisia have been Desio Ž1936. who named the formation after Wadi
studied geochemically by Cunningham Ž1988. in nine Tanezzuft which is situated between Ghat and Al
wells. An organic-rich interval with TOC values Awaynat. Klitzsch Ž1965, 1969. considered the sec-
greater than 1.5%, 55–180 m in thickness and ther- tion described by Desio Ž1936. unsuitable for a type
mally immature to mature Types I and II kerogen section because the lower contact is not exposed
has been described. Unfortunately, the exact strati- there. Therefore, Klitzsch Ž1965, 1969, p. 85. pro-
graphic position of this Silurian source rock is not posed and described a type section at Takarkhouri,
reported. about 40–50 km southeast of Ghat. Massa and Jaeger
164 ¨
Ž1971. separated the lower part of the shales, con- The Silurian shales also occur in parts of the
taining lower Llandovery graptolites Ž‘zones 16 to Cyrenaica region but very little is known about their
18’s Rhuddanian. under the name of the Iyadhar distribution. Graptolitic shales occur in wells A1-81
Formation with the younger shales belonging to the and E1-81 and were dated as early Silurian. Llan-
Tanezzuft Formation. The only reason for dividing dovery and early Wenlock acritarchs and chitino-
the Silurian shales into two formations seems to be a zoans were found in well A1-46 ŽFig. 31. ŽEl-Arnauti
supposed disconformity between zones 18 Ž cyphus . and Shelmani, 1985.. Reworked Silurian palynor-
and 19 Ž Coronograptus gregarius, lower Aeronian., morphs have been found in Triassic sediments in
although minor lithological differences have also well A1-96, although their poor state of preservation
been mentioned by Massa and Jaeger Ž1971.. Be- suggests long distance transport ŽThusu, 1996.. The
cause of the lack of direct evidence of the discon- Tanezzuft shales seem to have been eroded during
formity between the Rhuddanian and Aeronian, as Hercynian times over large areas of the Cyrenaica
well as insufficient lithological differences, most au- region, based on well logs in Sola and Ozcicek
thors have not considered the Iyadhar Formation to Ž1990, fig. 5.. According to Ghori Ž1991., the main
be a valid lithostratigraphic unit Že.g., Parizek et al., potential petroleum plays in Cyrenaica do not in-
1984; Radulovic, 1984a,b.. clude Silurian source rocks.
The Tanezzuft shales are also locally preserved in
7.4.2. Silurian outcrops and occurrences in the sub- the Sirte Basin, where, however, most of the Silurian
surface shales were eroded during the Hercynian Orogeny.
The lower Silurian Tanezzuft shales in Libya are According to Thusu Ž1996., Silurian shales, dated by
exposed around the Murzuq and Kufra basins ŽFig. palynomorphs, occur in wells A1-43 and C1-44.
31.. While the western and northern margins of the Thusu’s findings indicate Silurian deposition in the
Murzuq Basin were studied in detail by several Sirte area, in contrast to Bonnefous Ž1972. and Massa
workers Že.g., Desio, 1936; Klitzsch, 1965, 1969; and Delort Ž1984. who postulated non-deposition
Massa and Jaeger, 1971; El Chair et al., 1985. and from the Ordovician to Jurassic for this basin ŽThusu,
during mapping campaigns carried out by 1996.. The possibility of local hydrocarbon plays
Czechoslovakian, Yugoslavian and Russian geolo- involving relict Žnon-eroded. Silurian source rocks in
gists Že.g., Parizek et al., 1984; Radulovic, 1984a,b., the Cyrenaica Region and Sirte Basin was described
very little is known about the eastern margin of the by Sola and Ozcicek Ž1990. Žsee also Keeley and
Murzuq Basin. The lower Silurian shales around the Massoud, 1998, fig. 10a..
Kufra Basin have been previously studied by Bellini
¨
Ž1976., Turner Ž1980; 1991., Luning et al. Žin press. 7.4.3. Rhuddanian hot shales
and others; however, the basal part of the Silurian Only about half of the studied wells from the
shales does not seem to be exposed Žsee Luning ¨ et Murzuq Basin contain the basal Silurian hot shales
al., in press.. There are no Silurian outcrops directly ŽFig. 32a.. Large areas in the basin lack the hot
around the Ghadames Basin. The closest outcrops shales and seem to have acted as palaeohighs during
occur around the Gargaf Arch at the northern margin the Rhuddanian. Apart from an isolated hot shale
of the Murzuq Basin. occurrence in well E1-115, the other wells contain-
Fig. 31. Silurian and pre-Silurian outcrops, location of sedimentary basins and biostratigraphic graptolite ages of the lowermost shales of the
uppermost Ordovician–Silurian succession in Libya. See text for details. References: Ž1. Parizek et al. Ž1984, p. 36.; Ž2. Gundobin Ž1985, p.
53.; Ž3. Radulovic Ž1984a.; Ž4. Radulovic Ž1984b.; Ž5. Protic Ž1984.; Ž6. Klitzsch Ž1969., Massa and Jaeger Ž1971.; Ž7. Loydell Ž1998b.; Ž8.
D. fezzanensis described by Bellini and Massa Ž1980, p. 25., unclear if sample from base of Tanezzuft shales; Ž9. Thusu Ž1996.; Ž10. Mouri
Ide and Dor el Gussa, Klitzsch Ž1968, p. 497., graptolites from 20 to 25 m above base of Tanezzuft, basal age of Tanezzuft, therefore,
unknown; Ž11. El-Arnauti and Shelmani Ž1985.; Ž12. El-Arnauti and Shelmani Ž1985.; Ž13. Western Al Awaynat section, Bellini and Massa
Ž1980, p. 28., exact location of section referred to unclear; Ž14. Bellini et al. Ž1991.; Ž15. Jacque´ Ž1962, p. 28.; Ž16. Bracaccia et al. Ž1991,
p. 1738..
¨
166 ¨
ing hot shales seem to be located in an area with a relationship suggests that the present day structural
laterally continuous hot shale unit. A NW-trending high at A1–115 may have already existed in the
belt running through concessions NC115 and NC174 earliest Silurian, with hot shale deposition around but
ŽFig. 32a. contains the thickest hot shales Ž) 15 m.. not across the Ž?. palaeohigh ŽJ. Jho, pers. commun.,
By analogy with the channel features identified on 1998.. Thickening of Silurian shales over an incised
seismic lines from the Ordovician interval in this valley relief and onlap of the shales onto the palaeo-
area, the belt could represent a valley, incised during high was interpreted on seismic lines from the NC174
the low sea-level interval in the late Ordovician and area by Hadley Ž1992..
filled with hot shales during the initial latest Ordovi- Analysis of the spectral gamma-ray response of
cian to early Silurian transgression. Neighbouring the lowermost Silurian shales in concession NC174
areas may have had a slightly higher elevation and, shows that the strong radioactivity of the hot shale is
therefore, were reached by the transgression only in caused by an increasing content of uranium, peaking
the later stages of the anoxic event Žgiving thick- at 70 ppm compared to only 2–4 ppm in the overly-
nesses of less than 15 m. or even after the anoxic ing lean shales ŽJ. Smart, pers. commun., 1997..
event Žhot shales absent in these areas.. Some of the underlying Ordovician shales also show
The hot shale isopach trends ŽFig. 32a. corre- high gamma-ray values. However, this increase is
spond very well with those of the total Silurian shale due solely to an increase in thorium and potassium,
isopach ŽFig. 32b., such that the thick hot shale belt with the concentration of uranium remaining at nor-
coincides with the thickest total shale succession. mal background levels of about 4–5 ppm. As tho-
Areas where the hot shales are absent match with rium and potassium are detritic Žin contrast with the
areas where the total shale succession is notably largely authigenic uranium. ŽWignall and Myers,
thinner. The isopach data from the southern part of 1988., the elevated gamma-ray levels in the Ordovi-
the study area cannot be used for the same compari- cian shales may simply indicate an increased detritic
son as the upper part of the Tanezzuft shales was input of Th and K into the ocean, possibly associated
eroded in these areas during an early Devonian fall with increased erosional rates of the Gondwanan
in sea level. The strong correspondence between basement areas during the late Ordovician glaciation.
thickness trends of the hot shale and of the total The basal Silurian shales in concession NC115
Silurian shale units demonstrates that the palaeoto- ŽMurzuq Basin. have a maximum TOC content of
pography controlled the deposition of both. The 16.7% and comparable values are reached in conces-
greater total Silurian shale thicknesses in the NW- sion NC174 ŽFig. 34.. The remaining part of the
trending belt were probably achieved by: Ž1. earlier Silurian shales in the Murzuq Basin is characterized
onset of shale deposition and Ž2. trapping of mud in by a poor organic content. ‘Cool’ shale values in the
the palaeodepressions which were winnowed away NC174-well illustrated in Fig. 34 have a maximum
by currents from the palaeohighs, once these were of 1.28% TOC but most attain no more than 0.5%
flooded by the early Silurian sea. TOC ŽLASMO internal report..
It has to be remembered that the area shown as Unfortunately, no Ghadames Basin wells were
containing the hot shales was interpreted from well available for this study. According to Dr. P. Ram-
data only. A seismic survey carried out in the north- mackers Žpers. commun., 1998., the basal Silurian
ern part of the Murzuq Basin has shown clearly that hot shales in the Libyan part of the Ghadames Basin
the amplitude of the basal Silurian reflector can be form part of the ‘Iyadhar Formation’ ŽRhuddanian.
used as a proxy for the presence or absence of the and this thus corresponds well with our depositional
hot shales. The seismic data suggests that the hot model. About 25 m of basal Silurian shales with
shale unit underlying the large area marked as ‘hot’ gamma values higher than 150 API Žvalues ) 150
in Fig. 32 is not as continuous as interpreted from API unfortunately not shown on log. occur in the
simple interpolation between wells ŽFig. 33.. Simi- wells EE1-NC7A ŽFig. 31. and GG1-NC7A
larly, hot shales are absent in well A1-115 but a ŽAGOCO poster, Murzuq Basin Conference 1998,
strong seismic reflector occurs around, but not over, Sabha, Libya.. Basal Silurian hot shales with a thick-
the structure on which the well was drilled. This ness of around 14 m have been illustrated from a
¨
Fig. 32. Hot shale Ža. and total Silurian shale Žb. isopach maps for the Murzuq Basin ŽSW Libya.. See text for discussion.
well in concession NC40Aq B in the northeastern ŽBracaccia et al., 1991, p. 1738. ŽFig. 31.. Based on
part of the Ghadames Basin Žs Hamra Basin. spectral gamma-ray data, Bracaccia et al. Ž1991.
168 ¨
Fig. 33. Distribution of lower Silurian hot shales in the NC174 LASMO concession in the Murzuq Basin ŽSW Libya. Žlocation map in Fig.
31. based on the intensity of the basal Silurian reflector in seismic sections and well data. Note the good correspondence between the two
data sets. The areas where the hot shales are present Ždark grey. are interpreted as a system of palaeodepressions and the areas where the hot
shales are absent may have represented palaeohighs during early Silurian times. Modified after Beswetherick et al. Žin press..
were able to show that the high strong gamma tion of samples from 30 wells from the eastern
radiation in the hot shales in concession NC40 is Ghadames and western Sirte basins suggests that
associated with high uranium contents. Silurian deposition in these areas began in the late
Llandovery shales from the eastern Ghadames and Llandovery ŽBelhaj, 1996.. Early Llandovery strata
western Sirte basins were described by Belhaj Ž1996. have only been recorded in the southern portion of
ŽFig. 35. who stated Žp. 67. that ‘the lower portion the Ghadames Basin ŽBelhaj, 1996, p. 67..
of the Tanezzuft shales is a highly radioactive and Belhaj Ž1996. identified several Silurian radioac-
potentially rich petroleum source rock’. However, tive shale units on well logs and considered them to
the composite section ŽBelhaj, 1996, Fig. 4; Silurian be potential hydrocarbon source rocks, but no abso-
based on well C1-39. does not show the characteris- lute API values were given. Belhaj Ž1996. assumed
tic resistivity peak for the lower Llandovery hot the lower Wenlock shales Župper Tanezzuft shales.
shale. The absence of the basal Silurian hot shale in to be a major hydrocarbon source rock. However,
well C1-39 seems to correspond with the late Llan- these are most probably not as effective as the lower
dovery age indicated by Belhaj Ž1996. for the basal Llandovery hot shales, if present. In the absence of
shales in this well. Extensive palynological investiga- the basal Silurian hot shales, larger, Silurian-sourced
¨
other parts of the Kufra Basin were structurally low

