Science Forum (Journal of Pure and Applied Sciences)

Depositional sub-environment of Gombe Formation in Kumo and its environs, part of Gongola Basin, Northern Benue Trough, Northeastern Nigeria

Yusuf Abdulmumin*, Abubakar Sadik Maigari , Nuru Abdullahi NabageDepartment of Geology, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Bauchi, Nigeria

ABSTRACT

Evaluation of Gombe Formation in the area around Kumo part of Gongola arm was car-ried out with a view to determine its depositional sub environment in the area through detailed geologic mapping, litholog construction and petrographic as well as sieve analyses of the sandstone samples. Detailed geologic mapping in the study was carried out, hence the production of the geologic map of the area. Other pertinent geologic information, such as color, texture, sedimentary structures, thicknesses of different beds, and their vertical and lateral changes were determined. Four samples each were collected and sub-jected to laboratory analyses (i.e., sieve analysis and petrography). Three stream sections were identified and logged in the field and plotted using sed log computer program. The sections include Kandahar stream section where a sequence of sandstones, mudstone, and ironstone of Gombe Formation along a stream channel with a total thickness of 5.2 m is recognized; the Government Reserved Area stream section where strata of Gombe Formation with a thickness of 2.06 m comprising sandstone, mudstone, and ferriginized sandstone caping were logged and the Jauro Bose stream section where strata with a total thickness of 2.0 m comprising sandstones and ferriginized reddish brown sandstone and mudstone with ferriginized sandstone interbeds. The Gombe Formation in the study area is characterized by yellow to brown sandstones with interbedded mudstones, fer-riginized sandstones and ironstones. Grain size analysis indicate that the sandstones of Gombe Formation in the study area is fine to very fine grained, moderately well sorted, strongly coarse skewed and leptokurtic to very leptokurtic. Petrographic results indicate that all the analyzed samples contain large percentages of quartz in excess of 65%–71 % with greater than 10% matrix and are characterized by angular to subrounded grains of quartz, feldspar and rock fragment and fall within the domain of feldspathic wacke and lithic wacke in the Quartz Feldspar Lithic diagram for sandstone classification scheme. Field evidences like interbeds of mudstones within the sandstone beds, flaser beddings, parallel laminations, and bioturbations suggest that the sandstones were deposited in a transitional environment influenced by tides. Additional evidence is observed from lab-oratory analyses results, especially sieve analysis that indicate fine to very fine grained sands and moderately well sorting, coupled with the characteristic shapes and the level of maturity obtained from the petrographic results like the large percentage of quartz and the subangular to subrounded grains. Integrating the field evidences and the laboratory results, the depositional sub environment for the Gombe Formation in the study area is interpreted to be intertidal environment of tidal flat of an estuary.

ARTICLE INFO

Article history:Received 26 May 2019Received in revised form 01 August 2019 Accepted 02 August 2019Published 18 February 2020Available online 18 February 2020

KEYWORDS

Gombe FormationSandstonesGongola BasinNorthern Benue TroughDepositional environmentEstuary

* Corresponding author Yusuf Abdulmumin [email protected] Department of Geology, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, Nigeria.

© 2019 Faculty of Science, ATBU Bauchi. All rights reserved

SCIENCE FORUM (JOURNAL OF PURE AND APPLIED SCIENCES) 19 (2019) 31 – 45

http://dx.doi.org/10.5455/sf.50646

Science Forum (Journal of Pure and Applied Sciences)

j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. a t b u s c i e n c e fo r u m . c o m

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Y. Abdulmumin et al. / Science Forum (Journal of Pure and Applied Sciences) 19 (2019) 31 – 4532

