ِAbdulkader M. Abed

University of Jordan | UJ · Department of Geology

A calcrete horizon, 3-10 m thick, is found exposed in northern Jordan in three localities, Rumman, Marsa', and Wasfi At Tal forest (WTF). It is situated at the base of the dominantly limestone, Late Cenomanian Hummar Formation, separating it from the underlying marly Fuheis Formation. The calcrete horizon exhibits all the diagnostic features charac...

The Azraq basin is some 100 Km east of Amman, the capital of Jordan. Hydrologically, it occupies ~12700Km2 , mostly in Jordan, but it also extends to southern Syrian and NW Saudi Arabia. The Azraq area seems to have developed as a basin during the Paleozoic testified by the total thickness of both Ram and Khreim Groups in the Azraq subsurface b...

The study area of Wadi Hudaydun and its surroundings forms part of the 80 km long and NE trending Wadi Shueib Structure in northwestern Jordan. The area is predominated by the Late Cretaceous carbonates with minor bedded cherts and phosphorites of the Ajlun and Belqa Groups. A complex structural style is revealed during the measuring and mapping...

Representative samples from the Al-Hisa Phosphorite Formation (AHP) in the SE desert of Jordan, are selected from three sections: Batn El-Ghoul, Nagb Etayyeg, and Zgaimat Al-Hasah. The samples are investigated geochemically and petrographically. Geochemistry is discussed through the analysis of the major, trace and rare earth elements (REEs), loss...

Representative samples from the Al-Hisa Phosphorite Formation (AHP) in 11 the SE desert of Jordan, are selected from three sections: Batn El-Ghoul, 12 Nagb Etayyeg, and Zgaimat Al-Hasah. The samples are investigated 13 geochemically and petrographically. Geochemistry is discussed through the 14 analysis of the major, trace and rare earth elements (...

Three sections from the Al-Hisa Phosphorite Formation (AHP) were measured in the southeastern desert of Jordan: Batn El-Ghoul, Nagb Etayyeg, and Zgaimat Al-Hasah. A fourth section, Wadi Arfa, is added from a previous work. The three sections differ from the typical AHP Formation in central Jordan by having highly reduced thicknesses, omission/non-d...

The paper discusses some details of Wadi Mujib in west central Jordan, age of the initiation of the wadi at about 5 Ma ago, and its evolution in association with the continuous subsidence of its base level, the Dead Sea, as well as the continuous uplift the wadi itself..

Abstract This work is a first step on the way to characterize raw sandstone in Jordan, and to extract silica and silicon for the use in solar cells and other industries. Seven samples of raw sandstone were brought from Disi in Jordan. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X...

This work is a first step on the way to characterize raw sandstone in Jordan, and to extract silica and silicon for the use in solar cells and other industries. Seven samples of raw sandstone were brought from Disi in Jordan. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spect...

This is a field guide to the 32 International Geological Congress, Florence, Italy, 2004, Post congress field trip P03, on the active tectonics of the Dead Sea Transform in Jordan..

A calcrete horizon, 3–10 m thick, is found exposed in northern Jordan in three localities, Rumman, Marsa’, and Wasfi At Tal forest (WTF). It is situated at the base of the dominantly limestone, Late Cenomanian Hummar Formation, separating it from the underlying marly Fuheis Formation. The calcrete horizon exhibits all the diagnostic features charac...

We performed a stress analysis based on fault-slip data for two of the main geological structures in NW Jordan; the Amman-Hallabat (AHF) and Shueib (SHF) faults. Both structures formed in Cretaceous times under E-W to ESE-WNW maximum compressive stress and have been considered inactive in Neogene and Quaternary times. We have collected data from 14...