enough for Rhuddanian hot shales to have accumu-
lated.
7.4.4. Onset of Silurian shale deposition

Graptolite biostratigraphic data from wells is rare
because such studies usually require core material
and cannot be carried out adequately with cuttings.
The hot shale unit in one of the LASMO wells in
concession NC174 in the northern part of the Murzuq
Basin was cored and this well offered a rare opportu-
nity to date biostratigraphically the hot shale unit
using graptolites. The hot shale in this well is under-
lain by about 10 m of slightly leaner shales ŽFig. 11.
containing graptolites indicative of a latest Ordovi-
cian persculptus Zone age ŽLoydell, 1998b.. The
peak of the hot shale has not been sampled but the
upper, declining gamma-limb yielded graptolites in-
dicative of the upper Rhuddanian cyphus Biozone.
The period of most intense hot shale deposition,
therefore, can be narrowed down to the acuminatus
and Õesiculosus zones. This corresponds very well
with the biostratigraphic data for the hot shales in
both Saudi Arabia ŽAoudeh and Al-Hajri, 1995. and
Morocco.
This biostratigraphic data provides important
evidence for the synchronous character of the Rhud-
Fig. 34. Comparison of TOC and gamma-ray data for the basal danian hot shale depositional event in northern
Silurian shales in a well in concession NC174 in the Murzuq Gondwana and it demonstrates the importance of
Basin of SW Libya Žlocation map in Fig. 32.. The 200-API cut-off graptolite-based biostratigraphy in the lower Silurian
value defining the hot shale unit corresponds to a TOC boundary
value of 3%, which correlates well with the results for the
shales in the region. A basal Silurian hot shale
Algerian part of the Ghadames Ž s Berkine. Basin ŽFig. 5.. Modi- comparable to that in the biostratigraphically dated
fied after Beswetherick et al. Žin press.. well occurs in a neighbouring well and can be
considered as age-equivalent already on correlative
grounds. However, the hot shale in this neighbouring
petroleum accumulations in the area may be the well has been dated by means of palynomorphs as
result of lateral migration from areas where the basal AeronianrTelychian. This almost certainly erro-
Silurian hot shales are present. Mid-Tanezzuft shales neous palynomorph age highlights once more the
with abnormally high gamma and TOC values may problems that exist with either the lowermost Sil-
have also contributed. urian palynomorph biozonal schemes in the region,
Basal Silurian hot shales are absent in both of the or the uncontrollable contamination of cuttings from
wells drilled in the Kufra Basin to date ŽA1-NC43 younger shales uphole.
and B1-NC43. ŽBellini et al., 1991.. The area tested Graptolite data from outcrops around the Murzuq
by the wells seems to have been covered by the silts Basin help in constraining the age of the onset of
of an early Silurian delta that prograded westwards shale deposition in the basin and allow a better
from Egypt into the early Silurian shale facies understanding of the distribution of Rhuddanian hot
¨
ŽLuning et al., in press.. It remains unclear whether shales in the area. The Ghat area on the western
170 ¨
Fig. 35. Isopach map of Llandovery strata in NW Libya Žeastern Ghadames and western Sirte basins. Žafter Belhaj, 1996..
flank of the Murzuq Basin seems to have represented the ‘western Al Awaynat section’ ŽRef. 13 in Fig.
an earliest Silurian palaeolow that was flooded al- 31. by Bellini and Massa Ž1980, p. 28. points to a
ready during the Žanoxic. Rhuddanian ŽRadulovic, probably small-scale palaeohigh in this area. Similar
1984a,b.. Deposition of Rhuddanian hot shales in the variabilities in the palaeorelief have been interpreted
Ghat area corresponds well with the abundant hot from the hot shale isopach map in the subsurface
shale occurrences in the subsurface only several 10s area towards the east ŽFig. 32a..
of km to the east ŽFig. 32a.. Also, the great total About 130 km north of Ghat, however, the basal
Silurian shale thicknesses of up to 360 m ŽWadi age of the shales becomes younger Žonset between
Tanezzuft, Radulovic, 1984a. and 480 m ŽGhat area, ‘zones 17 to 19’s mid-Rhuddanian–early Aeronian;
Radulovic, 1984b. match well with the subsurface Ref. 5 in Fig. 31. than in the Ghat area with a
observations that the hot shales in general are associ- possibly post-hot shale onset of the shale sedimenta-
ated with high total Tanezzuft shale thicknesses. tion. Still further to the north, in the Gargaf Arch,
The isolated early Aeronian Ž‘Zone 19’s the basal shales are even younger, with an Aeronian
‘ gregarius’. onset of shale deposition described for onset of shale deposition. The Gargaf Arch area
¨
seems to have represented a palaeohigh during the Basin ŽJebel Dalma. have an age of latest Rhudda-
earliest Silurian and apparently was flooded signifi- nian or earliest Aeronian Ž cyphus or triangulatus
cantly later than, e.g., the Ghat area. Accordingly, ¨
Zone. ŽLuning et al., in press.. For the Ghat area of
hot shales were most probably not deposited in the the Murzuq Basin, Klitzsch Ž1969. dated the upper-
Gargaf Arch area. Based on results from detailed most shales as ‘graptolite zone 19’ Žs early Aero-
mapping at the western basin margin of the Murzuq nian, gregarius Zone. and Radulovic Ž1984b. as
Basin, the Tanezzuft shales rest upon many different ranging somewhere between ‘zones 18–21’ Žs late
rock units, such as the Memouniat, Melez Chogran Rhuddanian–late Aeronian.. In one well in conces-
and Hassauona formations, but no angular uncon- sion NC174, the progradation of the Akakus sand-
formity has been observed ŽBellini and Massa, 1980; stones occurred within or later than the Telychian,
Protic, 1984; Radulovic, 1984a,b.. based on palynological data. According to Massa and
Graptolite data from the eastern margin of the Jaeger Ž1971., the basal part of the Akakus sand-
Murzuq Basin is partly inconclusive. Bellini and stones in the Libyan part of the Ghadames Basin has
Massa Ž1980, p. 25. described Rhuddanian shales a Ludlow age. The ages show that the deltaic Akakus
which were dated on the basis of Diplograptus sandstone progradation commenced from the SE to-
(modestus) fezzanensis. Klitzsch Ž1968, p. 497. de- wards the NW with the sandstones having been
scribes shales dated by graptolites as zone 19 Žs early deposited first probably in the Kufra Basin and only
Aeronian ‘ gregarius’ Zone.; however, his samples later in the Murzuq and finally in the Ghadames
do not come from the base of the Tanezzuft succes- basins ŽMassa and Jaeger, 1971. ŽFig. 8..
sion. At the Mourizidie Horst ŽFig. 31. at the eastern
margin of the Murzuq Basin, the Tanezzuft shales 7.4.6. Maturation of Silurian source rocks in Libya
directly overlie basement, which suggests the pres- The main phase of oil generation in the Murzuq
ence of an early Silurian palaeohigh in this area and Kufra basins probably occurred in the Creta-
ŽJacque,´ 1962; Bellini and Massa, 1980.. ¨
ceous and early Tertiary ŽLuning et al., in press;
In the Libyan part of the Ghadames Basin, speci- Lindsay Davidson, pers. commun., 1998.. In the
mens of Cystograptus Õesiculosus, indicative of Murzuq Basin, mid- to late Tertiary regional uplift
mid-Rhuddanian levels, have been found in a core and erosion resulted in the source rocks being taken
from the exploration well F1-66 Žunpublished data. back out of the oil window over large parts of the
ŽFig. 31.. The biostratigraphic evidence for shale
basin. At the present day only a limited area of the
deposition during Rhuddanian times in this area cor- centre of the Murzuq Basin remains within the oil
responds well to the occurrence of hot shales nearby generating window ŽLindsay Davidson, pers. com-
Že.g., well EE1-NC7A; Fig. 31..
mun., 1998..
In the Kufra Basin, the basal part of the Tanezzuft
shales has not been found exposed ŽLuning¨ et al., in
press.. The onset of shale deposition in the outcrops 7.5. Egypt
around the basin, therefore, is unknown. Such data is
critical to evaluate whether the basin had been A Silurian siltstone succession of ?Llandovery to
flooded already by the beginning of the Rhuddanian early Ludlow age with minor amounts of interbedded
or only after the anoxic event had terminated. sandstones and mudstones was described by Keeley
Ž1989. from the northern Western Desert ŽKohla
Formation.. Thicknesses of around 600 m were re-
7.4.5. Onset of Silurian sandstone deposition ported in the Basur-1 and Kohla-1 wells ŽFig. 36.. In
While the lower and middle parts of the Tanezzuft the wells Foram-1 to the west and Sheiba-1 to the
shales are usually rich in graptolites, graptolites be- east of the Qattarah Depression ŽFig. 36., 200–300
come rarer in the upper part ŽGhat: Radulovic, m of Silurian marine sandstones, siltstones and shales
1984b.. Despite this, the uppermost shales have been were encountered ŽKlitzsch, 1990; El Hawat, 1997..
dated in Libya at a number of localities. The upper- The siltstone unit rests directly on upper Ordovician
most shales at the northern margin of the Kufra glacial deposits and was dated by palynomorphs
172 ¨
7.6. Sudan
The Tanezzuft shales are absent in the extreme

