Cenozoic

Cretaceous

Neoproterozoic

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Awe Formation

Awe Fm

Period:

Cretaceous

Age Interval:

Albian-Turonian

Province:
Benue Trough Central

Type Locality and Naming

The Asu River Gr in the Central Benue Trough is subdivided into five units (members or formations) by Nwajide (2013) as an upward succession of the Bima Fm, Uomba Fm, Arufu Limestone Fm, Gboko Limestone Fm and the Awe Fm which tops the sequence. They are all primarily exposed in the Benue Trough Central, particularly around Arufu Town, Uomba River, and near Yandev-Tiv along the Gboko-Makurdi Road in southeastern Nigeria. The Asu River Group have also have outcrops exposed in the Keana anticline east of Keana town and south of Azara; and in the area around Gboko with a typical section in the Quarry of the Benue Cement Company (now Dangote Cement Co. PLC) near Yandev and the Awe Formation occur around the town of Awe.

Synonym:

References: Reyment, 1965; Adeleye, 1975; Kogbe, 1976; Dessauvagie, 1975; Petters, 1978; Offodile, 1980; Whiteman, 1982; Benkhelil, 1989; Okosun, 1992; Guiraud, 1993; Akande et al., 1998; Zaborski et al., 1998; Jauro et al., 2007; Obaje, 2009; Nwajide, 2013

[Fig 1. Stratigraphic successions in the Benue Trough and the Nigerian sector of the Chad Basin]

Fig. 2 Sedimentary Basins of Nigeria (Obaje, 2009)

Lithology and Thickness

Awe Fm consists of flaggy, whitish, medium to coarse-grained calcareous sandstones, carbonaceous shales and clays, and has been estimated by Offodile and Reynment (1977) to be about 1000m (1km) thick.

Lithology Pattern:

Clayey sandstone

Relationships and Distribution

Lower contact

Overlies the Gboko Limestone Fm

Upper contact

Lies unconformably below the Keana Fm. However, it is also reported that the Keana Fm has a gradational and unconformable contact onto the underlying Awe Fm (Zaborski, 1998; Offodile, 1976, 1984; Reynment and Offodile, 1977). East of Okigwi the Campanian Nkporo Shales Fm rest unconformably on the Asu River Gr at the south-western nose of the fold belt but on the flanks and at the eastern end of the structure the Eze-Aku Shale succeeds conformably Whiteman A. (1982).

Regional extent

Extends from the Southern to Benue Trough Central, with the Bima Member (See Bima Fm of Upper Benue Trough for description) at the base extending from the Benue Trough Central to the Northern Benue Trough

GeoJSON

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Fossils

Ammonites in the Arufu Limestone Fm (Elobiceras) and Uomba Fm, Bivalves, Foraminifera, Echinoids (Arufu Limestone Fm), Pelecypod and Gastropod Shells (Gboko Fm), Sponge spicules.

Age

Middle Cretaceous. The Asu River Gr is indicated as uppermost Aptian through Albian on the schematic Benue Trough stratigraphy figures. Therefore, its four main formations are given semi-equal duration here: Uomba Fm = uppermost Aptian-lowermost Albian, Arufu Limestone Fm = lower-middle Albian, Gboko Limestone Fm = upper-middle Albian, and the Awe Fm = upper Albian

Age Span:

Beginning stage:

Albian

Fraction up in beginning stage:

0.7

Beginning date (Ma):

104.31

Ending stage:

Albian

Fraction up in the ending stage:

1.0

Ending date (Ma):

100.50

Depositional setting

The Arufu Fm, Uomba Fm and Gboko Fm collectively represent a sequence of depositional environments transitioning from fluvio-deltaic to deeper marine and carbonate platform settings.

Depositional pattern:

Additional Information

Compiler:

Enam O. Obiosio, Solomon Joshua Avong and Henry Nasir Suleiman (2024)- Stratigraphic Lexicon compiled from the following books:

Nigeria: Its Petroleum Geology, Resources and Potential, by Arthur Whiteman, 1982; (Volume 1) Published by Graham and Trotman Ltd.

A review of the Cretaceous System in Nigeria by P. M. Zaborski (1998) In Africa Geoscience Review, Vol.5, No.4, pp385-483

Geology and Mineral Resources of Nigeria by Nuhu George Obaje, Published by Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009; http://www.springer.com/series/772

Geology of Nigeria Sedimentary Basins, Nwajide C. S., 2013; Published by CSS Bookshops Limited, Lagos Nigeria.