Sedimentary Basins of the World, 3 (Series Editor: K.J.

Hsu)

African Basins
Edited by

R.C. Selley
Department of Geology
Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine
Royal School of Mines
London, United Kingdom

ELSEVIER
Amsterdam - Lausanne - New York - Oxford - Shannon - Tokyo 1997
 Contents

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE SERIES Cambrian 48

by KJ. Hsu V Ordovician-Silurian 49
Devonian 49
INTRODUCTION AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Carboniferous 50
by R.C. Selley IX
The Permian 53
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS XIII Geologic events and sedimentation 53
Eustatic vs. tectonic control of sedimentation 53
Palaeozoic glaciation 54
Part 1. North Africa Mesozoic 54
Triassic 55
Chapter 1 THE SEDIMENTARY BASINS OF Jurassic 55
NORTHWEST AFRICA: STRATIGRAPHY Cretaceous 57
AND SEDIMENTATION Early Cretaceous 57
by R.C. Selley 3 Late Cretaceous 60
Geological events and sedimentation 66
Introduction 3
Early Cretaceous events: the end of the Nubian
Precambrian basement and infra-Cambrian sediments . . 4
problem 67
Cambro-Ordovician 5
Late Cretaceous events 68
Silurian 8
Tertiary 69
Devonian 11
Palaeogene 70
Carboniferous-Permian 12
Palaeocene 70
Mesozoic 12
Eocene 71
Selected Bibliography 16
Oligocene 73
References 16
Neogene 73
Miocene 73
Chapter 2 THE BASINS OF NORTHWEST AFRICA:
Pliocene 76
STRUCTURAL EVOLUTION
Geological events and sedimentation 79
by R.C. Selley 17
Neogene facies and events in North Africa . . . 79
Introduction 17 Summary and common themes 81
Tindouf basin 17 Acknowledgements 82
Reggane basin 19 References 82
Ahnet, Mouydir and Illizi/Ghadames basins 20
Murzuk basin 21
The Kufra basin , 24 Part 2. Central Africa
Selected Bibliography 25
References 26 Chapter 5 THE IULLEMMEDEN BASIN
by R.T.J. Moody 89
Chapter 3 THE SIRTE BASIN OF LIBYA
Introduction 89
by R.C. Selley 27
Structural setting 89
Introduction 27 Stratigraphy and sedimentology 91
Stratigraphy and facies 27 Precambrian 91
Structure and tectonic evolution 31 Palaeozoic 92
Igneous activity 34 Permo-Triassic 92
Selected Bibliography 35 Jurassic Cretaceous 92
References 36 Lower Cretaceous 93
Upper Cretaceous 95
Chapter 4 SEDIMENTARY BASINS OF EGYPT: AN Tertiary 98
OVERVIEW OF DYNAMIC STRATIGRAPHY Quaternary 101
by A.S. El Hawat 39 References 101
Introduction 39
Chapter 6 RIFT BASINS OF THE SUDAN
Sedimentary basins 39
by R.B. Salama 105
The Afro-Nubian craton 39
Intracratonic basins 40 Introduction 105
Pericratonic basins 43 Geological sequence 106
The Gulf of Suez rift basin 45 Precambrian-Cambrian 106
The Palaeozoic 46 Palaeozoic 106
XVI CONTENTS

