Abstract
The Bida and Anambra Basins are major inland sedimentary basins located in the central and southern part of Nigeria with possible hydrocarbon potential but lack exploratory data. The present study aims at providing base line information on the thermal regime of the sedimentary basins, which would significantly contribute to its hydrocarbon prospect, investment opportunity and exploitation. The spectral analysis of the aeromagnetic anomaly data from the southern Bida Basin, northern Anambra Basin and adjacent basement complex terrain reveals the Curie point depth (CPD), geothermal gradient and heat flow in the region. The data reveals a CPD that varies between 19 and 30 km while the geothermal gradient is from 23 to more than 44 °C/km with heat flow values ranging from 50 to 109 mW/m2 in the southern Bida Basin. In the northern Anambra Basin, the CPD values range from 6.8 to 20 km and the heat flow values vary between 59 mWm2 and 109 mWm2, with a localized shallow CPD value of less than 6.8 km and associated high heat flow of 109 mWm2 in the central part of the basin. The delineated thermal patterns in the Bida and Anambra Basins are interpreted to be associated with the intrusions and the presence of deep-seated rift. The interpretation of the aeromagnetic data shows good agreement with the land surface temperature obtained from remote sensing data of the study area. The distribution of heat patterns in the southern Bida and northern Anambra Basins have implications for geothermal, source rock maturation and hydrocarbon generation evaluation of the basins.
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Data availability
The topographic data (digital elevation model) and Landsat-8 data used for this study is publicly accessible and was downloaded from the US Geological Survey (USGS) website, available at https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/. The aeromagnetic data have government restriction and is not publicly available, but the aeromagnetic data can be acquired from the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency.
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Acknowledgements
This study is with the framework of larger ongoing research on the stratigraphy and hydrocarbon prospectivity of the Bida Basin. The authors gratefully acknowledged the TETFund National Research Fund support for this project.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Data analysis and interpretation were performed by Naheem Banji Salawu. The manuscript was written by Naheem Banji Salawu and all authors commented on the manuscript. All authors read and approved the manuscript. Prof. Olusola Johnson Ojo was involved in the data interpretation and discussion of the results.
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Salawu, N.B., Ojo, O.J. Evaluation of the Thermal Regime of the Southern Bida and Northern Anambra Basins, Nigeria: Insights from Aeromagnetic and Remote Sensing Data. Pure Appl. Geophys. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-024-03516-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-024-03516-x