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Sequence stratigraphy and evolution of Eshidiyya phosphoriteplatform, southern Jordan

Abdulkader M. Abed a,⁎, Rushdi Sadaqah a, Mamdouh Al-Jazi b

a Department of Geology, University of Jordan, Amman 11942, Jordanb Jordan Phosphate Mines Company, P. O. Box 7, Jordan

Received 20 September 2005; received in revised form 31 August 2006; accepted 6 December 2006

Abstract

Eshidiyya platform, southern Jordan, is the site for huge Upper Cretaceous phosphorite deposits in excess of 1000 million tons.The sections studied consist of two 3rd order sequences. The phosphorites in both sequences were deposited during thetransgressive systems tracts (TST). Phosphogenesis had paused or became minor during the HST when the oyster buildups and theshed coquinoidal limestone dominated the sequence. By the end of the HST, topmost coquinoidal limestone was karstified and red-stained with soil-like material, thus indicating an erosional unconformity or a type 1 sequence boundary (SB1). Very thin, red, puremicrite, devoid of fossil, reworked and/or eroded represents the LST of the 2nd sequence. The TST of the 2nd sequence started withthe upper phosphorite horizon and continued throughout the Muwaqqar Chalk Marl Formation (MCM). However, the MCMstarted with a fall in relative sea level possibly due to restriction by the oyster buildups in the north, then open marine circulationresumed.© 2007 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Keywords: Phosphorite; Jordan; Upwelling currents; Sequence stratigraphy

1. Introduction

Upper Cretaceous phosphorites are common inJordan and form a belt extending from the NW of thecountry via Ruseifa near the capital Amman, to centralJordan (Al-Abyad and Al-Hisa), and Eshidiyya in theextreme south (Fig. 1). The Ruseifa mines were closedin 1988, and the central Jordan mines are almostexhausted. The future phosphorite industry lies in theEshidiyya Platform where more than 1000 million tonsof grade phosphorites are proved reserves.

The general geology of the Eshidiyya area wasstudied by several authors (e.g. Bender, 1974; Powell,1989). Other works concentrated on the phosphoritepetrography, geochemistry and phosphogenesis (Abedet al., 2005 and references therein) Abed and AbuMurry(1997) studied the rare earth elements (REE) distribu-tion and concluded that upwelling currents played andimportant role in the deposition of Eshidiyya phosphor-ites. Zghoul (1997) studied the genesis of the palygors-kites in the upper part of the sequence overlying thephosphorite deposits and concluded that it formed froma hypersaline, restricted platform or lagoon.

The Jordanian deposits form part of the LateCretaceous– Eocene Tethyan phosphogenic province

Sedimentary Geology 198 (2007) 209–219www.elsevier.com/locate/sedgeo

⁎ Corresponding author.E-mail address: aabed@ju.edu.jo (A.M. Abed).

0037-0738/$ - see front matter © 2007 Published by Elsevier B.V.doi:10.1016/j.sedgeo.2006.12.008

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py(90–45 myr) extending from India to Columbia with atleast 133 billion tons of reserves (Notholt, 1980). Thisnarrow E–W seaway was characterized by strongupwelling due to strong westerly-directed flow (Shel-don, 1988; Almogi-Labin et al., 1993; Kolodny andGarrison, 1994). Phosphorites of this province weredeposited on the southern shelf of the Tethys atpaleolatitudes of 10–20 N (Sheldon, 1981). The Levantand North Africa was occupied by shallow epicontinen-tal (epeiric) seas (Garfunkel, 1978). The Levant sea floorwas made of highs and lows (basins and swells) whichcontrolled the deposition of phosphorite, chert, and oilshales characteristic of this area (Garfunkel, 1978; Abedand Sadaqah, 1998 amongst many others).

The aim of this paper is to study the evolution ofEshidiyya Platform using the sequence stratigraphytechnique and to attempt explaining the deposition ofsuch huge accumulations of grade phosphorite.

