Angwa Sandstone Explained

Angwa Sandstone
Type:Geological formation
Period:Middle Triassic
Age:Triassic
~
Prilithology:Sandstone
Otherlithology:Siltstone
Namedby:P.M. Oesterlen, Zimbabwe Geological Survey
Country:

Coordinates:-16.107°N 30.307°W
Unitof:Upper Karoo Group, Karoo Supergroup
Subunits:Alternations Mb.
Massive Sandstone Mb.
Underlies:Pebbly Arkose Formation
Overlies:Lower Karoo Group

The Angwa Sandstone is a geological formation of the mid-Triassic Cabora Bassa Basin and Mana Pools Basin [1] of southern Africa, consisting mainly of sandstone.[2]

Description

Stratigraphy

The Angwa Sandstone is the lowest formation in the Upper Karoo Group of the Karoo Supergroup, underlying the Pebbly Arkose Formation and overlying the Lower Karoo Group.[3] The formation is divided into two members: the Alternations Member and the Massive Sandstone (Chirambakadoma) Member.

The Angwa Sandstone has been correlated to the Molteno Formation of the Great Karoo Basin, South Africa, and to the Escarpment Grit of the Mid-Zambezi Basin.[4]

Lithology

The formation is a sedimentary unit, consisting mainly of fluvial sands and silts.[5]

It has been dated as covering rocks from much of the Triassic, with pollen and flora identified from the Induan, and Ladinian to Norian.[6]

Occurrence

The Angwa Sandstone Formation is found in Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, in the Mana Pools and Cabora Bassa Basins.

Fossil Content

Callistophytaceae (Pteridospermopsida) of the Angwa Sandstone
Genus Presence Notes Images
Lepidopteris
Dicroidium

Notes and References

  1. Oesterlem . P.M. . New geological results from the Mana Pools basin of Zimbabwe, Lower Zambezi Graben . Annals of the Zimbabwe Geological Survey . 2001 . 16 . 17–26 . 15 January 2024.
  2. 10.2113/gssajg.112.1.65 . Landscape evolution in Zimbabwe from the Permian to present, with implications for kimberlite prospecting . 2009 . Moore . A.E. . Cotterill . F.P.D. . Broderick . T. . Plowes . D. . South African Journal of Geology . 112 . 1 . 65–88 . 2009SAJG..112...65M .
  3. 10.1016/0899-5362(94)90029-9 . Extension directions and strain near the failed triple junction of the Zambezi and Luangwa Rift zones, southern Africa . 1994 . Oesterlen . P.M. . Blenkinsop . T.G. . Journal of African Earth Sciences . 18 . 2 . 175 . 1994JAfES..18..175O.
  4. 10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2005.07.007 . The Karoo basins of south-central Africa . 2005 . Catuneanu . O. . Wopfner . H. . Eriksson . P.G. . Cairncross . B. . Rubidge . B.S. . Smith . R.M.H. . Hancox . P.J. . Journal of African Earth Sciences . 43 . 1–3 . 211–253 . 2005JAfES..43..211C.
  5. P. M. Oesterlen . B. D. Millsteed . Lithostratigraphy, palaeontology, and sedimentary environments of the western Cabora Bassa Basin, lower Zambezi Valley, Zimbabwe . South African Journal of Geology . 1994 . 97 . 205–224 .
  6. 10.1016/S0899-5362(96)00049-8 . New palynological data from Karoo sediments, Mana Pools basin, northern Zimbabwe . 1996 . d'Engelbronner . E.R. . . 23 . 1 . 17–30 . 1996JAfES..23...17D.