AJALA OLADIMEJI DUROTOLUWA (19CN026123)

GROUP 6
IGBEREYIVWE OGHENETEJIRI DEREK (19CN026151)
ADELEKE TEMILOLUWA GIFT (19CN026119)
OWOLABI SUCCESS ADEDAYO (19CN026181)
LOWER BENUE TROUGH IWUEZE SAMUEL CHIBUIKE (19CNO26155)
IWUEZE FAVOUR CHIZARAM (19CN026154)
NWAWUBA ADAUGO GRACE (19CN026163)
 INTRODUCTION
The Lower Benue Trough is the southern portion of the Benue Trough that is believed
to have originated as a failed arm of an aulacogen at the time of the opening of the
South Atlantic Oceans during the separation of the African Plate and the South
American Plate.
The geology of the Lower Benue Trough is affiliated with the activities of plate
tectonics during the Cenomanian Period. The activities of the tectonic plates resulted in
an uplift and folding formation that took the NE-SW trend.
Fig. 1
 ORIGIN AND LOCATION
 Its origin is associated with the separation of the African and the South American Plates
in the early Cretaceous times.
 The Trough is characterized by uplifted basement blocks and it is flanked by a deep
basin of 6000m of sediments of various ages.
 The Aptian-Santonian Lower Benue Trough is a simple rift basin. It comprises of a deep
southern basinal area located south of Onitsha and a broad shallower platform to the
north.
 ORIGIN AND LOCATION (CONT’D)
• The Benue Trough is positioned at the northern boundary of the Niger Delta where it
dips down and is overlaid with more recent sediments. It extends in a NE direction
towards the Chad basin and is about 150km wide. The trough is basically divided into
the lower, upper and middle regions.
ORIGIN AND LOCATION

Fig. 2
 GEOLOGY AND STRUCTURAL
FRAMEWORK
• The overall geology of the Lower Benue Trough is made of thick sequences of slightly
deformed Cretaceous sedimentary rocks that comprise of Albian Shales, subordinate
silt stones of the Asu River group.
• Sedimentation in the Lower Benue Trough began in the marine Neocomian times.
These times consisted of the Alban Asu River group and some pyroclastics of the
Aptian-Early Albian age.
 GEOLOGY AND STRUCTURAL
FRAMEWORK
• The Asu River group also consisted of arkosic sand stones, volcanic clastics, marine
shales, silt-stones and limestone. These rocks were the basement rocks from the
Precambrian to the Lower Paleozoic times.
• The marine Cenomanian – Turonian Nkalagu Formation (black shales, limestones and
silt stones) and the inter fingering regressive sandstones of the Agala and Agbani
Formations rest on the Asu River Group.
Fig. 3
HYDROCARBON AND MINERAL
POTENTIAL

Fig. 4
 HYDROCARBON AND OTHER MINERAL POTENTIAL
• In the Lower Benue Trough, mature facies of the Cenomanian to the Turonian Eze- Aku
formation has a predominance of Type II and III kerogen.
• The Turonian to Coniacian Type III dominated the Awgu formation and the Type III
kerogen dominated the Lower Maastrichtian and the sub-bituminous coals of the Mamu
Formation.
• The Lower Benue Trough has various formations that are very rich in Type II and Type
III kerogene. The trough has proven potentials as good source rocks for oil and gas.
 HYDROCARBON AND OTHER
MINERAL POTENTIAL
• The Geologic Survey of Nigeria Agency has vastly impacted on the quest for the
exploration of mineral deposits in Nigeria. Some of these resources include: coal,
limestone, sulphur, mica, phosphate, manganese, cassiterite e.t.c
 MINERAL POTENTIAL
Coal
• The coal found in the Lower Benue Trough is of medium quality, non-coking and sub-
bituminous. However, the coals can be used for electric power generation and as
domestic fuels and automotive fuels.
• The coals found here are also rich in resinous and waxy materials making them
suitable as raw materials in the chemical industry especially in the manufacture of
plastics.
 MINERAL POTENTIAL
Limestone
• This is associated with the Cretaceous and the Tertiary ages. They are often hard, gray
and shelly. In all occurrences, the deposition of limestone is related to the transgressive
and regressive cycles in the Trough.
• The Calabar Cement Company was using the limestone for cement alone but limes stone
has other uses which include: fillers for industrial products such as asphalt. When it
decomposes to calcium oxide it can be used as a flux in smelting copper and lead ore
 MINERAL POTENTIAL
Cassiterite
• They can be found in the Oban Hills of Cross-River state in the Lower Benue Trough.
• It is used as a protective covering for copper vessels
• They are also important in the production of alloys
COAL,CASSITERITE,LIMESTONE

Clay
• Clay is found almost everywhere in
Lower Benue Trough, though not
always in sufficient quantity or of
suitable quality for modern industrial
purposes.
• Excellent clays that could be put to a
variety of uses are found around
Awka and Owerri. Fire-clay is found
in the Late Campanian – Late
Maastrichtian Lower Coal Measures
of Anambra Basin at Enugu.
MINERAL POTENTIAL
Gypsum
• In the Lower Benue Trough, gypsum
has been found as scattered crystals
in Cretaceous and Tertiary clays and
shales in Anambra and Imo States. No
workable deposits have yet been
found.
• Gypsum is a minor but essential
ingredient of cement, in which its
function is to control the setting time.

Fluorspar
• Fluorspar occurs in small quantities
in the lead-zinc lodes in the Albian
shales, silt stones and limestones of
Asu River Group in Ishiagwu and
Ogoja, but the deposits are generally
too small to be of value.
• The main use of fluorite has been for
the production of hydrofluoric acid,
an essential raw material in the
manufacture of synthetic cryolite and
aluminum fluoride.
MINERAL POTENTIAL
Barites
• They occurs as vein infilling
materials associated with lead–zinc
lodes and veins in the both Pre-
Cambrian Basement and Cretaceous
Sedimentary rocks of the Lower
Benue Trough.
• The importance of barite in the oil,
paint and paper industries is well
known.
 CONCLUSION
• The Lower Benue Trough is a linear, inter-cratonic, graben basin tending towards the
NE-SW direction.
• The Trough contains various types of kerogen which are suitable for oil and gas
production. This is also accompanied by the various types of minerals that are
economically viable.
 REFERENCES
• Benkhelil, J. "Cretaceous deformation, magmatism, and metamorphism in the Lower Benue
Trough, Nigeria." Geological Journal 22.S2 (1987): 467- 493.
• https://www.imedpub.com/articles/geology-and-mineral-resources-of-the- lower-benue-trough-
nigeria.pdf
• Agagu, O. K., & Adighije, C. I. (1983). Tectonic and sedimentation framework of the lower
Benue Trough, southeastern Nigeria. Journal of African Earth Sciences (1983), 1(3-4), 267-274.
• Akande, S. O., Egenhoff, S. O., Obaje, N. G., Ojo, O. J., Adekeye, O. A., & Erdtmann, B. D.
(2012). Hydrocarbon potential of Cretaceous sediments in the Lower and Middle Benue
Trough, Nigeria: Insights from new source rock facies evaluation. Journal of African Earth
Sciences, 64, 34-47.
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