Abstract The Arabian, African and Eurasian plates interact in the Levantine region. Despite numerous studies of the region, many geological issues relating to Mesozoic times remain unresolved. The Lebanon passive margin is a key area for understanding Neo-Tethyan sedimentary history during this period. The Jurassic succession in Lebanon is well exposed and thick (more than 1000 m). It is more or less complete and relatively undeformed. With a few recent exceptions most studies of the area were made in the 1950s and so the sedimentary evolution of the Jurassic is only partly understood. This study provides (1) a new sedimentary and sequence stratigraphic framework, and (2) a new biostratigraphic framework based on benthic foraminifera and calcareous algae. Palaeoenvironmental and geodynamic conclusions are inferred. Jurassic outcrops occur in both the Mount Lebanon and the Anti-Lebanon areas. Here, they were studied essentially in Mount Lebanon. The Jurassic succession can be divided into three parts: (1) the lower part (Kesrouane Formation) is a thick succession of marine limestones or dolomites; (2) the middle part (Bhannes Formation) consists mainly of basaltic eruptive rocks associated with pyroclastic strata; (3) the upper part (Bikfaya Formation) is a succession of marine limestones. During the Bathonian, Callovian, Oxfordian and parts of the Kimmeridgian, a large epicontinental shelf, with very shallow marine environments, extended across Lebanon (Kesrouane Formation). The period was characterized by a stable platform morphology. It was a tectonically quiet period, although intense subsidence allowed the accumulation of a thick sediment package. During the Kimmeridgian, the carbonate platform regime that had dominated Lebanon during the Middle Jurassic came to an abrupt end, as evidenced by a regional unconformity, a regression and block faulting. This rifting phase is associated with a volcanic event (Bhannes Formation) that is recognized from northern to southern Lebanon. During the Lower Jurassic (Kimmeridgian p.p. to Tithonian p.p. ) shallow marine carbonate shelf deposits are observed again (Bikfaya Formation), indicating a marine transgression. This last formation exhibits rapid lateral thickness variations, because of active block faulting and erosion, and is overlain by continental sandstones of the basal Cretaceous.

Abstract The Sicilian gateway is a narrow, deep, interconnected series of basins, sill valleys and passageways that cuts across the broad, shallow Sicilian–Tunisian Platform in the Central Mediterranean. This deep connection allows dense Levantine Intermediate Water (LIW) formed in the Eastern Mediterranean to flow in a westerly direction through the gateway and exit into the Tyrrhenian and Balearic basins of the Western Mediterranean. LIW is replaced by a strong surface flow of Modified Atlantic Water (MAW). A complex and still active tectonic regime has been an important control on the development of physiography and on the style and distribution of sediments across the Platform. Within the deep gateway basins, turbidites, debrites and megabeds are intercalated with a background of predominantly muddy and calcareous, hemipelagic and contourite sediments. Evidence for the influence of bottom currents on sedimentation is seen in the construction of small mounded drifts and irregular patch drifts, in zones of scouring and non-deposition, in local photographic evidence of a current-smoothed or rippled seafloor, and as a subtle combination of features present in the background sediments. These include: extensively reworked microfossil assemblages, rare diffuse lamination, coarse lenses of mixed composition within a pervasively bioturbated sediment, and relatively high rates of accumulation.

Abstract The Levantine Basin has proven hydrocarbons. Recent discoveries by Noble Energy in the Levantine Basin (Tamar, Leviathan, and Aphrodite) have established a structural trap gas play in Oligo-Miocene sands. These discoveries have led to changes in the United States Geological Survey estimate of undiscovered reserves in the Levantine Basin from zero to 122 TCF gas and 1.7 Bbbl oil. Though these discoveries are suggested to be biogenic, there is abundant evidence of deeper working thermogenic petroleum systems. Burian history and petroleum systems models also suggest there are working thermogenic petroleum systems. The Mango well located in the southeastern part of the basin tested 10,000 bopd from Lower Cretaceous sands. Additionally, wells on the southeastern shelf have numerous oil and gas shows in several Mesozoic and Cenozoic intervals in both siliciclastic and carbonate facies. There are slick/seeps documented on the sea surface from satellite data. The Levantine Basin evolved along the Tethyan Margin alongside other regions with established petroleum systems. Numerous onshore working petroleum systems can be extrapolated offshore into the Levantine Basin. The tectonostratigraphic and burial history was conducive to oil and gas generation. A petroleum systems model suggests source rocks generated oil and gas throughout the basin. The generated hydrocarbons would have accumulated in both structural and stratigraphic traps in several stratigraphic intervals.