Palaeozoic and Mesozoic Subsurface Palynostratigraphy in the Al Kufrah Basin, Libya

During the hydrocarbon exploration activity of AGIP–NOC in the Al Kufrah basin two deep wildcat wells were drilled (in 1978 and 1981). Both reached the Precambrian metamorphic basement. Besides these, a shallow stratigraphic well, drilled and cored during a geological survey, also penetrated the Tanezzuft Formation. The two wildcat wells and the shallow stratigraphic one provided a considerable amount of data, notably improving knowledge about the stratigraphy and geology of the basin.
The stratigraphic section includes sediments from the Cambro-Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, Permian and Triassic ages.
Nineteen palynological assemblages, recognized throughout the sequence, are described and their stratigraphic significance is discussed.
It has been possible to point out the Late Ordovician age at the beginning of the first major marine ingression, the completeness of the Devonian and Lower Carboniferous sequence and the presence of the continental Post-Basillian unit of Late Permian and Triassic ages.
A comparison is then made and a correlative scheme is established, with the coeval sequences of the Ghadâmis basin.