1

THE BIDA BASIN

Group 3 presentation
NUPE BASIN
 OBJECTIVES 2

 INTRODUCTION

 ORIGIN AND LOCATION

 GEOLOGICAL AND STRUCTURAL FRAMEWORK OF THE

BASIN

 HYDROCARBON AND OTHER POTENTIAL MINERALS OF THE

BASIN

 ECONOMIC MINERAL POTENTIAL OF THE BASIN

What is a basin? 3

 A basin is a depression, or dip, in the Earth’s surface

caused by sedimentary loading, Tectonic activity and
mostly subsidence. It could also be defined as a large
low-lying area often below the sea level.

 Basins are bowl-shaped or elongated troughs, with

sides higher than the bottom. Some are filled with
water and some others are empty and others filled
with sediments.
Formation of basins 4

 Basins are formed by forces above the ground

(like erosion) or below the ground (like mantle
convection).

 The major types of basins are river drainage basins,

structural basins, and ocean basins(sedimentary
basins).
SEDIMENTARY BASINS 5

 Sedimentary basins are regions of the Earth where

long-term subsidence creates accommodation space
for accumulation of sediments. As the sediments are
buried, they are subject to increasing pressure and
temperature and begin the processes of lithification
that transform them into sedimentary rock. If rich
hydrocarbon source rocks occur in association with
depth increase and burial duration, hydrocarbon
generation can occur in basins.
TYPES OF SEDIMENTARY 6
BASINS IN NIGERIA
 Benue Trough Complex
 Anambra Basin
 Bida Basin
 Benin Basin
 Bornu/Chad basin
 Eastern Dahomey Basin
 Niger Delta Basin
 Sokoto basin
 ORIGIN AND 7

LOCATION
 The Bida Basin a.k.a The Nupe Basin is a NW-SE
trending intracratonic sedimentary Basin extending
from Kontagora (Niger state in Nigeria) to areas
beyond Lokoja in the south. It is approximately 350km
long and varies in width from 75 to 150km.

 Unlike other sedimentary Basins in Nigeria, it is

characterised by absence of volcanoes, carbonates
and rocks of Tertiary age.
ORIGIN AND LOCATION 8

 The Bida Basin to the east is contiguous with or

adjacent to the Anambra Basin. These basins were
major depositional centres for transgressive and
regressive sediments in the upper Cretaceous times of
Nigeria.

 To the northwest, it is adjacent to the Sokoto basin.

 Due to its large area extent and fades variation, the

basin is often geographically divided into Northern
and Southern Bida Basins.
ORIGIN AND LOCATION 9
cont’d…

 Stratigraphy
The stratigraphic succession of Bida Basin, collectively
referred to as the Nupe Group comprises a twofold
Northern Bida Basin and Southern Bida Sub-Basin. The basin
fill comprises a northwest trending belt of Upper Cretaceous
sedimentary rocks that were deposited as a result of block
faulting, basement fragmentation, subsidence, rifting and
drifting consequent to the Cretaceous opening of the South
Atlantic Ocean. Major horizontal (sinistral) movements along
the northeast-southwest axis of the adjacent Benue Trough
appear to have been translated to the north-south and
north-westerly trending shear zones to form the Bida Basin
perpendicular to the Benue Trough.
ORIGIN AND LOCATION 10

Fig 1: Sketch geological map of Nigeria showing the location of the Bida Basin
GEOLOGICAL AND STRUCTURAL
11
FRAMEWORK OF THE BASIN

 The Bida Basin is a basin underlain by mainly

continental sediments with minor occurrence of
shallow marine to freshwater flood plain deposits. The
initial basin fill is grouped largely by several cycles of
simple, but merged fanglomerate (alluvial fan)
systems developed from single stream breaches onto
the proximal setting of the basin. These fanglomerates
(which is a fancy term for sediments deposited on
alluvial fans, consist of gravel, sand, and silt-sized
particles cemented by calcite) directly overly the
basement complex and display a fining upward
sequence. This unit is accepted as the bida sandstone.
GEOLOGICAL AND STRUCTURAL
12
FRAMEWORK OF THE BASIN