Mesozoic 109 Cenozoic Niger delta 163

Rift structures and rifting phases Ill The modern delta 163
The Sudanese rift system 114 Lithostratigraphy 166
Bahr El Arab rift 114 Evolution of depobelts and sequences 166
White Nile rift 115 Structure 169
Blue Nile rift 116 Petroleum geology 170
River Atbara rift 116 Conclusion 171
Wadi El Kuu rift 116 Acknowledgements 171
Sedimentary sequence of the Sag period 117 References 171
Deltas and river fans 118
Bahr El Arab rift palaeoriver system 120 Chapter 8 THE WEST AFRICAN COASTAL BASINS
Wadi El Kuu 121 by M.A. Ala and R.C. Selley 173
Wadi Ibra, Wadi Bulbul and Wadi Nyala . . . . 122
Introduction 173
Bahr El Arab palaeoriver system 122
The Rio del Rey and Douala basins 174
Bahr El Ghazal and Bahr El Jebel 122
The Gabon basin 174
Sobat River 122
Pre-salt sequence 176
WadiElGhalla 122
Salt sequence 177
White Nile rift palaeoriver systems 123
Post-salt sequence 177
KhorAbuHabil 123
The Congo basin 180
Khor Yabus and Khor Adar 124
Pre-salt sequence 180
Blue Nile rift palaeoriver system 124
Salt sequence 181
River Atbara rift palaeoriver system 124
Post-salt sequence 181
Sediment loads, estimated volumes and source
The Angola (or Cuanza) basin 182
scenarios 124
Pre-salt sequence 182
Natural resources of the rift basins 129
Salt sequence 182
Ground-water resources of the rift basins 129
Post-salt sequence 183
Types of aquifers and aquifer characteristics . . 130
The Orange River basin 184
Blue Nile rift basin 132
Syn-rift sequence 184
White Nile rift basin 133
Post-rift (drift) sequence 185
River Atbara rift basin 133
References 186
The evolution of the ground-water flow systems 134
Ground-water resources 135
Chapter 9 THE EAST AFRICAN RIFT BASINS
Petroleum resources of the Sudanese Rift System and
by L.E. Frostick 187
the role of ground water in its migration and
accumulation 135 Introduction 187
Petroleum discovery and resources 135 Geomorphology 187
Hydrocarbon migration and accumulation Climate and vegetation 189
through ground-water flow in the rift Pre-rift geology 189
basins 136 Plate tectonic setting 191
Buried saline lakes of the Sudanese Rift System . . . 137 Structure 192
Lake Sudd 137 Mantle and lower lithosphere 192
White Nile rift, the Nuba saline lakes 139 Crustal structure 193
Blue Nile lakes 140 Volcanicity 194
Sobalake 140 The basin fills 196
Relative age of the saline lakes and relation to Geometry of the fills 196
East Africa lakes 140 Sedimentary facies and depositional environments . . 196
The evolution of the River Nile 141 Fluvial sediments 196
The Blue Nile in Ethiopia 141 Lake sediments 197
The White Nile in Equatoria 143 Sequences and cyclicity in the fills 198
Late Quaternary River Nile 144 The faulted margin 199
The evolution of the River Nile and the buried Lake centre 200
saline rift lakes in Sudan 144 The fiexured margin 200
Acknowledgments 147 Examples of basin types 201
References 147 The Lake Tanganyika basin 201
The Lake Turkana basin 202
Chapter 7 THE NIGER DELTA BASIN Baringo-Naivasha-Magadi basins 203
by T.J.A. Reijers, S.W. Petters and Conclusions 206
C.S. Nwajide 151 Controls on differences in structure and sedimentary
Introduction 151 fill 206
Tectonic setting 153 Importance of the East African Rift basins 206
Acknowledgements 206
Antecedent deltas in the Benue trough 154
References 207
Deltaic sedimentation in the Anambra Basin 156
The Campanian 159
Chapter 10 THE COASTAL BASINS OF SOMALIA,
The Maastrichtian 159
KENYA AND TANZANIA
The Paleocene 159
by E.I. Mbede and A. Dualeh 211
The Eocene 159
Sequence stratigraphy of the Anambra Basin 159 Introduction 211
CONTENTS XVII

Review of the geology of the Somali Coastal Basin . . . . 212 Drakensberg Group and associated intrusions 303
Introduction 212 Basin history 305
Somali Coastal Basin 214 Tectonic setting 305
Luugh-Mandera Basin 214 Dwyka glaciers and ice sheets 308
Somali Embayment 215 Ecca seas and deltas 308
Geological review of the Kenya Coastal Basin 217 Beaufort alluvial plains 309
Introduction 217 Post-Beaufort floodplains and deserts 309
Karoo 218 Igneous events and Gondwana break-up 309
Post-Karoo 218 Economic resources 310
The geological review of Tanzania Coastal Basin 221 Coal 310
Introduction 221 Oil and gas 310
Selous-Ruvu-Tanga Basin 221 Uranium and molybdenum 310
The Lindi Rift Basin 225 References 313
Structural evolution 227
Economic geology 230 Chapter 13 LATE MESOZOIC SEDIMENTARY
Hydrocarbon prospectivity 230 BASINS OFF THE SOUTH COAST OF
Other mineral deposits 231 SOUTH AFRICA
References 232 by I.K. McMillan, G.J. Brink,
D.S. Broad and J.J. Maier 319
Introduction 319
Part 3. Southern Africa
Regional setting 319
Previous work 322
Chapter 11 THE OWAMBO BASIN OF NORTHERN
General structure and history of the southern offshore
NAMIBIA
basins 323
by R. McG. Miller 237
Bredasdorp basin 324
Introduction 237 Introduction 324
Regional stratigraphy 238 Basin evolution 329
The Damara Sequence 238 Rift tectonics and sedimentation (D to lAtl) . . 329
The Nosib Group 238 Transitional-early drift tectonics and
The Otavi Group 243 sedimentation (lAtl to 13Atl) 344
The Abenab Subgroup of the Otavi Late drift tectonics and sedimentation (13AU to
Mountainland 243 present day) 345
The Abenab Subgroup west of the Otavi Pletmos basin and Infanta embayment 347
Mountainland 243 Introduction 347
The Tsumeb Subgroup 245 Basin evolution 348
The Mulden Group 252 Rift tectonics and sedimentation (D to 1 At 1) . . 348
Structure of the late-Proterozoic rocks of the Owambo Transitional-early drift tectonics and
Basin 256 sedimentation (lAtl to 13Atl) 355
The Karoo Sequence 256 Late drift tectonics and sedimentation (13Atl to
The Kalahari Sequence 260 present day) 358
Summary .' . . . 265 Gamtoos and Algoa basins 358
Acknowledgements 267 Introduction 358
References 267 Basin evolution 359
Rift tectonics and sedimentation (D to lAtl) . . 359
Chapter 12 THE FORELAND KAROO BASIN, SOUTH Transitional-early drift tectonics and
AFRICA sedimentation (lAtl to 13Atl) 370
by M.R. Johnson, CJ. van Vuuren, Drift tectonics and sedimentation (13Atl to
J.N.J. Visser, D.I. Cole, H. de V. Wickens, present day) 373
A.D.M. Christie and D.L. Roberts 269 Acknowledgements 374
References 374
Introduction 269
Stratigraphy and palaeoenvironments 270
Dwyka Group 270
Part 4. Summary
Ecca Group 275
Basal formations in the south, west and
Chapter 14 PUZZLING QUESTIONS IN THE SIMPLE
northwest 275
HISTORY OF A CONTINENT
Southern formations (above the Whitehill
by K.J. Hsu 379
Formation) 278
Western and northwestern formations (above the References 382
Whitehill Formation) 283
Northeastern formations 288
Beaufort Group 295 AUTHOR INDEX 383
Adelaide Subgroup 295
GEOGRAPHIC, TECTONIC AND
Tarkastad Subgroup 299
STRATIGRAPHIC INDEX 389
Molteno Formation 301
Elliot Formation 302 MINERALS, PETROLEUM, ROCKS AND
Clarens Formation 302 FOSSILS INDEX 393
 41 249 ( 2010 ) 　　　　 　　 　　 　　　　　
　　 　　 　　 　　　 　　　　Global Geology, 13 ( 1 ) ∶

