Sequence stratigraphic analysis and sea-level history of the Upper Jurassic deposits (Mozduran Formation), south of Aghdarband, NE Iran

Abstract

The Kopet-Dagh Basin is a large sedimentary basin in northeastern Iran that host the giant Khangiran and Gonbadli gas fields. The Mozduran Formation with its various sedimentary facies is an important reservoir widely distributed in the basin. A sedimentological analysis of Upper Jurassic Mozduran Formation resulted in an accurate reconstruction of the sedimentary environments and the sequence stratigraphic framework south of Aghdarband. The strata consist of six different facies associations including 12 carbonate, one evaporate and two siliciclastic subfacies. On the basis of their various components, structural and textural characteristics, these facies were deposited on a homoclinal ramp in tidal flat to open marine environments ranging from supratidal to subtidal settings. Facies A1 and A2 represent open marine, B1-B4 Shoal, C1-C4 lagoonal and D1, D2, E, T1 and T2 tidal flat and Salina environments. In addition, based on detailed field and laboratory studies on the facies architecture, several large-scale (long-term) depositional sequences could be distinguished in the stratigraphic sections of the study area. These sequences are composed of LST, TST and HST that are separated by a SB1 and SB2 sequence boundaries. The paleogeography of the study area during the Late Jurassic time is reconstructed in five block diagrams.

Keywords:

• Upper Jurassic
• Kopet-Dagh Basin
• Mozduran Formation
• sedimentary environment
• sequence stratigraphy

Acknowledgments

The authors are very thankful to the reviewers prof. Franz T. Fürsich and other anonymous reviewers for very useful comments that improved our manuscript significantly. We also acknowledged of editor-in-Chief Dr. G. Dyke for making constructive suggestions.