2. Geological setting

Eshidiyya Platform is located in the southern desertof Jordan. It is bordered from the south by the Paleozoic

Nubian Sandstones whereas its northern limit isdelineated by the deep water Jafr Trough (Fig. 1). TheEshidiyya Platform forms part of the Jordanian Plateau,its ground surface being semi horizontal with no majorstructural elements and minor outcrops. Consequently,the strata are almost horizontal and the measuredsections (Fig. 2) are taken from the open pit mines andthe escarpment in the SE. (Fig. 1). The compositesection of the Eshidiyya Platform consists of thefollowing units from base to top.

The base of the section starts with the fluvial,varicoloured quartzarenites of the Lower Cretaceous(Kurnub Group) overlying the Paleozoic formationswith a regional unconformity (Powell, 1989).

The Kurnub Group is overlain by the Al-HisaPhosphorite Formation (AHP). Based on vertebrateteeth, Capetta et al. (1996) gave the AHP a lowerMaastrichtian age (Fig. 2). The AHP consists of threeunits: the main phosphorite, coquinoidal limestone andthe upper phosphorite units.

The main phosphorite unit consists of three phos-phorite horizons designated by the miners from bottomas A3, A2 and A1. The A3 at the base is a phosphatic

Fig. 1. Location map of the grade phosphorite deposits in Jordan. The inset locates the Eshidiyya mines area, platform and the deeper water JafrTrough.

210 A.M. Abed et al. / Sedimentary Geology 198 (2007) 209–219

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pyquartzarenites to sandy phosphorites. The A2 consists offriable phosphorite, while the A1 is more indurated dueto cementation. The three phosphorite horizons areinterbedded with chert, phosphatic chert, porcellanite,marl and limestone with fossils and trace fossils.

The coquinoidal limestone unit caps the mainphosphorite facies. It consists of reworked oyster shellfragments and it thins towards the SE until it completelydisappears. The oyster shell fragments are sourced fromthe oyster buildups some 15 km NW of the mines. Thetop of the oyster coquina is karstified (Fig. 3A) with red-staining of the phosphorite filling the karsts.

The oyster buildups in the NW are some 10 m thickwith almost intact shells at the base and increasedfragmentation towards the top (Sadaqah, 2000). Thebuildups are dominated by one oyster species, Lophavillei. No phosphorites are seen overlying the buildups.However, and some 1 km down dip to the SE of thebuildups and on their flanks, more than 2–3 m thick,

coarse, grade phosphorite horizon (upper phosphoriteunit) is present. Mining of these deposits showed the topof the coquinoidal limestone to be made of oval highsand lows up 70 m in diameter and up to 5 m in depthfilled with phosphorites (3a). These highs and lows orvery small depressions must have formed prior to thedeposition of the upper phosphorite unit and areinterpreted as due to karstification. The topmost surfaceof the karst depressions, below the upper phosphorites,is overlain by about 10 cm thick, red, slightly reworked(angular fragments) or fractured, non fossiliferousmicrite with the overlying phosphorite filling thefractures or bounding the micrite fragments (3b).

The upper phosphorite unit or the A0 overlies the redmicrite horizon with about 10 m friable, calcareousphosphorites within the karst depressions and 2–3 m onthe highs. It is composed of coarse-grained, friablephosphorites with cross bedding in two oppositedirections (Fig. 3C), indicating possible tidal to shallow

Fig. 2. A) A composite columnar section for the sequence studied taken from the mines area and the escarpment some 25 km to the SE. B) The upperphosphorite unit (A0) measured some 5–7 km NW of the mines area.

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subtidal environment. Interbedded with these phosphor-ites are thin limestone beds with the ammonite Sphe-nodiscus cf. lobatus (Sadaqah, 2000) The A0 thinssoutheastwards to around 10 cm in the mines area anddisappears SE of the mines. However, pockets of the A0more than 1 m thick are present within the coquinoidallimestones in the mines area due to karstification.

The AHP is overlain conformably by the marl unit ofthe Muwaqqar Chalk Marl Formation (MCM) ofMaastrichtian–Paleocene age. It consists of yellowmarls and marly limestone up to 4 m and thinssoutheastwards. The lower part of the MCM is devoidof macrofossils, but rare unidentified fauna are presentin thin sections. Its topmost part shows fragments ofoysters, ostracods and echinoderms.

