African geology, pan african orogen, archaean cratons, african rift. The formation and evolution of africa from the archaean to present. Investigations commenced prior to 1920 with systematic geological mapping by henry hubert, a french government official working in french west africa. West african craton geological region, africa britannica. West african, congo, tanzanian and kalahari cratons and anomalously warm mantle occurs. If you are interested in ghana and the geography of africa our large laminated map of africa might be just what you need. West africa, with an approximate 10,000metric ton t gold endowment, is one of the worlds great gold provinces and the largest paleoproterozoic goldproducing region. West africa consists essentially of a precambrian granitized craton radiometric ages of 2700 to 1600 m. The westcentral coastal province of the subsaharan africa region consists of the coastal and offshore areas of cameroon, equatorial guinea, gabon, democratic republic of the congo, republic of the congo, angola including the disputed cabinda province, and namibia. Ghana is bordered by the gulf of guinea, cote divoire ivory coast to the west, burkina faso to the north, and togo to the east. Like many of the oldest dated rocks on earth, these are sedimentary rocks, indicating that the source rocks were even older. Geology and geochemical patterns of the birimian gold. Metallurgical testwork on 76 samples of all material types returned over 90% recovery. Africa geological interpretation study to also include the following updates.
Structural and lithological study of gold mineralization. Consider it to be a huge, flat plateau with sloping sides that drop off into deep water. Geology and total petroleum systems of the gulf of guinea province of west africa. Aside from modern sediments and some rocks formed within the past 541 million years of the phanerozoic eon, along the coast, many of the rocks in ghana formed close to one billion years ago or. West africa, with presently an approximate 10,000metric ton t gold endowment, is one of the worlds great gold provinces and the largest paleoproterozoic goldproducing region. Geology of west africa and canary and cape verde islands. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. The paleoproterozoic geology of the african plate is dominated by sedimentation, volcanism, and tectonism between 2. Technical report and mineral resource and reserve update for the nzema gold mine, ghana, west africa page iii nzema mine april 2, 20 at aliva and the mineralization in other deposits in this area are nonrefractory. The aptian salt basin of equatorial west africa extends from cameroon in the north to namibia in the south fig.
The gold resources are concentrated within the 2250 to 2000 ma greenstone belts of the manleo shield, forming the southern part of the west africa craton. Please do not turn up on the day as the conference is now full. Pdf the petroleum geology of the west africa margin. The west african craton, identified by kennedy in 1964 is that part of west africa consisting of archean and lower proterozoic ages, stabilized around 1600. In west africa, ghana has led the way in gold mining and still holds first place in while world gold production is expected to decline in the coming years, west africa continues to be one of the fastest growing regions for gold production in the world. West africa the boundaries and names shown and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the united nations. Geology dating of the oldest rocks in south africa has provided an age of about 3. Geology is amazing in that it provides a rational, scientific. Pdf the geology of the taparko gold deposit, birimian. They are named after the birim river, one of the main tributaries of the pra river in ghana and the countrys most important diamondproducing area. Pdf 100 years of research on the west african craton. The west african craton wac is one of the five cratons of the precambrian basement rock of africa that make up the african plate, the others being the kalahari craton, congo craton, saharan metacraton and tanzania craton.
Geology of africa download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl, mobi. Petrography and geochemistry of intraclastic manganesecarbonates from the. Pdf geology and total petroleum systems of the west. Research article full text access the transvaalgriqualand west banded iron formation. First u pb zircon age of extrusive volcanism in the birimian supergroupof ghanawest africa. The westcentral coastal province includes the douala, kribicampo, rio muni, gabon, congo, kwanza, benguela, and namibe basins, which together form the aptian salt basin edwards and bignell, 1988a. Significance for manganese sedimentation in the palaeoproterozoic of west africa. Geology and development in southern africa sciencedirect. Geology and total petroleum systems of the gulf of guinea province of west africa by michael e. Beaufort west port elizabeth pietermaritzburg 26 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 32 28 24 22 16 18 20 28 30 32 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 i n d i a t n g a o c e a n l a n g t i c o c e f a n 22 24 26 14 dominant lithologyies po rp hy itcg an e, k nepheline syenite, syenite, volcanic rocks. The african upper mantle and its relationship to tectonics and. Geological interpretation covering somalia and west madagascar offshore global seeps. Downloadable material the following maps and documents may be freely downloaded and used by the public. Although earlier small scale geological maps exist for west.
These events are collectively known as the eburnian orogeny and have been recognized in the southern, central and west africa cratons. Geological survey usgs consists of the coastal and offshore areas of cote divoire, ghana, togo, and benin, and the west ern part of the coast of nigeria, from the liberian border east to the west edge of the niger delta. The cdrom was compiled according to the methodology developed by the u. Pdf ghana is located along the gulf of guinea and atlantic ocean, in the subregion of west africa. In 1663 1665, rocci described the african continent as consisting of several blocks welded together by folded belts separated by moving zones.
Relationship between gold and manganese mineralizations in. Lenz, 1882, it was the undertaking prior to 1920 of sys tematic 1. Click download or read online button to get geology of africa book now. Kalahari craton geological region, africa britannica. The discoveries raise the prospect of a new oil province in the west african transform margin an area between two tectonic plates which extends nearly 1,500 km along the coast from eastern ghana, across ivory coast and liberia. Petroleum exploration along the west african margin has a long and exciting history.
The oldest rocks in west africa are archean in age with a major peak. Linking the two finds, more than 1,000 km apart, is a new interpretation of west africas petroleum geology. Since then slow relative motion of nubian, arabian and somali plates over the same interval has been discerned. Other articles where west african craton is discussed. Geology and mineral resources of west africa wright.
New approach of structural setting of gold deposits in. Discovery of commercial oil in the niger delta in 1956 oloibiri, and offshore angola in 1966 limba led to these two countries becoming the largest oil producers in the region today. Geological setting the paleoproterozoic birimian terranes form a major part of the west african craton bessoles 12. Geology and earth science news, articles, photos, maps and. An introduction article pdf available in geological society london special publications 4381. Jelsma encyclopedia of life support systems eolss 2. Geology and total petroleum systems of the gulf of guinea. Utilising offshore regional gravity, magnetics and bathymetry the seep. Lower crustal exhumation under transtension during the. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. Pdf the continental margin of west africa formed as result of the southtonorth rifting of gondwana and the progressive separation of the south. Ghana and mali are the second and third largest producers of gold in africa, respectively. West africa geology and total petroleum systems usgs. The area stretches from the east edge of the niger delta south to the walvis ridge.
The west african craton and the pan african event, which presents the framework of west africa in the entire igneous metamorphic structural framework of africa consist of precambrian rocks that have been subjected to. Technical report and mineral resource and reserve update. Cratons themselves are tectonically inactive, but can occur near active margins. Geology and total petroleum systems of the westcentral coastal province 7203, west africa by michael e. The geology of ghana is primarily very ancient crystalline basement rock, volcanic belts and sedimentary basins, affected by periods of igneous activity and two major orogeny mountain building events. The gold resources are concentrated within the 2250 to 2000 ma greenstone belts of the manleo shield, forming the southern part of.
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