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V. 6^>. N(i. I (.l;iiuiary \n5). P. ^'^ ^2. 14 l i g s -

Early Tertiary Subsidence and Sedimentary Fades—Northern

Sirte Basin, Libya'
YOUSEF D. GUMATI and WILLIAM H. KANES'

ABSTRACT that started during the Late Cretaceous (Conant and

Goudarzi, 1967). The basin's elongated form and associ-
The subsidence curves and subsidence rate curves for ated major northwest-southeast-trending structural fea-
the Sirte basin, constructed from the stratigraphic record, tures distinguish it from the adjacent intracratonic Al
show that subsidence was continuous throughout Late Kufra, Murzuq, and Al Hamadah al Hamra basins.
Cretaceous and Tertiary times, reaching a maximum dur- The study area is located in the central western part of
ing the Paleocene and Eocene, when a major reactivation the Sirte basin, and lies approximately between lat. 28° to
of faults occurred. 30°N and long. 17° to 20°E. Exploration activities in the
Shales and carbonates were deposited during all of the area have stimulated interest in the structural and strati-
Late Cretaceous and Tertiary. Abrupt lateral facies graphic history and have provided detailed information
changes occur from the platform areas toward the deeper from seismic surveys, coring, and well logging.
troughs along with steep downdip thickening. These con- The area includes the Dahra and Beda platforms, the
ditions were probably assisted by contemporaneous fault- Zella and Marada troughs, the Amin high, and the Kotla
ing along structurally weak hinge lines where the graben (Figure 2). These features developed in response to
dominant structural elements are normal step fauUs. pre-Late Cretaceous rifting (Roberts, 1970), and con-
The absence of upper Paleozoic and lower Mesozoic trolled the sedimentary depositional patterns during the
sediments suggests that the area was domed, faulted, and Late Cretaceous and early Tertiary.
eroded during the late Mesozoic. The widespread distribu- The present study of the Paleocene facies, using subsur-
tion of the Maastrichtian carbonate facies over much of face data, is an attempt to understand the distribution of
the platform and basinal areas suggests that tectonics were these facies and their relation to structural features in the
relatively inactive during the Maastrichtian. basin. The Paleocene Epoch was a time of renewed verti-
As a result of crustal extension during the Paleocene, a cal movements, which produced a strong differentiation
marked lithologic and structural change occurred. The between the sedimentation patterns on the horsts and in
Heira Shale succeeded the Kalash Limestone in the the grabens (Gumati, 1982). Three cross sections of the
Marada trough. Reactivation of the earlier faults, accom- region (Figures 3-5) show the pattern of fault movements
panied by an increase in the sediment supply from the with which the history of sedimentation is closely linked.
south, caused these lower Paleocene shales to cover the Fortunately, with many closely spaced wells and local seis-
entire area, with the exception of the old highs where car- mic sections available, various formations can be traced
bonate deposition continued. An intercalation of shales with confidence.
and carbonates provides a sensitive indicator of change of
depth and sediment type. Commonly this intercalation has
been referred to Paleocene transgressive and regressive GEOLOGIC SETTING
cycles. The thickness of the Paleocene facies corresponds
The complex structural pattern of horsts and grabens in
closely to the structure, with the thickening in the troughs
the Sirte basin began forming in the Late Jurassic-Early
and thinning on the highs.
Cretaceous, and continued to develop until at least the
Miocene and probably into the Holocene (Selley, 1968).
INTRODUCTION Burke and Dewey (1974) suggested that the horsts and gra-
bens began to develop during the Early Cretaceous as a
The Sirte basin, in north central Libya (Figure 1), is one result of widespread extension. According to them, this
of the youngest sedimentary basins on the African craton. extension developed over a broad zone of strain between
It was formed by large-scale subsidence and block faulting two African plates, which led to the collapse of the Sirte
arch during the Early Cretaceous. As explained by Van
©Copyright 1985. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All
Houten (1983), this event resulted from the drift of the
rights reserved. African plate, which moved north-central Libya over a
' Manuscript received, January 3,1984; accepted, May 21,1984. fixed mantle hotspot during the Early Cretaceous (140 to
^Earth Sciences and Resources Institute, University of South Carolina,
Columbia, South Carolina 29208. lOOm.y. B.P.).
Alan E. M. Nairn and Christopher Kendall reviewed the manuscript and The sedimentary section (Figure 6) unconformably
made helpful suggestions and comments. Special thanks to Steven Schamel
for his free exchange of ideas on the basin subsidence history and his careful
overlies the igneous and metamorphic rocks of the Pre-
review of the first manuscript. The exploration department of National Oil Corp. cambrian basement. The stratigraphic section above the
and Arabian Gulf Oil Co. in the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya pro- unconformity includes the Gargaf Group or Hofra For-
vided downhole geophysical logs. This work was carried out at the Earth Sci-
ences and Resources Institute of the University of South Carolina as part of the mation (Cambrian-Ordovician), which represents stable
requirements for a PhD. shield sedimentation, and the Nubian sandstone (Lower