northwest of Sudan ŽFig. 37. ŽKlitzsch and Wycisk,
1987; Wycisk et al., 1990. where instead thick flu-
vial- to shallow marine sandstones occur. From the
easternmost part of the Ennedi Mountains in NW
Sudan ŽFig. 37., Klitzsch et al. Ž1993, p. 54. de-
scribed 30–40 m of Silurian shales; however, the
lower part of the Tanezzuft shales is not exposed
here. Above the shales 30–50 m of marine siltstones
and sandstones were reported by Klitzsch et al.
Ž1993., overlain by fluvial deposits, locally with
metre-sized clasts. Incised channels with depths of
up to 25 m and filled with chaotic polymictites were
observed. Klitzsch et al. Ž1993. interpreted the
polymictite horizon as evidence for an intra-Silurian
glaciation of Llandovery or slightly younger age.
7.7. Chad
Silurian outcrops in Chad occur around the south-

ern and western margins of the Kufra Žs Erdis.
Basin ŽFig. 37.. The stratigraphy of Silurian outcrops
Fig. 36. Early Silurian facies map of the Kufra Basin area and in the eastern Tibesti, Borkou and Ennedi Mountains
neighbouring regions Žbased on Keeley, 1989; Keeley and Mas-
was described by De Lestang Ž1968.. Most of his
soud, 1998; Selley, 1997b; Semtner et al., 1997; and own data..
Tanezzuft field sections indicate incomplete expo-
sures; however, several of his Tanezzuft sections
Že.g., 16a, 18a, Do3. are illustrated as being com-
pletely exposed, including the basal part. Unfortu-
ŽKeeley, 1989.. Grey marine claystones are known nately, no detailed lithological descriptions, TOC or
only from the east, within the centre of the Ghazalat graptolite data were published by De Lestang Ž1968.
Basin. Well developed fining-upward cycles and for these sections. The exact outcrop situation of the
episodically high acritarch abundance levels point to Tanezzuft shales Žespecially the lower part. in NE
a series of shallow transgressive pulses. However, Chad remains unclear because the sections in De
organic-rich shales seem not to have been deposited Lestang Ž1968. are illustrated in a rather schematic
and no graptolites were found ŽKeeley, 1989.. Ac- way which leaves room for Žnon-illustrated. interpo-
cording to Keeley and Massoud Ž1998., there is no lations between outcrop gaps.
Tanezzuft source rock equivalent east of the Adjd-
abia Trough in Cyrenaica, across Egypt and into
Sinai. The Silurian shales are absent in the Gilf 7.8. Niger
Kebir area of SW Egypt ŽFig. 37. where thick fluvial
to shallow marine sandstones occur instead ŽKlitzsch, Very little has been published about the geology
1990.. The Tanezzuft shales are also absent in east of Niger ŽFig. 38.. Summaries have been given by
central Sinai, and cross bedded sandstones of poorly Deynoux et al. Ž1985. and Zanguina et al. Ž1998..
constrained late Ordovician to early Silurian age The lower Silurian shales Žschistes a` graptolites;
were found instead ŽKora, 1991.. Greigert, 1966; Greigert and Pougnet, 1967. are
¨
Fig. 37. Silurian and pre-Silurian outcrops and location of sedimentary basins in SW Egypt, Sudan and Chad. Unfortunately, no graptolite
biostratigraphic data have been published for the basal Silurian shales.
exposed in the northwest and northeast of the coun- 1998. assumes that the deepest part of the
try. MurzuqrDjado Basin during Silurian times was lo-
In the northeast, the outcrops occur on the west- cated in Niger rather than to the north in Libya. A
ern and eastern margins of the Djado Basin ŽFig. 38., structurally low position of parts of the Djado Basin
which is the southern continuation of the Murzuq area would have allowed the sea to flood these
Basin. Four petroleum exploration wells drilled in palaeodepressions during the Rhuddanian, leading to
the Djado Basin between 1961 and 1964 penetrated the deposition of hot shales as in parts of the Libyan
down to Cambro-Ordovician sandstones ŽFig. 38.. part of the Murzuq Basin ŽFig. 32a..
Unfortunately, the well logs were not available for Unfortunately, the graptolite data collected from
this study. the Silurian shales exposed at the margins of the
Southwards of the drilled areas, the Silurian shales Djado Basin is inconclusive. From the western mar-
in the Djado Basin are notably thinner, according to gin, two graptolite assemblages stated to be of early
seismic data, and may disappear as a result of either Aeronian age were reported Žsee Deynoux et al.,
a regional facies change or local erosion or non-de- 1985, pp. 438, 441.. However, in the first case it is
position ŽZanguina et al., 1998.. It remains unclear if unclear whether the specimens have been collected
the Rhuddanian hot shales have been deposited any- from the base of the shale unit and in the second
where in the Djado Basin. Klitzsch Žpers. commun., case the graptolites clearly come from shales some
174 ¨
Ordovician–Silurian succession in Niger. See text for discussion. Geological map modified after Zanguina et al. Ž1998.. References: Ž1.
Deynoux et al. Ž1985, p. 426., Climacograptus rectangularis found ŽRhuddanian to lower Aeronian., graptolites from upper part of
80-m-thick shale unit, basal age of shales unknown; Ž2. Deynoux et al. Ž1985, p. 428., graptolites from upper part of a 25-m-thick shale unit,
basal age of shales unknown; Ž3. Deynoux et al. Ž1985, p. 438., unclear if graptolites from base of shale unit; Ž4. Deynoux et al. Ž1985, p.
441., graptolites from 40 m above base of shale unit; Ž5. near Mourizidie ŽLibya., Jacque´ Ž1962., C. scalaris found 60 m above base of
shale unit; Ž6. Deynoux et al. Ž1985, p. 443.; Ž7. Legrand Ž1993., Glyptograptus (Glyptograptus?) ojsuensis found, indicating an age
pre-dating the Hirnantian glaciation; Ordovician–Silurian boundary and presence of Rhuddanian shales unclear.
40 m above the base of the shale unit. The age of the have been described as unfossiliferous ŽDeynoux et
basal shales, therefore, remains unclear at the west- al., 1985, p. 443.. At the eastern margin of the Djado
ern margin whilst the shales at the eastern margin Basin, graptolites occurring near the base of an upper
Ordovician–Silurian succession in Mauritania. See text for discussion. References: Ž1. Deynoux et al. Ž1985, p. 358.; Ž2. Adrar area,
Deynoux et al. Ž1985, p. 375.; Ž3. Mejahouda area, Deynoux et al. Ž1985, p. 382.; Ž4. Tagant area, Deynoux et al. Ž1985, p. 387., previously
reported graptolite fauna biostratigraphically inconsistent; Ž5. Khatt area, Deynoux et al. Ž1985, p. 388., unclear if base of shales sampled;
Ž6. Hodh area, Deynoux et al. Ž1985, p. 391.; Ž7. Hodh area, Underwood et al. Ž1998..
¨
176 ¨
Ordovician–Silurian shale-dominated succession the Rhuddanian hot shale in both wells. According to
with frequent sandstone intercalations have been the Thermal Alteration Index method ŽTAI., all three
identified as Glyptograptus Ž Glyptograptus?. oj- potential source rock intervals are still within the oil
suensis ŽLegrand, 1993.. This species is indicative of window except in local zones influenced by do-
the late Ordovician Rawtheyan pacificus Zone, i.e., lerites. Graptolitic Silurian shales are assumed to be
pre-dating the Hirnantian glaciation. The position of present in the centre of the Taoudenni Basin over
the Ordovician–Silurian boundary and the existence thicker intervals than those presently known Žunpub-
of Rhuddanian shales remain unclear in this section lished data, Republic of Mauritania 1993..
ŽLegrand, 1993.. The Silurian strata in Mauritania are exposed
In contrast, the basal Silurian shales exposed in around the Taoudenni Basin and at the southern
northwest Niger at the northern margin of the margin of the Tindouf Basin in the extreme north of
Iullemeden Basin ŽFig. 38. clearly contain Rhudda- the country ŽFig. 39.. A lot of the published bios-
nian graptolite assemblages ŽRef. 2 in Fig. 38, and tratigraphic graptolite data for outcrops around the
Refs. 7 and 8 in Fig. 24.. At least the northern part Taoudenni Basin is inconclusive in terms of the age
of the Iullemeden Basin seems to have a good of the basal Silurian shales. Either the graptolite
potential for the presence of Rhuddanian hot shales. assemblage does not allow a differentiation between
Unfortunately, logs of the wells drilled in this area in Rhuddanian and lower Aeronian ŽRef. 2, Fig. 39., it
1962 and 1975 were not available for this study. is unclear if the assemblage described was sampled
According to Zanguina et al. Ž1998., the source from the basal shales ŽRef. 5, Fig. 39., the basal
potential and degree of maturity have not been ana- shales are not exposed ŽRef. 3, Fig. 39., or the fauna
lyzed and evaluated in the northern Iullemeden Basin. described is thought to be biostratigraphically incon-
sistent ŽRef. 4, Fig. 39..
7.9. Mali An exception represents the Hodh area ŽRefs. 6
and 7, Fig. 39. where Underwood et al. Ž1998.
determined a latest Ordovician persculptus Zone age
Silurian strata are not exposed in Mali ŽDeynoux
for the basal shales which contain a diverse grapto-
et al., 1985, p. 394. and any ?existing subsurface
lite fauna. The overlying shales, in contrast, contain
data was not available for this study.
a low-diversity graptolite assemblage with long-rang-
ing taxa, probably representing the acuminatus and
7.10. Mauritania ataÕus biozones. The biostratigraphic marker index
species Parakidograptus acuminatus is notably ab-
The only Palaeozoic sedimentary basin of Mauri- sent Žsee above., probably for ecological reasons.
tania is the Taoudenni Basin. Two wells were drilled Chitinozoans from this interval, however, indicate
in the basin in 1974 down to infracambrian strata by clearly the lower Rhuddanian fragilis Biozone ŽParis
TEXACO ŽAbolag-1. and AGIP ŽOuasa-1. ŽFig. 39.. et al., 1998. ŽFig. 10.. The shales of the overlying
Potential source-rocks have been identified in infra- acinaces Zone contain again a fairly diverse, age-di-
cambrian, upper Ordovician to Silurian and Devo- agnostic fauna. The duration of the low-diversity
nian intervals based on geochemical analyses per- graptolite fauna strikingly coincides with the hot
formed on Ouasa-1 and Abolag-1 samples and on shale depositional period in North Gondwana. In the
field samples. However, the organic content in the absence of TOC data, evidence for a period of
upper Ordovician to Silurian interval seems not to Žpossibly upwelling-related. high productivity during
exceed 1% TOC which may point to the absence of acuminatus and ataÕus zones times may come from
Ordovician–Silurian succession on the Arabian Peninsula. See text for discussion. References: Ž1. near Al Qalibah and Tayma, Mahmoud et
al. Ž1992, p. 1497.; Ž2. Qusaiba area; El-Khayal Ž1985, 1987c., McClure Ž1988b., Mahmoud et al. Ž1992, p. 1497.: conÕolutus Zone ŽZ.20.;
Vaslet et al. Ž1987.: gregarius Zone ŽZ.19.; Ž3. Stump and Van der Eem Ž1995..
¨
178 ¨
the fact that the highly opportunistic species Nor- 1981. and well penetration infrequent. The wells
malograptus ex gr. normalis attains peak abun- have shown that the Silurian is not ubiquitous, either
dances in the ‘impoverished’ fauna, partly as ‘flood because of non-deposition or due to pre-Permian
occurrences’ ŽUnderwood et al., 1998.. erosion ŽBordenave and Burwood, 1990..
The earliest Silurian cosmopolitan, low-diversity Shales cropping out at Kuh-e-Farghun and Kuh-
graptolite fauna may indicate that the Hodh area and e-Gahkum Žthe only outcrops in the Zagros, 90 km
other parts of Mauritania had an open connection to north of Bandar Abbas; Fig. 40. contain graptolites
the sea rather than being characterized by silled indicating an early Silurian age ŽBerry and Boucot,
basins as, for example, Algeria or Libya. A connec- 1972, p. 55; Wolfart, 1981, p. 106; Alsharhan and
tion to the open sea would have meant a direct Nairn, 1997, p. 726.. These shales have a relatively
exposure for the area to the North Gondwanan up- high TOC and, therefore, represent a potential source
welling regime rather than being separated from it by rock ŽAla et al., 1980, p. 77; Alsharhan and Nairn,
flow barriers. The free water exchange may also 1997.. At Kuh-e-Gakum, more than 100 m of Sil-
have facilitated immigration of cosmopolitan taxa urian black silty shales have residual TOC values
and prevented the evolution of a diverse endemic varying between 1.0% and 4.3%, this being high for
fauna. The open connection with the ocean, how- an overmature source rock which has reached the
ever, may have also excluded several of the preserva- graphite stage. Reconstructions indicate that the Sil-
tional processs in this region that are part of the urian shales at Kuh-e-Gakum have been buried to at
black shale depositional model in other areas of least 6000 m during the Pliocene, preceding the main
North Gondwana. Any such differences could poten- phase of the Zagros orogeny ŽBordenave and Bur-
tially have reduced the amount of organic matter wood, 1990..
deposited and preserved in Rhuddanian shales of the It is assumed that the Silurian shales participated
region. in the genesis of the huge gas accumulations found
From the various areas of Mauritania, Ghienne in the Permo-Triassic Khuff Formation and in the
and Deynoux Ž1998. described late Ordovician val- pre-Khuff strata, in Iran, Qatar and Abu Dhabi
leys which they interpreted as tunnel valleys cut by ŽBordenave and Burwood, 1990.. It is speculated
subglacial meltwater streams and infilled by that the Suru Ža few km west of Bandar Abbas. and
proglacial to postglacial sandstones and conglomer- Salakh ŽQeshm Island. gas accumulations were prob-
ates. This kind of residual glacial palaeorelief could ably sourced from these lower Silurian shales ŽAla et
have contributed in controlling areas of hot shale al., 1980, p. 83..
deposition Žif any in Mauritania at all. and non-de-
position during the earliest Silurian anoxic event. 8.2. Iraq
Most of the exploration programs in Iraq are