تشكل التربية البيئية جانبا من جوانب التربية الوطنية. وتهدف بصورة عامة إلى تعريف المواطن بالبيئة التي يعيش فيها وفي إطارها، وإلى تطوير قناعاته واتجاهاته وقيمه من أجل حماية هذه البيئة والمحافظة على مكوناتها وتجدبدها، وللمحافظة على التوازن البيئي وحماية الإنسان والحياة من أي خلل فيها. والتربية البيئية متعلقة أساسا بأخلاق الإنسان وقيمه وسلوكه بحيث تبقى...

Sixty three samples representing the phosphorite deposits of the Al-Kora province in northwest Jordan are analyzed for their major and certain trace elements including the rare earths and uranium. They are collected from four sections: Tubna, Dair Abu Sa'id, Wadi Al-Arab and Wadi Ziglab. The samples studied are mainly phosphorite packstone/grainsto...

تحديد موعد حلول الفجر الصادق في الأردن بالرصد الفلكي المباشر بالعين المجردة الأستاذ الدكتور عبد القادر عابد أستاذ الجيولوجيا – الجامعة الأردنية – عمان 11942 ، الأردن. aabed@ju.edu.jo ملخص قامت مجموعة من أعضاء جمعية الفلك الأردنية والفقهاء وغيرهم برصد الفجر الصادق بالعين المجردة مرة كل شهر ولمدة عام كامل 1430/1431 هـ وفي عدة مواقع من الأردن. وق...

Phosphorite, Rare earth elements, Ce anomaly, Uranium, Al-Kora, NW Jordan.

Abstract Groundwater wells in the Amman-Wadi Es Sir Aquifer (B2/A7) throughout Jordan are investigated for their arsenic (As) and element-by-element geochemical behavior. Groundwater wells are found to have total arsenic concentrations above the recommended levels designated by the Jordanian drinking water standard, the Environmental Protection Age...

Three Maastrichtian ammonite species belonging to two families, were recorded in the upper part of Muwaqqar Formation (MCM). Two planispiral species belong to the family, namely, Sphenodiscidae, Sphenodiscus lobatus and Libycoceras ismaeli while the third, straight species, belongs to Baculitidae family; Baculites sp. The Paleocene strata are rep...

ABSTRACT The Ediacaran Araba Complex in Jordan is deined and described for the irst time in lexicon style, with an emphasis on the sedimentary, volcanic and volcaniclastic units outcropping adjacent to Wadi Araba, and from seismic and deep exploration well data. The Araba Complex ranges in age from ca. 605 to 550 Ma and comprises a major cycle...

The Ediacaran Araba Complex in Jordan is defined and described for the first time in lexicon style, with an emphasis on the sedimentary, volcanic and volcaniclastic units outcropping adjacent to Wadi Araba, and from seismic and deep exploration well data. The Araba Complex ranges in age from ca. 605 to 550 Ma and comprises a major cycle of sediment...

Two hundred and three groundwater samples were collected during March 2011 to June 2012 from the B2/A7 aquifer water supply wells of northern part of Jordan. The physicochemical properties were analyzed in situ while for the major cations, anions, while certain heavy metals were analyzed in the laboratory. Some oilshale rock samples were geochemica...

The lower and middle Cambrian succession (Ram Group) in Jordan is described in lexicon-style format to document an important phase of Earth history following the uplift and erosion of the Arabian-Nubian Shield (Aqaba Complex) during the late Neoproterozoic, and younger, but more localised, intrusive and volcanic/volcaniclastic activity that formed...

Twenty-seven samples from Waqf as Suwwan structure in the southeastern desert of Jordan were analyzed for their petrography, mineralogy, and geochemistry. All three types of analysis failed to show any evidence supporting the structure as an impact crater, but they cannot be used as an evidence discrediting the structure as an impact crater. This i...

Geostatistical analysis of geochemical exploration data can provide useful information for evaluating the mineralization potential of geologic bodies. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the spatial distribution of U and V over an area in the upper phosphorite member, the A0 unit, in Eshidiyya basin in southern Jordan. Drill-hole sampl...