39
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 40 Northern Sirte Basin, Libya

Cretaceous). The term, Nubian sandstone, originally

defined in upper Egypt (Russegger, 1837), is used infor-
mally in Libya to cover a broad group of poorly dated
detrital sediments. Local sandstones such as the Sarir and
Faregh sandstones fall within the general term Nubian
sandstone. Nubian is therefore a useful term and can be
retained until more detailed mapping has been done and a
more precise stratigraphy has been established. (See dis-
cussions on the use of Nubian in Conant and Goudarzi,
1967; Pomeyrol, 1968; Hea, 1971; Barr and Weegar, 1972;
Van Houten, 1980; Bhattacharyya and Lorenz, 1983.)
These clastic sediments are unconformably overlain by the
Upper Cretaceous marine section. Upper Paleozoic and
lower Mesozoic sediments, if formerly present, have been
removed by uplift and erosion prior to the Late Jurassic or
Early Cretaceous. The Tertiary strata generally consist of
a section of Paleocene to Miocene carbonates on the highs
and shales in the troughs.
During the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous, wide-
spread subsidence and continental sedimentation of the
Nubian sandstone occurred in the southeastern and south-
western Sirte basin. Locally more than 3,000 ft (914 m) of
sandstone are preserved in the deep grabens. The Nubian
Figure 1—Location map of study area. National boundaries are
approximate.

SCN 20*E
ZELTEN

PLATFORM

Figure 2—Map showing major structural features and location of wells used in malcing cross sections. Study area shown on Figure 1.
Sections AA', BB', and CC' refer to cross sections in Figures 3,4, and 5, respectively.

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 4000'-°'200
VERTICAL SCALE

I
O
c
3
su
0)
3
Q.

3
X

fi>
(D
(A

Figure 3—East-west (AA') stratigraphic cross section tlirougli soutliern wells, with structural features shown. Datum is top of Facha Dolomite. See Figure 2 for line of section.

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 4^
lO

FEET Mer^RS

VERTICAL SCALE

o
3.
n
3
V)
5.'
o
D3
01
(fl.
5'
•<

Figure 4—East-west (BB') stratigraphic cross section tlirough central wells, with structural features shown. Datum is top of Facha Dolomite. See Figure 2 for line of section.

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 c
WEST
FF1-11 Ll-11 C1-11 CL1-11
Oahra Ptattorm
Zella Trough 18 KM • - < \ - —
FEET METERS ^ -Q 'g-» **" O -
H A B A S H FM ^ ^

m ZELTEN LS m

UPPER S A T A L FM
^:
r LOWER SATAL FM

IPPER CRETACEOUS
4OO0l

VERTICAL SCALE •' e-o ^ ^

I
a
c
3
Q>
0)
3
19 2Q 25
EAST Q.
FFt-«
DATUM TO*> OF MARASH FM
- Marada Trough -

-o- ^ ^ < > ' g s '<"<>-

-i m 3

T;
0)
3
(B
(A
K A L A S H LS

Figure 5—East-west (CC') stratigraphic cross section through northern wells, with structural features shown. Datum is top of Harash Formation. See Figure 2 for line of section.

