Research paperFrom phytoplankton to oil shale reservoirs: A 19-million-year record of the Late Cretaceous Tethyan upwelling regime in the Levant Basin
Introduction
Marine high-productivity conditions, recorded by sedimentary deposits rich in silica, organic carbon, and phosphate (Si-C-P), recur throughout the Phanerozoic. These systems are characterized by high nutrient levels, often supplied by upwelling, which result in high phytoplankton blooms in the upper part of the water column. The dead remains, transported to the seafloor, accumulate as organic-rich mudstones associated with minerals such as phosphates, porcellanites, cherts and organic-rich carbonates (Parrish and Curtis, 1982; Suess and Thiede, 1983; Summerhayes et al., 1992). Factors governing the ultimate composition of the rock record of these settings include, among others, the type of primary producers in the water column, and the rate of decomposition and burial of organic matter (OM) as determined by water oxygenation, sedimentation rates, and subsequent diagenetic processes (Pedersen and Calvert, 1990). Modern and ancient high-productivity settings are the subject of intense study because of their importance in global biogeochemical cycling, their common correlation with oceanographic and climatic perturbations, and their association with economic resources (e.g., oil, phosphates, porcelanite) (e.g., Parrish and Curtis, 1982; Suess and Thiede, 1983; Summerhayes et al., 1992).
Accumulation of the organic-rich succession in Israel was part of an extensive high productivity upwelling regime which operated in the Late Cretaceous along the southern margins of the Tethys, when the paleoposition of the study area was in the tropics 20–25 ºN (ODSN plate reconstruction) (Fig. 1, S1). The upwelling and high productivity regime lasted for ∼19 myr from the Coniacian to the Maastrichtian (Almogi-Labin et al., 1993; Meilijson et al., 2014). It was part of a regional system of basins containing a unique sequence of chert, porcelanite, phosphorite and organic-rich sediments (Bartov and Steinitz, 1977; Bentor and Vroman, 1956; Flexer, 1971, 1968; Kolodny et al., 1980; Minster, 2009; Reiss, 1962) (Fig. 2, S2). The upwelling induced a high nutrient regime with extremely high primary productivity in the upper part of the water column and anoxic-dysoxic conditions on the seafloor (Almogi-Labin et al., 1990, 1993; Alsenz et al., 2015; Ashckenazi-Polivoda et al., 2011, 2010; Eshet and Almogi-Labin, 1996; Eshet et al., 1994; Meilijson et al., 2016). Other high productivity deposits appearing globally in the Late Cretaceous along the continental margins affected by the Tethyan Circum-global Current suggest a similar mode of occurrence, connected with upwelling regimes (Parrish, 1998; Rey et al., 2004; Soudry et al., 2006). Nonetheless, the Levant upwelling system is arguably one of the most intense and persistent in earth's history (Parrish, 1998).
The Albian-Coniacian Judea Group platform carbonates deposited in Israel (as well as northern Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria and Egypt) were part of a stable passive margin at the northern edge of the Arabian Plate (Gvirtzman et al., 1989). The lower Santonian formations were deposited in basinal structures, which started to develop during Turonian-Coniacian folding known as the Syrian Arc (Krenkel, 1924), followed by regional tilting and erosion, creating the ‘Top-Judea’ unconformity, which can be traced over the entire Middle East (Flexer, 1968; Lewy, 1990). This unconformity is equivalent to the top of high stand systems track K140 identified across the Arabian Plate, in the Middle Turonian (Haq and Al-Qahtani, 2005). The folded structure and continued synsedimentary folding and faulting led to significant changes in the lithology and thickness of the Upper Cretaceous formations, as well as erosion or non-deposition during certain time intervals (Lewy, 1990; Meilijson et al., 2014; Reiss et al., 1985) (Fig. S1).
Transgressive conditions on a post-Coniacian subsiding Arabian Plate resulted in a change in the depositional regime to pelagic sediments consisting of chalks and marls, collectively termed the Mount Scopus Group (Flexer, 1968). This morphostructurally-induced lithologic shift was accompanied by changes in oceanographic conditions leading to a biological productivity burst, attributed to the formation of a widespread upwelling system (Almogi-Labin et al., 1993). Sea-level changes, identified throughout the Arabian Plate and partially also in global trends, had a vast impact on the depositional environment and resulted in distinct lithological variations (Meilijson et al., 2014).
