Sprecher
Beschreibung
Palynological studies of core and ditch-cutting samples from the A1-161-04 Well, Murzuq Basin, SW Libya, yielded rich palynomorph taxa (Sporomorphs, chitinozoans, acritarchs and prasinophytes) enabled to established a Paleozoic palynostratigraphic framework for environmental interpretation and regional correlation using established Carboniferous, Devonian, and Ordovician biozonation schemes.
The analyzed succession spans the ?Early Ordovician to the Early Carboniferous and is interrupted by three major regional unconformities associated with the Taconic, Caledonian, and Hercynian tectonic events. Lower Carboniferous strata of the Marar Formation are dated as late Tournaisian to middle–late Visean and contain abundant terrestrial miospores with sparse marine acritarchs, indicating deposition in very shallow marginal-marine to intertidal settings.
Devonian deposits comprise the Early Givetian Awaynat Wanin II Formation, the Frasnian Awaynat Wanin III Formation, and the Late Famennian Tahara Formation. Palynomorph assemblages indicate predominantly restricted inner-neritic environments with varying degrees of terrestrial input. A major regional unconformity separates these units from the underlying Lower Silurian Tanezzuft Formation, which yields diverse chitinozoan and acritarch assemblages characteristic of open-marine, outer-neritic, low-energy depositional conditions.
Upper Ordovician strata assigned to the Mamuniyat and Melaz Shuqran formations contain diagnostic Ashgill and Hirnantian chitinozoan assemblages and record shallow marginal-marine sedimentation influenced by Late Ordovician glacial events. Poorly fossiliferous intervals in the lower part of the succession are tentatively attributed to the Lower Ordovician Hawaz and Ash Shabiyat formations.
The high-resolution palynostratigraphic framework establishes strong correlations across North Gondwanan basins, supporting regional sequence stratigraphy and hydrocarbon exploration.