Provenance and tectonic setting of the Lower Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous shales from the northeastern Iraq: mineralogical and geochemical approaches

The Lower Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous successions from the Ranya and Warte areas in the northeastern Iraq were investigated to determine the provenance and tectonic setting. Fifty-seven shale samples from six Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous formations, i.e., Sarki, Sehkaniyan, Sargelu, Naokelekan, Barsarin, and Chia Gara, were analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and X-ray fluorescence (XRF). Mineralogical results showed that the shales comprise mainly calcite, dol