Melaz Shuqran Fm
Period:
Ordovician
Age Interval:
Darriwilian – Sandbian, Lb2
Province:
Libya
Type Locality and Naming
Lithology and Thickness
Variegated siltstones and claystones, thin-bedded. Represents a major flooding event, and cobbles and boulders with striations suggest periglacial conditions and iceberg rafting. Some regions contain boulders and pebbles in a silty matrix, suggesting a proglacial delta.
Lithology Pattern:
Clayey sandstone
Relationships and Distribution
Lower contact
Regionally, the schematic strat column indicates the next older unit as Hawaz Fm
Upper contact
Regionally, the schematic strat column indicates the next younger unit as Memouiat Fm
Regional extent
GeoJSON
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Fossils
Age
USGS Chart places this formation at the base of Llandeilian stage, in the upper middle Ordovician. Darriwilian - Sandbian
Age Span:
Beginning stage:
Darriwilian
Fraction up in beginning stage:
0.0
Beginning date (Ma):
469.42
Ending stage:
Sandbian
Fraction up in the ending stage:
1.0
Ending date (Ma):
452.75
Depositional setting
Regional outcrops contain units of non-glacial facies, which represent distal shelves and ice margin deposits.
Depositional pattern:
Additional Information
Compiler:
Chart derived from: USGS Correlation Chart and Columnar Section for Rocks in Libya, 1963. Descriptions from: Hallet, Don: Petroleum Geology of Libya, 2002.