Cenozoic

Cretaceous

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Nsukka Formation

Nsukka Fm

Period:

Cretaceous, Paleogene

Age Interval:

Late Maastrichtian – Danian

Province:
Anambra Basin

Type Locality and Naming

Located near the territory around the Nsukka municipality and northwards (Nwajide, 2013).

References: Reyment, 1965; Adeleye, 1975; Dessauvagie, 1975; Kogbe, 1976; 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

Lithology and Thickness

The Nsukka Formation is considered as the top of the Coal Measures (Tatam, 1944; du Preez, 1947; Reyment and Barber, 1956) and estimated to be around 400m (Nwajide, 2013). The lithology is made up of an alternation of sandstones, shales, and coal beds.

Lithology Pattern:

Clayey sandstone

Relationships and Distribution

Lower contact

conformably overlies the Ajali Fm.

Upper contact

Imo Fm conformably overlies the Nsukka Fm as one goes into the Niger Delta succession. Nsukka Fm seems to be the last sediment in the Anambra Basin.

Regional extent

Anambra Basin

GeoJSON

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Fossils

Ichnofossils (Skolithos, Ophiomorpha), Foraminifera (Afrobolivinaafra, Gabonitalata, Globorotalia pseudobulloides, Globorotaliapseudomenardi), Ostracods (Bythocyprissp., Buntonia sp., Veenia nigeriensis, Bairda ilaroensis, Parcypris nigeriensis, Cythreisdeltaensis, Buntoniaioruba), Dinoflagellates (Paleocystodinium golzowense, Impletosphaeridium sp., Deflandrea dubium)

Age

Late Maastrichtian to Danian

Age Span:

Beginning stage:

Maastrichtian

Fraction up in beginning stage:

0.7

Beginning date (Ma):

67.88

Ending stage:

Danian

Fraction up in the ending stage:

0.5

Ending date (Ma):

63.85

Depositional setting

Paralic conditions of the second post-Santonian transgressive cycle (Whiteman, 1982). Coal beds presence indicates periods of peat formation in swampy, deltaic conditions.

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.