ABSTRACT
Throughout the geological history, a number of Oceanic Anoxic events (OAE ) took place. These were times of maximum flooding which led to the formation of oxygen-minimum zones and the deposition of organic rich black shales “Hot Shales” (Lüning et al., 2000c, 2004c), limestones, and glauconitic shales, characterized by a σ13C isotope levels and TOC values, which form excellent source rocks in the region (for a detailed discussion of the OAEs, see Summary). The source rocks which were deposited during these events extend from Silurian to Pliocene; the most important ones are:
1 Infracambrian black shales, especially in NW Africa. 2 The Silurian Tannezouft Shales in West Libya, Tunisia, and Algeria. 3 The Late Devonian Cues Limestone in Libya and its equivalent the Gazelle For-
mation in Eastern Algeria. 4 The Oxfordian Kidod Shale in Sinai, Jurassic coals in Central Sinai and equiva-
lent coaly sediments form prolific source rocks in the Western Desert of Egypt. Potential Jurassic source occur in the Middle Atlas of Morocco.
