The rocks underlying many parts of Southeastern Nigeria had undergone extensive alterations to form considerable clay deposits. The mineralogical compositions of some of these clay deposits were evaluated with the X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) method to ascertain the suitability of the deposits as raw materials. Results of the analyses indicated that kaolinite (Al 2 Si 2 O 5 (OH) 4 ) is the dominant clay mineral. Traces of bentonite and dickite were also observed, while the identified non-clay minerals were quartz and iron. Chemical analysis of the clays revealed the predominance of SiO 2 , Al 2 O 3 , Fe 2 O 3 and TiO with values ranging from 31.70 to 56.45%, 19.30 to 29.30%, 3.11 to 29.42% and 2.21 to 7.04%, respectively, while the compositions of CaO, MgO, Na 2 O, and MnO in the analyzed samples were relatively lower with values ranging from 0.19 to 0.29%, 0.13 to 0.19%, 0.11 to 0.70% and 0.01 to 0.03%, respectively. The Al 2 O 3 /TiO 2 ratio (3.7 to 13.5) of the studied clays indicated a mafic to intermediate igneous rock origin. Binary plots of TiO 2 versus Al 2 O 3 to distinguish between granitic and basaltic sourced clays indicated basalt-rhyolite/granite provenances. The high chemical index of alteration (95.8%), chemical index of weathering (98.3%) and low contents of alkali and alkali earth elements (averaging 0.11%) of the clayrich sediments, is indicative of a relatively intense weathering source area. The SiO 2 -K 2 O/Na 2 O plots suggested that the sediments in the study area were deposited between passive and active continental margins. In comparison with other reference clays and standard specifications, the clay deposits in the study area possess characteristics satisfactory for economic and some engineering purposes.
The determination of the mineralogical composition of rocks that underlie Okom-Ita area, in Oban Massif became necessary for the interpretation of the petrogenesis and protoliths of rocks in the area. Twelve representative rock samples were selected for thin section petrography and bulk rock geochemical analysis. The results reveal that the dominant intrusive rocks in Okom-Ita area are pegmatites, quartz veins and dolerites emplaced within gneisses, schists and phyllites host rocks. The quartz veins and pegmatites are leucocratic consisting predominantly of quartz, plagioclase and subordinate amount of Muscovites. The dolerite is dark grey, fine to medium grained and texturally ophitic and consists dominantly of pyroxenes, olivine and opaques. Three varieties of gneisses were recognized: feldspathic, banded and biotite gneisses. The gneisses, schists, and phyllites are dominated by SiO2 in the range of (60% -75%). The rocks exhibit higher molecular concentration {Al 2 O 3 > (CaO + Na 2 O + K 2 O)}, high alkali concentration with Na 2 O > K 2 O, high Al 2 O 3 to alkali ratios and low TiO 2 , CaO and MgO concentrations. These distribution trends suggest a compensation for the high silica and alumina concentrations and support a granitic protolith for the pegmatites and their host gneisses and schists. The dolerites and amphibolites are impoverished in SiO 2 , but relatively enriched in lime and alkali oxides. Plots in the AFM, TiO diagrams show that the pegmatite was derived from calc-alkaline magmatic source, while the dolerite was derived from tholeiitic basalt magma.
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Detailed characterization of the outcropping sediments in the Ikpankwu and Ihube axis was undertaken to validate lithostratigraphic boundaries and nomenclatures which had stirred up debates amongst scholars in recent times. Stochastic method established dominant facies associations and preferred stacking patterns, which were used to interpret environments of deposition (EODs), while foraminiferal and palynological analyses fingerprinted both paleo depths and age of the sediments. The results established the dominance of similar lithofacies at the basal parts of both sections indicating mappable geological units and members of the same lithostratigraphic unit. The basal lithofacies are succeeded up section, however, by different lithological units in both the KM 75 and Ikpankwu sections. Interpretations of EODs using lithofacies successions predicted fluvial to tidally-influenced shallow marine deposits, which are environments in close affinity with each other. Interpretations using abundance and diversity of micro fauna supported non-marine (coastal-deltaic) to middle neritic paleo-water depths also, typical of marginal to shallow marine EODs. Recovered foraminiferal assemblages in the shale samples from the upper parts of both sections, however, depicted deposits of Nsukka Formation despite variations observed in lithofacies assemblages because the identified Haplophragmoides species that populate the upper units had been used to define the Late Maastrichtian-Paleocene age. Sediments at the basal parts with mappable lithological units at both sections were rather populated by species that connote the Campanian-Maastrichtian age when the Mamu Formation sediments were deposited. Palynomorphs recovered from both the basal and upper sections also suggested Campanian-Maastrichtian and Late Maastrichtian-Paleocene age, indicative of Mamu and Nsukka Formation sediments, respectively.
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