1. Introduction

The present work was conducted within the Gongola arm of the Upper Benue Trough (Fig. 1) with a view to study the depositional environment of Gombe Formation in the area around Kumo in Akko L.G.A of Gombe State through detailed field observations and laboratory studies. Stratigraphically, Gombe Formation is the fourth sedimentary succession or unit in the Gongola Basin of the Upper Benue Trough. Previously identified as Gombe grits and clays by Falconer (1911) and subsequently renamed as Gombe Formation by Carter et al. (1963). Zaborski et al. (1997) identified three lithofacies for the Gombe Formation as lower, middle (bedded facies), and the upper (red) sand-stone facies with different characteristics and depo-sitional environment. The depositional environment for Gombe Formation is generally considered as tran-sitional. However different sub-environments exist

as suggested by earlier workers ranging from fluvial, deltaic, estuarine, and shallow marine (Lawal, 1982; Usman et al., 2016; Zaborski et al., 1997). This study focuses on the depositional environment/sub envi-ronment (s) of Gombe Formation in the area around Kumo, Akko Local Government Area of Gombe state, on the basis of field observations involving detailed geological mapping through observations and deter-minations of the rocks’ lithology, color, texture, sedi-mentary structures, fossil content and their lateral and vertical changes and laboratory analyses involv-ing granulometric analyses of the sandstone samples and petrography. The study area falls between latitude 0100 02’ 18’’ N – 0100 05’ 00’’ N and Longitude 0110 011’

28’’ E – 0110 14’ 10” E covering a total of 25 km2. The northern half of the study area, especially the north-eastern and extreme west central part are character-ized by higher elevation but undulating topography reflecting the hilly parts of Gombe Formation with

Figure 1. Geologic map of Nigeria showing the location of the study area [Modified After Obaje (2009)].

Y. Abdulmumin et al. / Science Forum (Journal of Pure and Applied Sciences) 19 (2019) 31 – 45 33

elevation values of up to 500 m, while the rest of the area is flat lying with occasional minor exposures and low-level outcrops (Fig. 2).

2. Regional Geology and Tectonic Setting

The Benue Trough is a NE–SW trending rift basin of about 1,000 km length and 50 to 100 km wide which formed as a result of the effect of the western cen-tral African rift system and is one of the three rift systems that affected the African continent (Fig. 3) following the breakup of the Gondwana Land during the Mesozoic (Fairhead and Okereke, 1987; Fairhead and Green, 1989; Guiraud, 1993). Its northern end bifurcates into an N–S trending Gongola arm and an approximately E–W trending Yola arm. With the exception of the extreme tip of the Yola arm which lies in Cameroon, the Trough is located almost exclusively in Nigeria and marked by a topographic highs’ massifs of the Jos Plateau to the north and Adamawa Massif to the south and southeast (Benkhelil, 1982; 1988).

The origin of the Trough has been a topic of dis-cussion and still controversial but different models were used by different authors to explain the mecha-nism for its formation. The earlier workers including Stoneley (1966) suggest that the basin developed as fracture developed as a result of the tension set up by differential stresses during the opening of the Atlantic Ocean (Cratchley et al., 1984).

The trough was imagined as a tensional frac-ture system formed by differential stress set up in the African plate as it was wedge apart from South America along a fracture which widened progressively

from the south while remaining in contact along what is now the coastline west of Nigeria (Wright, 1968). Following the separation of the African and American plates, the African plate was no longer subject to dis-tortional stress, but replaced by a slight compres-sional stress closing the trough slightly and folding the sediments within it (Cratchley et al., 1984). It was sug-gested that the amount of closure based on the width of the trough and degree of folding cannot have been more than 6–8 Km (Wright, 1968).

Plate tectonics models of Burke et al. (1970), Grant (1971), and Burke et al. (1971) was the recent attempt to postulate the Benue Trough origin. Based on this model, the authors suggested that the trough was orig-inated from a triple junction of which one arm failed to develop though with a slight difference between the Grant (1971) and Burke et al. (1970 and 1971). A ridge–ridge fault triple junction involving one or more transform fault along a northern Gulf of Guinea was proposed by Grant (1971). On the other hand, Burke et al. (1979 and 1971) proposed a ridge–ridge–ridge triple junction which appears to account for present arrangement of transformed fracture zone in the Gulf of Guinea region which also conform to Burke et al. (1969) and Wright and McCurry (1971).