　　doi: 1013969 / j1 issn11673 2973612010101105

　　Article ID : 1673 29736 ( 2010 ) 01 20041 209

Forma tion and evolution of petroliferous ba sin s in Afr ican

con tin en t and the ir hydrocarbon d istr ibution
1 1 1 2
SUN Haitao , ZHON G D akang , ZHAN G Sim eng and WAN G X ingm ing

1. S ta te Key L ab of Petroleum R esou rce and P rospecting, Facu lty of N a tu ra l R esou rce and Inform a tion Technology,
　 Ch ina U n iversity of Petroleum , B eijing 102249, Ch ina
2. Explora tion and D evelopm en t R esea rch Institu te of D agang O ilfield Com pany, PetroCh ina, Tian jin, 300280, Ch ina

Abstract: There are eighty sedim entary basins in five different types in African continent, i. e. craton sag ba2
sin, foreland basin, intermountain basin, passive margin basin and rift basin, which underwent the stress envi2
ronment of stable dep ression 2comp ression 2extension. The first three types of basins had been intensely influ2
enced by Hercynian and A lp ine tectonic movement, while the later two types of basins always exist in a stable
extension environment. D ifferent basin evolution caused the obviously hydrocarbon distribution difference. In
North Africa, marginal craton sag and rift basins show great expedition potential of hydrocarbon, marginal cra2
ton sag basins had good formation and p reservation of Lower Silurian hot shale, tectonic 2strata trap s and m igra2
tion pathway formed by Hercynian unconform ity, and rift basins had excellent Upper Cretaceous marine source
rocks and good hydrocarbon p reservation with little tectonic activity. M eanwhile, in the salt2containing passive
margin basins and delta basins ofW est Africa, thick strata containing high quality source rocks and p lastic stra2
ta were well developed. Source rocks of high maturity, good hydrocarbon p reservation, growth faults and defor2
mational structure trap s were formed by abundant overlying sediments and sources supp lied from Tertiary large
water system.
Key words: Africa; sedim entary basin; hydrocarbon distribution

global natural gas reserves (B P, 2008 ) . The total re2

1 　 In troduction
There exist eighty sedim entary basins w ith abun2
dant hydrocarbon resources and areas about 20121 ×
6 2
10 km in Africa, among which oil and gas have been
discovered in fifty four ones ( Tong, 2004 ) . Until the
end of 2007, in Africa it is p roved that reserves
reached 12618 ×10 m illion barrels of oil equivalent
3
(MBOE ) . Reserves of oil rose to 11715 ×10 m illion
barrels (MB ) , accounting for 915% of global oil re2
serves, and reserves of natural gas rose to 51419 ×10
serves of Africa become the third largest one of the
world, just after M iddle East and Latin Am erica.
B ased on statistic data, Egyp t, Sudan, W estern Saha2
ra region in North Africa, Guinea Gulf, N iger R iver
and Congo R iver region in W est Africa, together con2
centrated most of such abundant resources.
The regional m aldistribution of oil and gas re2
3 sources in Africa is closely related w ith the formation
and evolution of those sedim entary basins. During the
long geological evolution of Africa, the tectonic stress
3

billion cubic feet ( BCF ) , accounting for 812% of backgrounds were alw ays changing betw een extrusion

Received 27 November 2009; accep ted 22 December 2009

© 1994-2010 China Academic Journal Electronic Publishing House. All rights reserved. http://www.cnki.net
 42 Sun H. T. , Zhong D. K. , Zhang S. M. , et a l.