3. Lithofacies and microfacies

Microfacies analysis is an important tool to deter-mine the relative sea level changes in carbonates andassociated non clastics (Wilson, 1975; James, 1979;Flugel, 1982) A total of 12 microfacies are delineatedand described in Table 1.

The Eshidiyya deposits start with a Nubian type,fluvial, quartzarenite sandstone of the Lower Cretaceousof the Kurnub Group (Microfacies (MF1) (Bender,1974; Amireh, 1997). The main phosphorite unit of theAHP unconformably overlies the Kurnub Group withphosphatic quartzarenites (MF2) making the base of theAHP with vertebrate teeth and bone fragments and areinterbedded with minor sandy marls exhibiting tracefossils indicating the onset of a shallow marineenvironment proximal to the source area in the south.Quartz decreases up section and grade phosphoritesdominate.

The Eshidiyya phosphorites consist of granular,sand-size, allochemical particles dominated by pellets,intraclasts, vertebrate skeletal fragments (bones andteeth), and minor coprolites or. Granular phosphoritesare produced by the reworking and winnowing ofpristine (Follmi, 1996) or phosphorite grainstone(MF3b) (Cook and Shergold, 1986) (Fig. 4A). primary(Glenn et al., 1994) phosphorites. Pristine phosphoritesare in situ precipitation of francolite (carbonatefluorapatite) as stratified or concretionary within thesediments from the interstitial solutions; i.e. authigenic(Abed and Fakhouri, 1996). Pristine phosphorites arenot seen in the Eshidiyya, however, good examples areto be found in the relatively deeper NW Jordan deposits(Fig. 4B).

Pellets are dark to yellow under the plane light,isotropic under cross nichols, well-rounded, and rather

Fig. 3. Photos from the field: A) The upper surface of the coquinoidallimestone in an exhausted mine in the NW. Note the small karstdepressions (arrows). Photo width around 50 m. B) A slab showing thered fragmented or reworked micrite at the top of the coquina of photoB. Width of the large slab=8 cm. C) Two cross bed sets at the base ofphoto dipping in two opposite directions (arrows) of tidal channelorigin, granular phosphorite of the A0 in the NWoverlying the coquinaof photo Fig. 4b. Pen for scale at the base=14 cm.

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sorted. 70% of the pellets falls in the size range of 0.15–0.5 mm with an average of 0.35 mm. They consist ofphosphorite mudstone. Intraclasts are like the pellets butdiffer from pellets in size and shape. Intraclasts arelarger up to 4 mm in diameter, subrounded tosubangular, and normally contain small inclusions ofbones, quartz, calcite, etc. Abed and Fakhouri (1996)studied in detail the variability between pellets and

intraclasts throughout the Jordanian phosphorites andconcluded that they are essentially similar, produced bythe processes of reworking and winnowing of pristinephosphorites. Apart from coprolite, there is no evidencethat pellets are of fecal origin. For these reasons, certainauthors do not like to differentiate between pellets andintraclasts and use general terms like peloids (Soudryand Nathan, 1980; Follmi, 1996).

Table 1Summary of the microfacies, properties and their depositional environments for the Eshidiyya phosphorites and associated sediments

Facies Facies and description Properties Interpretation

Carbonate microfaciesMF12 Bioclast wackestone: Yellowish marl,

fragments of oysters, ostracods,echinoderms, and inocermus. Up to 10%phosphate particle, very minor quartz

Massive, boring, thins to SE Open marine

MF11 Lime mudstone: Yellowish dense,massive, marl, up to 2% un identifiedfossil fragments,up to 10% phosphate particles

Soft, homogenous marl, thins to SE.Lower part of the MCM

Highly restricted, hypersaline shelf lagoon

MF10 Formaminiferal wackestone: Benthic andpalnktonic forams, bivalves, andcoprolites micrite matrix,

Thin lensoidal, interbedded with upper.phosphorite, common, vertical toinclined trace fossils, ammonite

