earth science

Muwaqqar Chalk-Marl Formation

Muwaqqar Chalk-Marl Formation is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Muwaqqar Chalk-Marl Formation rather than just read about it. In short: The Muwaqqar Chalk-Marl Formation or Muwaqqar Formation is a Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) and early Paleogene-aged geological formation in Jordan, cropping out across the Jordanian Highlands from north to south. It is the geological formation containing Jordan's famous oil shales, which are among the largest in the world.

Key takeaways

Muwaqqar Chalk-Marl Formation belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Muwaqqar Chalk-Marl Formation to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Muwaqqar Chalk-Marl Formation from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Muwaqqar Chalk-Marl Formation or Muwaqqar Formation is a Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) and early Paleogene-aged geological formation in Jordan, cropping out across the Jordanian Highlands from north to south. It is the geological formation containing Jordan's famous oil shales, which are among the largest in the world. Some outcrops of the formation contain extremely well-preserved fossils, making it a lagerstätte.

Environment The formation appears to have been deposited in a pelagic subtropical environment on the outer continental shelf of the Afro-Arabian continent, with the Harrana locality being deposited no deeper than 100 metres (330 ft) below the surface, based on the occurrence of depth-limited fauna such as nurse sharks. The formation of this habitat likely originates from a major marine transgression of the Tethys Ocean at the same time as this depositional event, turning it into an open water ecosystem. The oil shales may have formed from cold upwelling currents from the Tethys that increased the region's planktonic productivity, with these fossilized plankton eventually turning into oil. The sites of excellent fossil preservation may have been formed by anoxic conditions on the seafloor hindering the decomposition of organic matter as well as rapid burial of fossils, although the presence of bottom-dwelling scavengers suggests that anoxic conditions must have been relatively moderate. While the formation as a whole lasts from the early Maastrichtian to the end of the Paleocene based on foraminifera-based dating, a significant uncomformity exists in some localities at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary, which may be due to a drop in sea levels at the time, with deposition continuing following a second sea level rise in the Paleocene. In addition, the highly fossiliferous portion of the formation was only deposited in the span of a few hundred thousand years at the end of the Maastrichtian.

Paleobiota A locality in Harrana is a Konservat-Lagerstätte with extremely well-preserved fossils that were deposited during the latest Maastrichtian, around 66.5 to 66.1 million years ago, making it one of the last lagerstatten to be deposited before the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event. The preservation is akin to that of the older, more well-known Sannine Formation from Lebanon. Fossils are contained in concretions exposed by limestone mining, which started in the Harrana region around 1995. Notable fossils from this locality include articulated fish and mosasaur skeletons, mosasaur skin impressions, and evidence of mosasaur carcasses scavenged by nurse sharks & other fishes. The fossil potential of the Harrana locality was documented by geologist Hani Kaddumi, who described most of the formation's taxa in a 2009 book. Many fossils from this locality are held in the Eternal River Museum of Natural History in Jordan. The following list of biota is based primarily on Kaddumi (2009). Unless stated otherwise, a majority are from the Harrana locality:

Cartilaginous fish

Bony fish

Reptiles

Mosasaurs

Turtles

Pterosaurs

Mollusca Based on Krewesh et al (2014) and Jagt et al (2017):

Cephalopoda

Bivalvia

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Muwaqqar Chalk-Marl Formation

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Muwaqqar Chalk-Marl Formation claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Muwaqqar Chalk-Marl Formation before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Muwaqqar Chalk-Marl Formation ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Muwaqqar Chalk-Marl Formation

In research: Muwaqqar Chalk-Marl Formation appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Muwaqqar Chalk-Marl Formation in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Muwaqqar Chalk-Marl Formation is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Cretaceous Jordan, Cretaceous System of Asia, Geologic formations of Jordan, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Muwaqqar Chalk-Marl Formation outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Muwaqqar Chalk-Marl Formation in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Muwaqqar Chalk-Marl Formation means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
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Frequently asked questions

What is Muwaqqar Chalk-Marl Formation in simple terms?

Why does Muwaqqar Chalk-Marl Formation matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Muwaqqar Chalk-Marl Formation?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Muwaqqar Chalk-Marl Formation.