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 44 Northern SIrte Basin, Libya

formation in the Sirte basin can be divided into three unsts:

an upper sandstone, a middle shale, and lower sandstone.
The middle shale member is interpreted as having been
deposited in a lacustrine environment and contains abun-
dant algae. Facies relationships and lateral gradation
within the Nubian are complicated, and some workers
(e.g., Conant and Goudarzi, 1967; Pomeyrol, 1968)
believe Nubian deposition was also widespread over the
present horsts. Others (Hea, 1971) believe that deposition
was limited to the troughs in which the greatest thickness
of the Nubian is found today. Evidence from drilling sup-
ports the former view that deposition was widespread
(Figures 3-5). The thickness changes indicate local topo-
graphic variation existed at the time of deposition. These
variations reflect the pattern of the future horst and gra-
ben structure, which apparently did not fully develop until
later during the Cretaceous.
Differential block movement and erosion that followed
the Nubian deposition continued as the area was invaded
by Late Cretaceous seas. As a result, the stratigraphic sec-
tion is dominated by shale in the troughs and shallow
water carbonates on the highs. The thickness of the Upper
Cretaceous section is more than 3,000 ft (914 m) in the
Zella graben (Figure 3), but it thins over the Dahra plat-
form. The Cretaceous closed with marine deposition of
relatively widespread Kalash carbonates over much of the
Sirte basin (Figure 7).

CRETACEOUS-TERTIARY BOUNDARY
In the subsurface of the basin, Maastrichtian and
Danian sediments are well developed. The contact of these
units is exposed only along the western border of the basin
with the Hon graben (Jordi and Lonfat, 1963; Barr and
Weegar, 1972). In the study area, the Cretaceous-Paleo-
cene boundary lies between the Kalash Limestone and its
equivalent and the Hagfa Shale and its equivalent (Figures
3-5). Although microfossils from the Maastrichtian
Kalash Limestone suggest a shallow water environment of
deposition at the close of the Cretaceous, there is no break
in deposition (Barr and Berggren, 1981).
In the deeper parts of the area (Zella and Marada
troughs), no evidence exists for interruption of deposition
at the close of the Maastrichtian. However, an abrupt
change in depositional setting is evident. These changes in
the depositional environment are the resuh of shallowing
of Maastrichtian seas, bringing the Cretaceous Period to a
close followed by the deepening which marks the onset of
the Paleocene cycle (Barr and Weegar, 1972).
The Paleocene section conformably overlies Maastrich-
tian sediments over most of the area (Figures 3-5), but it
unconformably overlies Cambrian-Ordovician rocks on
the Amin high (HH2-47, Figure 3). These Paleocene strata
are in turn conformably overlain by rocks of the lower
Eocene (Gir Formation).

DISCUSSION
Three cross sections illustrate the facies relationships
(Figure 2). Section AA' (Figure 3), trending east-north- Figure 6—Generalized columnar section showing general lithol-
eastward, crosses the southern part of the area at high ogy and stratigraphy in area (after Barr and Weegar, 1972).

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 Yousef D. Gumati and William H. Kanes 45

100 kn
50 n

CI. = 100'

Figure 7—Isopach map of Maastrichtian (Kalash Limestone and its equivalent) based on well logs, showing thiclcness of carbonate
fades. No sediment decompaction correction has been applied. Contour interval is 100 ft (30 m).

angle to strike. The section shows the relationship between tion. The lack of a detrital apron around the high, how-
the sediments of the Zehen platform, Marada trough, ever, indicates that the area was not a strongly emergent
Beda platform, Amin high, Kotla graben, Dahra plat- feature.
form, and Zella trough. In this section the Amin high is the Section BB' (Figure 4) north of section AA' illustrates
dominant structural element. The fault blocks are tilted, the relationship between the sedimentary patterns and
with an unconformity between the Cambrian-Ordovician structural features of the central part of the study area. It
and Paleocene in HH2-47 and between Upper Cretaceous crosses the Zella trough, Dahra platform, and Marada
and Cambrian-Ordovician in BBl-47. To the west and east trough. The Precambrian basement has the greatest uplift
of the Amin high, a series of normal step faults is present. on the eastern margin of the Zella trough (BBBl-11). The
Major faults exist between HH2-47 and CC1 -13 to the east basement control in the area is sufficient to delineate a
and HH2-47 and BBl-47 to the west. The thickness of the series of blocks that are do wnthro wn to the west of the sec-
Paleocene section increases abruptly to the east of the tion. The lowest block is situated in the center of the Zella
Amin high, which suggests rapid subsidence caused by the graben (Figure 4). The section also displays thickening of
reactivation of the faults at the time of deposition. To the Upper Cretaceous and Paleocene rocks in the Marada and
west of the Amin high, the thickness remains relatively Zella troughs.
constant, suggesting that, at this time, the faults were inac- The fairly constant thickness of the Paleocene sequence
tive or nearly so. The absence of Maastrichtian and over the platform area indicates gentle subsidence and low
Danian rocks on the present Amin high suggests that the sedimentation rates, in contrast to nondeposition over the
area was uplifted during the latest Cretaceous and early Amin high. Several wells penetrate a considerable thick-
Paleocene, with resultant subaerial erosion or nondeposi- ness of the Cambrian-Ordovician (Gargaf Group or

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 46 Northern Sirte Basin, Libya

100 krr
5 0 mi

Figure 8—Lithofacies map of lower Paleocene sediments, showing location of carbonate platforms surrounded by shales.