and extension. A s a result of that, m any sedim entary
basins of different types including superimposed ba2
sins were developed at different stages of history and
in different regions of Africa. The variety of p late tec2
tonic background, basin form ation and sedim entary e2
volution caused the differences of petroleum geology
conditions, which lead to the differences of hydrocar2
bon controlling factors and distribution characteristics.
morphic rocks, quartzite, apogrite and volcanic
rocks. African Plate essentially of four main Precam 2
brian cratons: Congo carton, Kalahary craton, W est
Africa craton and East Africa craton ( Guan et a l. ,
2005 ) . African Plate, as a part of southern Gond2
wana continent, collided w ith northern Laurasia to
form the first super ancient land. From Cambrian to
Tertiary, all p lates in the Earth, including African

2 　 Forma tion and evolution of sed i2

m en tary ba sin s in Afr ica
　　Congo shield, Kalahary shield and W est Africa
shield, develop ing early from the A rchean, formed
the original basem ent of African Plate. To Proterozo2
ic, all A rchean shields became the early cratons w ith
sedim entary cover consisting of greenstone belt, meta2
Plate, went into the form ing and breaking up p rocess
of Pangaea. During the evolution p rocess w ith the fre2
quent change betw een extrusion and extension, Afri2
can Plate developed basins of five types ( including
nine sub types) by the different tectonic stress back2
grounds, different positions in the p late, and different
basin subsiding mechanism ( Table 1, Fig. 1 ) .
In general, it is an collision p rocess for African

Table 1 　Sed im en tary ba sin d istr ibution fea tures in Afr ican con tin en t
Mechanism type subtype Location

R ift basin R ift basin North and East Africa

Delta basin N igeria, Egyp t, Angola

R ift Strike2slip basin Guinea Gulf

Passive margin basin
Salt passive margin basin M iddle Africa

None salt passive margin basin W est and East Africa

Foreland basin Foreland basin North and South Africa

Comp ression
Intermountain basin Intermountain basin North Africa

Internal craton sag basin East and South Africa

Dep ression Craton basin
External craton sag basin North Africa

Plate in Paleozoic when all p lates were converging to
each other and the Pangaea were formed at the end of
Paleozoic ( Guan et a l. , 2005 ) . In the early stage,
African Plate stayed still in lightly extension setting,
on the contrary, in the later stage, African Plate was
in intensely extrusion setting. After Pan 2African
movement at the stage of Cambrian to Silurian, Laura2
sia land moved little to the opposite direction of Gond2
wana land, when African Plate was still in tectonic
state w ith uniform rise and subsidence. A s a result of
less tectonic movem ent and much crust thinning, cra2
ton sag basins developed in African Plate along north
to west or near north to south direction of strike
( Zheng, 2005 ) . Strata of less changed thickness and
little deform ation lay in craton sag basins . According
to different basin locations in African Plate, all craton
sag basins can be divided into two types: intra 2craton
sag basins and external craton sag basins. Most exter2
nal craton sag basins were located in west Sahara re2
gion of North Africa, while intra 2craton sag basins lie
in M iddle Africa and South Africa. From Early Devo2
nian, Caledonian movement was active. Then after
separating 100 M a, initial collision of Laurasia land
and Gondwana land started to collide again in African

© 1994-2010 China Academic Journal Electronic Publishing House. All rights reserved. http://www.cnki.net
 Formation and evolution of petroliferous basins in A frican continent and their hydrocarbon distribution 43

Plate. In this comp ress background, external craton

sag basins suffered p ress from north to east direction.
Because of differential rise and subsidence of those
basins, strata were folded up or erode away. A ll the
deform ation was aggravated by Hercynian movement in
Carboniferous and Perm ian. Hercynian movem ent was
the most intensely movement that influenced entire Af2
rican Plate in geological history, which caused intense
erosion of early formed strata and generally distributed
unconform ity in North Africa. Hercynian fold belts
were form ed at northern and southern Africa, where
foreland basins and intermountain basins developed a2
long those two fold belts. After the end of Hercynian
at late Perm ian, a united continent, so called the
Pangaea, form ed again as a result of the combination
of Gondwana land and Laurasia land.
F ig. 2 　 Breakup sequence of Afr ican con tin en t in
M esozo ic22Cenozo ic