During the mid Santonian, the whole of the Benue Trough has been affected by a tectonic event that resulted in compressional folding, faulting and uplift-ment in several places. The compressional folding of the mid Santonian was intense producing over 100 anti-clines and synclines (Benkhelil, 1989). Mid Santonian tectonism and magmatism causes displacement of

Figure 2. 3D topographic map of the study area.


depositional axis westward, resulting in subsidence of the Anambra Basin. Therefore, the Anambra Basin can also be considered part of the Benue Trough which contained post-deformation sediments of Campania–Mastrichian–Eocene ages and being a related struc-ture that developed after the compressional stages (Akane and Erdtmann, 1998).

Though there are no concrete lines of divisions, the Benue Trough is subdivided into lower, middle and upper; and the major localities that constitute the depocenters of different portions have been well doc-umented (Idowu and Ekwezor, 1993; Nwajide, 1990; Obajide et al., 1999; Petters, 1982). The Lower Benue Trough depocenters comprise the area around Nkalagu and Abakaliki while those of the Anambra Basin are around Enugu, Aloka, and Okigwe. The depocenters of the Middle Benue Trough comprise the area from Makurdi through Yandev, Lafia, Obi, Jangwa to Wukari. In the Upper Benue Trough, the depocenters com-prise Pindiga, Gombe, Nafada, Ashaka in the Gongola

arm, while in the Yola arm, the depocenters comprise Bambam, Tula, Jessu, Lakum, and Numan (Obaje, 2009).

3. Materials and Methods

Detailed geological mapping of the study area was car-ried out which encompasses traversing to determine the relationship between rock units followed by diago-nal traverses across the area and logging of good expo-sures along stream channels. Three stream sections were logged which are Kandahar, Kumo Government Reserved Area (GRA) and Jauro Bose stream sections. The logging was carried out by measuring and record-ing bed to bed thicknesses, their lithologies, colors, textures, sedimentary structures and fossil contents. Samples were collected for laboratory (granulomet-ric and petrographic) analyses. Sedlog computer pro-gram was used for lithostratigraphic sections plot-ting. Samples for sieve analysis were disaggregated using pestle and mortar and the desired weights for the analysis were obtained and poured into a set of

Figure 3. Tectonic model of the West and Central African Rift System showing the position of the Benue Trough [After Fairhead (1986)].


vertically arranged sieves on a mechanical shaker from the largest (4.75 mm) to smallest (0.63 mm). The samples were shaken for 15 minutes and the sed-iments retained on each sieve were weighed with a weighing balance for sedimentology statistical param-eters’ calculations. Histograms for selected samples for sieve analysis were plotted to determine the source or sources of the sediments and cumulative frequency curves were plotted to infer the degree of sorting of the sediments and to determine the parameters used in the statistical parameters’ calculations which include graphic mean, inclusive graphic standard deviation, inclusive graphic skewness, and inclusive graphic kur-tosis. The graphic mean is the mean or average sizes of the particles that constituted the rock as they were deposited. It reflects the energy of depositional envi-ronment and may be controlled by the availability of a particular size during deposition (Boggs, 2013). The inclusive graphic standard deviation is calculated to determine the degree of sorting which in turn relates to the energy of the depositional environment (Boggs, 2013). Inclusive graphic skewness is the degree of symmetry or asymmetry of the curve. Symmetrical curves have zero values of skewness, while positive and negative values of skewness indicate excess fine and coarse admixtures, respectively (Folk, 2002). The inclusive graphic Kurtosis measures the degree of peakedness of the curve which estimate the degree of sorting in the center of the curve compared to sorting in its tails. Though it is calculated with other statisti-cal parameters but it is of little use in grain size dis-tribution studies (Boggs, 2013) and its interpretation varies among different authors (Anderson, 2002). The statistical parameters as well as their formula are pre-sented in Table 1.