Quiet, open marine

MF9 Red lime mudstone: Red–pink,fine grained, no fossils ortrace fossils

Around 10 cm, fragmented,reworked, eroded to the SE

Highly restricted lagoons, possibly partly subaerial

MF8 Coquinoidal packstone/wackestone:Oyster fragments can be N2 mm,

Equivalent to MF7, thins anddisappears to SE, top karstified,boring, poorly washed

Back reef with slightly open marine circulation ator above wave base

MF7 Oyster buildup: Oyster Lopha villei,massive, fragmented upwards

Up to 10 m, Outer shelf edge opposite to the Jafr Trough

MF6 Bioclastic lime mudstone: Yellowish,Fine grained, bivalves,echinoderms, gastropods

Trace fossils Slightly restricted shelf lagoon

Silicious microfaciesMF5 Porcellanite: White,

light, porous,Interbedded with the main phosphoriteunit towards its top

Open shelf conditions with upwelling

MF4 Chert: Brown, bedded, nodular,brecciated, no fossils

Interbedded with the main phosphorite unit Open shelf conditions with upwelling

Phosphorite microfaciesMF3b Phosphorite grainstone: Grey,

phosphate pellets, intraclasts,vertebrate bone and teeth, minor quartz

Main phosphorite unit: rare trace fossilsat base, flat bedding.Upper phosphorite: coarse-grained,cross bedding, common vertical burrows

Open shelf conditions with upwellingShallow subtidal

MF3a Arenaceous phosphorite grainstone:35–50% quartz, phosphate pellets,intraclasts, bone and teeth,

Quartz decreasing upwardsand northward

Inner shelf,

Sandstone microfaciesMF2 Phosphatic quartzarenite:

Reddish–yellowish, fineto very fine, vertebrate teeth,rare trace fossils

Quartz decreases upwards whilephosphate particles increase

Inner shelf. Onset of marinetransgression

MF1 Quartzarenite: varicoloured,no fossils or trace fossils

Unidirectional cross bedding,fining upward cycles

Fluvial regime

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Skeletal fragments (bone and teeth) are anisotropicwith wavy extinction, usually elongated, and sometimes exhibit inherited organic structures filled withphosphate mud. They are larger than the pellets andmake around 20% of the phosphate particles.

Diagenesis includes calcite cementation, both fibrousisopachus and blocky cements. Silicification is animportant process in the thin phosphorite beds betweenthe main phosphorite horizons. Within these beds all thetransitions from pure chert to silicified phosphorites arepresent. Silicification is thought to precede calcitecementation.

Bedded chert is a dark, brown, well-induratedsilicious rock that consists of microquartz and chalce-dony with no fossils or trace fossils (MF 4) interbeddedwith the main phosphorite unit. Porcellanite (MF 5) is a

white, soft, light material that consists of microquartzand opal CT. It is present towards the top of the mainphosphorite horizon with no fossils.

Carbonate facies are rather minor in the lower AHP(MF 6 Table 1 and Fig. 2). The middle AHP overliesconformably the main phosphorite unit and consists ofoyster buildups (MF 7) in the NW and its lateral SEequivalent coquinoidal packstone to wackestone (MF8). At its base, the buildup is made of well-preserved L.villei Coquand oyster shells with distinct borings andselective silicification (Sadaqah, 2000). The shells arefragmented, by wave action, upwards and are shedlaterally to the SE to produce the bioclastic packstone towackestone (Milliman, 1974) locally known as coquina(MF 8) (Fig. 4C). Both facies are more extensivelydeveloped in central Jordan (Al-Abyad and Al-Hisa,

Fig. 4. Thin section slides: A) Phosphorite grainstone (MF3b) consisting of phosphatic intraclasts, i and pellets, p cemented by calcite. Cross Nickol(PX), main phosphorite unit, mines area. B) Pristine phosphorite from NW Jordan. Note the curvature of the phosphorite lamina, light colour (whitearrows) around in situ phosphate nodule at the base. Plane polarized (PL). C) Coquinoidal wackestone –packstone (MF8), oyster fragments, o boundby micrite, m. The black particles at base and left are phosphate particles, XP, mines area. Scale bar=0.31 mm for the three sections. D) Foraminiferalwackestone (MF 10) in the carbonates interbedded with the upper phosphorites in the NW above the cross bedded sets of photo Fig. 4d, PL.

