Matiyah Fm

Period:

Paleogene

Age Interval:

Priabonian – Rupelian, Sa3

Province:
Red Sea (Saudi Arabia)

Type Locality and Naming

Column: "The name Matiyah Formation is here (Hughes and Johnson, 2005) formally proposed for a lithological unit found in the subsurface of the southern Saudi Arabian Red Sea, which is interpreted to represent the youngest pre-rift sediments. The name Matiyah Formation is derived from the equivalent Mata’ah member of the Shumaysi m (Spencer, 1985, 1987). Type Section and Thickness: The Matiyah Formation is defined in Saudi Aramco exploration well Jiddah-1 (JIDH-1) between 1,918–2,458 ft (540 ft, 164.6 m thick), onshore coastal Saudi Arabian Red Sea." (Hughes and Johnson, 2005). Column: Red Sea (Saudi Arabia). Uppermost formation in Siqaj Gr

Synonym:

Lithology and Thickness

The lithology of the Matiyah Formation consists of purplish, red to variegated, weathered siltstones and fine-grained sandstones that are sometimes interbedded with basalt flows. Shown dominated by volcanics on the schematic stratigraphic column of Hughes and Johnston (2005).

Lithology Pattern:

Volcanics

Relationships and Distribution

Lower contact

"The Matiyah Formation may represent “proto-rift” sedimentation and volcanism and is separated unconformably from both the pre-rift Usfan Fm of the Suqah Gr below, and the syn-rift Tayran Gr and Jizan Gr above. An unconformable relationship is based on the absence of Middle to Late Eocene sediments."

Upper contact

The Matiyah Formation may represent “proto-rift” sedimentation and volcanism and is separated unconformably from the syn-rift Tayran Gr and Jizan Gr above.

Regional extent

The Matiyah Fm is found in the Jiddah area. "Although poorly age-constrained, it is possible that the Matiyah Formation may be stratigraphically equivalent, in part, to the Tayiba Fm of the Gulf of Suez (Hermina et al., 1989; Abul Nasr, 1990; McClay et al., 1998)."

GeoJSON

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Fossils

"Palynological samples are barren or yield very sparse assemblages strongly dominated by the freshwater green alga, Pediastrum delicatites, and rare spores/pollen. Organic yields are very low and typically consist of disseminated fines."

Age

" Skipwith (1973) provided a K/Ar age of 32 Ma for a basalt that overlies the Shumaysi. The Matiyah Formation is early Oligocene (33–34 Ma) in age as determined by radiometric dating methods on basalts from Jiddah-1 well (J.D. Cocker, 1992, Saudi Aramco Report) and the presence of the following palynomorphs: Magnastriatites howardii (spore) (origin at the beginning of the Oligocene); Pediastrum delicatites (green alga) (origin during the middle Eocene) (Filatoff and Hughes, 1996)." (Hughes and Johnson, 2005). Priabonian – Rupelian used on 2008 Mideast time scale column

Age Span:

Beginning stage:

Priabonian

Fraction up in beginning stage:

0.75

Beginning date (Ma):

34.86

Ending stage:

Rupelian

Fraction up in the ending stage:

0.55

Ending date (Ma):

30.26

Depositional setting

The depositional environment of the Matiyah Formation is interpreted as a low-energy, oxidizing, fluvio-lacustrine regime with volcanic episodes.

Depositional pattern:

Additional Information

Compiler:

Hughes, G.W., Johnson, R.S., 2005. Lithostratigraphy of the Red Sea Region. GeoArabia, 10: 49-126. And Middle East Geological Timescale 2008 Al-Husseini, Journal of Middle East Petroleum Geosciences v 13. no. 4