الملخص

The Sinjar Formation in the Duhok area, Kurdistan region, Iraq, is characterized by lateral and vertical mixed carbonates and siliciclastic facies. Therefore, the main target of this work is to identify the diagnostic lithofacies and microfacies of the carbonate successions of the Sinjar Formation. The carbonate-predominant Sinjar Formation was deposited as patchy reefs that show interfingering, along with the siliciclastic-dominated turbidites facies of the Kolosh Formation (Lower to Upper Paleocene). The depositional environments of the Sinjar Formation have been recorded as inner to middle shelf deposition settings based on the micro and macrofossil associations and facies indications. The inner shelf successions included three microfacies, dolomitized mudstone and wackestone, which show alternations with proximal Turbidites facies (sandy conglomerates). In comparison, the middle shelf represents five microfacies: framestone, coral-algal wackestone, microbial bioclastic wackestone, packstone, and grainstone microfacies, and shows alterations with the middle to distal turbidite facies. The recorded shallow larger benthic foraminiferal biozones are: 1) Orbitolites complanata –Saudia labrynthica – Opetorbitolites    Assemblage Zone; 2) Idalina sinjraica- Alveolina globosa- Rotalia trochidiformis Assemblage’s zone. They are indicating Ypresian age. The mixed carbonates and siliciclastic parasequences evolutions have been used to identify the stacking patterns response to the eustatic sea level changes. The studied successions represent one complete third-order depositional system, started with sequence boundary type two at its base and capped by sequence boundary type one, manifested as an incised valley between the patchy reef-marine Sinjar deposits and the non-marine molasses of the Gercus Formation.