Hofra Formation), and one of them bottoms in the Pre- Paleocene time opened with a new phase of crustal exten-
cambrian basement (BBBl-11). The basement uplift sion beneath the Sirte basin. Transgressive Paleocene seas
revealed by this well is strong evidence for the pre-Late covered the entire basin (Barr and Berggren, 1981). As a
Cretaceous tectonic movements. result, a thick section of marine sediments was deposited
Section CC' (Figure 5) in the northern part of the study in the newly subsided troughs (e.g., Marada trough).
area, crosses the Zella trough, Dahra platform, and Shale deposits were generally confined to low-energy
Marada trough. The eastern part of the region is deformed zones in the trough and blanketed much of the
by a series of step faults that are located between wells II- area during the transgressive cycle. Carbonates were
20, Al-94, and II1-6 (Figure 5). The Paleocene sedimen- deposited on the shelf margins with their facies controlled
tary section reaches a maximum thickness of about 4,000 by water depth, topography, and currents.
ft (1,219 m) in the Marada trough and becomes more After the first Paleocene transgression and an early
shaly.
influx of fine clastic material, the sedimentary pattern
became a more regular arrangement of lime buildups,
reefs, and shale lenses. The Zelten platform was the depo-
sitional site of mainly shales and lime mud, whereas car-
bonate buildups occurred on the Amin high and Beda
PALEOCENE HISTORY platform. The Dahra platform developed in a similar
The shallowing of the Maastrichtian sea was accompa- fashion and is surrounded by a lower Paleocene shale
nied by deposition of the Kalash Limestone over much of facies (Figure 8).
the basin, including inferred troughs and grabens. This In the Zelten region (outside of the study area) pinnacle
stratigraphic unit marks the end of the Cretaceous Period. reefs grew (Terry and Williams, 1969). Farther south, the

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 Yousef D. Gumati and William H. Kanes 47

100 km
-I 1
5 0 mi

0.1. = 100'

Figure 9—Isopach map of Paleocene shales, showing local subsidence and high shale thickness in grabens. Contour interval is 100 ft.
No sediment decompaction correction has been applied. Dots show location of wells used in making map.

Defa high was the site of reefy limestone and dolomite An abrupt change in thickness and the lateral facies var-
deposition, possibly owing to the lack of sufficient clastic iation from shales to carbonates westward from the
material. Marada graben to the Dahra platform (Figures 3-5) indi-
Toward the close of the early Paleocene, basin growth cates that this area was the Paleocene shelf margin; it also
apparently slowed and a regional disturbance caused by suggests block faulting down to the east (Figure 2). These
fauh reactivation altered the patterns of deposition over facies changes represent a local variation in depositional
large parts of the basin. The pinnacle reefs in the Zelten setting across the platform margin. To the east and west of
area expanded over the muddy fades. Shale deposition the Marada trough the Paleocene section changes laterally
continued only in the northernmost part of the Sirte basin, to a predominantly shelf carbonate facies—Satal carbon-
and became highly calcareous. The rest of the basin was ate on the Dahra platform to the west and Sabil carbon-
covered by chalk-limestone deposit. ates on the Zeiten platform to the east (Barr and Weegar,
During the late Paleocene, the eastern shelf or lime plat- 1972). In the study area to the south and southwest, the
form continued to expand with only slight variations. In Paleocene sediments consist of a lower shale umt, middle
deep troughs (e.g., Marada, Figures 2 and 9), mud contin- limestone, and an upper shale sequence (Conley, 1971).
ued to accumulate at reduced rates. A basal limy section The sequence becomes more marly and dolomitic south-
(Zelten Limestone) was deposited over much of the basin, ward. Local sandstone facies were deposited on the pro-
indicating that an environment favorable to reef develop- jected southern shoreline during the early Paleocene
ment existed where water depth and subsidence rates did (Lehmann, 1964).
not interfere with the reef growth. The best setting for pin- In general, the sequence thickens in the troughs and
nacle reef development occurred on the Zelten platform thins over the platforms (Figure 10). The thickness of the
(Terry and Williams, 1969). Paleocene section in the study area ranges from 2,000 ft