The thin sections were produced by frosting and roughing glass slabs of 26 by 46 mm. Chips from the desired rock position were cut, mounted, and glued to the frosted side. The slides were grinded (slowly)

to the appropriate thickness using a grinding wheel and cover slips were added to protect the section from damage and increase clarity when observed under the microscope. The thin sections of the four samples were analyzed under the microscope using both plane and cross polarized light and their composition as well as roundness were studied. The percentages of the major framework used in classification of siliciclastic sedi-mentary rocks [i.e. quartz (Q), feldspar (F) and rock fragments (R)] were also determined.

4. Results and Discussion

4.1. Local geology of the study area

Detailed field mapping in the study area has revealed the existence of two formations; the Gombe Formation occupying over 75% of the study area and Fika Shale (member) of Pindiga Formation as shown in the geo-logic map of the study area (Fig. 4).

The Gombe Formation in the study area is com-posed of sandstones mostly interbedded with mud-stones, some occasional ironstone or highly ferrig-inized sandstones and mudstones. The sandstones are yellow to brown or even reddish brown in color with parallel laminations and in some instances micaceous with flaser beddings. The mudstone in the study area are light grey and massive.

The Fika Shale exposed along stream channel is dark to light grey in color and contains gypsum miner-alization as observed along a hand dug well within the study area. The typical examples of Gombe Formation in the study area are shown in Figures 5 and 6.

4.1. Lithostratigraphic sections

Three lithostratigraphic sections were logged along stream channels within the study area which are Kandahar, G R A and Jauro Bose stream sections.

4.2.1. Kandahar stream section

This is a sequence of sandstones, mudstone and iron-stone of Gombe Formation along a stream channel at Kandahar where a total thickness of 5.2 m was recog-nized (Fig. 7). The sandstones are fine to very fine, yel-low to brown micaceous with parallel laminations and placer beddings. The mudstone is light grey in color and characterized by sandstone interbeds while the upper layer is composed of reddish brown ironstone with sandstone interbeds.

4.2.2. Kumo G. R. A. stream section

This is a section of Gombe Formation at GRA where strata with a thickness of 2.06 m were exposed (fig. 8).

Table 1. Sieve analysis statistical parameters and their formula.

Parameter Symbol Formula

Graphic mean MZ ⅓ (Ø16 + Ø50 +Ø84)

Inclusive graphic standar deviation

δI

½ (Ø84 – Ø16 + Ø95 – Ø5)

2 3.3

Inclusive graphic skewness

SKI

½ (Ø16 + Ø84 – 2Ø50 + Ø5 +Ø95 – 2Ø50)

Ø84 – Ø16 Ø95 – Ø5

Inclusive graphic kurtosis

KG

Ø95 – Ø5

2.44 (Ø75 – Ø25)


The section is composed of mudstone, sandstones that are yellow to brown, micaceous with placer bed-dings and parallel laminations, and reddish to dark brown micaceous ferriginized sandstone with flaser beddings.

4.2.3. Jauro Bose stream section

This is a section of Gombe Formation exposed at Jauro Bose (Fig. 9) within the study area where strata with a total thickness of 2.0 m were logged. It is made up of coarse to very fine grained, light grey to yellow, mica-ceous, well sorted sandstones and ferriginized red-dish brown sandstone and mudstone with ferriginized sandstone interbeds.

4.3. Sieve analysis results

4.3.1. Histograms

The histograms for the sieved samples are presented in Figures 10–13. The shifting of the tail to right for all the four samples can be observed indicating excess fine admixtures. Samples S2B and L104 are unimodal indicating a single source parent material, while sam-ples S1B and S2D are bimodal suggesting that the sediments have been derived from different parent deposits.

4.3.2. Frequency plots

The frequency plots of cumulative weight percent against grain sizes (Ø) are presented in Figures 14–17.

Figure 4. Geologic map of the study area.


Figure 7. Lithostratigraphic section of Gombe Formation exposed at Kandahar along stream channel showing sampling intervals.

Figure 5. A typical of Gombe Formation exposed along a stream channel within the study area, which is characterized by burrows bearing sandstone interbedded with mudstone.

Figure 6. This is Gombe Formation characterized by sandstone interbedded with mudstone and ferriginized sandstone capping.