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Fig. 1) some 100 km to the north (Abed and Sadaqah,1998). They disappear in NW Jordan phosphoritestowards the deeper marine deeper water of the Tethys. Asimilar trend is reported from the phosphorites of the

Negev (Kolodny and Garrison, 1994) and the EasternDesert of Egypt (Glenn and Arthur, 1990).

The coquina is overlain by a thin, non fossiliferous,reworked and/or eroded, red lime mudstone (MF 9).Most probably deposited in an onshore restrictedenvironment possibly partially exposed.

The upper phosphorite horizon overlies MF 9. It isthickest in the NW and almost fully eroded in the minearea. It is essentially the same as the phosphorite faciesdescribed above except being coarser in grain size withherringbone cross bedding. Limestone horizons orlenses interbedded with it in the NW has planktonicand benthic foraminifera (Fig. 4D), formaminiferalwackestone (MF 10). Also present are the ammoniteS. cf. lobatus, bivalves, trace fossils and coprolites.This is a clear return to open marine conditionsassociated with the deposition of the phosphorite.

Several metres of a homogenous, yellow marl andmarly limestone of the MCM overly the upper phospho-rite horizon. Two distinct microfacies are present. Limemudstone (MF 11) representing the lower half of theoutcrop and bioclast wackestone (MF 12) making itsuppermost part. MF 11 is pure, dense, micrite with up to2%of unidentified fossil debris. Authigenic quartz, lengthslow chalcedony, and large dolomite rhombs sometimesdedolomitized are present. Palygorskite is up to 20%(Fig. 5A and B) with smectite and illite–smectite mixedlayers MF 12 is a micrite with up 38% diverse fossilfragments. (Fig. 5B). The very low fossil content, lengthslow chalcedony (Folk and Pitman, 1971; Laschet, 1984),and palygorskite in the former microfacies, wouldindicate a very restricted shelf margin or lagoon. Thefossil diversity in the latter microfacies is taken to indicatea more open marine condition than MF 11.

4. Sequence stratigraphy and evolution

The oldest strata cropping in the Eshidiyya platformbelongs to Lower Cretaceous Kurnub Group. It consists

Fig. 6. Sequence stratigraphic interpretation of the studied strata. Note the presence of two sequences with the phosphorite being deposited in the TST.

Fig. 5. A) An SEM photo showing a bundle of a relatively long fiberminerals interpreted as authigenic palygorskite from the lower part ofthe marl unit of the MCM. B) Bioclast wackestone of the uppermostMCM marl unit (MF 12). O, oyster fragments; S, ostracods; E,echinoderms D). Scale bar=0.31 mm.

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of quartzarenites overlying Paleozoic strata with apronounced regional erosional unconformity throughoutJordan. This is a clear type 1 sequence boundary (SB1,Fig. 2). The Kurnub sandstones are of fluvial originthroughout the Eastern Mediterranean with few marineingression starting some 300 km north of the Eshidiyya(Amireh, 1997 amongst many others). These Kurnubsandstones are typical lowstand systems tract (LST1(Fig. 6).

The qurtzarenites (MF 2) at the base of the AHP withvertebrate teeth and bone fragments represent the onsetof a transgression over the preceding terrestrial Kurnubsandstones. Relative sea level continued to rise duringthe deposition of the main phosphorite unit (Fig. 7). Theflat beds of phosphorites, porcellanite, and chert areinterpreted as retrograding topsets across the Eshidiyyaplatform southwards. Thus, the main phosphorite unit isinterpreted as transgressive systems tracts (TST1). Thisis in general agreement with eustatic seal level curve ofHaq et al. (1988) despite the uncertainty in the exact ageof the Eshidiyya deposits. The maximum floodingsurface (MFS) is put at the end of the main phosphoriteunit just above the last bed of the porcellanite.