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 48 Northern Sirte Basin, Libya

C.I. = 500'

Figure 10—Isopach map of Paleocene sedimentary fades (shales and carbonates), showing high subsidence and sedimentation rates
in troughs during the Paleocene. No sediment decompaction correction has been applied. Contour interval is 500 ft. Dots show loca-
tion of wells used in making map.

(609 m) on the Dahra platform to 3,500 ft (1,066 m) in the process, does not change the general shape of the subsi-
Zella trough and 4,000 ft (1,219 m) in the Marada trough. dence curves.
The reference horizon for the construction of the subsi-
BASIN SUBSIDENCE dence curves is the regional unconformity separating the
Precambrian basement, Cambrian-Ordovician Gargaf
In an attempt to develop a quantitative approach, basin Group, or Lower Cretaceous Nubian sandstone from the
history subsidence curves (Figures 11-13) have been calcu- Upper Cretaceous and Tertiary marine section.
lated for the wells used to construct the cross sections. The subsidence curves over the whole area are remark-
These subsidence curves were constructed using the back- ably consistent (Figures 11 -13). The curves (Figures 11 and
stripping technique of Steckler and Watts (1978) and sub- 12) show that subsidence was slow during approximately
surface stratigraphic data obtained from the boreholes. the first 25 m.y. (Coniacian through Santonian). A sudden
Deep wells that penetrated the Precambrian basement or small pulse of increased subsidence and rapid sedimenta-
Cambrian-Ordovician Gargaf Group or Hofra Formation tion, coinciding with the deposition of the Campanian
were selected to encompass the entire subsidence history of shales, was abruptly terminated as shown by a sudden flat-
the basin. tening of the subsidence curves, indicating almost no sub-
The time scale used for these curves is based on biostrat- sidence during the Maastrichtian. A strikingly greater
igraphic data and therefore is approximate. The decom- subsidence rate characterizes the following 27 m.y. (Paleo-
paction correction of Sclater and Christie (1980) has not cene and Eocene), and rapid sedimentation was contem-
been used because this correction, though changing the poraneous with the basin subsidence. These events were
thickness of the stratigraphic units in the back-stripping followed by a moderate rate of subsidence that character-

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 Yousef D. Gumati and William H. Kanes 49

EARLY CRETACEOUS LATE CRETACEOUS

CENOM. TURON. COMC. SANTO. CAMP MAAS. E

DEPTH --D *s\ 60

(METERS)

^ HH2-47

^ x \

Figure 11—Subsidence curves for wells on section AA' (without correction for compaction), Sirte basin. Following initial slow rate of
subsidence from l\ironian to Santonian, markedly smaller event during Campanian is followed by virtual termination of subsidence
during Maastrichtian. Accelerated rate of subsidence followed from Paleocene to Eocene.

izes the major part of the basin subsidence curves. In the during Paleocene and Eocene times. This slow rate sug-
southern part of the area (Figure 11), the subsidence curve gests that this horst block (the Amin high) was not affected
of the well HH2-47 shows a very slow rate of subsidence by the early Tertiary regional subsidence.

EARLY CRETACEOUS LATECBETACEOUS

CENOM. I TURON. CONC. i SANTO. CAMP. I MAAS

0. ,
DEPTH
(METERS)

Figure 12—Subsidence curves for wells on section BB' (without correction for compaction), Sirte basin. Curves show low subsidence
rate during 'Hironian and high subsidence rate during Campanian. Subsidence was terminated during Maastrichtian, followed by an
accelerated rate of subsidence during Paleocene and Eocene. Subsidence was terminated again during Oligocene and Miocene.

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 50 Northern Sirte Basin, Libya

r.AR.rCRETACFOUS LATECRFTACrC • OCENl Ol IGOCFNr

I CEMOM TURON, CONC SANTO I CAMP 1 MAAS

\
* - < -

Figure 13—Subsidence curves for wells on section C C (without correction for compaction), Sirte basin. In contrast to section in
Figure 12, curves show high subsidence rates during Maastrichtian, and accelerated rate of subsidence during Paleocene and Eocene,
followed by reduced subsidence rate during Oligocene and Miocene.