Degree of sorting can be inferred from the steepness of the cumulative frequency (cumulative weight per-cent) curve and by the range of grain size graphically represented by the horizontal distance between the points where the curve cuts zero percent. Based on the fact that the steeper the curve the better the sorting, all the four analyzed samples obtained from the study area can be said to have moderate sorting as can be inferred from the steepness of their curves.

4.3.3. Statistical parameters

The calculated grain size statistical parameters for the four analyzed samples which include graphic mean, inclusive graphic standard deviation, inclusive graphic skewness and inclusive graphic kurtosis are presented in Table 2. The graphic mean of the analyzed samples ranges from 2.99 Ø to 3.24 Ø. All the three samples fall under very fine grained sandstones with the exception of sample S2B which falls under fine grained sandstone

Figure 8. Lithostratigraphic section of Gombe Formation exposed along a stream channel at Kumo GRA within the study area showing sampling intervals.

Figure 9. Lithostratigraphic section of Gombe Formation exposed at Jauro Bose within the study area.


Figure 10. Histogram for sample L104.

Figure 12. Histogram for sample S2B.




Figure 14. Cumulative frequency plot for sample L104.

Figure 15. Cumulative frequency plot for sample S1B.


with a graphic mean of 2.99 Ø. The values of inclusive graphic standard deviation of the analyzed samples from the study area ranges from 0.52 to 0.7, which are all indicating moderately well sorted sediments.

All the four analyzed samples are strongly coarse skewed as can be observed from their skewness val-ues ranging from −0.30 to −1.11. Samples S1B and S2B are leptokurtic with a kurtosis values 1.32 and 1.27,

respectively, while samples L104 and S2D fall under very leptokurtic with a kurtosis values of 1.70 and 1.50, respectively.

4.4. Thin sections results

Table 3 shows the summary of petrographic results showing the percentages of rock forming minerals, rock fragments and matrixes as well as the roundness

Figure 16. Frequency plot for sample S2B.

Figure 17. Frequency plot for sample S2D.

Table 2. Summary of results and interpretations of sieve analyses’ statistical parameters.

Sample number Graphic mean (Ø) Inclusive graphic standard deviation (δi) Inclusive graphic skewness (SKI) Graphic kurtosis (KG)

L104 3.07 (very fine sand) 0.52 (moderately well sorted) –0.30 (strongly coarse skewed) 1.70 (very laptokurtic)

S1B 3.09 (very fine sand) 0.70 (moderately well sorted) –1.11 (strongly coarse skewed) 1.32 (laptokurtic)

S2B 2.99 (fine sand) 0.54 (moderately well sorted ) –0.48 (strongly coarse skewed) 1.27 (laptokurtic)

S2D 3.24 (very fine sand) 0.61 (moderately well sorted) –0.52 (strongly coarse skewed) 1.50 (very laptokurtic)


of the mineral grains for the four analyzed samples while the Quartz Feldspar Lithic (QFL) ternary plot is presented in Figure 18. The results show that all the four analyzed samples have >10 % matrix with the percentage of quartz ranging from 65% to 71%; 18% to 26% feldspar while the percentage of rock frag-ments ranges from 3.57% to 16.32%. Based on the percentages obtained, sample L104, S1D, and S1B fall under feldspathic wackes, while sample S2F fall under lithic wacke under QFL ternary plot of sandstone clas-sification scheme of Dott (1964) (Fig. 19).

The photomicrographs for the four analyzed sam-ples as observed under both plane and cross polarized light are presented in Figures 19–22. Sample L104 is a sandstone containing >10% matrix. The cementing material is iron oxide (FeO) awith a silica matrix. It has subangular to subrounded grains (Fig. 19) and con-tains 65.15% quartz, 25.76% feldspar and 9.09% rock fragment (mostly poly crystalline quartz) as indicated in table 3, which falls under the feldspathic wacke domain in the Dott (1964) ternary diagram for sand-stones classification scheme (Fig. 18).

