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Depositional history of a muddy sabkha complex in the Sokoto Basin of Nigeria, West Africa
Author(s) -
Alam Mahmood
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
geological journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.721
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1099-1034
pISSN - 0072-1050
DOI - 10.1002/gj.3350210405
Subject(s) - sabkha , geology , siltstone , marl , wadi , evaporite , facies , sedimentary depositional environment , alluvium , marine transgression , geochemistry , fluvial , structural basin , oil shale , coastal plain , alluvial fan , paleontology , archaeology , history
Sedimentological and stratigraphical analysis of the Sokoto Basin has resulted in recognition of four lithostratigraphic units. They are Unit A—siltstone and fine‐grained sandstone; Unit B—shale and marl; Unit C—limestone and calcareous shale; and Unit D—red sandstone. Unit A represents a wadi plain system composed of desert‐alluvial beds; Unit B, a mud‐rich sabkha system; and Unit C, an inner‐shelf carbonate system. A marine transgression from the northwest began in the Maastrichtian and reached its peak in the Palaeocene. After regression in the late Palaeocene, the area was subjected to erosion, followed by fluvial sedimentation of Unit D. Wadi plain beds and mud‐rich sabkha facies of Sokoto Basin are similar to alluvial and coastal mud‐flat deposits in the northwestern Gulf of California and ephemeral stream and tidal‐flat sediments in Gladstone Embayment, Australia.