Palynology of the Huqf Supergroup, Oman

Abstract

Extensive subsurface sampling of the Huqf Supergroup in the Sultanate of Oman has yielded microfossil assemblages of Cryogenian, Ediacaran and Early Cambrian age. Microfossils have been recovered from most stratigraphic units in the Huqf, including Marinoan-equivalent horizons of the Ghadir Manqil Formation (Cryogenian Abu Mahara Group), the Masirah Bay, Shuram and Buah formations of the Ediacaran Nafun Group, and the A3 (latest Ediacaran) and A6 (Early Cambrian) cycles of the Ara Group. Despite the extensive recovery of leiosphaerid acritarchs from the Shuram Formation, there is no indication of the large acanthomorphs typical of other early–middle Ediacaran assemblages. This absence suggests a relatively young (post-extinction) depositional age for the Shuram; however, the signal is complicated by local deep-water conditions and the facies-specific distribution of Proterozoic microfossils. A shallower-water sequence of undivided Nafun Group sediments preserves sphaeromorphic acritarchs in association with filamentous microfossils, fragmentary vendotaenids and possible vaucheriacean algae.

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