Sample S1B is a sandstone that has angular to subrounded mineral grains of quartz and feldspar with >10% matrix. The sample (Fig. 20) contains 71.4.3% quartz, 25% feldspar, and 3.57% rock frag-ment (Table 3) which falls under feldspathic wackes domain in the QFL (ternary) diagram of Dott (1964) for sandstone classifications.

Sample S1D is a ferriginized sandstone containing >10% matrix. The cementing material is iron oxide typically hematite (Fe2 O3) as it is characterized by red color under cross polarized light (Fig. 21). It has angu-lar to subrounded grains and contains 71.03% quartz, 24.43% feldspar and 6.54% rock fragment (Table 3) which falls under feldspathic wacke in the QFL (ter-nary) diagram for sandstones classification of Dott (1964) as shown in Figure 18.

Sample S2F is also a ferriginized sandstone contain-ing >10% matrix and has subangular to subrounded grains (Fig. 22). It is composed of 65.31% quartz, 16.32% feldspar, and 18.37% rock fragment (Table 3) which falls under lithic wackes (Fig. 19) in the QFL dia-gram of sandstone classification by Dott (1964).

Table 3. Summary of the thin section results showing the percentages of quartz, feldspar, and rock fragments as well as the percentage of matrix and degree of roundness.

Sample No. Quartz (%) Feldspar (%) Rock fragment (%) Percentage matrix (%) Roundness

L104 65.15 25.76 9.09 >10 Subangular to subrounded

S1B 71.43 25 3.57 >10 Angular to subrounded

S1D 71.03 24.43 6.54 >10 Angular to subrounded

S2F 65.31 18.37 16.32 >10 Subangular to subrounded

Figure 18. Ternary (QFL) diagram showing the classes of the sandstones from the study area [After Dott (1964)].


5. Discussion of Results

The Gombe Formation in the study area is character-ized by sandstone occasionally interbedded with mud-stones, ferriginized sandstones, and ironstones which is a characteristic of a transitional environment, espe-cially deltaic/estuary as suggested by Tucker (2011) and this also conform to work of Usman et al. (2016).

The sandstones are fine to very fine, yellow to brown in color mostly with parallel laminations, bioturbation, flaser beddings and occasionally micaseous. Presence of fine to very fine grained sands, parallel laminations, flaser beddings and bioturbation, intertidal subenvi-ronment of tidal flat is probable (Reading, 1996). From the results of sieve analysis for the analyzed samples, Gombe Formations in the study area are fine to very

Figure 19. Photomicrograph of sample L104 (magnification × 10); Q—quartz; F—feldspar.

Figure 20. Photomicrograph of sample S1B (magnification × 10); Q—quartz, F—feldspar.

Figure 21. photomicrograph of sample S1D (magnification × 10); Q—quartz, F—feldspar.


fine grained sands, moderately well sorted, strongly coarse skewed and leptokurtic to very leptokurtic which is an additional evidence that the sediments were deposited in intertidal environment of tidal flat of an estuary as also correspond to the findings of Wang and Ke (1997). Shifting of the tail to the right is observed from the histogram plots of all the analyzed samples which according to Friedman and Sanders, 1978 is an indication of excess fine admixtures in the sandstone samples. Samples S2B and L104 are uni-modal indicating a single source parent material while samples S1B and S2D are bimodal suggesting that the sediments have been derived from different par-ent deposits (Friedman and Sanders, 1978; Wang and Ke, 1997). Samples subjected to petrographic studies composed of angular to subrounded grains suggesting moderate distance of transport from the source.

6. Conclusion

Results obtained in the field and laboratory analy-ses revealed that the Gombe Formation in the study area composed of sandstone occasionally interbedded with mudstones, ferriginized sandstones, and iron-stones. The sandstones are angular to sub rounded, moderately well sorted fine to very fine, yellow to brown in color mostly with parallel laminations, bio-turbation, flaser beddings and occasionally micace-ous. Integrating the field evidences and the labora-tory results, the depositional sub environment for the Gombe Formation in the study area is interpreted to be intertidal environment of tidal flat of an estuary

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the efforts of the host com-munities for their hospitality during the fieldwork

and the reviewers for improving the quality of the manuscript.

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