The Late Cenomanian Hummar Formation was studied in three sections in north and central Jordan, at Aameriyya, northeast of Na’ur and the Wadi Haur areas. The base in the Aameriyya area is marked by a subaerial unconformity overlain by a calcrete and a paleokarstic horizon, separating the underlying Fuheis Formation marl from the overlying Hummar Fo...

About 20 billion tonnes of world-class, high-grade phosphorite resources occur in a small area of the eastern Mediterranean region, including Jordan, northern Negev (Palestine), northwestern Saudi Arabia, western Iraq, and southeastern Syria. Major deposits were formed during Campanian to Eocene times and contribute significantly to the economic de...

Up to the 1970s, freshwater input in the DS was able to maintain a less salty topmost water layer (epilimnion) over-riding a salt-saturated bottom water layer (hypolimnion). The epilimnion was ~40 m deep, had a seasonal temperature variation of between 19 and 37°C and a salinity of about 30%. The water was particularly rich in sulphate and bicarbon...

This field guide is prepared to give an overview of the geology of Jordan. It is designed primarily as a road-field course covering geologically interesting facets of central and southern Jordan. Only areas easily accessible by cars and which for the most part occur along paved roads or well-traveled country tracks are included in the guide. The gu...

For the first time, a large Eemian paleolake was observed by 29°N in the Mudawwara depression (Southern Jordan) which prolongates into Saudi Arabia. Lacustrine coquina shows that vast lake complexes existed in the depression during oxygen isotope stages (OIS) 7a–6e, 5e and 5c–a. These ages correlate with those of Sahara Pleistocene paleolakes and b...

During the spring each year, the Eastern Mediterranean is affected by Khamaseen dust cyclones sourced from the North African Sahara. In order to characterize Khamaseen dust in Jordan, we collected dust from ten localities during the spring of 2006. The collected dust was analyzed for grain size, mineralogy, and chemical composition. The dust is pre...

Four reference sections through the calcareous-siliciclastic rocks of the Lower Cretaceous Kurnub Group and the Amman and Muwaqqar formations of the Upper Cretaceous to Paleogene Belqa Group in Jordan document the various processes of accumulation and alteration of organic matter (OM). Sections at Jerash, Sultani, Wadi Isal, and in the Kharazeh are...

Representative samples were collected from various stages of phosphorite mining and beneficiation from the Al-Abiad and Al-Hasa mines in central Jordan and the Eshidiyya mine in southern Jordan. After open pit mining, the rock is crushed and dry-sieved to pass 12mm in order to concentrate the ore. The sieved material is then agitated, washed with f...

The terrestrial Umm Ghaddah Formation of late Ediacaran-early Cambrian age was deposited in NE–SW elongated intracontinental rift system basins and sub-basins bounded by active listric half-graben faults. Basin fill consists of conglomerate facies association A, deposited in a fault-controlled transverse alluvial fan system that drained northwestwa...

Two Cardium horizons from the topmost Azraq Formation in the eastern desert of Jordan were investigated and dated by U/Th at 330 ka; MIS 9. Fossil diversity and abundance, especially for Charophytes and gastropods with the absence of palygorskite, dolomite and evaporites, suggest the presence of a fresh water lake changing to a brackish environment...

Al-Sirhan area in southeast Jordan is studied for its hydrocarbon potentiality. Petrophysical studies including porosity, permeability, water saturation, and hydrocarbon saturation are done using wire line logs for candidate reservoirs. Total organic carbon analysis is done for two candidate source intervals. Seismic investigation is also done usin...

The terrestrial Umm Ghaddah Formation of late Ediacaran-early Cambrian age was deposited in NE–SW elongated intracontinental rift system basins and sub-basins bounded by active listric half-graben faults. Basin fill consists of conglomerate facies association A, deposited in a fault-controlled transverse alluvial fan system that drained northwestwa...

The terrestrial Umm Ghaddah Formation of late Ediacaran-early Cambrian age was deposited in NE–SW elongated intracontinental rift system basins and sub-basins bounded by active listric half-graben faults. Basin fill consists of conglomerate facies association A, deposited in a fault-controlled transverse alluvial fan system that drained northwestwa...