8. Silurian shales on the Arabian shelf and in Iran concentrated in the eastern part of the country in
mainly shallow Mesozoic and Tertiary resevoirs. The
Silurian shales occur in many parts of Arabia,
Palaeozoic succession, however, has not been ex-
although they are exposed at only a few localities
ŽFig. 40.. As in North Africa, the sediment source in plored until the past decade. The Palaeozoic
petroleum systems of the western and southwestern
Arabia was located in the south, with open marine
deserts of Iraq were described in detail by Aqrawi
conditions in the north ŽFig. 2.. The Silurian stratig-
Ž1998. whose work also provided the data base for
raphy of the Middle East has been described in detail
the following synthesis.
by Berry and Boucot Ž1972., Wolfart Ž1981. and
Silurian rocks are not exposed in Iraq. However,
Alsharhan and Nairn Ž1997..
they have been penetrated in several boreholes in the
8.1. Iran Western Desert. The Llandovery and Wenlock suc-
cession consists of shales with a basal hot shale unit
Information on Palaeozoic source rocks is sparse, encountered in the wells Akkas-1 ŽFig. 41. and
because outcrops are widely separated ŽWolfart, Khlesia-1. The thickness of the basal hot shale in
¨
19 m thick occurs about 60 m above the top of the

basal Silurian hot shale unit.
The basal Silurian hot shale is believed to be the
main Palaeozoic source rock in the western and
southwestern deserts of Iraq and to be the source
rock of the light oil and sweet gas discovered in the
Akkas field. In Akkas-1 ŽFig. 41., the TOC ranges
between 0.96% and 16.62%, and in Khlesia-1 it
ranges from 1.0% and 9.94%, with a hydrocarbon
potential of about 49 kg HCrtonne ŽAqrawi, 1998..
The geochemical analysis of the hot shales in Khle-
sia-1 shows similar characteristics.
In some deeper areas of the Southwestern Desert
the Silurian hot shales could be over-mature, whereas
in other shallower western areas, they might be
immature ŽAqrawi, 1998.. The maturation distribu-
tion is complicated by an intense Hercynian-age
horst-graben relief. The Palaeozoic hydrocarbons of
the Western Desert of Iraq are almost free of H 2 S
and composed of up to 85% methane and ethane.
Similar characteristics are reported for both the ex-
tracts of the Silurian hot shales and the hydrocarbons
being produced from the Palaeozoic reservoirs of
central Saudi Arabia and Jordan. Modelling of the
Silurian hot shales in Akkas-1 indicates that the unit
has remained in the oil generation window since
Late Palaeozoic times ŽAqrawi, 1998..
8.3. Israel r Palestine
Several hundreds of petroleum exploration wells
have been drilled in Israel so far, targetting mostly
unsuccessful MesozoicrCenozoic plays. Only re-
cently, the well Merged-2 was drilled into the Trias-
sic Mohilla Formation in the In Rosh Haayin area
and has tested both 408 API oil and gas ŽLuskin et
al., 1997; EIS Energy Information Services, 1999..
According to the analysis of biomarkers, the oil has
been generated from Silurian shales, which matured
in Jurassic times ŽLuskin et al., 1997.. These results
Fig. 41. Gamma-ray log and TOC content in the Akkas-1 well provide good evidence for the existence of lower-
ŽIraq. Žafter Aqrawi, 1998.. Note that the gamma scale has been
re-scaled using the shale baseline. About 60 m above the base of
most Silurian hot shales in Israel and for the regional
the basal, ?Rhuddanian hot shale, a second hot shale occurs which continuation of the Silurian-sourced petroleum plays
may be correlatable with the Telychian hot shale observed in the from Saudi Arabia and Jordan into IsraelrPalestine
ESR-1 well in the Algerian part of the Ghadames Basin ŽFig. 14.. ŽFig. 40..
8.4. Jordan
Akkas-1 is 40 m Žmodified after Aqrawi, 1998, Fig. In Jordan, Llandovery–Wenlock shales with mi-
6.. A second hot shale interval in well Akkas-1 about nor intercalations of siltstones and sandstones are
180 ¨
assigned to either the Batra Formation, the Batra TOC, end of oil generation stage with ; 1.2% R o at
Member of the Mudawwara Formation or the Mu- outcrop, source for gas from Type II kerogen andror
dawwara Formation ŽKeegan et al., 1990; Alsharhan cracked Silurian-sourced oils; Ahlbrandt et al., 1997.,
and Nairn, 1997.. Outcrops of the Batra shales can the Al Jafr Basin Žhowever, shales seem to be imma-
be found in southern Jordan, where the base has been ture in this basin; Alsharhan and Nairn, 1997, p.
dated by means of graptolites as early Llandovery 601., and the Sirhan Basin Žup to 11% TOC, ther-
Ž acuminatus and ataÕus Zones. ŽRushton, 1991; mally mature, source for high-gravity oil and associ-
Powell et al., 1994.. The Silurian shales have been ated gas; Ahlbrandt et al., 1997..
penetrated in petroleum exploration wells in Al Jafr,
Wadi Sirhan, and Risha ŽKeegan et al., 1990; Al- 8.5. Oman
sharhan and Nairn, 1997. ŽFigs. 40 and 44.. Grapto-
lites from a well in the Wadi Sirhan area in southern The Llandovery shales in Oman are assigned to
Jordan indicate a lowermost Rhuddanian age for the the upper part of the Safiq Formation and are under-
basal shale interval ŽRickards, pers. commun., 1990 lain by Caradoc to Ashgill sandstones with interca-
in Aoudeh and Al-Hajri, 1995, p. 149.. Palyno- lated shales which make up the lower part of the
morphs of undifferentiated Llandovery age have been Safiq Formation ŽHughes Clarke, 1988.. The Llan-
reported by Keegan et al. Ž1990. from shales in the dovery shales in Oman are erosively capped by the
wells RH-1, RH-3, RH-4, RH-5, RH-6 ŽRisha area., Hercynian unconformity. Due to this Hercynian ero-
and WS-1, WS-2, WS-3 ŽWadi Sirhan area. ŽFig. sion, the shale unit is present only along the western
44.. Maximum thicknesses of Silurian shales in Jor- margin area of Oman ŽDroste, 1997.. Widespread
dan are reached in well RH-3 in the Risha area with Hercynian erosion removed this formation from
over 1200 m ŽKeegan et al., 1990.. nearly all of Central and North Oman. This erosion
According to Andrews Ž1991. Žsummarized in also resulted in a very irregular thickness distribution
Alsharhan and Nairn, 1997., the Silurian shale suc- of the Llandovery shale unit. The thickest shales
cession contains three intervals with elevated organic Ž220 m. have been encountered on the western mar-
contents. A ‘Lower Hot Shale Unit’ 9–18 m Ž30–60 gin near the Saudi Arabian border ŽDroste, 1997..
ft. thick, is composed of thick, black, fissile, mica- The type section of the Silurian shale part of the
ceous and highly graptolitic shales, rich in organic Safiq Formation was described in the Hasirah-1 well
material, with TOC values of up to 7 wt.%. Because ŽFig. 40. and was biostratigraphically dated by paly-
of the high TOC values, it is assumed that this nomorphs as Llandovery ŽHughes Clarke, 1988.. An
interval corresponds to the Rhuddanian hot shale approximately 2-m-thick basal hot shale occurs in
horizon elsewhere in North Gondwana. The ‘Middle’ Hasirah-1, as interpreted from the gamma log illus-
and ‘Upper Hot Shale’ units described by Andrews trated in Hughes Clarke Ž1988, Fig. 10b.. Lower
Ž1991. are characterized by significantly lower TOC Silurian shales were also penetrated, for example, in
contents. Without having evaluated the well logs the wells Hazar-2, Maisarah-1 and Dauka-1 ŽDroste,
from Jordan for this study, it is nevertheless assumed 1997..
that the gamma values in the upper two intervals The ‘Safiq Formation’ of Hughes Clarke Ž1988.
probably do not exceed 200 API, a value which was was re-defined as the ‘Safiq Group’ by Droste Ž1997..
chosen as the hot shale cut-off for our review. Ac- The upper Safiq Group consists of the Llandovery
cording to Alsharhan and Nairn Ž1997, p. 119. the ‘Sahmah Formation’ which Droste Ž1997. described
‘Middle Hot Shale Unit’ is dominated by micaceous as being composed of a lower, fining-upward sand-
claystones, with stringers of very fine-grained sandstone unit, a middle shale unit, and an upper sand-
stones, and has a low organic content Ž0.4–1.5% stone unit. Typically, a very high Ž) 200 API.
TOC.. The ‘Upper Hot Shale Unit’ is about 50 m gamma-ray peak occurs at the base of the shales
Ž164 ft. thick and consists of micaceous shales, with Že.g., Droste, 1997, Fig. 23.. In contrast with the
a TOC value of 0.8–2.0%. views of Droste Ž1997., it is assumed here that the
The basal Silurian hot shales are considered to be lower sandstone unit is of Ashgill age. It was already
potential source rocks in the Risha Basin Ž1–4% pointed out by Droste Ž1997, p. 427. himself, that an
¨
Ashgill age for the lower part of the palynomorph wards a better understanding of the stratigraphy,
‘biozone 1003’ assigned by him to the Sahmah biostratigraphy and source rock potential of the lower
Formation cannot be ruled out on the basis of his Silurian shales in Saudi Arabia have been made by
biostratigraphic data. In analogy with the deposi- Mahmoud et al. Ž1992., Cole et al. Ž1994a; b.,
tional development in other parts of North Gond- Aoudeh and Al-Hajri Ž1995. and Jones and Stump
wana, the high-gamma shales are interpreted here as Ž1999.. The lower Silurian Qusaiba Shale Member of
having an earliest Llandovery ŽRhuddanian. age. In the Qalibah Formation ŽMahmoud et al., 1992; s
further analogy, the underlying sandstones, would Tayyarat Formation of Vaslet, 1987a,b, 1990. is the
have to be older, correlating with Ashgill sandstones principal Palaeozoic source in Saudi Arabia ŽAl-
in other parts of Arabia and North Africa. sharhan and Nairn, 1997, p. 500.. The term ‘Qusaiba’
The only Palaeozoic source rock of any signifi- for the lower Silurian shaly member of the Tabuk
cance in Oman is the Llandovery shales in west Formation was first introduced by Powers et al.
Central Oman. This unit lacks the infracambrian ‘ X Ž1966.. As in other areas of North Gondwana, the
compounds’ but shows pristinerphytane ratios of shelfal Qusaiba shales are overlain by progradational
1.6–1.7, a weak C 29 predominance, around 35% inner-neritic sandstones Ž‘Sharawra Member’. and
rearranged steranes and carbon isotope values around nearshore to fluvial sandstones Ž‘Tawil Member’.
y30% ŽSykes and Abu Riseh, 1989, p. E78; Že.g., Stump et al., 1995..
Grantham et al., 1990.. In the upper Palaeozoic
clastics, a distinctive oil type is found with geochem- 8.7.2. Lithology and thicknesses
ical characteristics suggesting a derivation from the The Qusaiba shale is a thick sequence of massive,
basal Silurian hot shale ŽAlsharhan and Nairn, 1997, dark grey shale widely distributed over the Middle
p. 747.. East. Surface exposures of this unit in Saudi Arabia
can be found in the Al QalibahrTabuk area in the
8.6. Qatar northwest, the Qusaiba area in north central, and the
Wajid belt in the southwest of the country Že.g.,
Lower Palaeozoic rocks were only penetrated in
Mahmoud et al., 1992; Aoudeh and Al-Hajri, 1995;
deep wells ŽAlsharhan and Nairn, 1997, p. 89..
Stump and Van der Eem, 1995.. The surface refer-
According to Alsharhan and Nairn Ž1997., the Llan-
ence section is located between the towns Al Qalibah
dovery ‘Shaly Member’ of the Silurian Sharawra
and Tayma Žbase at 27851X 23Yr38833X 57Y E, top at
Formation is composed of greyish–blackish mica-
28805X 57Y Nr38822X 26Y E.. The Qusaiba Member
ceous siltstones and claystones which are overlain by
here consists of 256 m of organic-rich, laminated
the Wenlock to Ludlow ‘Sandy Member’ of the
shales with some interbedded rippled siltstone, abun-
Sharawra Formation. The ‘Shaly Member’ is a
dant graptolites at the base, and micaceous siltstone
marginal to excellent source rock with predomi-
and sandstone in the upper part. A gradational con-
nantly sapropelic matter and TOC values ranging
tact exists with the overlying sandy Sharawra Mem-
from 0.5 to 7 wt.%. The shale has a low pyrolysis
ber ŽMahmoud et al., 1992..
yield, indicating a postmature stage for oil generation
The Qusaiba Shale Member is encountered com-
that is still favourable for gas ŽAlsharhan and Nairn,
pletely or partially in many wells in Saudi Arabia
1997, p. 565..
Že.g., stratigraphic well ST39 which was used as a
8.7. Saudi Arabia reference subsurface section by Mahmoud et al.,
1992.. The top of the Qalibah Formation is locally
8.7.1. Stratigraphy eroded in Saudi Arabia due to ‘Hercynian’ and
The Palaeozoic succession of Saudi Arabia has younger episodes of structural deformation
generally been difficult to compile into a comprehen- ŽMahmoud et al., 1992.. Isopach maps, therefore,
sive stratigraphic framework due to sparse regional have to be treated with care if used for reconstruc-
well control and the difficulty of dating much of the tions of Silurian depocentres. Mahmoud et al. Ž1992,
sequence where wells exist ŽMcGillivray and Hus- p. 1500. believe that a major part of the present-day
seini, 1992, p. 1473.. Important contributions to- Arabian Shield was covered by the Qalibah sedi-
182 ¨
ments prior to these erosional events. A restored 8.8. Hot shales

isopach map of the Qusaiba Shale in Saudi Arabia
has been compiled by Jones and Stump Ž1999. ŽFig. A sharp increase in the gamma-ray values can be
42., who suggested that the thickest Qusaiba Shales found in the lowermost part of the Qusaiba shales in
in Saudi Arabia were deposited in two rapidly sub- many wells ŽAoudeh and Al-Hajri, 1995; Jones and
siding depocentres; the Tayma Trough in northern Stump, 1999.. These organic-rich shales in Saudi
Saudi Arabia and the Qalibah Trough in the central Arabia rarely exceed 50 m in thickness and usually
and southern part of the country ŽFig. 42.. In the are about 9–31 m thick ŽJones and Stump, 1999..
Taymah Trough, the shales reach thicknesses of These values, however, are based on a 150-API
more than 1830 m ŽAoudeh and Al-Hajri, 1995.. cut-off value, whereas in this study we used a 200
In the Ghawar area ŽEastern Saudi Arabia, Fig. API definition. The thickest and most organic-rich
40. ŽWender et al., 1998., a sandstonersiltstone unit, hot shales occur in an area east of the Qalibah
informally referred to as the ‘Mid-Qusaiba Sand’, is Trough ŽJones and Stump, 1999. ŽFigs. 42 and 43..
present as a key stratigraphic marker within the Thick basal Silurian hot shales have also been re-
Qusaiba Member throughout most of area. The unit ported from NW Saudi Arabia, west of the Jawf
is composed of a crudely thickening and subbasin, with the depocentre located in the Tayma
coarsening-upward sequence and most probably rep- area ŽFig. 44. ŽCole et al., 1994b; Aoudeh and
resents a progradational basin floor fan system Al-Hajri, 1995..
ŽWender et al., 1998.. According to Wender et al. The lower Silurian hot shales are the most impor-
Ž1998., these sandstones have significant gas shows tant Palaeozoic source rock in Saudi Arabia and also
in the Ghawar area. act as a seal to the underlying Ordovician reservoir.
Fig. 42. Restored isopach map of the lower Silurian Qusaiba Shale in Saudi Arabia Žafter Jones and Stump, 1999.. Two major troughs acting
as depocentres are developed, however, the thickest hot shales occur outside the troughs, to the east of the Qalibah Trough. While a
gradational transition between hot shales and overlying lean shales mainly occurs outside the troughs, a sharp contact indicative of erosion
by turbiditic mass flows is observed in wells inside the two troughs Žsee also Fig. 45..
¨
North Africa, there seem to be exceptions for ac-

