Cenozoic

Cretaceous

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Gamba Formation

Gamba Fm

Period:

Paleogene

Age Interval:

upper Paleogene

Province:
Sokoto Basin (S. Iullemmeden Basin)

Type Locality and Naming

The name Gamba Formation was proposed by Kogbe (1973). Its type section is given as Gamba Quarry where the thickness is about 12ft and attains 30ft on boreholes (Whiteman, 2013). Upper formation in the Sokoto Gr.

Reference section: Reyment,1965; Adeleye,1975; Kogbe,1976; Dessauvagie, 1975; Petters, 1978; Offodile, 1980; Whiteman, 1982; Benkhelil,1989; Okosun, 1992; Guiraud, 1993; Akandeet al., 1998; Zaborskiet al., 1998;Jauroet al., 2007 ; Obaje,2009; Nwajide, 2013

[Fig. 1. Stratigraphic successions in the Nigerian sector of the lullummeden Basin (Sokoto Basin)]

Lithology and Thickness

Gamba Fm consists of grey laminated shales and is about 12ft thick in the type section Gamba Quarry and attains 30ft in boreholes. The shales are phosphatic and ironstone concretions occur in the upper part.

Lithology Pattern:

Claystone

Relationships and Distribution

Lower contact

Overlies the Kalambaina Fm

Upper contact

Conformably underlies the Gwandu Fm. Laterite overlies the Gamba Fm in the type locality and is capped by the phosphatic-ooids of primary and secondary origin (Adekeye and Akande, 2004).

Regional extent

Iullemmeden Basin

GeoJSON

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Fossils

Sokoto Gr has Foraminifera, ostracods, Fossil vertebrates, molluscs, echinoids, corals, nautiloids, gastropods, lamellibranchs, Fish teeth and scales, bivalve molds, ostracods

Age

Upper Paleocene; so put here as Thanetian

Age Span:

Beginning stage:

Thanetian

Fraction up in beginning stage:

0.0

Beginning date (Ma):

59.24

Ending stage:

Thanetian

Fraction up in the ending stage:

1.0

Ending date (Ma):

56.00

Depositional setting

The underlying Kalambaina Fm showed a shallow, nearshore, open marine (Obiosioet al., 1998; Nwajide, 2013) and followed by a marginal marine environment in Gamba Fm.

Depositional pattern:

Additional Information

Compiler:

Prof. E. 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.