ca splited away from North America in northwestern

F ig. 1 　D istr ibution of sed im en tary ba sin s in Afr ican
con tin en t ( after Guan, 2005)
M esozoic and Cenozoic are the stage when Pan2
m ent, and some tectonic deformation developed into
gaea broke up ( Ian et a l. , 1997 ) . In the p rocess,
African Plate sp lited away from the neighbor p lates,
leading to the formation of passive margin and inner
w ithout any extrusion events, so passive margin basins
p late rift activities. From the largest united continent
to the smaller Gondwana land and sm aller African
Plate, the broken events descended in a sequence
consist of four grades ( M acdonald et a l. , 2003 ) :
Firstly, Gondwana land broke away from Laurasia
land from late Triassic to early Jurassic, causing Afri2
part; secondly, a sudden break happened inner
Gondwana land from early Jurassic to late Cretaceous,
causing east Gondwana land separated from west
Gondwana land and Africa sp lited away from India
and Australia in eastern part; thirdly, Africa broke
away from South Am erica of inner west Gondwana
land in early Cretaceous; finally, in African Plate,
because of tensional stress betw een p lates, west Saha2
ra sp lited away from other part of Africa in late C reta2
ceous, causing W est Africa rift zone, M iddle Africa
shear zone and East Africa rift zone. A t the end of
Cenozoic, Hercynian fold belt in north African conti2
nent was slightly influenced by A lp ine tectonic move2
intermountain basins. During whole p rocess, African
continent was alw ays in passive extension background
developed along Africa continental shelf and rift ba2
sins developed near rift zones inner p late. Mostly dis2
tributed in eastern and western coast, passive margin
basins developed “ double layer structure ”above di2
vergent crust ( J iang, 2005 ) , which consists of lower

© 1994-2010 China Academic Journal Electronic Publishing House. All rights reserved. http://www.cnki.net
 44 Sun H. T. , Zhong D. K. , Zhang S. M. , et a l.

rift sequences and upper dep ression sequences. Ac2
cording to different tectonic 2sedim ent sequences, those
passive margin basins can be divided into four types:
salt2containing passive basins, none salt passive ba2
sins, strike 2slip basins and delta basins. The type of
delta basins means that typ ical basins deposited ultra
thick delta sedim ents at the river mouth region in N i2
ger, Angola and Egyp t in Tertiary ( Pei, 2004 ) .
Entirely, the stress field of African Plate under2
went a changing p rocess including extension in Early
Paleozoic, extrusion in Later Paleozoic, extension in
M esozoic and Cenozoic. A s extension background was
dom inated through the whole geological history and
basin form ation mechanism of all types was relatively
sim p le, all basins were distributed in a uniform law
and well p reserved.

1. Reggane Basin; 2. Ghadames Basin; 3. Oude M ya Basin; 4. Rharb Basin; 5. Tellian A tlas Basin; 6. Sirte Basin; 7. Chad
Basin; 8. Senegal Basin; 9. Southwest Coast Basin; 10. Low Congo Basin; 11. Cote d’Ivoire Basin; 12. N iger Delta Basin; 13.
Tanzania Coast Basin; 14. M elut Basin; 15. Kufra Basin; 16. East African R ift System basins; 17. N ile Delta Basin
F ig. 3 　Sed im en tary ba sin evolution in Afr ican con tin en t

From Cam brian to O rdovician, African Plate was

3 　Petroleum geolog ica l cond ition s of
petroliferous ba sin s in Afr ican
con tin en t
　　To a large number of basins has so m any types,
petroleum geological conditions show great differences
in each kind of basins, which lead to hydrocarbon re2
sources distribution differences in African continent.
311 　Cra ton sag ba sin s
Eighteen craton sag basins developed in Africa,
including eight intra 2craton sag basins lie in the m id2
dle and southern part of Africa, and ten external cra2
ton sag basins in North Africa. External craton sag ba2
sins, w ith high degree of exp loration, had good condi2
tions for hydrocarbon to be generated and p reserved in
Paleozoic petroleum system , where many large oil and
gas fields were found.
floating at m iddle 2high latitude, where only north
m argin of the continent got m arine transgression, so
good marine and none marine facies sandstones reser2
voir form ed w ith well physical p roperty ( Guan et a l. ,
2005 ) . Average porosity of Cam brian fluvial sand2
stones reservoir is 15% 220% , and permeability is
2100 ×10 μm .
- 3 - 3 2
about 10 ×10
Then to Silurian and Devonian, African Plate
was floating northward to low latitude, and the trans2
gression boundary enlarged, so a set of perfect source
rocks were formed in Lower Silurian and Lower Devo2
nian, especially the “ hot shale ”of Lower Silurian.
“Hot shale ”was black shale of high radioactivity val2
ue and main source rocks of Paleozoic petroleum sys2
tem in North Africa ( L ü ninga et a l. , 2000 ) . The
kerogen was sap ropelic marine facies type II, and its

