Walid Ahmed Makledhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2209-885X,^1,*,** Rahma Sael Al-Auqadihttps://orcid.org/0009-0001-5230-8395,^2,*** Ali Ismail Al-Jubouryhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-2516-782X,^3,**** Mohamed Mahmoud El Garhyhttps://orcid.org/0009-0001-7341-287X,^4,***** Nasir Alarifi,^5,****** Nagham Omar,^6,******* Abdelaziz Mahmoudhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-0180-5316<sup>7,********

1</sup>Exploration Department, Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute (EPRI), Cairo, Egypt
²College of Petroleum and Mining Engineering, University of Mosul, Mosul, Iraq
³Petroleum Engineering Department, Al-Kitab University, Kirkuk, Iraq
⁴Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt
⁵Geology and Geophysics Department, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
⁶Institut für Geowissenschaften, Geologie, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
⁷Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Helwan University, Cairo, Egypt

^*CONTACT Walid Ahmed Makled ✉ walidmakled@epri.sci.eg Exploration Department, Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute (EPRI), Cairo, Egypt; Abdelaziz Mahmoud ✉ abdelaziz_mahmoud@science.helwan.edu.eg Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Helwan University, Cairo, Egypt
^**Walid Ahmed Makled has been a professor in the Micropaleontology Laboratory at the Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute (EPRI) since 2021. His doctoral research focused on Neogene foraminifera and palynology from the Nile Delta, along with studies on recent marine environments. Since 2011, he has dedicated his research to advancing the application of microfossils in the petroleum industry. Beyond biostratigraphy and sequence stratigraphy, his work encompasses source rock evaluation and thermal maturity assessment through palynofacies and spore coloration analyses. In 2017, he established the Organic Petrography Laboratory at EPRI, enabling the study of Paleozoic and Mesozoic organic matter and environments.
^***Rahma Sael Al-Auqadi is a lecturer in the Geology Department, College of Science, Mosul University, Iraq, and a Lecturer at the College of Petroleum Engineering and Mining of Mosul University. She received her PhD in 2024; since then, her research has focused on Middle Paleozoic organic geochemistry, palynofacies and organic petrography.
^****Ali Ismail Al-Juboury is a professor emeritus of petrology and mineralogy of sedimentary rocks at the Geology Department of Mosul University and professor at the College of Engineering of Al-Kitab University, Kirkuk, Iraq. His research is focused on the sedimentology, mineralogy and geochemistry of Paleozoic rocks.
^*****Mohamed Mahmoud El Garhy has been a lecturer in micropaleontology and stratigraphy in the Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Al Azhar University, since 2020. He obtained his master's and PhD from Al Azhar University. He has concentrated on developing the application of microfossils in the petroleum industry, and studies the biostratigraphy, palynofacies and taxonomy of palynomorphs and the integration of palynological and organic geochemistry of subsurface samples in the Western Desert of Egypt.
^******Nasir Alarifi, obtained a PhD in geophysics from the Earth Sciences Department, College of Science and Engineering, University of Manchester, UK, in 1996. He is a professor of geophysics at the Geology and Geophysics Department, College of Science, King Saud University. His research focuses on earth and environmental sciences.
^*******Nagham Omar is a researcher at the Institute of Geosciences, University of Bonn, Germany, and has a PhD. Her area of specialization is mainly the study of paleoenvironmental conditions using mineralogy and geochemistry proxies in the Jurassic of Iraq.
^********Abdelaziz Mahmoud has been an Associate Professor in the Geology Department at Helwan University since 2021. His research focuses on applied palynology, specifically utilizing microfossils like foraminifera and ostracods to assess oil maturation and source rock potential. He combines these analyses with geochemical techniques to accurately determine the age of rock units encountered during drilling operations. More recently, he has been exploring the application of advanced sequence stratigraphic techniques to study sea-level fluctuations in different wells and their relationship to palynological facies.