Phosphate-, chert-, porcelanite- and organic-rich carbonate rocks characterize the lithostratigraphic division of the Coniacian to Maastrichtian of southern Israel. The comprehensive chronostratigraphic framework constructed by Meilijson et al. (2014) provides revised ages for the different lithostratigraphic units described in this sequence by Reiss et al. (1985) (Fig. S1), and places them in their regional context, from older to younger: (1) the 1st Chalk Member, Marly Member and the phosphatic and bituminous 2nd Chalk Member of the Menuha Formation (at ∼86 Ma, within the upper part of the Dicarinella concavata Zone, throughout the Globotruncanita elevata zone); (2) the Chert Member (massive or brecciated chert) of the Mishash Formation (lower Campanian at ∼79 Ma, within the Contusotruncana plummerae Zone); the three units of the Phosphate Member (PM): the Phosphatic Carbonate (Pc.), Porcellanite (Po.) and Phosphorite (Ph.) units (Upper Campanian at ∼76–71.7 Ma, C. plummerae to the base of the Pseudoguembelina palpebra zones); and (3) the Ghareb Formation that consists of the Oil Shale (OSM), Marl, and Chalk members (Maastrichtian at 71.7–68 Ma, P. palpebra to the upper part of the Abathomphalus mayaroensis zones). In northern and central Israel, this facies changes into predominantly organic-rich carbonates, constituting the En-Zetim Formation (Flexer, 1968) which, together with the Campanian thin chert interval named the Mishash tongue, makes up the entire studied interval of the Aderet core presented in this study.
The organic matter (OM) of the Upper Cretaceous oil shales in Israel was suggested to be of a mainly marine algal source which accumulated under generally reducing conditions (Bein et al., 1990; Bein and Amit, 1982; Koopmans et al., 1998; Rullkötter et al., 1985; Sinninghe Damsté et al., 1990; Spiro and Aizenshtat, 1977; Spiro et al., 1983; Tannenbaum and Aizenshtat, 1985). The kerogen type was defined as type I (Bein et al., 1990; Bein and Amit, 1982), type II (Tannenbaum and Aizenshtat, 1985), or as sulfur-rich type IIs (Lewan and Henry, 1999).
The Upper Cretaceous organic rich marls and chalks of the Mount Scopus Group, comprise a thermogenic petroleum system (Gardosh et al., 2008), having excellent source properties in the inland part of Israel and generating oil and thermogenic gas in the Dead Sea basin (Tannenbaum and Aizenshtat, 1985). Thermal maturity modeling shows that these sediments might reach maturation within the deeper parts of the Levant Basin with the potential to generate oil and thermogenic gas (Gardosh et al., 2008). Rullkötter et al. (1985) conducted a biomarker analysis on the saturated and aromatic compounds in oils and asphalts from the Dead Sea area in order to correlate these to their source rocks. Their study shows that despite partial biodegradation, strong evidence of a common source rock existed for all of their sampled localities, showing a high correlation to the OM composition of the oil shale deposits of the Upper Cretaceous of the Levant.
Several earlier studies have used foraminiferal assemblages and their shell geochemistry to determine surface water productivity and the degree of bottom-water ventilation during the Late Cretaceous high productivity system. Sediment deposition in the Shefela (central Israel) and Negev (southern Israel) basins reflects positions relative to the upwelling center and productivity maxima: distal, vs. more proximal to the shore, respectively (Almogi-Labin et al., 1993). Temporal changes in the planktic assemblages were found to strongly correlate with variations in TOC content, signifying their linkage to levels of surface water productivity. The upward gradient of benthic assemblages in Late Cretaceous sediments of the Negev Basin chiefly expresses a transition from triserial buliminid assemblages in the PM to more diversified rotaliid-dominated assemblages in the OSM (Ashckenazi-Polivoda et al., 2011). This transition between the PM and the OSM has been interpreted as indicating an increase in bottom water aeration and a possible deepening of the basin (Almogi-Labin et al., 2012; Ashckenazi-Polivoda et al., 2018, 2011).
The Shefela Basin (central Israel), is the most distal and among the largest basins within the Levantine high-productivity belt. Until recently, foraminiferal records from the organic-rich succession in the Shefela Basin were limited and of low resolution, compared to those of the Negev. The Aderet well (Fig. 2, S2), drilled in 2010 in the Shefela Basin by IEI Ltd, provided a continuous record across the entire high productivity sequence, presenting a previously unmatched opportunity for its exploration. We previously constructed a detailed chronostratigraphy and regional correlation (Meilijson et al., 2014). One of our most interesting findings was that fossil benthic foraminiferal species were able to thrive in anoxic bottom waters, by using adaptations similar to those found in living species (Meilijson et al., 2016). A turnover from serial (mainly buliminids) to diverse trochospiral dominated assemblages was identified in an interval with a distinct anoxic geochemical signature (trace elements, biomarkers; Meilijson et al., 2016) coinciding with a regional change in lithology. We postulated that this change was triggered by a shift in the type of primary producers from assemblages containing high amounts of diatoms to those dominated by calcareous nannoplankton, enforcing a modification in benthic foraminiferal life strategies and morphological adaptations. Specifically, we proposed that the massive blooms of serial benthic foraminifera with distinct apertural and test morphologies during the Campanian were controlled by their ability to sequester diatom chloroplasts (i.e. kleptoplastidy) and associate with bacteria, in a manner similar to their modern analogs. We further postulated that the diverse trochospiral forms of the Maastrichtian were able to survive severe anoxia by means of denitrification.
