The upper Hawasina nappes in the central Oman Mountains: stratigraphy, palinspastics and sequence of nappe emplacement

Abstract

In the Oman mountains, a succession of sedimentary decollement nappes, the Hawasina nappes, is sandwiched between the Samail ophiolitic nappe and its underlying melange and the 'authochthonous' sequences of the Arabian platform. The sediments of the Hawasina nappes document the Mesozoic evolution of the NE Arabian continental margin and the adjacent Tethys Ocean. The stratigraphic data indicate polyphase thrusting in the central Oman mountains. Downward propagation of thrusting in front of the Samail is responsible for cutting the original stratigraphic sequence into a number of thrust-sheets, involving successively older and more external formations. This kind of thrust propagation eventually leads to the observed superposition of originally lower sratigraphic units onto their original cover.-from Authors