English abstract
In the outcrops of central Saudi Arabia, Permian flora have been recovered from the Unayzah Formation and the Midhnab Member of the Khuff Formation. The Unayzah Flora is found in the Unayzah Formation (below the Khuff Formation), and it is a true Cathaysian-Euramerican mixed palaeoflora with a probable age of Middle Permian (either Roadian or/ and Wordian). The Unayzah Flora would therefore be coeval with the Gharif Flora from the Al Huqf area of Oman (uppermost Gharif Formation). The Midhnab Flora is found in the continental Midhnab Member (subunit 4) of the Khuff Formation. It is a mixed Late Permian flora related to the Gondwanan, Euramerican and Cathaysian realms. New associations of the Midhnab Flora were discovered at Jal Khartam, Jal al Watah and Wadi al Batan in the Qasim area of central Saudi Arabia. The new Midhnab Flora are systematically described here for the first time. The combination of palaeobotanical and sedimentological data led to the characterisation and organisation of the various palaeoenvironments in which each palaeofloral association was growing. Comparison between the Permian flora of Saudi Arabia, Oman, Anatolia (Turkey) and surrounding realms provides the means for reconstructing a more complete palaeogeographic setting for the Arabian Plate in a global palaeobiogeography.