During the transgression, cold upwelling currentfrom the deeper Tethys several hundred kilometers tothe north were able to reach southern Jordan. This is

evidenced from the presence of phosphorites, beddedchert and porcellanite as well as a pronounced negativeCe anomaly similar to cold deeper ocean water masses(Abed and Abu Murry, 1997) Winds blowing to the westover the Tethys proper caused such intense upwellingcurrent on to the wide, southern epicontinental shelf ofthe Tethys (Francis and Frakes, 1993; Price et al., 1995).This upwelling regime explains the huge phosphoritedeposits in the eastern Mediterranean and North Africacompared with southern Europe (Glenn et al., 1994).Glenn and Arthur (1990) advocated rivers as the sourcefor P and Si because of the abundance of glauconite andpyrite in the southern Egypt phosphorite built, especial-ly in the Abu Tartur deposits in the western part of thebelt. No iron minerals such as pyrite or glauconite arepresent within the Eshidiyya sequence and a river sourcefor P and Si is excluded.

Such upwelling regime would provide the nutritionof P and Si to southern Jordan from the deeper Tethys inthe North. Higher bioproductivity coupled with highrates of death and sedimentation; increase the P and Siconcentration in the pore water of the sediments andlead to the authigenic formation of the phosphorite,chert, and porcellanite (e.g. Birch, 1980; Burnett, 1990).

During the TST1 on the Eshidiyya Platform, oysterstarted to colonize part of it suitable for their growth.

Fig. 7. Relative sea level curve of the Eshidiyya deposits compared with the eustatic sea level curve of Haq, Hardenbol and Vail (1988). It should bementioned that the age of the Eshidiyya deposits is not an absolute age, consequently, the correlation between both curves should be thought of as anapproximation.

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Part of their fragments was carried southwards to formrelatively thin beds of the oyster coquina that consist ofhighly broken shell fragments during the TST1 (Figs. 1and 6). The oysters are believed here to have aggradedvertically to developed into oyster buildups towards themaximum transgression. Consequently, Eshidiyya rampplatform had changed into a rimmed margin (Fig. 6).

During the HST1 and the associated fall of therelative sea level, highstand shedding (Schalger et al.,1994; Wright and Burchette, 1996) took place produc-ing the oyster debris coquinoidal limestone (MF 8),which can be traced thinning out until its completedisappearance some 15 km to the SE. Normally,highstand shedding is towards the deeper parts of theplatform or slope, however, but shedding towards thelagoonal or restricted parts of the platform are alsoreported in the literature, e.g. the Bahama Bank (Eberliand Ginsburg, 1987).

With the continuous fall of the relative sea level, thecoquinoidal limestone (MF 8) became subaireallyexposed. This is evident from the karstification of itsupper surface (Fig. 3A). The top surface of thecoquinoidal limestone is thus a typical type 1 sequenceboundary (SB2).

The above-discussed karstification took place dur-ing the lowstand of the sea level. However, a thin, upto 10 cm thick, discontinuous, non-fossiliferous micrite(MF 9) is found covering the karstified surface incertain places. The lack of fossils, red staining andreworking and fragmentation would indicate depositionduring the LST2 from a highly restricted water body.Flooding of the karst depressions might have takenplace during the slight rise of relative sea level towardsthe end of the LST2 (Myers and Milton, 1996). Thislocal LST2 can be roughly compared a fall in theeustatic sea level (Fig. 7B).

The strata overlying the LST2 indicate a new rise inrelative sea level or TST2. This TST2 is represented bythe upper phosphorite horizon and the interbedded thinforaminiferal wackestones (MF 10) (Fig. 7A and B) andthe overlying marl unit of the MCM Formationespecially the bioclast wackestone with up to 38%fossil fragments of oysters, inoceramus, echinoids andostracods (MF 12). This is a straightforward interpre-tation because the MCM Formation throughout theeastern Mediterranean including Jordan represents amajor transgression of the Tethys (Almogi-Labin et al.,1993; Abed et al., 2005 amongst many others). TheMCM in the eastern Mediterranean consists of chalk andmarl with abundant planktonic and benthic foraminiferaand organic matter known locally as “oil shale”. Thus,the MCM indicates a real rise in relative sea level

compared with the underlying Al-Hisa PhosphoriteFormation (AHP). These conditions are also true for thedeep water Jafr Trough just north of oyster buildups inthe NW of the Eshidiyya Platform where 300 m of theMCM are drilled.

