Depositional Facies and Sequence Stratigraphic Study in Parts of Benin (Dahomey) Basin SW Nigeria: Implications on the Re-Interpretation of Tertiary Sedimentary Successions — Oak Academic Publishing
Research ArticleOpen AccessGoogle Scholar indexed
Depositional Facies and Sequence Stratigraphic Study in Parts of Benin (Dahomey) Basin SW Nigeria: Implications on the Re-Interpretation of Tertiary Sedimentary Successions
epartment of Applied Geology, The Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria
,
Department of Earth Sciences, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Nigeria
1 epartment of Applied Geology, The Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria
2 Department of Earth Sciences, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Nigeria
Detailed fieldwork in parts of the Benin (Dahomey) Basin SW, Nigeria has allowed the recognition of sedimentary successions deposited in different continental depositional environments interpreted as fluvial sedimentation characterised by abandoned channels and subaerial exposure features. The lithofacies recognised are: conglomerates, debris flow deposits, very coarse grained sandstone, ferruginous cross bedded sandstone, siltstone, shale/clay and massive sand. The lithofacies were interpreted in terms of sequence stratigraphic elements with the recognition of sequence boundaries characterised by distinct facies dislocations and subaerial exposures. Four depositional sequences (DS I to DS IV) were identified. Depositional sequences (DS I) exhibited a complete regressive–transgressive cycle comprising LST, TST and HST, while DS II to DS IV were incomplete comprising of sediments interpreted as LST deposits. On the basis of the depositional facies and sequence stratigraphic elements, the sediments in the area of study are interpreted as predominantly of Ilaro Formation while fewer exposures are sediments of the Coastal Plain Sands/ Benin Formation. This observation suggests a re-interpretation of the Tertiary sedimentary successions, which hitherto recognised all the sediments in the area of study as Coastal Plain Sands.
Jones, H.A. and Hockey, R.D. (1964) The Geology of Part of Southwestern Nigeria Geol. Surv. Nigeria, Bull, 31, 101 p.
Adegoke, O.S. (1969) Eocene Stratigraphy of Southern Nigeria. Collogue sur Eocene Vol. III Bur. Rech. Geol. Min. Mem., No. 69, 23-48.
Brownfield, M.E. and Charpentier, R.R. (2006) Geology and Total Petroleum Systems of the Gulf of Guinea Province of West Africa U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 2207-C.
Reyment, R.A. (1965) Aspects of the geology of Nigeria—The Stratigraphy of the Cretaceous and Cenozoic Deposits. Ibadan University Press, 133 p.
Omatsola, M.E. and Adegoke, O.S. (1981) Tectonic Evolution and Cretaceous Stratigraphy of the Dahomey Basin. Nigeria Journal Mining and Geology, 18, 130-137.
Coker, S.J.L. and Ejedawe, J.E. (1987) Petroleum Prospect of the Benin Basin Nigeria. Jour. Min. and Geol., 23, 7-43.
Coker, S.J.L. (2002) Field Excursion Guide to Tar Sand Outcrops in Benin Basin. NAPE Mini-Conference, 32 p.
Billman, H.G. (1992) Offshore Stratigraphy and Eontology of Dahomey (Benin) Embayment. NAPE Bulletin, 70, 121-130.
Haack, R.C., Sundararaman, P., Diedjomahor, J.O., Xiao, H., Gant, N.J., May, E.D. and Kelsch, K.(2000) Niger Delta Petroleum Systems, Nigeria. In: Mello, M.R. and Katz, B.J., Eds., Petroleum systems of South Atlantic Margins: AAPG Memoir 73, 213-231.
Miall, A.D. (1978) Lithofacies Types and Vertical Profile Models in Braided River Deposits: A Summary. In: Miall, A.D., Ed., Fluvial Sedimentology, 597-604.
Prothero, D.R. and Schwab, F. (1996) An Introduction to Sedimentary Rocks and Stratigraphy, Sedimentary Geology. W.H. Freeman and Company, New York, 575 p.
Nwajide, C.S. and Reijers, T.J.A. (1996) Geology of the Southern Anambra Basin. In Selected Chapters on Geology; Sedimentary Geology and Sequence Stratigraphy in Nigeria and Three Case Studies and a Field Guide, 197 p.
