Sokoto Gr

Cenozoic

Cretaceous

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Sokoto Gr

Period:

Paleogene

Age Interval:

Paleocene

Province:
Sokoto Basin (S. Iullemmeden Basin)

Type Locality and Naming

This Group consists of the upward succession of three formations – Dange, Kalambaina, Gamba Formations. The type section of the Dange Fm is located about 28km south of Sokoto, along Sokoto – Gusau road (Nwajide, 2013). The Kalambaina Fm ype locality is exposed in the Sokoto Cement Works Quarry (Whiteman, 1982). The name Gamba Fm was proposed by Kogbe (1973). Its type section is given as Gamba Quarry where the thickness is aout 12ft and attains 30ft on boreholes (Whiteman, 2013).

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. 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).

Kalambaina Fm consists of grey-yellow and white limestone, calcareous shale and laminated shale. The Kalambaina Fm varies in thickness but is less than 70ft (Whiteman, 2013).

Dange Fm; main lithological components of this formation are mostly shale and limestone with the shale having horizons of fibrous gypsum with abundant calcium phosphate nodules (Nwajide, 2013). The thickness of the formation is estimated to be about 10-15m (Petters, 1978a; Kogbe, 1989).

Lithology Pattern:

Shallow-marine marl

Relationships and Distribution

Lower contact

Unconformably onto the Wurno Fm of the Rima Gr

Upper contact

Underlies the Gwandu Fm. Laterite overlies the Gamba Fm in the type locality.

Regional extent

Iullemmeden Basin

GeoJSON

null

Fossils

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

Age

Paleocene

Age Span:

Beginning stage:

Danian

Fraction up in beginning stage:

0.0

Beginning date (Ma):

66.04

Ending stage:

Thanetian

Fraction up in the ending stage:

1.0

Ending date (Ma):

56.00

Depositional setting

Disaerobic transitional/marginal marine setting (Petters, 1999; Nwajide, 2013), the Kalambaina formation showed a shallow, nearshore, open marine (Obiosioet al., 1998; Nwajide, 2013) and followed by a marginal marine environment in Gamba formation.

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.