Agglutinated foraminifera from the Campanian-Maastrichtian Kiseiba ...

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Abstract. The upper Campanian to upper Maastrichtian sedimentary sequence of the Kiseiba Formation in south Western Desert is sampled and described in ...
Arabian Journal of Geosciences (2018) 11:171 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-018-3527-1

ORIGINAL PAPER

Agglutinated foraminifera from the Campanian-Maastrichtian Kiseiba Formation in the Kurkur area, Egypt Mohamed Youssef 1,2 & Abdelbaset El-Sorogy 1,3 Received: 18 October 2017 / Accepted: 4 April 2018 # Saudi Society for Geosciences 2018

Abstract The upper Campanian to upper Maastrichtian sedimentary sequence of the Kiseiba Formation in south Western Desert is sampled and described in two surface sections (Sinn El Kaddab and Wadi Abu Siyal). Forty-four agglutinated foraminiferal species are identified from 42 samples in the studied succession. The benthic foraminiferal assemblages are dominated by agglutinated foraminifera which comprise more than 90% of the assemblage. The agglutinated foraminifera are subdivided into five morphogroups (A, B, C, D, E) according to shell architecture, integrated with the supposed microhabitat and feeding strategy. The foraminiferal assemblage is assigned to mixohaline shallow water environments. These assemblages with Ammoastuta megacribrostomoides and Ammotium bartheli suggest lagoonal environments with considerably reduced salinity in warm climates and high runoff for the late Campanian-Maastrichtian interval. Keywords Agglutinated foraminifera . Lagoon . Kiseiba formation . Kurkur . Egypt

Introduction Egypt has some of the best, well-developed Upper Cretaceous-Lower Eocene shallow water successions. The stable shelf of Egypt (Said 1962) is considered as an ideal region to study biological changes in marine environments during the late Cretaceous-early Eocene (LeRoy 1953; Said and Kenawy 1956; Luger 1985; Speijer 1994; Lüning 1997; Hewaidy 1997; Schnack 2000; El-Dawy 2001; Youssef 2015). The Upper Cretaceous-Paleogene succession of Egypt is widespread and covers a large area (Issawi 1972). This succession was the objective of many studies (e.g., LeRoy 1953; Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-018-3527-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Mohamed Youssef [email protected] 1

Department of Geology and Geophysics, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

2

Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, South Valley University, Qena 83523, Egypt

3

Department of Geology, Faculty of Sciences, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44519, Egypt

Nakkady 1959; Said and Kenawy 1956; Luger 1988a, b; Aref and Youssef 2004; Hewaidy et al. 2014). The Upper Cretaceous-Lower Paleogene succession in the south Western Desert has been given much geological importance and studied by many authors (e.g., Issawi 1972; Hendriks et al. 1984; Hewaidy and Soliman 1993; Strugo and Hewaidy 1993; Hewaidy 1994; Faris and Hewaidy 1995; Youssef 2014; Jain and Farouk 2017; Farouk and Jain 2017). These studies deal with the stratigraphy of the Garra El-Arbain Facies and analyze the faunal contents (bivalve, echinoids, foraminifera, and calcareous nannofossils). The biostratigraphy of the Sinn El Kaddab-Wadi Abu Ghurra stretch was studied using planktonic foraminifera (Hewaidy 1994; Ouda and Tantawy 1996; Aref and Youssef 2004) and using calcareous nannofossils (Faris and Hewaidy 1995; Youssef and Mutterlose 2004). A Campanian-early Eocene age was assigned to the rocks exposed in this stretch. The study of the Late Campanian-Paleocene agglutinated foraminifera in Egypt received little importance (e.g., Abd El Hameed 1973; Faris 1974; Luger 1988a; Orabi 1995, 2000; Hewaidy et al. 2014; Masoud 2015). Brackish littoral environment was reported for the area south of Dineigil area using agglutinated foraminifera (Luger 1988a). Hewaidy et al. 2014 reported littoral to neritic environments for the Maastrichtian-Paleocene agglutinated foraminifera from Dakhla Oasis. The present

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works aims to analyze the agglutinated foraminiferal content and interpret the paleoenvironments prevailing during deposition of the succession in the studied area (Fig. 1).