tively subsiding troughs, as developed in Saudi Ara-
bia and accommodating thick Silurian shale-
dominated successions. Jones and Stump Ž1999.
showed for central and south Saudi Arabia that the
Qalibah Trough was an early Silurian depocentre but
does not contain the thickest and organically richest
hot shales, with the hot shale depocentre located to
the east of the trough ŽFig. 42.. The early Silurian
sediments in the Qalibah and Taymah troughs typi-
cally show signs of intense reworking and have
significantly higher sandstone Žsiltstone.: shale ratios
than age-equivalent deposits at the margins. Due to
the strong negative relief, the troughs seem to have
received major amounts of turbiditic mass flow de-
posits which may have transported oxygen into the
Fig. 43. Hot shale isopach map for Saudi Arabia based on a
basinal system, diluted the pelagic accumulated or-
150-API gamma-ray cut-off value Žafter Jones and Stump, 1999.. ganic matter and eroded parts or all of the organic-
rich shale package. Jones and Stump Ž1999. showed
convincingly that the hot shales in the troughs typi-
They have an outer-neritic origin as indicated by cally exhibit a sharp boundary towards the overlying,
their graptolites and palynofacies with dominant organically leaner shales, indicative of erosion,
amorphous organic material. Nearshore palynoflora whereas outside the troughs, a gradational contact
are less represented ŽAoudeh and Al-Hajri, 1995, p. between hot shales and leaner shales exists ŽFigs. 42
150.. and 45..
Detailed geochemical analysis of the only 3-m- Wender et al. Ž1998. described the lowermost
thick hot shale package in the North Saudi Arabian Silurian hot shales from the Ghawar area in eastern
wells NWA2 and NWA5 indicates alternating oxic Saudi Arabia. The hot shales are reported to occur at
and anoxic palaeoenvironmental conditions. In areas the base of the Qusaiba Member and are regionally
with thicker hot shale units Ž) 30 m., only anoxic
conditions were reported by Aoudeh and Al-Hajri
Ž1995, p. 151.. According to Aoudeh and Al-Hajri
Ž1995., this relationship suggests the presence of
permanent anoxia in palaeodepressions, a structurally
higher transition zone with repeated anoxic–oxic
conditions possibly due to increased circulation, and
palaeohighs characterized by nondeposition. Occa-
sionally, above the ‘hot shale’ are very thin black
shales with high gamma-ray values which are inter-
calated in organically leaner shales ŽMahmoud et al.,
1992.. These younger, thin, organic-rich horizons
probably reflect late anoxic phases during the final
general transition towards stable, oxic palaeoenviron-
mental conditions in the mid-Llandovery.
While Aoudeh and Al-Hajri’s model, postulating
the restriction of hot shales to early Silurian
palaeodepressions, is probably valid for the struc- Fig. 44. Hot shale isopach map of the Nafud Basin in northern
turally stable early Silurian shelf of Arabia and Saudi Arabia Žafter Aoudeh and Al-Hajri, 1995..
184 ¨
Fig. 45. Comparison of typical TOC and gamma-ray data for the basal Silurian shales in Saudi Arabia Žafter Jones and Stump, 1999.. ŽA. A
gradational contact between hot shales and overlying lean shales occurs in wells outside the two troughs. ŽB. A sharp contact is developed
inside the troughs suggesting erosion of the upper hot shale package by turbiditic mass flows ŽJones and Stump, 1999.. The 200-API cut-off
value defining the hot shale unit corresponds well to a TOC boundary value of 3%.
correlatable. Wender et al. Ž1998. described this hot unit in Saudi Arabia which occurs at the base of the
shale as showing a distinctive high gamma-ray signa- Silurian shale succession was dated by Aoudeh and
ture on logs Žwhich, however, is not so clear on the Al-Hajri Ž1995. as lower Rhuddanian Ž S. fragilis and
composite log of Wender et al., 1998, fig. 4; highest lower B. postrobusta chitinozoan biozones, acumi-
gamma values are shown for the sandy upper Sil- natus and lower ataÕus graptolite biozones. ŽFig.
urian Sharawra Member!.. The thickness of the hot 10..
shale in the Ghawar area varies considerably and In areas where the early Rhuddanian shales were
ranges from 70 m in southern Ghawar to 3 m in not deposited, the organic-rich horizon has a reduced
northern Ghawar ŽWender et al., 1998. Žhowever, the thickness or is lacking completely. Aoudeh and Al-
gamma-cut-off value for these ‘hot shales’ has not Hajri Ž1995. interpreted these areas as palaeohighs
been given.. which were only reached later during the early Sil-
urian transgression. Their model seems to be sup-
8.8.1. Biostratigraphic age of Qusaiba shale and hot ported by the subsurface data-based distribution pat-
shale terns of late Ordovician glacial valleys which cir-
A high-resolution chitinozoan-based biostrati- cumvented the palaeohigh area rather than cross-cut
graphic study of the lower Silurian in Saudi Arabia it. In southern Saudi Arabia, early Rhuddanian de-
was carried out by Aoudeh and Al-Hajri Ž1995. who posits are partly present but lack the hot shale Že.g.,
also integrated all available graptolite biostrati- wells SA1, SA2; Fig. 40.. However, these shales are
graphic data. On the basis of 27 datasets from wells sandier than elsewhere ŽAoudeh and Al-Hajri, 1995.
and outcrops, Aoudeh and Al-Hajri Ž1995. were able and were probably either deposited in deep troughs
to show the diachronous nature of the basal Silurian with subsequent erosion of the hot shale ŽSA1, sensu
shales and the synchronous nature of the hot shale. Jones and Stump, 1999, see above. or in shallow
They also demonstrated the close links that exist waters close to palaeohighs ŽSA2. ŽFigs. 42 and 43..
between the age of the basal shales and organic Paris et al. Ž1995. subdivided the Rhuddanian in
richness and hot shale thickness. The main hot shale central Saudi Arabia into four Žlocal. chitinozoan
¨
biozones ŽFig. 10.. They dated the lower Silurian hot primarily dysoxic conditions. The hot shales were
shale as chitinozoan biozone 2 in the wells MKSR-1 deposited under dysoxic to mainly anoxic conditions
Žunderlain by an organically lean shale dated as but source rock quality is controlled by position in
biozone 1. and NYYM-2 Žoverlain by an organically the basin.
lean shale dated as biozone 2.. The occurrence of an Tricyclic and hopane data from representative
earliest Silurian organically lean shale beneath the Qusaiba extracts from the Tayma-1, Tabuk-1 and
hot shale in MKSR-1 emphasizes that the sea floor Khaf-1 wells, and the saturate fraction GC-MS frag-
during the very initial part of the early Silurian mentograms, show that the basal Qusaiba source
transgression was not yet anoxic and hot shale depo- rocks were derived from the same type of organic
sition started only shortly afterwards. Rhuddanian matter, but specific biomarkers suggest that deposi-
acritarchs have been reported from several wells in tion occurred under varying anoxic to dysoxic condi-
´ ´
central and northwestern Saudi Arabia by Le Herisse tions ŽCole et al., 1994b.. Similarity between the
et al. Ž1995.. Tayma-2 and Tabuk-1 wells is apparent in the frag-
Early Silurian graptolites have been found at out- mentogram fingerprints and in specific ratios ŽCole
crop in northwestern and north-central Saudi Arabia. et al., 1994b..
The basal shales near Al Qalibah were reported to In the Hawtah-1 well, the hot shale averages more
have an age of Rhuddanian ataÕus or cyphus Zone than 2.0% TOC and reaches 6.15% TOC ŽMcGil-
which corresponds well with the hot shale occur- livray and Husseini, 1992, p. 1479 based on Monnier
rences in the near subsurface to the northeast in the et al., 1990.. The basal Silurian hot shales in the
Nafud Basin ŽRef. 1 in Fig. 40.. Further to the Ghawar area in eastern Saudi Arabia represent the
southeast, in the Qusaiba area ŽFig. 40., the basal primary source rock for the pre-Khuff Žpre-Permian.
shales were dated as Aeronian ‘Monograptus’ con- hydrocarbons ŽWender et al., 1998.. According to
Õolutus Zone ŽRef. 2 in Fig. 40.. P. Legrand pers. Wender et al. Ž1998., the basal Qusaiba shales in the
commun., 1984 in Vaslet et al., 1987. increased the Ghawar area have an average TOC richness of 3%,
age of the Qusaiba shales locally in the Qusaiba area with a maximum observed TOC of 6.15%.
by indentifying shales with graptolites from the lower Organic matter in the Qusaiba is mostly oil-prone,
to middle Aeronian Cor. gregarius Zone ŽZ.19, Fig. with amorphous material forming 60% of the total
10. which underlie shales from the M. conÕolutus organic content ŽMcGillivray and Husseini, 1992, p.
Zone. The Qusaiba area is interpreted as a palaeo- 1479.. An exception is found in the southeastern part
high which has been flooded only during the Aero- of the Nafud Basin in northern Saudi Arabia. The
nian so that the Rhuddanian hot shales were not basal Qusaiba shale in this area is reported as being
deposited in this area of Saudi Arabia. mostly gas-prone. From the Tayma area in the Nafud
Basin, Cole et al. Ž1994b. described an Žimmature.
oil-prone Type II kerogen with high TOC content
8.8.2. Organic richness and very high hydrogen index. The organic matter in
Studies by Cole et al. Ž1994a,b. on the basal the Qusaiba shales of the Ghawar area in eastern
Qusaiba shales from northern Saudi Arabia have Saudi Arabia has been identified by Wender et al.
shown that these shales are organic-rich Žup to 8% Ž1998. as predominantly amorphous Type II kero-
TOC, Jones and Stump, 1997. and have excellent gen.
oil-generating potential. Based on gamma-ray log
response, the Qusaiba Member was divided by Cole
et al. Ž1994b. into three distinct zones. The strata 8.8.3. Maturationr oil generation
with low gamma-ray response, or cool zones, are not According to Bishop Ž1995., the Qusaiba shale
considered to be source rocks. Most shales within generated hydrocarbons throughout the Mesozoic and
these zones were deposited under oxic conditions. again during the late Tertiary, interrupted by Eocene
The moderate gamma-ray response, or warm zone, uplift of the southern part of the Arabian plate. Oil
contains moderate to excellent source rock quality. generation began during the Triassic in the region of
The shales from these zones were deposited under the present-day Arabian Gulf, moving south into the
186 ¨
Rub Al Khali by the Late Cretaceous ŽBishop, 1995.. mid-Triassic Žoil., entered the wet gasrcondensate
Bishop Ž1995, p. 185. based these estimations on a window in the Early Cretaceous and the dry gas
maturity vs. depth plot, the depth of the Permian window in the early Tertiary ŽWender et al., 1998..
Khuff Formation and structures interpreted from sev- According to Wender et al. Ž1998., the basal Qusaiba
eral regional papers ŽFig. 46.. Only a few wells shales in the Ghawar area remain in the dry gas
penetrate the Lower Palaeozoic so that little direct window at present, although the generative potential
maturity data is available. The maturity of a Rhudda- may be spent in the deepest portions of the basin. Oil
nian hot shale in the Hawtah-1 well is relatively high generation occurred after Carboniferous ŽHercynian.
