Triassic-Early Jurassic evaporites of the Saharan Platform, Algeria: Astronomical and geodynamic constraints on stratigraphy and sedimentation

Abstract

The sequence stratigraphy of the Late Triassic - Early Jurassic evaporites of the Berkine Basin is described. Disconformities occur between all the major evaporitic units but lack of biostratigraphy (or other) chronostratigraphic control precludes their precise dating. The S4 and S3 Halites are predominantly non-marine halites deposited in low-lying salinas with a barrier to the north. The top of the S4 depositional sequence is marked by the D2, usually regarded as the Tr-J boundary in the Berkine Basin. Both the S3 and S4 salt deposits thin rapidly to the south-east and are thicker in the basin centre coincident with a subcrop of Carnian? aged volcanics. A combination of thermal cooling, rifting and reactivation of N–S lineaments parallel to the Hassi Messaoud-El Biod Arch controlled the (∼1500 m thick) depocenter.

Time series analysis shows that astronomical forcing played a key role in the deposition of the S3 and S4 bedded halites. The prevailing climate was monsoonal with major replenishment of the basin indicated by long eccentricity cycles (405 kyr). Sedimentation rates were estimated using eCOCO analysis with average rates of 15 cm/kyr. Well to well comparisons shows that in marginal areas thinner sedimentary sequences relate to slower accumulation rates and periods of non-deposition or deflation. The pattern is similar in the S4 and S3 halite, but the reduced mud content and amalgamation of halite beds suggests a more arid climate in S3 times.

The S1+S2 unit marks the first widespread deposition of sulphate in the basin. The lowermost anhydrite beds of the S1 + S2 rest unconformably on the underlying S3 and overstep the basin margins in the south-east; the sequence is capped by the B Horizon a basin-wide carbonate shelf deposit about 25 m thick indicating increased marine influence. Above there is a rapid return to thinly bedded mudstone-halite dominated sedimentation (Lias Salifère) which is overlain by the Lias Anhydritique an alternating sequence of halite and anhydrite deposits. Astronomical parameters of the whole sequence indicate an average sedimentation rate of ∼10 cm/kyr in this marine-influenced section, slower than the halite units. Although the time series analysis cannot provide precision dating of the evaporitic sequences the results indicate that there are important breaks in the depositional record. The combined S4 and S3 halites account for 4.75 Ma and the rest of the Liassic 9.4 Ma. It seems clear that much of the depositional record is missing.

These Saharan Platform basins bear much in common with other western Mediterranean evaporite basins. Many show the same overall pattern of sedimentation with increased sulphate deposition above the Tr-J boundary. In late Triassic time they formed a contiguous low-lying zone flanked by cratonic highlands. This zone spanned the Gondwana-Laurussia boundary immediately prior to its break-up and Greater Adria formed a barrier between these basins and the developing Neotethys to the east. The major changes seen in the Saharan Platform are mirrored by the break-up of Adria and the separation of Gondwana and Laurasia and the ultimate connection of the western Mediterranean and the central Atlantic.