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Wadi Dukhan Formation
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Wadi Dukhan Fm base reconstruction

Wadi Dukhan Fm


Period: 
Cretaceous

Age Interval: 
late Maastrichtian


Province: 
Cyrenaica Basin

Type Locality and Naming

Synonym:

References: Shaltami, O.R., et al. (2020), and Google Gemina (Aug’26)


Lithology and Thickness

Massive, heavy, massive shallow-water dolomites and dolomitic limestones.


Lithology Pattern: 
Dolomite


Relationships and Distribution

Lower contact

Unconformable onto the Al Athrun Fm according to Shaltami et al. (2020).

Upper contact

Unconformably overlain by the Al Uwayliayah Fm according to Shaltami et al. (2020).

Regional extent


GeoJSON

{"type":"Feature","geometry":{"type":"Polygon","coordinates":[[[24.38,28.97],[24.44,29.45],[23.6,29.81],[21.28,29.89],[20.27,32.06],[20.25,33.14],[20.67,33],[23.31,33.18],[24.38,32.55],[24.99,32.54],[25.2,31.39],[26.18,29.37],[24.38,28.97]]]}}

Fossils


Age 

Late Maastrichtian according to Shaltami et al. (2020). [For graphic purposes, the extent of the upper and lower unconformities, which are equivalent to nearly the same time span of the known preserved deposits, have been omitted here.]

Age Span: 

    Beginning stage: 
Maastrichtian

    Fraction up in beginning stage: 
0.5

    Beginning date (Ma): 
69.11

    Ending stage: 
Maastrichtian

    Fraction up in the ending stage: 
1.0

    Ending date (Ma):  
66.04

Depositional setting


Depositional pattern:  


Additional Information

:


Compiler:  
s:

Shaltami, O.R., et al. (2020). Petroleum system of the Cyrenaica Basin – A review. In: 1st International Symposium on Geosciences (ISG2020), 21th March 2020, Proceeding Book: published by BR Petrobras. P. 64-71.

Tawadros, E.E. (2011). Geology of North Africa. CRC Press (Taylor & Francis Group), 931 pp.

Google Gemini (Aug 2026) – assembled synthesis of Cyrenaica Basin units from various web-accessible publications.

El Oshebi, F.M., Fares, F.F. (2026). Stratigraphy, facies, and depositional environments of the Eocene sequence in the Ras Al Hilal area, Cyrenaica, Libya. Arabian Jour. Geosciences, 19:79. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-026-12488-2.

El-Hawat, A.S., Abdulsamad, E.O. (2004) Geology and Archeology of Cyrenaica, Northeastern Libya. Field trip guide B01, 32nd International Geological Congress. 36 pp.