© 1994-2010 China Academic Journal Electronic Publishing House. All rights reserved. http://www.cnki.net
 Formation and evolution of petroliferous basins in A frican continent and their hydrocarbon distribution
total organic carbon ( TOC ) value is about 1% 23% ,
up to 10%.
In late Paleozoic, Hercynian movement influ2
enced most external craton sag basins w ith intense
strata deformation, bringing two good conditions for
petroleum to be p reserved. The first one was Triassic
sandstones reservoir overlied on Hercynian unconform 2
ity, which had large porosity value of 20% 222% , up
to 35% , and permeability value of a few Darcy
( Guan et a l. , 2005 ) . The second one was a group of
trap s, including structure trap s, stratigraphic trap s
and tectonic 2stratigraphic compound trap s.
Compared to external craton sag basins, intra 2
craton sag basins had not undergone the m assive
transgression and Hercynian movement sufficiently.
Both of bad quality source rocks and reversal tectonic
movement lead to oil and gas can not be generated and
well p reserved in intra 2craton sag basins.
312 　Pa ssive marg in ba sin s
Total thirty eight passive m argin basins developed
around African Plate, most of which lay in eastern
coast of A tlantic Ocean and western coast of India O 2
cean. According to exp loration results, the best petro2
leum geological conditions developed at west2central
coast of Africa (L iu et a l. , 2008 ) , where N iger Delta
Basin and Congo Fan B asin developed. This region
stretches from the southern edge of the N iger Delta to
the W alvis R idge, including a few salt basins.
Two petroleum system s support above 2m entioned
conclusion. First one developed at lower sequences
below the salt bed. From Late Jurassic to Early C reta2
ceous, Africa separated w ith South America step by
step from southern part of W est Africa to northward,
when a series of asymmetrical horsts and grabens ex2
tended parallel to p resent coastline. A t syn 2rift stage
of the extensive rifting event, thick sequences of fluvi2
al and lacustrine rocks were deposited in those rift ba2
sins. A scribed to the p resence of W alvis R idge, oce2
anic upwelling and anoxic events ( Hou et a l. , 2005;
Huang et a l. , 2008; Huc et a l. , 2004 ) , a set of or2
ganic 2rich and lacustrine black shales of the rift stage
developed in the restricted sea environm ent, which
© 1994-2010 China Academic Journal Electronic Publishing House. All rights reserved.
45
were the most im portant hydrocarbon source rocks in
these passive margin basins. Hydrocarbon generated
2
potential of som e kerogen could be up to 46 t/ km .
M eanwhile, fluvial sandstones and lacustrine carbon2
ate bank were good reservoirs, w ith cap rocks of over2
lying evaporate and salt beds.
The second petroleum system developed at upper
sequences above the salt beds, in Cenozoic post2rift
stage, especially in delta deposition area. In N iger
Delta Basin and Congo Fan B asin, thick shale source
rocks and sandstones reservoir of delta facies, turbi2
dite reservoir of deep water fan facies deposited exten2
sively ( Deng et a l. , 2008 ) . Overburden p ressures
from superstrata accelerated the mature of underlying
source rocks, p romoted shale and salt deform ation and
the form ation of depositional fault ( L iro et a l. ,
1995 ) , which were helpful to form giant oil and gas
filed.
Another p referable region is Guinea Gulf in the
northwest of N iger delta, where strike 2slip basins de2
veloped. Two points, the p resence of transform fault
zone and the absence of evaporate and salt strata, dif2
fering from above mentioned salt basins, led to moder2
ate petroleum potential in this area ( B rownfield et
a l. , 2006 ) . Lower Cretaceous marine shale source
rocks, trubidite of post2rift stage, and faults pathway
related to transform fault zone still could develop high 2
quality hydrocarbon reservoirs. Some p resent discov2
eries in the deep 2water at Guinea Gulf have supported
this point.
313 　R ift ba sin s
Eighteen rift basins of sm all scale developed in
Africa, in which Sirte Basin is the largest one w ith
most abundant hydrocarbon resources. Typ ical rift ba2
sins distributed in M esozoic W est Africa R ift Zone,
M iddle Africa Shear Zone and Cenozoic East Africa
R ift System. Excep t offshore 2p latform sedim entary
system of marine facies developed in Sirte Basin, flu2
vial2 delta 2 lake sedim entary system of terrestrial faci2
es developed in other rift basins. Two petroleum sys2
tem s of marine facies and terrestrial facies were
form ed in these basins.
http://www.cnki.net
 46 Sun H. T. , Zhong D. K. , Zhang S. M. , et a l.

Table 2 　Geochem ica l da ta of ma in source rocks of sed im en tary ba sin s in W est Afr ica ( from USGS, 2006)