and ranges between 2.29% and 2.47% R o ŽMahmoud and early Triassic growth, but before the develop-
et al., 1992.. Discrepancies between reflectance val- ment of the Late Cretaceous and Tertiary structures
ues based on graptolites and chitinozoans and other ŽWender et al., 1998.. For Central Saudi Arabia,
geochemical maturity indicators were observed by Abu-Ali et al. Ž1998. postulated a peak hydrocarbon
Cole Ž1994. in the lower Silurian shales of Saudi expulsion from the Qusaiba Shales of younger than
Arabia. He assumes that environmental conditions 52 Ma ŽEocene..
during deposition or early diagenesis may be partly
responsible for these mismatches.
Maturation modelling of the basal Silurian hot 8.8.4. Oil–source correlation
shales in the Ghawar area in eastern Saudi Arabia On the basis of carbon isotope and biomarker
indicates that hydrocarbon generation began in the data, the basal Qusaiba Shale is indicated to be the
Fig. 46. Maturity map of the lower Silurian interval on the Arabian Peninsula Žafter Bishop, 1995..
¨
principal source for the low-sulphur, light oil discov- The dominant lithologies are shales and siltstones
ered in Palaeozoic reservoirs of central and eastern with a rich graptolitic fauna, and subordinate sandy
Saudi Arabia ŽMcGillivray and Husseini, 1992, p. beds. The Tanf Formation attains a maximum thick-
1479, based on Monnier et al., 1990 and Abu-Ali et ness of 1.2 km within a depression trending north-
al., 1991; Wender et al., 1998.. east–southwest through central Syria ŽGvirtzman and
Weissbrod, 1984; Lovelock, 1984.. According to
8.8.5. Seismic characteristics Berry and Boucot Ž1972., the shales and siltstones of
The base of the Qusaiba Shale Member is marked the Syrian Tanf Formation reflect nearer-shore envi-
by a sharp acoustic impedance change that causes a ronments than in Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The
persistent seismic reflection throughout most of Ara- formation is capped by an unconformity, and the
bia ŽMcGillivray and Husseini, 1992, p. 1479.. This upper Silurian to the lower Devonian deposits are
reflector is the most reliable seismic event in the absent over most of Syria ŽBest et al., 1993, p. 180..
pre-Khuff section in the Ghawar area of Eastern According to Alsharhan and Nairn Ž1997, p. 683.,
Saudi Arabia ŽWender et al., 1998.. organic-rich horizons in the Tanf Formation are sel-
8.9. Syria domly more than a few metres thick and are scat-
tered throughout the section. Rock eval pyrolysis
Lower Palaeozoic rocks do not crop out in Syria; indicates that the Hydrogen Index is low, Tmax is
however, they have been encountered in the subsur- high and the organic matter mature. Based on geo-
face ŽWolfart, 1981, p. 103; Alsharhan and Nairn, chemical oil–source correlations, organic-rich basal
1997, p. 88.. Silurian rocks have been found in Silurian shales are considered as a secondary, minor
several wells and have been assigned to the Abba contributor to petroleum charge in the Euphrates
Group, although the term ‘Khabour Beds’ has also Graben ŽDe Ruiter et al., 1995, p. 365.. A maturity
been used ŽAla and Moss, 1979.. Lababidi and Ham- map of the lower Silurian Tanf Formation is given in
dan Ž1985. introduced the term ‘Tanf Formation’. Fig. 47.
Fig. 47. Maturity map of the lower Silurian Tanf Formation in Syria Žafter Serryea, 1990; Alsharhan and Nairn, 1997..
188 ¨
8.10. United Arab Emirates in order to illustrate the sedimentary processes be-
yond the margin of the North Gondwanan early
Only a small amount of data is available for the Silurian shelf system Žsee also Paris et al., 1986..
Lower Palaeozoic deposits of the UAE ŽAlsharhan,
1989.. The Rann Formation in the northern Emirates
is of Ordovician to Silurian age ŽHudson et al.,
9.1. Sardinia (Italy)
1954.. The succession is exposed at the southeastern
end of Jebel Qamar South. It consists of thinly
bedded algal mudstones at the top, grading down- According to palaeogeographic reconstructions for
wards into green–grey shales and siltstones, and the early Silurian based mainly on the analysis of
haematitic and nodular limestones overlying a thick faunal provinces, Sardinia is thought to have been
unit of quartzose sandstones containing Cruziana located at the northern margin of North Africa east
ŽAlsharhan, 1989.. The source of gas in the Permian of Iberia Že.g., Scotese and McKerrow, 1990. ŽFig.
Khuff Formation is either pre-Khuff in origin Žprob- 2.. However, other reconstructions based primarily
ably from the Silurian shales. or could be indigenous on palaeomagnetic data suggest an isolated mid-oc-
ŽEl-Bishlawy, 1985; Alsharhan, 1989.. ean position for Sardinia further to the north Že.g.,
Torsvik et al., 1996; Mac Niocaill et al., 1997..
8.11. Yemen Further complications have arisen from detailed in-
vestigations of the Silurian fauna and facies which
Silurian rocks are not exposed in Yemen. Accord- suggest that Sardinia is composed of two separate
ing to Beydoun et al. Ž1996. and Ellis et al. Ž1996., terranes Že.g., Barca, 1998.. While SE Sardinia is
lower Silurian shales were tentatively identified in characterised by ‘Thuringian facies’ with ‘Oc-
exploration wells in the southern extension of the kerkalk’ and siliceous black shales Žsee Jaeger, 1976;
Rub Al Khali Basin into northern Yemen. In well Barca and Jaeger, 1990., SW Sardinia is charac-
Shahr-1 ŽFig. 40. in the eastern part of the country terised by ‘Bohemian facies’ with nautiloid lime-
near the Oman border, the Palaeozoic clastics have stones and black shales which are at most only very
been dated in part by palynomorphs, showing the slightly siliceous Žsee Gnoli et al., 1990..
presence of upper Devonian and Carboniferous to According to Jaeger Ž1976., the total Silurian to
Permian strata, with possible lower Silurian shales lowermost Devonian shale succession in Sardinia
occurring between 1914 and 1978 m ŽBeydoun et al., reaches only 100 m, including limestones of Lud-
1996, p. 770.. Further west, in well Qinab and 1, a ˇ´ ´ age. This represents a highly condensed
low–Prıdolı
thick, probably Cambro-Ordovician, clastic succes- succession compared with the thicknesses of age-
sion is overlain by an argillaceous interval, probably equivalent units in Morocco, Algeria and Libya,
also representing lower Silurian shales ŽBeydoun et where several hundreds of metres of shales have
al., 1996.. been deposited. The age of the basal shales was
determined by graptolites as acuminatus Zone to
8.12. Arabian Gulf Õesiculosus Zones in SE Sardinia ŽHelmcke and
Koch, 1974; Barca and Jaeger, 1990. and acumina-
Lower Palaeozoic rocks, if present, are at too ˇ
tus Zone in SW Sardinia ŽStorch and Serpagli, 1993.,
great a depth to be penetrated by drilling, except which indicates that Sardinia had already been
over structural highs ŽAlsharhan and Nairn, 1997, p. flooded during the Rhuddanian so that hot shales
88.. could have potentially been deposited in the area.
However, the shales in Sardinia have very high
maturities, and often have anchimetamorphic or con-
9. Silurian shales on the Afro–Arabian shelf slope tact metamorphic characters, so that any organic
matter today would be effectively spent.
From the peri-Gondwanan areas, only Sardinia As discussed above, the Sardinian terranes may
and the Meguma terrane are briefly described here, have been either located on the northern shelf slope
¨
of the Gondwanan Plate or in a mid-ocean position to have been derived from Northwest Africa as
drifting towards the northern continents. In any case, evidenced by westward dispersal patterns and simi-
the structural position is interpreted to have been larities in succession, age, lithology and provenance.
more distal and also deeper than in the areas of In the Meguma Zone more than 800 m of Silurian
North Africa as inferred from the condensed Silurian shales have been deposited ŽTremont Formation of
succession and the northern location Žsee also Lenz the Kentville Group.. Massive black slates which
et al., 1996.. Furthermore, sandstones had not ar- coarsen upsection by addition of progressively thicker
rived in the area by the early Devonian as the silt laminae, grade upwards into a greenish grey
uppermost shales were dated to the lower Devonian shale with a higher silt content ŽSmitheringale, 1973..
hercynicus Zone ŽJaeger, 1976.. This indicates that A shelly fauna, occurring in black limestone lenses,
the area, like Morocco, was relatively far from the and a sparse graptolite assemblage in the black slate
sandy Silurian deltaic system which gradually pro- indicate a late Wenlock to mid-Ludlow age for the
graded northwestwards over the North African shelf total shale succession ŽBlaise et al., 1990.. A major
during the Silurian and early Devonian. Also the hiatus was reported for most of the Llandovery and
early onset of shelfal shale deposition in Sardinia Wenlock ŽSchenk, 1997.. The Prıdolı ˇ´ ´ consists of
during the early Silurian supports the idea of a lower fossiliferous shales, limestones and volcanic rocks
position on the shelf slope. Because the shales in ŽNew Canaan Group. ŽBlaise et al., 1990..
Sardinia were deposited on this shelf slope, rather The onset of shale deposition related to the early
than in a silled intrashelf basin Že.g., Libya, Algeria, Silurian transgression happened significantly later in
Morocco. the preservational component, which is the Meguma Zone than on the North African shelf.
interpreted to have contributed to the black shale The hiatus comprising most of the Llandovery and
formation on the shelf, may have been absent on the Wenlock is interpreted here as a result of extreme
Sardinian slope. condensation Žor even non-deposition. which oc-
A limestone interval with intercalations of black curred within the TST. The Meguma Zone lay in a
shale horizons occurs in the Ludlow–Prıdolı ˇ´ ´ in SE structurally deeper position on the North Gondwanan
Sardinia ŽHelmcke, 1973; Jaeger, 1976; Lenz et al., palaeoslope and was initially starved of sediment due
ˇ´ˇ 1998.. The limestones have a nodular
1996; Krız, to the early Silurian rapid rise in sea level. Major
appearance and are bluish-grey, thick-bedded, pyritic amounts of fine-grained detritus were only received
and contain clay flasers. A high iron content results later during the middle and late phases of the follow-
in weathering to a brownish colour. Age-equivalent ing highstand systems tracts when the North African
limestones occur in parts of Morocco and Algeria delta systems had already prograded far to the north-
where they may act as a second potential source rock west. During progressive delta progradation, the
unit. Similar upper Silurian carbonates occur in sandstone facies ŽTorbrook Group. arrived in the
Thuringia ŽGermany. where they have been intensely Meguma Zone by the Early Devonian ŽSchenk,
studied Že.g., Jaeger, 1976.. 1997., which possibly represents the eastward con-
tinuation of a sandstone system which in western
Algeria and Morocco was deposited around the
Siegenian.
9.2. Meguma terrane (NoÕa Scotia)
The Meguma Zone of the Canadian Appalachians