Geological setting The stable shelf is covered by less than 1000 m of sediments and extended over a large area in southern Egypt. In nonbasinal areas, these sediments include the widely distributed Nubian Sandstone capped by shallow marine sediments deposited during the major Late Cretaceous-Paleogene transgression (Said 1961). These areas are subdivided into two major, generally north-south-trending intracratonic basins. The Dakhla Basin extends over the western part of the country and is widely open towards the north on the Western Desert. The upper Nile Basin extends over the eastern parts of the country from a longitude lying between Kharga and Dakhla to the west up to a region extending further east coast of the Red Sea. This basin probably extended over the site of the actual basement exposures of the Red Sea range uplifted in late Paleocene and later times (Bisewski 1982). These basins are delimited to the southwest by the Calanscio-Uweinat-Gilf El Kebir high and to the south by a sequence of uplifts. The Uweinat-Aswan High (Klitzsch 1978) extends eastwards to the Eastern Deser basement exposures. This high is capped by a thin Mesozoic sedimentary cover and may be formed in Late Paleozoic to Early Mesozoic times by uplift along major east-west-trending faults (Klitzsch 1978). Fig. 1 a Location map. b Geological map of the study area

Lithostratigraphy The sedimentary successions of the Upper Cretaceous-Lower Eocene in central and southern Egypt are differentiated into three facies types: the Nile Valley, the Garra El-Arbain, and the Farafra facies. The area west and south of Aswan and also south of Kharga Oasis along Darb El-Arbain is characterized by the Garra El- Arbain Facies. The Campanian-upper Maastrichtian time is represented by the Kiseiba Formation in Kurkur area. The Kiseiba Formation is coeval with the Maastrichtian part of Dakhla Formation (Fig. 2). In the present work, the Kiseiba Formation was measured and studied at two localities including Sinn El Kaddab and Wadi Abu Sayal, Kurkur area. It measures 97 m thickness at Sinn El Kaddab section and 27 m thickness at Wadi Abu Sayal section. The Kiseiba Formation was subdivided into two members: the lower Shagir Member and the upper Shab Member (Tantawy 1994; Youssef 2003). In the studied area, the uppermost part of the Shagir Member is exposed only in the Sinn El Kaddab section (25 m thick). Lithologically, the Shagir Member is composed of brownish gray to greenish gray, violet sandy mudstone, and fine-grained sandstone with thin marly bands. The top of this member is marked by a 20 cm thick phosphatic conglomerate. This member contains only agglutinated foraminifera (mainly Haplophragmoides spp., Ammobaculites spp., and Lituola spp.). The Shab Member was measured and studied in Sinn El Kaddab and Wadi Abu Sayal. The lithology of this member shows a distinct variation in the investigated area from south to north. It is

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Fig. 2 Lithofacies correlations of the Campanian to Ypresian interval in a northeast-southwest transect across Egypt. After Košťák et al. (2013). The stratigraphical range of the studied outcrops is indicated

composed of shales with sandstone intercalations and a few phosphatic bands in the south (Sinn E-Kaddab section). Towards the north (Abu Sayal section), the sandstones and phosphates disappear except in the uppermost part. On the other hand, fossiliferous and hard mudstone bands are more common in the north. This member contains mainly agglutinated foraminifera (e.g., Haplophragmoides spp. and Ammobaculites spp.), scarce calcareous benthic foraminifera.

identified at the species level, although sometimes placed in open nomenclature. The index species were photographed using the JOEL SEM (JSM-6380). The species are arranged to morpho types (Table 1), and the relative abundance of each morphotype is calculated as a percentage of the agglutinated faunal component.

Foraminiferal contents Sinn El Kaddab section

Materials and methods Forty-two samples examined from two stratigraphic surface sections were carefully measured and sampled. The Sinn El Kaddab section is situated about 10 km west of kilometer 76 of the Aswan/Abu Simbel Road (32°19′N and 23°40′E). Wadi Abu Sayal section is situated about 10 km north of Kurkur Oasis (32°24′N, 23°58′E). About 100 g from the dried samples was disaggregated in water and diluted with H2O2 (10%). Some samples were heated, and then washed over a 63-μm sieve. The procedure was repeated until foraminifera with clean surface texture were recovered. All the recovered specimens were picked from the studied samples in two fractions > 100 and > 200 μm, identified to species level, whenever possible. The residues were investigated qualitatively and quantitatively under a binocular microscope. Concerning the benthic foraminifera, the most common and/or diagnostic taxa were

In the late Campanian-Maastrichtian (samples 1–24), the absolute abundance of benthic foraminifera (BFN/g sediments) varies from 1.96 to 505 ind./g. The diversity of benthic foraminifera in samples 1–24 (late Campanian and Maastrichtian) is ~ 20 species per sample. Throughout the section, the benthic foraminiferal assemblages are dominated by agglutinated foraminifera, mainly by Ammobaculites spp. and Haplophragmoides spp.; Flabellammina chapmani, Cribrostomoides cretacea, Miliammina spp.; and Lituola spp. Calcareous foraminifera are nearly absent in these assemblages, except for sample 7, where some calcareous species are present (Fig. 3).

