Cenozoic

Cretaceous

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Fika Formation

Fika Fm

Period:

Cretaceous

Age Interval:

Coniacian-Campanian

Province:
Benue Trough North -Gongola Arm, Bornu Basin (SW. Chad Basin)

Type Locality and Naming

The Fika Formation type locality is at Nafada village on the Gombe – Ashaka road.

Synonym: Fika Shale

References: Carter et al., 1963; Reynment, 1965; Whiteman, 1982; Reyment,1965; Adeleye, 1975; Kogbe, 1976; Dessauvagie, 1975; Petters, 1978; Offodile, 1980; Whiteman, 1982; Avbovbo et al., 1986; Benkhelil, 1989; Okosun, 1992, 1995, 2013; Guiraud, 1993; Olugbemiro et al., 1997; Akandeet al., 1998; Zaborskiet al., 1998; Jauroet al., 2007; Obaje, 2009; Nwajide, 2013

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

Lithology and Thickness

The lithology is a fully marine, bluish-greenish carbonaceous shale, locally gypsiferous, highly fissile, and with occasional limestones in places. The formation is entirely marine and with a thickness which ranges from 200 to 500 meters. Thicknesses of 430 m, 0–900 m, 890 m and 840–1,453 m were recorded from exploratory wells by Carter et al. (1963), Avbovbo et al.(1986), Okosun (1995, 2013) and Olugbemiro et al. (1997), respectively.

Lithology Pattern:

Claystone

Relationships and Distribution

Lower contact

Conformably overlying the Pindiga Fm or the Gongila Fm (when Pindiga Fm is merged with the Gongila Fm).

Upper contact

Paralic shales of the Fika Fm are overlain unconformably by the estuarine-deltaic sequence of the Gombe Fm (Witeman, 1982)..

Regional extent

Gongola Arm and its extension under Chad Basin. At Maiduguri, 120miles east of Damagum Town, there is 1413ft thickness of shales which appear to be the equivalent of the Fika Shales of the Northern Benue Trough (Carter et al., 1963).

GeoJSON

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Fossils

Ammonites, Gastropods, Foraminifera, Ostracods, fossil fish, reptilian fossils, and chelonian remains. Planktonic foraminifera, pollen and spores, fish remains (Echnodus lamberti Arambourg and Joleaud), Maastrichtian fish species (Schizorhiza stromeri, Lamna serrate, and Stratodus apicalis), arenaceous foraminifera assemblage (Heterohelix reymenti, Heterohelix pulchra, Pseudotextularia elegans, Guembelitra sp., Pseudoplanoglobulina austinana, Heterohelix moremani, Heterohelix globulosa, and Pseudoplanoglobulina sp.), chelonian fragments and reptilian remains. The recovery of diverse assemblages of arenaceous alongside planktonic foraminifera in samples obtained from the Fika Shale indicates deposition in shallow to deep marine environments.

Age

Late Cretaceous -- ca. Coniacian through middle Cenomanian; but transgressive base (earlier under Bornu (Chad) Basin) and pinching out toward Middle Benue according to Figure in Obaje, 2009.

Age Span:

Beginning stage:

Coniacian

Fraction up in beginning stage:

0.0

Beginning date (Ma):

89.39

Ending stage:

Campanian

Fraction up in the ending stage:

0.7

Ending date (Ma):

75.61

Depositional setting

Marine deposition environment which represents a time of significant marine phase during the Late Cretaceous in the Upper Benue Trough, resulting in the deposition of marine shales and minor limestones. Captures the maximum marine incursion in the basin during the Turonian to Coniacian.

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.