Studies reveal that the bida sandstone is overlain directly by the

pisolitic ironstone (Any rock containing a substantial proportion
of an iron compound) which originates from Agbaja ironstone
formation which is in turn succeeded by a sequence of rocks
referred to as enagi formation which is made up of mostly fine
to medium grained, grey and white sandstones, grey clays,
carbonaceous silts and ironstone bands (these are found
everywhere in the basin).
In chronological order it can be said that the basin occurs as
follows;
Enagi Formation. – Youngest Formation
Agbaja Ironstone Formation.
 Bida Sandstone Formation.
 GEOLOGICAL AND STRUCTURAL 13
FRAMEWORK OF THE BASIN

Fig 2: Geological Map of the Bida Basin Fig 3: Section showing the regional stratigraphic succession of the
Bida Basin (Line A-B)
HYDROCARBON AND OTHER 14
POTENTIAL MINERALS OF THE BASIN

 The Bida Basin has potential source rocks composed

of carbonaceous shales intercalated with sandstones
and clay. Further investigations show that the "Patti
formation" is a rich source of kerogen (a precursor for
oil & gas). This suggests that there is a potential
generation of hydrocarbons.

 The Patti formation possesses a stratified nature that

has favourable pathways for migration of fluids into
potential reservoir rocks.
HYDROCARBON AND OTHER 15
POTENTIAL MINERALS OF BASIN

Fig 4: Potential source rock facies ( dark carbonaceous shales amd clay) of the Patti formation at Ahoko
near Lokoja in the Southern Bida basin
ECONOMIC MINERAL 16

POTENTIAL OF THE BASIN

Group 3 presentation
 Nigeria is a country with unexplored potentials. As we
all know, still, the Niger-Delta basin is the
sedimentary basin that generates majority of the
Petroleum resource the country boasts of.
 The Bida basin along with others have been deemed
time without number as a major potential source of oil
and minerals. The only issue is it’s still at the
“potential” phase because there still has been no
exploratory efforts towards a discovery in this basin.

 Let’s discuss the potentials, shall we…

ECONOMIC MINERAL 17

POTENTIAL OF THE BASIN

 According to the preliminary report, all geological
maps available on the Bida basin is an undifferentiated
Nupe sandstone. Geochemical data, as stated in the
preliminary geographical map shows that mainly gas
and some oil would have been generated within the
prospective and more prospective sections in the
basin.

 Shaly units of the Patti and Agbaja formations would

provide regional seals for any trapped hydrocarbons in
the southern portion of the basins.
ECONOMIC MINERAL 18

POTENTIAL OF THE BASIN

 Bida basin is also a rich source of earth minerals which
serves as gem-stones, pigments in paints, materials
for pottery and ceramics. These minerals are in such
abundance here that Nigeria earned a mention as one
of the few places of natural occurrence.

 Minerals like Zircon (a whitening agent, a pigement

and a tool for geochronology), Rutile (a property of
“star” gems requires rutile, used as part of the ZTR
index that classifies highly weathered sediments),
Tourmaline (one of the world’s most popular gem
stones that could sell for thousand of dollars) etc…
Conclusions 19

 A major constraint to onshore exploration in Nigeria is the

lack of knowledge of the subsurface geology of the inland
basins, as only a very few exploration wells have been
drilled, if any at all.
 Geochemical investigations have shown that potential
source rocks in the Bida Basin are gas-prone. Potential
reservoir rocks in the Bida Basin include fluvial sandstones
in the Lokoja Formation, and well-sorted shelf and flood
plain sandstones in the Patti Formation. The shales and
claystones of the Patti and Agbaja formations may provide
regional seals in the Southern Bida Basin. Different trap
configurations are possible in the basin.
 It will all remain a “Potential source” until there is a step in
the direction of the E&P companies and government to
transform Bida basin and all other frontier basins to “active
sources”.