Wadi Abu Sayal section Planktonic foraminifera are nearly absent in the studied interval (only one specimen in sample 10) I believe that is just a

171 Table 1

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Agglutinated foraminiferal morphogroups, morphotypes, and their inferred life positions and feeding habits

Morphogroup and morphotype

Morphology

Taxa and species in study area

Habitat and feeding strategy

A

Tabular and unilocular shells

Bathysiphon

B

Spheric and subspheric unilocular Elongated, subclyndirc, multilocular shells Uniserial forms chapmani



Epifaunal habitat and suspensivorous feeding strategy. Epifaunal, passive deposit feeders

C C1 C2

C3 D D1 D2

E

Planispiral or streptospiral initial stage to uniserial final stage, qunquiloculina Biserial, triserial, and elongated trochospiral Spiral multilocular shells Globular and planoconvex forms, with trochospiral coiling Rounded, planispiral morphotypes

Planispiral or irregular coiling

Infaunal life habitat Reophax texanus, Reophax sp., Ammoastuta megacribrostomoides Lituola, flabellammina, Ammobaculites subcretaceus, Am. fragmentarius, Ammotium bartheli, Miliammina –

– Haplophragmoides, Cribrostomoides, Am. khargaensis, Am. colombiana, Am. stephensoni, Am. texanus, Am. colombiana Ammodiscus

Shallow to deep infaunal habitat Shallow infaunal habitat and detritivorous bacterial scavenger feeding strategy. Shallo to deep infaunal habitat Epifauanal to shallow infaunal habitat Epifaunal herbivorous and active omnivorous feeding habitat Epifaunal and shallow infaunal habitats, with herbivorous, detritivorous and active bacterivorous behavior Epifaunal to phytal lifestyle with herbivorous and detritivorous trophic strategy

Fig. 3 The relative abundance of agglutinated benthic foraminiferal species recorded in the Campanian-Maastrichtian interval of the Sinn El-Kaddab section

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contamination. Benthic foraminifera are rare in samples of late Maastrichtian (~ 3.5 ind./g). Diversity of benthic foraminifera is very low (2 to 20 species/sample). The benthic foraminiferal assemblage in the studied interval contains mostly agglutinated foraminifera with a high dominance of Ammobaculites spp., Haplophragmoides spp., and Ammotium bartheli (Fig. 4). The observed faunal content includes 44 agglutinated and 8 calcareous species. The calcareous species are recorded in very few samples.

Morphogroups of agglutinated taxa The quantitative morphogroup analysis of the examined samples yields five morphogroups in the agglutinated foraminiferal succession following the concept of Nagy et al. (2009). These morphogroups are specified alphabetically from A to E. Two morphotypes of morphogroup C (C1, C2) and one morphotype (D2) of morphogroup D are recorded (Table 1 and Fig. 5). Among the five morphogroups and five morphotypes, species of group B and morphotype C3 were not recorded in the studied samples. The species of morphogroups A and E have very rare occurrence in the studied interval. The representatives of morphotypes C1 and D1 are rarely occurring through the depositional sequence.

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Agglutinated foraminifera in the studied interval are distinctly dominated by epifaunal and shallow infaunal morphogroups comprised of C2 and D2 morphotypes (Figs. 6 and 7). These species range from detritivorous bacterial scavenger feeding strategy to herbivorous, detritivorous, and active bacterivorous behavior. In Fig. 6, the proportions of morphotypes in the section show a subtle change, with higher proportions of morphotype C2 in the bottom third of the section and an increasing proportion of D2 in the upper part of the section. Such a change suggests lower organic carbon burial with time. In Fig. 7, higher proportions of morphotype C2 and D2 were recorded through the section. Infaunal foraminiferal dominance reflect higher organic carbon flux; however, epifaunal percentages increases with depth, and thus, with decreasing organic carbon flux (Corliss and Fois 1991). The rapid burial of food items for detritivores within the pro-delta environment yields large infaunal component (Nagy et al. 2009).

