PETROGRAPHY AND GEOCHEMISTRY OF SOME JORDANIAN OIL SHALES FROM NORTH JORDAN

Abstract

Twenty‐two “oil shale” samples from north Jordan have been investigated. They are in fact all bituminous limestones, of ages ranging from Uppermost Cretaceous to Paleocene. Major elements, organic matter and trace elements, were determined, together with aspects of mineralogy and petrography. Although macrofossils are rare, trace fossils were encountered. These rocks are postulated to be normal limestones deposited in an oxygenated shallow marine environment. The H 2 S/O 2 interface coincided or lay just below the water/sediment interface. The organic matter is indigenous and not related to migrating oil.