THE PLESHET BASIN: A NEWLY‐DISCOVERED LINK IN THE PERIPHERAL CHAIN OF BASINS OF THE ARABIAN CRATON

Evaluation of existing magnetometric, gravimetric, seismic and well data indicates that a large basin, some 300 km long, 100 km wide and up to 13.5 km deep, occupies the greater part of the Sinai‐Israel offshore area. The basin, referred to here as the Pleshet Basin, is flanked by a series of magnetic and gravimetric anomalies, interpreted as being caused by basement highs. None of the wells drilled in the basin penetrated the Jurassic section. It is suggested, however, that the thick sedimentary sequence filling the basin includes strata of Paleozoic to Quaternary age. Wells drilled in the SE part of the basin showed an increase in clastic content in a NW direction. The source of these clastics is therefore to be sought in the west. It is perhaps the basement ridge that presumably forms the western flank of the basin, or even a large land‐mass further away. The Pleshet Basin occupies a position similar to that of the prolific basins of the Middle East within the unstable shelf belt that surrounds the Arabo‐Nubian Massif. It here postulated that the Pleshet Basin is a potentially hydrocarbon‐generative depression.