Gwembe Coal Formation, Karoo Supergroup, Mid-Zambezi valley, southern Zambia; a fluvial plain environment

Conference · Sun Feb 28 23:00:00 EST 1993 · Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States)

OSTI ID:5627947

Nyambe, I A; Dixon, O ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Ottawa, Ontario (Canada)

The Gwembe Coal Formation of Permian age belongs to the Lower Karoo Group of the Karoo Supergroup (Permo-Carboniferous to early Jurassic), which crops out in the mid-Zambezi Valley, southern Zambia. The formation has a maximum thickness of 280 m. It was formed in a fluvial depositional environment in which sandstones, siltstones and mudstones were deposited in channels and flood plains. One sandstone body (A Sandstone) indicates a change in fluvial style from a proximal braided system to a high-sinuosity meandering stream system. The productive coals (Main Seam) with thicknesses from 5 to 12 m were deposited in shallow swampy areas of the flood plain. Peat deposition was interrupted by channel, crevasse channel and splay, levee and overbank deposition. Rootlets observed in basal sandstones indicate an insitu origin for the Main Seam.

• OSTI ID: 5627947
• Report Number(s): CONF-9303211--
• Journal Information: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States), Journal Name: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States) Vol. 25:2; ISSN GAAPBC; ISSN 0016-7592
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
011000* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
AFRICA
ALLUVIAL DEPOSITS
COAL DEPOSITS
DEPOSITION
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS
GEOLOGY
MINERAL RESOURCES
PALEOZOIC ERA
PERMIAN PERIOD
RESOURCES
ROCKS
SANDSTONES
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
ZAMBIA