Twenty-two “oil shale” samples from north Jordan have been investigated. They are in fact all bituminous limestones, of ages ranging from Uppermost Cretaceous to Paleocene. Major elements, organic matter and trace elements, were determined, together with aspects of mineralogy and petrography. Although macrofossils are rare, trace fossils were encou...

The Dead Sea transform (DST) extends 1000 km from the Sinai triple junction in the south to the Tauros- Zagros collision zone in Turkey in the north. In Jordan, the DST consists of three morphotectonic elements; the Wadi Araba in the south, the Dead Sea basin in the middle and the Jordan Valley in the north. The Dead Sea is a pull- apart basin that...

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 the transgressive systems tracts (TST). Phosphogenesis had paused or became minor during the HST when the oy...

The "Nubian Series" of Jordan have been a common subject of sedimentologic research to the authors through two decades. The 1700 m thick Early Paleozoic Systems (Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian) to be dealt in this paper were deposited at the northern rim of the Arabian Shield (Gondwana). From time to time, the Tethyan Sea invaded onto this stable s...

Stable isotopes have proven to be efficient tools for paleoenvironmental analysis and interpretation of paleotemperature. Oxygen and carbon isotopes were analyzed in carbonate flourapatite (francolite), oyster shells, tests of foraminifera and ostracods from the Phosphorite Unit throughout Jordan.Isotopic analysis showed δ18O to be enriched in auth...

This chapter discusses the long-period cyclicity and its causes within the Arabian–Nubian Craton since 640 Ma up till the recent. The Arabian–Nubian Shield occupies an area of 3 million km2, with outcrops in the following countries: Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Jordan, Palestine, Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia. In the first three countries, i...

The phosphorite and the overlying ‘oil shale’ succession in central and eastern Jordan has been studied for its organic matter composition, maturation, hydrocarbon potential and sedimentological implications. Pristine phosphorite was authigenically precipitated from interstitial solutions in ventilated environments. Later they were reworked and win...

A record of sedimentary, authigenic, and biological processes are preserved within the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) Alhisa Phosphorite Formation (AP) in central and northern Jordan. The AP formed near the eastern extremity of the south Tethyan Phosphorite Province (STPP), a carbonate-dominated Upper Cretaceous to Eocene “phosphorite giant” that ext...

The Ordovician System, cropping out in southern and west-central Jordan, consists entirely of a 750 m thick clastic sequence that can be subdivided into six formations. The lower Disi Formation starts conformably above the Late Cambrian Umm Ishrin Formation. According to Cruziana furcifera occurring in the upper third of the Disi Formation, an Earl...

The uppermost Pleistocene in the Jordan Valley is represented by two closed lakes: the Lisan Lake (and hence the Lisan Formation 63 to 16–15ka) and the Damya Lake (Damya Formation 16–15 to 12ka). The Lisan Formation in the central Jordan Valley consists mainly of varved sediments, is capped by a conspicuous white cliff containing abundant gypsum la...

The fossiliferous deposits of a large palaeolake were recently observed in southern Jordan, overlapping into Saudi Arabia. Preliminary U/Th analyses of Cerastoderma sp. shells date the lake at 116 ± 5.3 kyr and 76.8 ± 8.2 kyr. Archaeological sites with Levailoiso-Mousterian artifacts are superimposed on those deposits, which fit a possible sub-stag...

Surface and Subsurface Occurrences of the new Infracambrian Umm Ghaddah Formation in Jordan; Tectonic Implications.

Seven facies associations comprise the Early Cretaceous Kurnub Group (KG) in northern Jordan. They are assigned to the following five depositional environments: proximal to distal alluvial braidplain; tidal flat; tidal marsh-coastal swamp; inner shelf; and meandering river. According to the evolution of these depositional facies associations, the K...

