What is Supergroup stratigraphy?
What is Supergroup stratigraphy?
A supergroup is a set of two or more associated groups and/or formations that share certain lithological characteristics. A supergroup may be made up of different groups in different geographical areas.
Which other rock types are found underneath the Karoo super group?
A component of the Karoo Supergroup is the Early Permian-age Ecca Group, which consists primarily of organic-rich mudstones, siltstones, sandstones, and minor conglomerates deposited in shallow water deltas and wetlands on the northern shoreline of the Karoo Sea under warm climate conditions (Catuneanu et al., 2005).
Where is the ECCA group?
southern Africa
The Ecca Group is the second of the main subdivisions of the Karoo Supergroup of geological strata in southern Africa….Ecca Group.
| Ecca Group Stratigraphic range: Late Late Carboniferous-Early Permian ~ | |
|---|---|
| Other | Quartzite, pyrite |
| Location | |
| Region | Western & Eastern Cape |
| Country | South Africa Eswatini Namibia Botswana Zimbabwe |
Which unit of the Karoo Supergroup is composed of flood basalts?
The Drakensberg Group comprises minor sedimentary (ie. sandstones, lapilli deposits, pyroclastic deposits, and igneous (ie. continental flood basalt/andesite sequences, shallow intrusive dikes and sills, and diatremes) and is part of the greater volcanic extrusive rock sequences of the Karoo Igneous Province.
What is the largest division of stratigraphy?
An eon, the largest division of the geologic time scale, spans hundreds to thousands of millions of years. Geologists generally agree that there are two major eons: the Precambrian eon and the Phanerozoic eon.
What does group mean in geology?
A group is a lithostratigraphic unit, a part of the geologic record preserved in rock strata. Groups are generally divided into individual formations. Groups may sometimes be combined into supergroups.
Why the Karoo super group consists of sedimentary rock?
Flooding of the rift formed the Agulhas Sea. The sediments which accumulated in this shallow sea consolidated to form the Cape Supergroup of rocks, which form the Cape Fold Belt today.
What types of rock lies underneath the basalt of the Drakensberg?
From Hoedspruit it extends west to Tzaneen, also in Limpopo Province, where it is known as the Wolkberg Mountains and Iron Crown Mountain. At 2,200 m (7,200 ft) above sea level, the Wolkberg is the highest elevation in Limpopo….
| Drakensberg | |
|---|---|
| Geology | |
| Type of rock | Basalt and Quartzite |
Where is the Karoo Basin?
The Karoo Basin is bounded on its southern margin by the Cape Fold Belt, onlaps onto the Kaapvaal Craton in the north and is classified as a foreland basin. Coal seams are present within the Early Permian Vryheid Formation and the Triassic Molteno Formation.
Why the Karoo Supergroup consists of sedimentary rock?
WHAT IS group in lithostratigraphy?
A group is a lithostratigraphic unit, a part of the geologic record preserved in rock strata. Groups are generally divided into individual formations. Groups are useful for showing relationships between formations, and they are also useful for small-scale mapping or for studying the stratigraphy of large regions.
What is the Karoo Supergroup?
The Karoo Supergroup in southern Africa occurs in the areally extensive Main Karoo and Kalahari basins as well as in a number of subsidiary basins in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. The Main Karoo basin constitutes a retro-arc foreland basin, while the rest are intracratonic sag basins or rift basins.
What is the Ecca Group in South Africa?
Description. The type area for the Ecca Group is in the Karoo Basin of South Africa and Lesotho. In the southwestern Karoo Basin, the Ecca Group has a total thickness of approximately 1,300 metres (4,300 ft). There is no single location where the entire vertical section of the Ecca Group is exposed.
Where are the Ecca formations?
With the exception of the Prince Albert, Whitehill, Collingham, and the uppermost Waterford Formations which are found in both the southern and western/northwestern facies, the geological formations of the Ecca Group can only be found in one of the three previously aforementioned facies successions.
What type of basin is the Karoo Basin?
The Main Karoo basin constitutes a retro-arc foreland basin, while the rest are intracratonic sag basins or rift basins. Pre-erosion thicknesses of the sedimentary succession range from over 10,000 m in the southern foredeep part of the Main Karoo basin and the Cabora Bassa rift basin, to less than 1000 m in most of the subsidiary basins.