Name Tim e Kerogen TOC / % Ro / % H I/ kgHC ・ t - 1 Basin

Agbada Eocene II/ III 012 ～615 - ﹡

- N iger Delta

Akata Paleocene II 2 ～10 - - N iger Delta

Bucomza B rrem ian I/ II 6 015 ～1 46 Low Congo

Melania Barrem ian I/ II 611 015 ～1 46 Gabon Coast

Kissenda Barrem ian II/ III 115 ～2 015 ～1 - Gabon Coast

R 22Q unit Barrem ian II 113 ～216 - 3 ～43 Southwest Coast

O - P unit Ap tian - 1198 113 20 Southwest Coast

A lbian A lbian III 016 ～216 017 ～113 2 ～1615 Cote dπIvoire

Azile Turonian I/ II 3 ～5 - 10 Gabon Coast

Madiela A lbian II 10 - 10 Gabon Coast

Cenomanian Cenomanian II/ III 015 ～317 014 ～016 2 Cote d’Ivoire

Cenomanian Cenomanian II 112 ～8172 - 17 Senegal

A lbian A lbian III 112 ～216 - 2 ～26 Senegal

L iassic Tithonian II/ III 015 ～017 017 8 Tarfaya

　　　　Note: - standing for no data

　　 Typ ical marine facies petroleum system was in
Sirte Basin. Its source rocks were Upper C retaceous
Sirte formation, which developed in marine shales,
w ith TOC value up to 5%. Reservoirs were Lower
C retaceous none m arine sandstones and Palaeocene
shallow continental shelf lim estone. Regionally dis2
tributed shales and evaporates were m ain seal rocks.
Terrestrial facies petroleum system of other rift
basins developed in C retaceous and Palaeocene faul2
ted dep ressions. Source rocks were lacustrine facies
shales, thereinto Cretaceous had type II and type III
kerogen, whose TOC value is about 012% 23124%
( Guan et a l. , 2005 ) . Sandstone reservoirs were
form ed in C retaceous and Cenozoic fluvial2delta sedi2
mentary system , w ith porosity value is about 15% 2
- 3
20% and average perm ibility value is about 50 ×10
μm . Delta shale and fluvial p lain shale composed
2
and northern part of Africa, and were intensely influ2
enced by Hercynian movement and A lp ine movement.
A ll basins were sm all scale, w ith intense strata de2
form ation and erosion. A s a result, source rocks were
deep buried and not well p reserved, leading to oil and
gas generated conditions is not as good as other ba2
sins. In a word, the petroleum geological conditions
of these basins were not available to form large oil and
gas field.
4 　O il and ga s d istr ibution and con 2
trollin g factors of petroliferous
ba sin s in Afr ican con tin en t
411 　O il and ga s d istr ibution character istics
According to above mention, the difference of
petroleum geological conditions in African sedim entary
basins led to oil and gas distribution differences of ba2

main cap rocks. Faulted trap s, lithologic trap s and
stratigraphic trap s developed in both two petroleum
system s.
314 　Foreland ba sin s and in term oun ta in ba sin s
sins and regions. Generally, reserves in the north and
west are much more than those in the south and east,
oil reserves is m uch more than that of gas. Total oil
and gas p roved reserves are 31113 ×10 MBOE, oil
3

reserves is about 20412 ×10 MBOE, 66% of all. In

3
A t p resent, no large oil and gas field were found
in foreland basins and intermountain basins. These detail, the largest reserves in N iger Delta B asin,
about 10111 ×10 MBOE, account for 33% of all re2
3
basins developed in Hercynian Fold B elt at southern

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 Formation and evolution of petroliferous basins in A frican continent and their hydrocarbon distribution 47

serves in Africa. The second in Sirte Basin in North source rocks and reservoirs w idely distributed, were
Africa, about 5312 ×10 MBOE, accounts for 17% , form ed in basins of considerable scale. B ased on sta2
3

and the third in Tilrhem t Up lift, about 2215 ×10

3
tistic data ( Table 3 ) , most basins in Africa had an
3 2
MBOE, accounts for 7%. area larger than 10 ×10 km , including thirteen giant
The phenom enon of highly accum ulated hydro2 or super2giant basins, and sixty seven m iddle or large
carbon resources is obviously in Africa. Even in dif2
3
basins. 99% of p roved reserves ( 310 ×10 MBOE )
ferent basins of various types or in different series of were buried in forty two basins, such as N iger Delta
B asin ( 21219 ×10 km ) , Ghadames B asin ( 36816
3 2
strata, oil and gas p roved reserves is different. A lm ost
3 2
89% of all reserves were distributed in delta basins ×10 km ) .
and passive margin basins in W est Africa ( Fig. 4 ) , or
Table 3 　 Sed im en tary ba sin 2sca le cla ssif ica tion in Afr ican
external craton sag basins and rift basins in North Af2
con tin en t
rica. Extrem ely, 43% of all reserves were found in
Size A rea extent/104 km 2 Amount Samp le
Cenozoic petroleum system of only three delta basins, U ltra2mage ≥100 5 Congo Basin
46% in Paleozoic petroleum system of external craton Mega 50 ～100 8 Sirte Basin
N iger Delta Ba2
sag basins, w ith 5% in Cam brian, 2% in O rdovi2 Large 10 ～50 30
sin
cian, 10% in Devonian. The rem ainder distributed in M iddle 1 ～10 36 Oued Mya Basin
M esozoic petroleum system of rift basins and passive Small ≤1 1 Guercif Basin

