Abstract
Three Upper Cretaceous sections belonging to Mfamosing, Ekenkpon and New Netim Formations from the Calabar Flank, southeastern Nigeria, have been investigated to evaluate ammonite, palynology and palynofacies, and to interpret their paleoecology, paleoenvironments and hydrocarbon potentials. Mfamosing Formation is composed predominantly of limestone with shale intercalations. Ekenkpon Formation is made up mainly of shale with mudstone and sandy-mud intercalations. The New Netim consists mainly of marl with shale and sandstone intercalations. The presence of shell fragments and ferruginous materials suggests a shallow marine environment for the deposition of the Mfamosing Formation. The palynomorphs recovered in this study are moderately to poorly preserved. The Mfamosing and Ekenkpon Formations were dated to early Albian and early to late Cenomanian, respectively. Four types of palyno-debris were recognized in this study. They comprise phytoclasts (degraded and structured), opaque, amorphous organic matter (AOM) and palynomorphs. These palynofacies suggested highly proximal shelf or basin and marginal dysoxic-anoxic basin paleoenvironments of deposition. In addition, Kerogen type III was revealed, which has moderate potential for hydrocarbon generation. Morphometric analysis revealed that the conch shape of ammonite taxa was thin to thick, discoidal and involute. The degree of whorl overlap was strongly embracing and the whorl cross-section shape was weakly compressed. The Westermann Morphospace analysis revealed that the studied ammonite shell shapes correspond to oxycone (i.e., low umbilical exposure, low inflation and high whorl expansion) with assumed nektonic life modes. This study contributes to understanding the sediment deposition and petroleum resources of the Calabar Flank regions.
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Olayiwola, M. et al. (2023). Paleoecology, Paleoenvironment, and Petroleum Potential of middle-upper Cretaceous Calabar Flank Sediments, Southeastern Nigeria. In: Çiner, A., et al. Recent Research on Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Paleontology, Tectonics, Geochemistry, Volcanology and Petroleum Geology . MedGU 2021. Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-43222-4_6
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