Paleoenvironments The recorded agglutinated foraminiferal assemblage is composed exclusively of forms that use only siliciclastic material for building their tests. The assemblage is characterized by

Fig. 4 The relative abundance of agglutinated benthic foraminiferal species recorded in the Maastrichtian interval of the Wadi Abu Sayal section

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Fig. 5 Schematic diagram shows the morphogroups (and morphotypes), with the interpreted life positions indicated. Modified after Nagy et al. 2009

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low diversity and high abundance. This assemblage occurs in the upper Campanian of the Sinn El Kaddab section, in the lower and the upper Maastrichtian of the Sinn El Kaddab section, and in Wadi Abu Sayal sections. The late Campanian assemblage consists mainly of Ammobaculites spp., Haplophragmoides spp., Miliammina spp., Lituola spp., and Cribrostomoides cretacea Spiroplectinella sp. In the lower to upper Maastrichtian, the assemblages include Ammobaculites spp., Haplophragmoides spp., Trochammina spp., Miliammina spp., Cribrostomoides cretacea Spiroplectinella sp., Ammoastuta megacribrostomoides, Ammoastuta sp., Reophax sp., and Ammotium bartheli. The Haplophragmoides-Ammobaculites fauna with rare calcareous foraminifera is an indication of marginal marine conditions of an intertidal setting (Berggren 1974; Hewaidy 1997). Jain and Farouk (2017) reported that shallow infaunal coarsely agglutinated Ammobaculites dominates the pre-K-Pg and interpreted as largely shallow neritic environment, and Haplophragmoides, another shallow infaunal coarsely agglutinated form in the post-K-Pg slightly deeper but fluctuating

Fig. 6 Paleoenvironmental parameters; absolute abundance in the > 200 m, > 100 m fraction, species diversity, and morphogroup categories of agglutinated benthic foraminifera in the Sinn El-Kaddab section

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Fig. 7 Paleoenvironmental parameters; absolute abundance in > 200 m, > 100 m fraction, species diversity, and morphogroup categories of agglutinated benthic foraminifera in the Wadi Abu Sayal section

environment from Dakhla Formation. Ammobaculites and Haplophragmoides show a preference for shallower depths, whereas Trochammina prefers deeper settings (Jain and Farouk 2017). The low diversity in agglutinated foraminiferal assemblage with Miliammina as the main constituent may be interpreted as being of marsh to lagoonal origin (Luger 1988a). Miliammina occurs worldwide in low-salinity, lowmarsh, and upper estuarine areas (Scott et al. 2001). Assemblages with Ammoastuta (Figs. 8, 9, and 10) indicate euryhaline lagoons to mixohaline lagoons, marshes, and coastal swamps (Luger 1985, 1988a). The presence of Ammoastuta in this assemblage is interpreted as a proxy for brackish littoral conditions in climates with high rainfall and Fig. 8 1, 2 Ammoastuta megacribrostomoides Luger; Early Maastrichtian, Sinn El Kaddab section: samples 5, 7 respectively; 3, 4 Ammotium bartheli Luger; 3 Early Maastrichtian, Sinn El Kaddab section, sample 2. Scale bar for all photos = 100 μm

high runoff in the area of the Kharga-Dungul stretch (Luger 1988a). Phleger (1954, 1955) reported a similar assemblage from Recent sediments in mixohaline marshes and bays of the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi Delta with rare calcareous foraminifera such as Eliphidum, Rotalia, and miliolids. The living Ammoastuta is restricted to the mixohaline sedimentary environments (Hiltermann and Tüxen 1978). Recent Ammoastuta is known also from mixohaline marshes and bays of the Mississipi delta area and Trinidad as well as from brackish mangrove swamps of Brazil (Hiltermann et al. 1981; Brönnimann 1986). Ammoastuta live only in the very brackish marshes, also in fresh water but only in warm climates (Scott et al. 2001). Recent Ammotium is an estuarine form

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Fig. 9 1, 2 Miliammina telemaquensis Saunders; Early Maastrichtian, Sinn El Kaddab section: sample 16. 3 Miliammina bisobscura Stelek; Late Campanian, Sinn El Kaddab section: sample 1. 4 Miliammina onyeamensis Petters; Late Campanian, Sinn El Kaddab section: sample 1. 5, 6 Lituola difformis Lamarck; Late Campanian, Sinn El Kaddab section: sample 2, 5 respectively. 7 Lituola nautiloidea Lamarck; Early Maastrichtian, Sinn El Kaddab section: sample 6. 8 Lituola obscura Barnard & Banner; Late Maastrichtian, Sinn El Kaddab section Sample 17. 9, 10 Cribrostomoides cretacea Cushman & Goudkoff; Early Maastrichtian, Sinn El Kaddab section: samples 12 and 13 respectively. 11 Flabellammina chapmani Tappan; Early Maastrichtian, Sinn El Kaddab section: sample 13. 12 Reophax texanus Cushman & Waters; Late Maastrichtian, Sinn El Kaddab section: sample 17. 13 Reophax sp.: Late Maastrichtian, Sinn El Kaddab section: sample 20. 14– 16 Ammodiscus cretaceous (Reuss); Early Maastrichtian, Sinn El Kaddab section: sample 7. 17 Ammodiscus sp.: Early Maastrichtian, Sinn El Kaddab section: sample 6. Scale bar for all photos = 100 μm