Haq, B., U. Hardenbol, J. and Vail, P. (1987) Chronology of Flunctuating Sea-Levels since the Triassic. Science, 235, 113-1165. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.235.4793.1156
Van Wagoner, J.C., Posamentier, H.W., Mitchum, R.M., Vail, P.R., Sarg, J.F., Loutit, T.S. and Hardenbol, J. (1988) An Overview of Sequence Stratigraphy and Key Definitions. In: Wilgus, C.K., Hastings, B.S., Kendall, C.G.St.C., Posamentier, H.W., Ross, C.A. and Van Wagoner, J.C., Eds., Sea Level Changes––An Integrated Approach, Vol. 42, SEPM Special Publication, 39-45. http://dx.doi.org/10.2110/pec.88.01.0039
Van Wagoner, J.C., Mitchum, R. M., Campion K. M. and Rahmanian, V.D. (1990) Siliciclastic Sequence Stratigraphy in Well Logs, Cores, and Outcrops. American Association of Petroleum Geologists. Methods in Exploration Series, 7, 55 p.
Catuneanu, O. (2002) Sequence Stratigraphy of Clastic Systems: Concepts, Merits, and Pitfalls. Journal of African Earth Sciences, 35, 1-43. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0899-5362(02)00004-0
Milton, N.J. and Emery, D. (1998) Outcrop and Well Data. In: Emery, D. and Myers, K.J., Eds., Sequence Stratigraphy, Blackwell Science Ltd., 61-79.
Miall, A.D. (1996) The Geology of Fluvial Deposits. Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg. 582 p.
Roberts, E.M. (2007) Facies Architecture and Depositional Environments of the Upper Cretaceous Kaiparowits Formation, Southern Utah. Sedimentary Geology, 197, 207-233. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2006.10.001
Miall, A.D. (1985) Architectural-Element Analysis: A New Method of Facies Analysis Applied to Fluvial Deposits. Earth-Science Reviews, 22, 261-308. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0012-8252(85)90001-7
Cantalamessa, G., Di Celma, C., Ragaini, L., Valleri, G. and Landini, W. (2007) Sedimentology and High-Resolution Sequence Stratigraphy of the Late Middle to Late Miocene Angostura Formation (Western Borbón Basin, Northwestern Ecuador). Journal of the Geological Society of London, 164, 653-665. http://dx.doi.org/10.1144/0016-76492006-001
Ali Kalefa, E.M. (2005) Depositional Environments and Sequence Stratigraphy of Paralic Glacial, Paraglacial and Postglacial Upper Ordovician Siliciclastic Deposits in the Murzuq Basin, SW Libya. Sedimentary Geology, 177, 145-173. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2005.02.006
El-Azabi, M.H. and El-Araby, A. (2005) Depositional Facies, Environments and Sequence Stratigraphic Interpretation of the Middle Triassic-Lower Cretaceous (pre-Late Albian) Succession in Arif El-Naga Anticline, Northeast Sinai, Egypt. Journal of African Earth Sciences, 41, 119-143. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2005.02.005
Cappuzo, N. and Wetzel, A. (2004) Facies and Basin Architecture of the Late Carboniferous Salvan-Dorénaz Continental Basin (Western Alps, Switzerland/France). Sedimentology, 51, 675-697. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3091.2004.00642.x
Martinsen, O., Ryseth, A., Hansen, W.H., Fleshe, H., Torkildsen, G. and Idil, S. (1999) Stratigraphic Base Level and Fluvial Architecture: Ericson Sandstone (Campanian), Rock Springs Uplift, SW Wyoming, USA. Sedimentology, 46, 235-259. http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-3091.1999.00208.x
Olabode, S.O. (2006) Siliciclastic Slope Deposits from the Cretaceous Abeokuta Group, Dahomey (Benin) Basin, Southwestern Nigeria. Journal of African Earth Sciences, 46, 187-200. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2006.04.008
Olabode, S.O. and Adekoya, J.A. (2008) Seismic Stratigraphy and Development of Avon Canyon in Benin (Dahomey) Basin, Southwestern Nigeria. Journal of African Earth Sciences, 50, 286-304. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2007.10.002
Kogbe, C.A. (1975) The Cretaceous and Paleogene Sediments of Southern Nigeria. In: Kogbe, C.A., Ed., Geology of Nigeria, Abiprint and pak Limited Ibadan, 436.