A report on the occurrence of Albian–Cenomanian elater-bearing pollen in Nasara-1 well, Upper Benue Trough, Nigeria: Biostratigraphic and palaeoclimatological implications

Occurrences of Elaterate Pollen from the Lower Cretaceous of Ghana: Implications for Biostratigraphy and Palaeoclimatology

“…This observation supports Abubakar's (2006) suggestion that the appearance and subsequent abundance of the elaterates is evolutionary and palaeoclimatic in nature and that the palaeoclimatic influence may not necessarily be related to the opening of the northern part of the southern Atlantic Ocean, as suggested by Dino et al, (1990).…”

“…The opening of the South Atlantic Ocean, which separated South America from Africa, was initiated by crustal thinning and thermodynamic uplifts during the Late Jurassic. According to Dino et al, (1999), which is reiterated by Abubakar et al, (2006), the elater-bearing plants were found in dry zones under warm climates, and that their diversification and abundance were the response to climatic changes associated with the opening and enlargement of the northern parts of the South Atlantic ocean in the latest Aptian to early Albian, which came to a close during the late AlbianCenomanian time. Dino et al, (1990) also opined that, the widening and deepening of the South Atlantic Ocean at the close of Cenomanian, resulting in temperature drop, culminated in the disappearance of the elaterate pollen from the stratigraphic record.…”

Late Cretaceous palynostratigraphy in the Gongola Basin (Upper Benue Trough, Nigeria)

“…The deepest of the three boreholes is the Mona-2 with a total depth of 272.6 m (Lawal and Moullade, 1986). Most recent preliminary palynostratigraphic study however, on a much deeper (total depth of 1905 m) petroleum exploration well (well Nasara-1), was provided by Abubakar et al (2006). The present study therefore, is an attempt to provide detail palynostratigraphic account of the well.…”

“…The Upper Benue Trough is further sub-divided into three basins: the east-west trending Yola Basin (Yola Arm), the northsouth trending Gongola Basin (Gongola Arm) and the northeastsouthwest trending Lau Basin (Main Arm) (Guiraud, 1990;Dike, 2002). Reviews on the geology and stratigraphy of the Benue Trough and particularly the Upper Benue Trough have been presented by several workers (Petters, 1982;Benkhelil, 1982;Dike, 1993;Obaje, 1994;Zaborski et al, 1997;Zaborski, 2000Zaborski, , 2003Abubakar et al, 2006). The stratigraphic succession in the Upper Benue Trough is shown in Fig.…”

“…The presence of the elaterate palynomorphs made it possible to completely correlate palynological zonations of the Gongola Basin of the Upper Benue Trough with the Cretaceous (Albian-Cenomanian) Lower Benue Trough and other localities within the AfricaSouth America (ASA) palynoflora province (Abubakar et al, 2006).…”