and indicative of an increased level of suspended particles (Scott et al. 2001). Ammotium salsum is typical marsh species in temperate-tropical environment (Debenay et al. 2000). The same assemblage was recorded from the Dakhla Oasis and interpreted as assemblage indicates a littoral environment with fresh water supply (Hewaidy et al. 2014). The recorded foraminiferal assemblage with common occurrence of Litula, Ammobaculites, and Haplophragmoides is considered of lagoonal environments (Koutsoukos and Hart 1990). These assemblages include abundant infaunal taxa, with a passive bacterial and detrital scavenging feeding strategy. The occurrence of the pollen genus Spinizonocolpites in the Maastrichtian deposits of Egypt clearly indicates the existence of extended mangrove-type coastal swamps along the southern Tethyan

sea shore during that time (Luger 1988a). This biofacies is represented by the sediments of Shab Member of the Kiseiba Formation in the studied area. Finally, these biofacies were interpreted to be of brackish lagoonal to marsh origin and found in the vicinity of the Late Cretaceous to early Paleocene paleo-equator in areas with warm climates, high rainfalls, and high runoff.

Conclusions Quantitative analyses of 42 samples from two surface sections in the south Western Desert have documented the foraminiferal assemblages in upper Campanian-Maastrichtian

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Fig. 10 1, 2 Ammobaculites khargaensis Nakkady & Tallat; Early Maastrichtian, Sinn El Kaddab section: samples 10 and 15 respectively. 3 Ammobaculites colombiana Cushman & Hedberg; Early Maastrichtian, Sinn El Kaddab section: sample 6. 4 Ammobaculites stephensoni Cushman; Early Maastrichtian, Sinn El Kaddab section: sample 6. 5, 6 Ammobaculites texanus Cushman; Late Maastrichtian, Sinn El Kaddab section: sample 21. 7 Ammobaculites subcretacoeus Cushman & Alexander; Late Maastrichtian, Sinn El-Kaddab section: sample 12. 8 Ammobaculites fragmentarius Cushman; Early Maastrichtian, Sinn El

Kaddab section: sample 7. 9 Haplophragmoides advenus (Cushman & Applin); Late Campanian, Sinn El Kaddab section: sample 1. 10 Haplophragmoides rougosa Cushman & Waters; Late Campanian, Sinn El Kaddab section SK: sample 1. 11 Haplophragmoides calculus Cushman & Waters; Late Campanian, Sinn El Kaddab section: sample 2. 12 Haplophragmoides gracilis Said & Kenawy; Late Campanian, Sinn El Kaddab section: sample 2. 13–15 Haplophragmoides excavatus Cushman & Waters; late Maastrichtian, Wadi Abu Sayal section: sample 18, 14—lateral with aperture. Scale bar for all photos = 100 μm

Kiseiba Formation. A high abundance of agglutinated foraminifera, rare occurrence of calcareous benthic foraminifera, and rare occurrence of planktonic foraminifera were recorded in the detailed analysis of the studied succession. The faunal assemblages dominated by agglutinated forms are attributed to brackish environments or to stagnant conditions. The quantitative morphogroup analysis yields five morphogroups in the agglutinated foraminiferal succession. These morphogroups are specified alphabetically (A, B, C, D, and E). Two morphotypes of the morphogroup C (C1, C2) and only D2 of morphotypes D are recorded. Agglutinated foraminifera in the studied interval are distinctly dominated by

epifaunal and shallow infaunal morphogroups C2 and D2 species. The studied sedimentary succession is interpreted to be of brackish lagoonal to marsh origin in an area with warm climate, high rainfall, and high runoff according to the occurrence of Ammoastuta-Ammotium-Miliammina associations.

Acknowledgements This project was supported by King Saud University, Deanship of Scientific Research, and College of Science Research Center. South Valley University is thanked for the logistic support during the field trip. I thank Dr. R. Neuser and M. Born (RuhrUniversität Bochum) for the SEM photography.

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