The north part of the study area (Figure 13) shows no geometry at depth (Wernicke and Burchfiel, 1982). How-
record of basin subsidence before the Maastrichtian, pos- ever, there is insufficient seismic data to determine if these
sibly resulting from erosion or nondeposition. The curves faults are listric at depth.
in this figure show higher rates of subsidence during the
Maastrichtian than those in Figures 11 and 12. The higher
rates suggest that the northern part of the basin was more SUMMARY
active at the close of the Cretaceous. The Maastrichtian
subsidence was followed by even greater subsidence rates Sediments in the Sirte basin consist of lower Paleozoic
during the Paleocene and Eocene. In this part of the area clastic sediments (Gargaf Group or Hofra Formation),
there is no record for the post-Eocene subsidence because upper Mesozoic Nubian sandstone, and Upper Cretaceous
the stratigraphic section is missing. and Tertiary marine deposits. The Paleocene facies are
dominantly shales in the grabens and carbonates on the
Additional support for the basin subsidence history dis- platforms and highs, and intercalated shales and carbon-
cussed above is provided by a plot of basin subsidence rate ates on the platform margins.
(m/m.y.) as a function of time (Figure 14), a method devel-
The major structural features that have affected the sed-
oped by Parsons and Sclater (1977) and Steckler and Watts
imentation pattern in the study area include four north-
(1978). Correlation of the subsidence rate curves and sub-
west-southeast-trending structures: the Zella trough and
sidence curves show some consistency in the general pat-
Haleigh High to the west, the Dahra platform in the cen-
tern of subsidence. This method shows that, in the Sirte
tral part of the area, and the Marada graben to the east.
basin, the highest subsidence rate occurred during the
North-northeast-trending structures in the region are the
Paleocene and Eocene, which suggests that the major tec-
Kotla graben, the Amin high, and the Beda platform, all
tonic evolution of the Sirte basin occurred during the early
in the southeastern part of the study area. All platforms in
Tertiary and not during the early-Late Cretaceous.
the region are covered by limestone and remained rela-
tively stable during the early Paleocene. However, the
shale-filled troughs continued to subside and deepen to the
FAULTING north. Renewed regional subsidence and an increase in the
Most of the faults cutting the Mesozoic and Tertiary rate of terrigenous supply brought about renewed shale
rocks are normal faults, with offsets up to 1,000 ft (305 deposition over most of the shelf area during the middle
m). In the shale basins and the lime platforms or the blocks Paleocene. However the areal extent of the shale facies
formed by basement highs, it is possible that some of the was less than that during the early Paleocene. The main
major faults may be listric and related to compaction in facies variation occurs across the platform-basin margins.
the adjacent shale-filled grabens. It has been suggested The Paleocene section reaches its maximum thickness
that differential tilt between fault blocks indicates a listric 3,900 ft (1,189 m) in the Marada trough (Figure 9). The

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 Yousef D. Gumati and William H. Kanes 51

L. C r « f . Palao. Eo. Oligo. Mio. 1:^0

1 1 , 1 1 1 KU
0'

^
UJ
o
z
lU
Q 100- 100-
en
CD
Z)
V)
u.
o
liJ

<
WELL
200- 200-
FFFi-ll
1 1 1 —— 1 — — 1 1 1 — 1 1 1 —
so too
TIME (M. Y.) -I 1 1 1 r
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TIME (MY.)

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Figure 14—Subsidence rate as function of time (m/m.y), without decompaction correction. Based on borehole data in area.

lower Paleocene carbonate platforms are in the Defa and ward extension of carbonates resuhed in eventual blanket-
Dahra areas (Figure 8). The Paleocene fades changes ing of nearly the entire Sirte basin by the Zelten
from widespread deposition of shale in the troughs to shal- Limestone. The subsidence curves and the subsidence rate
low-shelf carbonates on the platforms may result from curves for the Sirte Basin indicate that the highest subsi-
change in the sediment supply, reactivation of faults, or dence and sedimentation rates occurred during the Paleo-
rapid subsidence. The combined effect of these factors cene and Eocene.
was to provide a clear, well-aerated, shallow water envi-
ronment in which marine shelf carbonates were deposited. REFERENCES CITED
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