However, there is one point that needs explanation inthe above interpretation of the TST2. That is, the lowerpart of the MCM marls throughout the EshidiyyaPlatform do not show any signs of relative sea rise.The contrary is true. The lime mudstone faciesrepresenting the lower part of the MCM has nomacrofossils, up to 2% unidentified fossils fragments,dolomite, authigenic quartz, length slow chalcedony,and abundant palygorskite. These evidences takentogether indicate a highly restricted hypersaline calmwater shelf lagoon (Wilson, 1975; Flugel, 1982). It isbelieved that the oyster buildups in the NW hadperformed a barrier and caused the near-isolation ofthe Eshidiyya Platform or shelf lagoon and preventedopen marine circulation into the platform interior furthersouth east. Thus, although the sea level was risingthroughout the eastern Mediterranean, it was falling inthe Eshidiyya for a short interval during the depositionof the lower MCM marls. With the continuous rise ofsea level; i.e. during the deposition of the upper MCMmarls, the bioclast wackestone facies, the EshidiyyaPlatform was flooded with near normal marine water.

Furthermore, the abundant palygorskite (up to 20%)in the lower part of the MCM marl (Fig. 5A) may pointto a highly restricted, evaporative hypersaline shelflagoon (e.g. Weaver and Beck, 1977; Callen, 1984;Chamley, 1989). The palygorskites of Eshidiyya arepresent in two forms. First, as relatively long, up 10 μmfibers in radiating bundles from pores (Fig. a) andsecond as short fibers associated with the flakes ofsmectite and illite–smectite mixed layers. The long fibervariety is believed to have precipitated from pore wateras authigenic palygorskite (Singer, 1981) while theshorter variety is produced by the transformation of thesmectite and illite–smectite mixed layers into palygors-kite (Chamley, 1989). Although palygorskite is widespread in the soils of the Middle East (e.g. Singer, 1989amongst many others), and within the clay fraction ofthe Upper Cretaceous sediments in Jordan and SaudiArabia (Wiersma, 1970; Shadfan and Mashhady, 1985),a detrital origin for the Eshidiyya palygorskite isexcluded. This is because it is hard to imagine thepreservation of the long fiber through prolongedtransportation. Detrital palygorskite is normally muchshorter. Also, the presence of length slow chalcedonyand authigenic quartz indicates evaporative waterenvironment (Folk and Pitman, 1971; Laschet, 1984).

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Unfortunately, no further marine strata are foundoverlying the marl unit in Eshidiyya platform. TheTethys had left the whole of the interior EasternMediterranean towards the end of the Eocene due tothe uplift associated with the formation of the Dead SeaTransform. Consequently, the top of the marinesuccession was eroded. Terrestrial fluvial gravel andthick red soil, possibly of Pleistocene time, overly themarl unit with erosional unconformity.

5. Conclusions

The Eshidiyya phosphorite giant (N1 billion ton)forms part of the Upper Cretaceous–Eocene Tethyanphosphorite province. Despite its remote location withinthe southern epicontinental shelf of the Tethys, upwell-ing currents reached the Eshidiyya Platform causing theauthigenesis of phosphorite, chert and porcellanite.

The AHP Formation is divided into two sequences.The phosphorites of the first and second cycle weredeposited during the TST.

During the HST of the 1st cycle, the oyster buildupsbecame a positive feature, thus restricting the platformand limiting the deposition of the upper phosphoriteswhile facilitating the authigenesis of palygorskite in ahypersaline shelf lagoon.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Prof. B. W.Sellwood, editor of Sediment. Geol. and anonymousreferee for their valuable comments which have greatlyimproved the text.

References

Abed, A.M., Abu Murry, O.S., 1997. Rare earth elements geochem-istry of the Jordanian Upper Cretaceous phosphorites. Arab GulfJ. Sci. Res. 15, 41–61.

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