Karaungur Fm

Period:

Permian

Age Interval:

middle Early Permian

Province:
Zaisan (Zaysan) Basin - East, Zaisan (Zaysan) Basin - Central

Type Locality and Naming

Synonym: Karaungurskaya, P1kr

Lithology and Thickness

In borehole Sarybulak C-1, it is described as ca. 375 m. Coarse-grained rocks are typical: gritstone, sandstone, aleurolite (siltstone); rarely claystone. Sandstone and aleurolite are of polymictic composition. Claystone is often bituminiferous. Deep bitumen evidence in reference borehole was marked in the form of fellicite and sinter on the joints

In Well X-II, Primanrack Depression, it is "500 m-thick, mainly composed of sandstones and siltstones (50%). Mudstones, oil shales and tuff interlayers are of subordinate importance.

Oil shows were observed at the depths of 3427–3435 m. Degraded oil was found filling pores and cracks." and in Kenderlyk Trough (southern margin) it is " 580–800 m-thick, mainly composed of sandstones and subordinated siltstones, mudstones and oil shales. Tuff and tuffaceous sandstones are rare. The formation is intruded by two diabase dikes. Each dike is 12 and 20 m thick and spans over 2 and 12 km, respectively." (Nurbekova et al., 2023)

Lithology Pattern:

Clayey sandstone

Relationships and Distribution

Lower contact

Overlies the Kenderlyk Fm. (Kenerlyk Fm)

Upper contact

Overlain by the Taranchi Fm.

Regional extent

Originally throughout the entire basin; but later tectonics and erosion during uplifts implies that the main surface exposures of the Late Carboniferous-Permian succession is a 2-km-thick succession in the Kenderlyk Trough in the southern part of the Zaisan (Zaysan) basin (Nurbekova et al., 2023).

GeoJSON

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Fossils

Age

middle Early Permian (Sakmarian-Artinskian?)

Age Span:

Beginning stage:

Sakmarian

Fraction up in beginning stage:

0.0

Beginning date (Ma):

293.52

Ending stage:

Artinskian

Fraction up in the ending stage:

1.0

Ending date (Ma):

283.30

Depositional setting

"The Karaungur Fm has been interpreted as shallow-marine, brackish-lagoonal or lacustrine" (Nurbekova et al., 2023).

Depositional pattern:

Additional Information

Compiler:

Information provided by Nariman Jamikeshev from Kazakh-language sources and from other publications (e.g., Nurbekova et al., 2023. High-quality source rocks in an unexplored basin: The upper Carboniferous-Permian succession in the Zaysan Basin (Kazakhstan). Internat. Jour. Coal Geology, 272, article 104264.