The first line of evidence for a shift in primary producer dominance is the variation in siliceous lithologies along the sequence. The upper Menuha and Mishash formations contain a high amount of siliceous sediments: chert nodules and silicification within the sediment (Fig. S3), massive and brecciated chert beds (Mishash Tongue in the Shefela Basin and Main chert Member in the Negev) and porcellanite beds. These lithologies completely disappear above the Campanian/Maastrichtian (C/M) boundary, where organic-rich carbonates occur throughout the region (Meilijson et al., 2014). These lithological changes are much more apparent in the more proximal Negev localities, but are also evident in the relatively distal Shefela Basin. The second line of evidence consists of a published study of thiophenic biomarker analysis performed on the Jurf Ed-Darawish oil shale deposits in Jordan (Sinninghe Damsté et al., 1990), correlated to the Shefela Basin in Meilijson et al. (2014). Two C25 highly branched isoprenoid thiophenes were suggested to be useful as biomarkers for diatoms, and were used for demonstrating their high abundance in the Campanian (Sinninghe Damsté et al., 1990). A sharp decrease is then observed in the content of these biomarkers from the C/M until the top of the section. Consequently, extrapolation of the data from Jordan confirms a large contribution of diatoms to the sedimentary OM during the Campanian, followed by their sharp decline in the Maastrichtian as previously described by Meilijson et al. (2016).
In this paper, we present detailed new geochemical records combined with our published faunal records of the Upper Cretaceous in the Aderet core, representing a ∼19 my Late Cretaceous organic rich record of the Levant region. Specifically, our study is aimed at reconstructing the depositional and oceanographic environment of this sequence and to demonstrate the importance of variations in nutrients and primary producers on lithology, associated fauna, composition of the preserved organic matter, and source rock hydrocarbon generative potential.
Section snippets
Studied section
The Shefela Basin extends across more than 1000 km2 and contains one of the thickest oil shale successions in the Levant (Gvirtzman et al., 1985; Meilijson et al., 2014; Minster, 2009). The cores from the Aderet well (199339/617813 ITM, 400 m.a.s.l; Fig. 1, Fig. 2, S2) were stored in plastic tubes to ensure their preservation. Coring of the Aderet well began at 265 m depth and reached 600 m. The section was sampled at 1 m intervals for total organic carbon (wt. % TOC), total carbon (wt. % TC),
Lithology and petrographic analysis
The following summary description of the lithology and rock composition of the Aderet core is presented in more detail in Meilijson et al., 2014, Meilijson et al., 2016 and illustrated in Fig. 2. The top of the Upper Cretaceous oil shale interval, within the En-Zetim Formation, is situated at a depth of 250 m and consists of relatively soft, dark organic-rich carbonates. Interbedded chert and oil shale appear at a depth of 530–537 m, representing the thin lateral extension of the much thicker
Discussion
One of the challenging predicaments presented by the data set of the Aderet core relates to the major benthic foraminiferal turnover along the section. Assemblages traditionally considered as indicative of aerated conditions in normal mesotrophic and oligotrophic settings (assemblage B) co-occur in the studied section with the transition into the oxygen-poor TOC-rich zone (Fig. 7; Meilijson et al., 2016). Statistical analyses (Table S2) point to a highly significant correlation between the
Conclusions
Accumulation of a ∼19 Ma long organic-rich succession in the Levant Basin was part of an extensive high productivity upwelling regime which operated in the Late Cretaceous in the southern margins of the Tethys. The OM is derived from marine phytoplankton and several environmental proxies indicate a depositional environment severely depleted in oxygen throughout the section. Local tectonics (Syrian Arc), climatic, eustatic, and paleoceanographic changes identified across the Arabian Plate and,
Acknowledgments
We wish to express our gratitude to IEI for the use of the Aderet core material, laboratory equipment, and funding of Rock-Eval analysis. We would also like to thank F. Gelman and M. Kitin from the Geological Survey of Israel and E. Danon from IEI Ltd. for their assistance in the laboratory procedures and three reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions. The research was supported by GIF – The German-Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development, grant no. 956-38.8/2007
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Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado Boulder, 4001 Discovery Dr., Boulder, CO. 80309.