Geology of the “Turkana Grits” in the Lariu range and Mt. Porr areas, southern Lake Turkana, Northwestern Kenya

Stratigraphy, sedimentology and diagenetic evolution of the Lapur Sandstone in northern Kenya: Implications for oil exploration of the Meso-Cenozoic Turkana depression

“…Macroscopic observations on hand specimens and microscopic studies on thin sections were performed at the Petrography Lab- Murray-Hughes (1933), outcropping in the northern and central segments of the Kenya Rift (redrawn from Tiercelin et al, 2004). These formations are, from north to south, respectively: (1) the Lubur Series (Arambourg, 1935(Arambourg, , 1943 (here named the Lapur Sandstone; Thuo, 2009) at the northwest end of Lake Turkana; (2) the Muruanachok Sandstone to the west of Lake Turkana (Walsh and Dodson, 1969;Morley et al, 1992Morley et al, , 1999dWescott et al, 1993;Thuo, 2009;Tiercelin et al, 2011); (3) the Lokone Sandstone and Auwerwer Sandstone to the southwest of Lake Turkana (Lokichar Basin) (Boschetto et al, 1992;Morley et al, 1999d;Tiercelin et al, 2004;Vincens et al, 2006;Ducrocq et al, 2010); (4) the Lariu sandstones and the Mount Porr Sandstone (also known as the Sera Iltomia Formation) at the southwest and southeast ends of Lake Turkana, respectively (Savage and Williamson, 1978;Williamson and Savage, 1986;Wescott et al, 1993;Tiercelin et al, 2004); (5) the Kimwarer and Kamego Formations in the Kerio and Baringo Basins in the central Kenya Rift (Walsh, 1969;Lippard, 1972;Chapman et al, 1978;Ego, 1994;Renaut et al, 1999;Tiercelin et al, 2004Tiercelin et al, , 2011. oratory of the FRE 3298 CNRS ''Géosystèmes'', Lille 1 University, France.…”

Hydrocarbon potential of the Meso-Cenozoic Turkana Depression, northern Kenya. I. Reservoirs: depositional environments, diagenetic characteristics, and source rock–reservoir relationships

“…They have been 40 K-40 Ar dated on whole rock fractions sized at 0.3 -0.15 mm after crushing and sieving, and yielded ages between 17 and 13 Ma (Table 1). These ages are in the range of those presented by Morley et al (1992) and Wescott et al (1993) on the dyke system and lava flows of the Lariu Range area (Fig. 3).…”

“…3), dinosaur bones and angiosperm wood were found in a 400 m-thick series of arkosic sandstones and conglomerates (the Labur or Lubur series of Arambourg (1935)), suggesting a Cenomanian-basal Palaeocene age (Arambourg, 1943;Arambourg & Wolff, 1969;Fuchs, 1939;Williamson and Savage, 1986). Similar arkosic but often unfossiliferous sandstones are also known from discontinuous exposures on the southeast and west sides of Lake Turkana, in the Mount Porr area (Morley et al, 1992;Wescott et al, 1993;Williamson & Savage, 1986) and at the Lariu Range and Muruanachok, respectively (Walsh & Dodson, 1969;Wescott et al, 1993) (Fig. 3).…”

“…Extension and sediment deposition commenced in the Anza Rift during early Cretaceous time, while widespread rifting occurred during late Cretaceous. During the early Cenozoic, extension continued to affect the Anza Rift as well as parts of the Sudan rift system (Bosworth, 1992;Bosworth & Morley, 1994;Morley et al, 1992;Wescott, Morley, & Karanja, 1993) (Fig. 2D-1 and D-2).…”

The first record of a sauropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous phosphates of Morocco

“…In addition, titanosaur bones occur in the Albian-Cenomanian Wadi Milk Formation of Sudan (Buffetaut et al, 1990;Werner, 1994;Rauhut and Werner, 1995), the Santonian of Zululand, South Africa (Kennedy et al, 1987), and the Senonian of Niger (Greigert et al, 1954;de Broin et al, 1974). Titanosaur remains have also been reported from the middle to Late Cretaceous of the Turkana Grits of Kenya, but the age of the fossils is under debate (Arambourg and Wolf, 1969;Wescott et al, 1993).…”