Cenozoic

Cretaceous

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Numanha Shale Formation

Numanha Shale Fm

Period:

Cretaceous

Age Interval:

Upper Cretaceous (Coniacian)

Province:
Benue Trough North -Yola Arm

Type Locality and Naming

The type locality is in the villages named after it.

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; Ojo and Akande, 2004; Jauro et 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

Schematically shown as entirely clay/shale in Fig. 2 of Sarki Yandoka et al., 2014

The Dukul Fm, Jessu Fm and Sekuliye Fm, the Numanha Shale Fm, and the Lamja Fm are the Turonian – Santonian equivalents of the Gongila Fm and Pindiga Fm in the Gongola Arm. The Turonian – Santonian deposits in the Yola Arm are lithologically and paleo-environmentally similar to those in the Gongola Arm, except the Lamja Sandstone Fm.

Thickness ??.

Lithology Pattern:

Claystone

Relationships and Distribution

Lower contact

Lies conformably on the Sekuliye Fm

Upper contact

Lies conformably beneath the Lamja Fm (Lamja Sandstone Fm)

Regional extent

Yola Sub-basin

GeoJSON

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Fossils

Ammonite (Vascoceras, Gombeoceras), Foraminifera, dinoflagellates, Pollen and Spores.

Age

Schematically shown as late Coniacian in Fig. 2 of Sarki Yandoka et al., 2014

Age Span:

Beginning stage:

Coniacian

Fraction up in beginning stage:

0.5

Beginning date (Ma):

87.55

Ending stage:

Coniacian

Fraction up in the ending stage:

1.0

Ending date (Ma):

85.70

Depositional setting

Marine.

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.