in southern Nova Scotia was interpreted to have been
10. Outlook
attached to northwestern Morocco until the mid-De-
vonian ŽFig. 2. when it rifted off and later accreted
against eastern North America during late Palaeozoic This review shows how the origin and laterally
times ŽMichard and Pique, 1980; Schenk, 1997; discontinuous distribution of the basal Silurian hot
Smith, 1999.. Cambrian to Devonian sediments of shales in North Africa and Arabia can be explained
the Meguma Zone were considered by Schenk Ž1997. by a single depositional model which may also be
190 ¨
used as a predictive tool in future source rock evalu- Ž1997. dated the basal shales as Aeronian; however,
ations in the region. Nevertheless, additional re- the contact with the underlying siltstones may be
search is obviously needed to corroborate further the tectonically disturbed. Green and dark cherty shales
models presented in this contribution and to improve in Chios ŽGreece. were dated by graptolites as Rhud-
the regional database. The main tasks for future work danian Žsee Wolfart, 1981, p. 100.. It is unclear if the
should include: Ž1. the study of wells from key depositional model for the basal Silurian hot shales
regions which were not accessible for this study; Ž2. is also applicable to these regions or if other pro-
additional biostratigraphic studies of the basal Sil- cesses dominated deposition.
urian hot shale in petroleum exploration wells of The basal Silurian source level not only correlates
various regions; and Ž3. a comparison of the basal over wide areas of North Africa but source rocks are
Silurian hot shales of North Gondwana with contem- also present at a similar level in the US Interior
poraneous deposits elsewhere in the world. basins, the Amazon ŽFig. 2. and on the Russian
Ž1. Unfortunately, several key wells from North platform ŽKlemme and Ulmishek, 1991; Macgregor,
Africa were not available for this study. Especially 1996.. In peri-Gondwanan Europe Že.g., Bohemia,
the wells from Mauritania and Niger would help in Sardinia, France, Germany., organic-rich graptolitic
better understanding the hot shale distribution in the shales Žwith TOC values well over 1%, usually
southern part of the North African shelf. Wells from 3–5%. continue from the Rhuddanian into the Wen-
the Arabian Peninsula were not available at all for lock Že.g., Paris et al., 1986.. Inter-continental corre-
this study. An integrated study of the hot shales in lations of the lower Silurian interval between these
wells from the Arabian countries would allow a provinces are needed. Depositional source rock mod-
more detailed mapping of the Rhuddanian hot shale els have to be compared and similarities and differ-
pools and palaeohighs in the area. ences worked out. Some of the processes which
Ž2. Only rarely have the hot shales in petroleum helped in forming the Rhuddanian organic-rich shales
exploration wells been dated biostratigraphically by in North Gondwana may have been also active in
means of graptolites or palynomorphs. This lack of other parts of the world; however, other processes
biostratigraphic control complicates correlations, es- may have been regionally limited to North Gond-
pecially in areas where a minor, second hot shale of wana.
probable Telychian age could locally be developed
Že.g., Ghadames Basin, see above.. It would be
important to check for which wells cores of the hot
shale interval exist and to carry out a detailed grapto-
Acknowledgements
lite biostratigraphic analysis on any material which
becomes available. Furthermore, a detailed review of
the North Gondwanan lower Silurian graptolite tax- Funding for this project was provided by LASMO.
onomy and biostratigraphy is needed, with an em- We thank the following national oil companies, oil
phasis on the correlation of schemes based on global companies and consultancies for granting permis-
and endemic taxa. sions to use data in this contribution: Agip North
Ž3. Silurian shales also occur in other areas of Africa, Agip Tunisia, Anadarko Algeria, ETAP, FJA,
North Gondwana, near to the studied countries. For Geomark, Korea National Oil Corporation, LASMO
example, in Guinea the oldest graptolite-based age Grand Maghreb, MAERSK, NOC, ONAREP, REP-
for the Silurian shales described is Aeronian, how- SOL, SONATRACH. We thank the following col-
ever, the graptolite material is of ‘doubtful prove- leagues for fruitful discussions and valuable com-
nance’ ŽDeynoux et al., 1985, p. 399., leaving loca- ments: Dr. Lindsay Davidson, Dr. Martin Eales, Dr.
tions and positions within sections open. Llandovery John Warburton, Jerry Smart, Bashir Meijrab, Ali
graptolitic shales are also known from Turkey Že.g., Himmali, Andy Fisher, Peter Sharland, Graham Gof-
Wolfart, 1981.. Silurian sourced oil fields are known fey Žall LASMO., Jhoon Jho ŽPEDCO, South Korea.,
from southeastern Turkey ŽFig. 40. ŽAnonymous, Kamel Chiki and Salah Guerbi Žboth SONATRACH.,
1998.. In the Central Pontides in Turkey, Dean et al. Dr. Owen Sutcliffe and Dr. Robert Whittington Žboth
¨
University of Wales, Aberystwyth., Dr. Bernd Legrand Ž1998.: A new species, Petalolithus?
¨ ŽWSL, Zurich., and Prof. D. Helmcke ŽUniv.
Schone meridionalis, was described from the Telychian of
¨
of Gottingen .. Technical support for this project was the Western Tassili N’Ajjer, the Issaouane basin and
kindly provided by Bill Whittingham, Lorna O’Con- the Western Tinrhert.
nor, Karen Stevenson and Jane Stamper of the
LASMO libraries, Sarah Lambert Žwell locations.,
and the LASMO graphics department, especially A.2. Jordan
Colin Armsby, Phil Richardson and Paul Rabey.
Simon Brookes ŽPortsmouth Univ.. is thanked for his
assistance with Figs. 9, 17 and 18. A.M. Morabet Stein Žin Wolfart, 1968. described Climacograp-
ŽONAREP. is thanked for providing Moroccan well tus scalaris cf. scalaris and a new subspecies, C.
logs for this study. We gratefully acknowledge logis- innotatus jordaniensis, from the Llandovery of
tical support on field trips in Libya and Morocco southern Jordan.
given by J. Mayouf, A. Busrewil, M. El Dieb Žall
PRC, Tripoli., Col. Belgassem and his staff ŽKufra.,
the Organizing Committee of the Murzuq Basin A.3. Libya
Conference in Sabha 1998, NOC, and Mr. A. Ait
Salem ŽONAREP.. The paper benefited greatly from Desio Ž1940. described a number of Silurian grap-
the reviews of Prof. R. Tyson ŽUniv. Newcastle. and tolites, including two new species: Climacograptus
Dr. P. Wignall ŽUniv. Leeds.. libycus and the important early Silurian species
Diplograptus fezzanensis, subsequently the subject of
a detailed study by Legrand Ž1970; see above..
Appendix A. Publications on Llandovery grapto- Jaeger Ž1976, pl. 2 and 3, Fig. 6. illustrated
lites from North Africa and Arabia Climacograptus innotatus brasiliensis Ruedemann
from the Idinene Inaglashem section, Tadrart Moun-
The following papers provide descriptions andror tains, northeast of Rhat, on the western margin of the
illustrations of graptolites from the Llandovery of Murzuk Basin, and commented on this species’ dis-
North Africa and Arabia. Those papers providing tribution.
faunal lists only are not included. Parizek et al. Ž1984; photos 9–11. illustrated some
early–mid-Llandovery graptolites from southwestern
A.1. Algeria part of Qarqaf Uplift ŽBi’r al Qasr locality. of W
Libya Ž Climacograptus cf. miserabilis Elles and
Legrand has published several important papers Wood, Coronograptus cf. gregarius ŽLapworth. and
on the graptolites of Algeria. Coronograptus sp.n...
Legrand Ž1970.: The low diversity fauna of Tas- El Chair et al. Ž1985. described and illustrated
sili de Tarit, south-central Algeria was described in Climacograptus innotatus brasiliensis Ruedemann
detail. New species were erected and two biozones from the Tanezzuft shales of Tahale, SW Libya.
established — a lower, tariti Biozone, and an upper, ¨
Luning et al. Žin press. described and illustrated
fezzanensis Biozone. D. fezzanensis Desio from the Kufra Basin, SE
Legrand Ž1976.: The stratigraphy and fauna of the Libya.
Oued in Djerane region, SE Libya were described,
including several new species.
Legrand Ž1986.: Three new species from the Hir-
A.4. Mauritania
nantian–Rhuddanian of the Oued in Djerane region
were described.
Legrand Ž1995.: Graptolites from central and Underwood et al. Ž1998. have recently described
southern Algeria were described, including new the latest Ordovician–Rhuddanian graptolites of the
species from the Aeronian and Telychian. Hodh area.
192 ¨
A.5. Morocco oceanic episodes and events. J. Geol. Soc. ŽLondon. 150,
501–513.
Alsharhan, A.S., 1989. Petroleum geology of the United Arab
Waterlot Ž1945. produced a substantial work enti- Emirates. J. Pet. Geol. 12, 253–288.
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Andrews, I.J., 1991. Palaeozoic lithostratigraphy in the subsurface
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of Jordan. Natl. Res. Authority Bull., 2, 75 pp.
actually occur in Morocco, as many Žall?. of the Anonymous, 1998. Exploration progressing in Southeast Turkey
illustrations provided are copies of previously pub- areas. Oil Gas J., Feb. 2, 1998, 69–70.
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Willefert Ž1963. described the diverse Llandovery chronostratigraphy of the Qusaiba Member of the Qalibah
Formation in the Nafud Basin, Northwestern Saudi Arabia. In:
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200 ¨
¨
Sebastian Luning obtained his geo-
logyrpalaeontology diploma from the
¨
University of Gottingen ŽGermany. in
1994 working on stratigraphy and ter-
rane movements in NW Thailand. His
interest in North AfricarArabia began
in 1994 when he started a study about
late Cretaceous-lower Tertiary strata of
the Sinai Peninsula, with emphasis on
sedimentology, biostratigraphy, palaeoe-
cology and geodynamics. He received
his Ph.D. in geology in 1997 from the
University of Bremen ŽGermany.. Between 1997–1999 he was a
postdoctoral fellow at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, and
the Royal Holloway University of London, sponsored and based at
the oil company LASMO plc, London. Here, he carried out and
co-ordinated a variety of projects, including a re-evaluation of the
petroleum potential of the Kufra Basin ŽSE Libya. and North
Africa-wide studies about structural styles and Silurian and Fras-
nian ‘hot shales’. Following up on the black shale theme in North
AfricarArabia, Sebastian is currently preparing for a multidisci-
plinary study about the Cenomanian-Turonian anoxic event in the
Tethys region.

