STRATIGRAPHY, SEDIMENTOLOGY AND DEPOSITIONAL-ENVIRONMENTS OF THE PERMIAN TO UPPERMOST CRETACEOUS BATAIN GROUP, EASTERN-OMAN

Permian to Late Cretaceous allochthonous sedimentary and volcanic rock s exposed in the Batain area (eastern Oman Margin) have received compa rably little attention in the past. They largely were considered as pa rt of the Hamrat Duru Group (Hawasina Complex) of the northern Oman Mo untains. Structural, kinematic and biostratigraphic results from our m apping campaign in the Batain area have now revealed, that emplacement of these units occurred in a WNW direction during latest Cretaceous/E arly Paleogene time. This clearly contrasts with previous models that postulated a S-ward directed obduction in Campanian times such as reco rded from the Hawasina Complex and Semail Ophiolite in the Oman Mounta ins. We herewith establish the ''Batain Group'' comprising all Permian to Late Cretaceous allochthonous units in the Batain Area. These are: 1.) the Permian Qarari Formation deposited in the toe of a slope sett ing; 2.) the Late Permian to late Liassic Al Jil Formation comprising periplatform detritus and very coarse breccias; 3.) the Scythian to No rian Matbat Formation formed by slope deposits; 4.) the Early Jurassic to early Oxfordian Guwayza Formation with high energy platform detrit us; 5.) the Mid-Jurassic to earliest Cretaceous Ruwaydah Formation sea mount; and 6.) the Oxfordian to Santonian Wahrah Formation, mainly rad iolarites; and 7.) the Santonian to latest Maastrichtian Fayah Formati on built by flysch-type sediments. These sedimentary and volcanic rock s represent deposits of the former ''Batain basin'' off eastern-Oman, destroyed by compressional tectonics at the Cretaceous/Paleogene trans ition. For tectono-stratigraphic reasons the Batain Group does not for m part of the Hawasina Complex.