Jordan is well known for its Cretaceous phosphorite deposits. These comprise the phosphorite-bearing sediments which overlie the main chert facies of the Amman Formation. Phosphorites have been mined since the 1950s in north and central Jordan. Tectonic ‘windows’ or ‘inliers’ reveal the Upper Cretaceous sequence in the SE desert of Jordan in severa...

Phosphorite grains were authigenically precipitated within precursor marl and biosiliceous deposits during high water level and intense upwelling within the Tethys Ocean to the north of Jordan. With falling sea level, the oyster Lopha villei colonized bathymétrie highs in the shallow shelfal environments in east-central Jordan during the uppermost...

Forty samples representing the red phosphorites of Eshidiya in southeast Jordan were investigated petrographically and geochemically. Weathering of the marry limestone unit overlying the phosphorite in the Eshidiya Basin had produced a red alluvial horizon that was transported and redeposited in the study area. Clays from this alluvial horizon (kao...

A total of thirty-five samples of the economic grade Jordanian Upper Cretaceous phosphorites were analysed for certain major and rare earth elements (REE) with an overall objective of understanding phosphogenesis conditions. These samples represent pelletal (granular) phosphorites with traces of carbonates and marl. The deposits are of shallow subt...

The phosphate particles (pellets, intraclasts and skeletal fragments) from thirteen friable samples representing the economic phosphorite horizons in Jordan were hand-picked and then cleaned. A total of 39 particle fractions were chemically analysed for their major and certain trace elements. The chemistry, supported by petrography, proved that the...

The Cambrian sequence in Jordan crops out in a belt-like pattern extending over more than 300 km from the Arabian-Nubian Shield source rock in the south, located on a stable shelf platform, to the invading southern (Baltic) side of the Tethys seaway.The analysis of the lithofacies association, ichnofossil content, together with the architecture of...

Phosphatic sediments form not only beneath upwelling systems, but also on oceanic islands, atop seamounts, guyots and plateaus, and on some shelves, slopes and in epeiric environments that may not have experienced upwelling at all. We evaluate the formation of phosphorites and the sources of phosphorus in each of these settings. We define primary p...

The Permian Umm Irna Formation in central Jordan consists of a 60 m thick sequence of clastic sediments which can be divided into two fluvial sedimentary facies. The lowermost facies (1) is characterized by the presence of five sandstone-dominated fining-upward sequences, each sequence comprising an erosively based coarse- to fine-grained, trough c...

The Umm Ishrin Sandstone Formation between Wadi Manshala and Wadi Abu Khusheiba, along the northeastern margin of the Dead Sea, consists of a quartz arenite facies and a subordinate heterolithic facies of siltstone and mudstone with sandy lenses. The former are trough cross-bedded with unidirectional northwesterly mode. The Umm Ishrin sediments wer...

The late Cretaceous Amman Formation in central Jordan consists of cherts, porcelanites, dolomites and phosphorites with various limestones types. It is subdivided into five mapable lithological units: Mixed Mineralogy Unit, Porcelanite Unit, Chalk Unit, Main Chert Unit and Phosphorite Unit. The microfacies indicates a deposition within a shallow-ma...

Samples representing granular and laminated phosphorites from the main Upper Cretaceous deposits of Jordan, have been examined by SEM for microbial structures. Globular clusters and sheaths, postulated to have formed by bacterial activity or possibly as inorganic precipitates, have been found only within cavities and in the cementing phosphatic mat...

Phosphorites from NW Jordan were examined petrographically and chemically. Their mineralogy is basically simple and includes apatite (francolite), carbonate (mainly micritic calcite), some dolomite, and minor clay minerals and organic matter. These mineral phases control the chemistry. The phosphorite deposits are made up of several depositional cy...

The interbedded phosphorites and cherts of the uppermost Amman Formation of the Tel es Sur (TES) area have been investigated and compared with the nearby economic phosphorites of Ruseifa. The strata are arranged in several shallowing upward cycles deposited in shallow subtidal, intertidal and supratidal (emerged) environments. -from Author