margin basins. According to lithology variety, 77% of

reserves accum ulated in sandstone reservoirs, others
in carbonate reservoirs.
F ig. 4 　 Hydrocarbon d istr ibution fea tures in d ifferen t
type ba sin s in Afr ican con tin en t ( from BP,
2008 )
412 　Con trollin g factors for o il and ga s d istr ibu2
tion
　　According to the differences of oil and gas distri2
bution in sedim entary basins of Africa, the authors
comp letely considered the formation, evolution and
petroleum geological conditions of all basins, and
summarized five cotrolling factors that caused the
differences above mentioned.
41211 　Basin scale
Only large oil and gas accumulation, whose
41212 　Development state of hydrocarbon source rocks
W idely distributed source rocks w ith great hydro2
carbon potential were well developed, no m atter it was
a delta basin, an external craton sag basin of North
Africa, or a passive m argin basin of centralW est Afri2
ca. H igh radioactive Silurian black shale, Lower Cre2
taceous lacustrine dark shale, Upper C retaceous ma2
rine shale, and thick Tertiary delta shale, were four
m ain source rocks generating hydrocarbon resources,
which had large distribution area, good quality w ith
high abundance, great hydrocarbon generation poten2
tial (Deng et a l. , 2008 ) , and available m ature de2
gree.
41213 　Hercynian movement
Hercynian movement, which influenced Africa
most intensely in geological history, is very im portant
for Paleozoic petroleum system. Hercynian movem ent
destroyed source rocks p reservation of Silurian and
Devonian in some region on one side. On the other
side, Hercynian movement formed a large unconform i2
ty m igration path, and lots of trap s, including struc2
ture trap s, strata trap s and comp lex trap s. In craton
sag basins of North Africa, oil and gas only accumula2
ted in the basins which had good source rocks p reser2

© 1994-2010 China Academic Journal Electronic Publishing House. All rights reserved. http://www.cnki.net
 48 Sun H. T. , Zhong D. K. , Zhang S. M. , et a l.
vation and formation of multi2types trap s.
41214 　Developm ent degree of p lastic strata
Plastic strata is a key point to hydrocarbon accu2
mulation and p reservation of passive margin basins in
African coast, based on how extensively it developed
and whether it was deformed intensely. In Africa,
p lastic strata composed of shale and salt, like thick
Tertiary shale ( > 2 000 m ) in N iger Delta B asin,
and Cretaceous salt strata ( > 1 000 m ) of Low Congo
F ig. 5 　Graph show in g hydrocarbon accum ula tion in low Congo Ba sin (modified from USGS, 2006 )
41215 　Developm ent of large water system
Development of Tertiary large water system is an2
other im portant factor controlling the distribution of oil
and gas in African coast passive margin basins. Ac2
cording to statistic data, 90% of reserves in passive
margin basins is related w ith large water system from
located land. In the case of Low Congo B asin, large
Congo R iver supp lied thousands of terrigenous sedi2
ment in the Tertiary sag phase. Thickness of Palaeo2
cene sandstones and shales ofM alembo Form ation and
Landana Formation was up to 500 22 000 m; thickness
of M iocene m arine sandstones and turbidite of M ale2
mbo Form tion was up to 3 000 m. This set of sedi2
ments consisted good shale source rocks, deep water
turbidite reservoirs and also could accelerate deform a2
tion of p lastic strata and mature of below source rocks
( Xiong et a l. , 2005; L iu et a l. , 2007 ) . In W est Af2
rica, moderate p roved reserves had come from deep
water turbidite exp loration ( Henry et a l. , 2002 ) .
Generally, most hydrocarbon resources accum u2
© 1994-2010 China Academic Journal Electronic Publishing House. All rights reserved.
B asin. Two types of p lastic strata had low permeabili2
ty, which made them be good sealing rocks. They
were also deform ed extensively by the gravity of thick
super2strata, which led the formation of many deform 2
ation structures like grow th fault and salt diap ir (L iro
et a l. , 1995 ) . A ll the trap s related w ith deformation
structures can reinforce the shortage of enough struc2
ture trap s in passive margin basins.
lated in salt2containing passive m argin basins and del2
ta basins of W est Africa, especially deep water exp lo2
ration potential ( Zhang et a l. , 2007 ) , much larger
than that in the east. In East Africa, many rift activi2
ties and volcanic events in Paleocene hold back the
development large water system and the p reservation
of oil and gas reservoirs. In those oil2rich basins of
W est Africa, thick strata containing high quality
source rocks and p lastic strata were well developed,
and source rocks of high m aturity, good hydrocarbon
p reservation, grow th fault and deformational structure
trap were form ed by abundant overlying sedim ents and
sources supp lied from Tertiary large water system.
5 　Conclusion s
( 1 ) In the long geological history of Africa, tec2
tonic stress environment changed from sag stage of
early Paleozoic to comp ression of late Paleozoic, then
to extension of M esozoic and Cenozoic. Total eighty
basins of five types were formed in Africa, including
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 Formation and evolution of petroliferous basins in A frican continent and their hydrocarbon distribution
craton sag basins, foreland basins, intermountain ba2
sins, passive margin basins and rift basins.
( 2 ) Three petroleum system s developed respec2
tively in Paleozoic, M esozoic and Cenozoic. M any ba2
sins had good petroleum geological conditions, inclu2
ding external craton sag basins and rift basins in North
Africa, and salt2containing passive margin basins and
delta basins in W est Africa. Hydrocarbon resources
are much more in the north and west than those in the
south and east. The hydrocarbon distribution differ2
ences of each region developed during basins evolution
p rocess, and controlled by basins scales, Hercynian
movement, and development of source rocks, p lastic
strata and large water system s. Salt2containing passive
margin basins and delta basins would be the most
p rospect areas, especially deep water exp loration po2
tential.
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