Upper Cretaceous Oceanic Red Beds (CORBs) are pelagic sediment
deposits that deposited in the Upper Cretaceous basin, with widespread in
part of the world as well as in Iraq. This research investigates the deposition
of cyclic marl and marly limestone CORBs of six selected sections at the
active southern margin of the Tethys during the Late Campanian -
Maastrichtian with petrography, microfacies, and depositional environment.
As this study was not a consideration in the past, so decided to visit and
identify all exposure areas of the Upper Cretaceous period rocks are visited.
This study involved two fields touring reconnaissance extended from
Darbandikhan city in the east south to Shiranish Village in the west

    Shiranish has been studied at Hijran section near Erbil city, NE Iraq. Fifty two thin-sections were prepared to study them under polarized microscope, to determine the petrographic component, organic content and digenetic processes. Rock units subdivided into four rock beds, as follows: dolostone, foraminiferal biomicrite, poorly washed biomicrite and micrite. Vertical succession of Shiranish Formation refers to off-shore quite marine environment.

In the Rumaila oilfields in southern Iraq, the Zubair Formation was deposited in a shallow environment as three main facies, delta plain, backshore, and delta front depositional conditions indicating a transition from delta front and delta plain to a highstand level due to the finning upward mode. The facies of the Zubair clasts show well-sorted quartz arenite sandstone, poorly sorted quartz arenite sandstone, clayey sandstone that has not been properly sorted, sandy shale, and shale lithofacies. The minor lithofacies were identified using well-logging methods (gamma ray, spontaneous potential and sonic logs) and petrography. The Zubair clasts are of transition environment that appears to be transported from freshwater and deposited

The Cretaceous Balambo Formation from three sections in Kurdistan Region of Northern Iraq was studied. The selected sections are located in the Zagros Fold -Thrust Belt. Eleven rock samples were analyzed by means of the organic geochemical method, Bitumen extraction method, and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry to determine the bitumen and hydrocarbon content, kerogen types, origin of organic matter, thermal maturity level, and depositional environment. The analyzed samples are considered to have an excellent potential in Baranan-1.G1 and Sazan sections, with poor to fair potential in Baraw section. The Baranan-1.G1 source rocks are of type II kerogen (oil prone), whereas Sazan and Baraw samples are of type II/III (oil/ gas prone). De

Global oceanic anoxic events (OAEs) are events of immense importance for a variety of reasons. For instance, they are not only behind most if not all of the mass extinctions which took place during the Cenozoic era, but they are the harbinger for the world's best oil source beds, which humanity depends on to satisfy its energy need. In spite of this, there was little effort to document their presence in Iraq, to fill in for the void here, and as a first step, this paper will attempt to establish a cause and effect relationship between OAE 2 and the Gulneri Formation timing of deposition and organic matter richness. This was done by showing the prevalent occurrence of the globally known OAE 2 positive ∂13Corg excursion and the unique ro

     Geochemical proxies provide detailed information on depositional environment and diagenetic processes. The main objectives of the present study are the evaluation of the paleoenvironment and diagenetic conditions of selected three sections of the Shiranish Formation (Late Campanian-Maastrichtian) in Dokan-Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan Region, northeast of Iraq. The major and some trace elements were analysed by X-Ray Fluoresces. These geochemical results showed a positive correlation of SiO₂, Al₂O₃, Fe₂O₃, MgO and TiO₂ between each other due to the influence of detrital influx from the active oceanic margins and thrust belts of the northeast Arabian Plate. The terrigeno

     Yamama Formation is an important sequence in southern Iraq. Petrographic analysis was used to determine and analyze the microfacies and pore types. The diagenetic processes and the impacts on the petrophysical properties of the rocks were also identified. The petrographic identification was based on data of 250 thin sections of cutting and core samples from four wells that were supplied by the Iraqi Oil Exploration Company (O.E.C). The present study focuses on the depositional environment and the microfacies analysis of Yamama Formation. The results revealed several types of microfacies, including  peloidal wackestone-packstone, algal wackestone-packstone, bioclastic wackestone-packstone, fo

    The early Carboniferous Harur Formation from the Ora outcrop section of northern Iraq consists of black shale, calcareous shale and carbonate. The mineralogical and geochemical investigations (major and trace elements) of the black shale and calcareous shale units have been conducted to evaluate paleoenvironmental conditions including paleoclimate, paleoredox conditions, paleoproductivity, sedimentary rate, and to evaluate their effects on organic matter accumulation. The geochemical proxies such as the Chemical Index of Alteration (CIA), A-CN-K plot, Sr/Cu ratio, and the relation between the ratio of Ga/Rb and Sr/Cu suggest moderate to intense chemical weathering under humid conditions. The Rb/K and Sr/Ba ratios indicate a freshw