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Earth-Science Reviews 49 Ž2000.

Lower Silurian ‘hot shales’ in North Africa and Arabia: regional

Received 7 May 1999; accepted 7 October 1999

1. Introduction the Arabian Peninsula, a fact which was discovered

providing the bulk of organic matter in the north

Fig. 5. Comparison of gamma-ray and TOC values in three wells

3.1. Late OrdoÕician glaciation

During the late Ordovician, northern Gondwana

After the peak of the late Ordovician glaciation

The absence of sand influx during the Ludlow and

3.4. Local deÕelopment of an additional (?Telychian)

4.3. Postglacial fresh water stratification

Following the late Ordovician glaciation, large ice

5. Biostratigraphy 5.1.2. Differences between contemporaneous grapto-

The lower Silurian organic matter is composed

try basis. They commence from the northwestern- 7.1. Morocco

other parts of the Kufra Basin were structurally low

7.4.4. Onset of Silurian shale deposition

The Tanezzuft shales are absent in the extreme

Silurian outcrops in Chad occur around the south-

Most of the exploration programs in Iraq are

19 m thick occurs about 60 m above the top of the

ments prior to these erosional events. A restored 8.8. Hot shales

North Africa, there seem to be exceptions for ac-

The Meguma Zone of the Canadian Appalachians

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