These can help secure south africas energy future, but only if we can preserve the unique character of the area as well. Contact metamorphic devolatilization of shales in the karoo basin, south africa, and the effects of multiple sill intrusions ingrid aarnesa. Pdf faunal aggregation in the early triassic karoo basin. Shell has applied for rights to explore for natural gas in the karoo. The great karoo basin covers an area of over 700,000 km 2 and constitutes a retroarc foreland basin. Abstract submarine mass movement deposits exposed in the vischkuil formation, laingsburg karoo basin, south africa. The karoo basins of southcentral africa sciencedirect. No exact definition of what constitutes the karoo is available, so its extent is also not precisely defined. Predrill groundwater geochemistry in the karoo basin. Petroleum potential of the karoo basins5 matchdeck.
Pdf depositional architecture and sequence stratigraphy. Using a geologybased assessment methodology, the u. For the karoo basin, although the increase of taxonomic diversity began in the early triassic, system persistence was not attained in our dataset until the middle triassic caz. We present new data on the osteohistology of these stem archosaurs and provide insight into their paleobiology. Stratigraphy, depositional controls, and glacial dynamics. Paleodepositional environments and tectonosedimentary controls of. Recent interest in the main karoo basin of south africa has been sparked by the possibility of extensive shale gas resources. New species of dicynodont from the karoo basin of south africa. Permiantriassic boundary, karoo basin robert gastaldo. New late permian tectonic model for south africas karoo basin. Historical reflection seismic, petroleum exploration wells and regional magnetic data are used to better understand the. As yet very little systematic modern exploration for petroleum has been done the opportunity exists for a new generation of explorers to test the potential of these huge basins. Predrill groundwater geochemistry in the karoo basin, south.
New geochemical and palaeontological data from the permian. The karoo basin and the end permian mass extinction. Generally, both pre and syn karoo fault systems are considered to have had a local influence on the distribution and thickness of the karoo sequence ecl 1998. The karoo basin is bounded on its southern margin by the cape fold belt, onlaps onto the kaapvaal craton in the north and is classified as a foreland basin. Thus, previous results may not be entirely reliable, says schulz. The petroleum potential of south africas onshore karoo. Numerous and diverse fossils have been collected from three areas karasberg, kalahari and huab karoo basins. Pdf carboniferouspermian glaciation in the main karoo. Protecting the regions precious water supply is a clear priority. Faunal aggregation in the early triassic karoo basin. Overall, the karoo supergroup across the kalahari karoo basin reflects a transition from a glaciation period through to deltaic and swampy periods ultimately turning arid before the extrusion of. Along the basin s southern margin the karoo succession attains a maximum composite thickness of 12 km. View enhanced pdf access article on wiley online library html view download pdf for offline viewing. The karoo supergroup in southern africa occurs in the areally extensive main karoo and kalahari basins as well as in a number of subsidiary basins in south africa, namibia, botswana, zimbabwe and mozambique.
Click to view article in pdf format the petroleum potential of south africas onshore karoo basins lindiwe. Pdf recent interest in the main karoo basin of south africa has been sparked by the possibility of extensive shale gas resources. The karoo supergroup as a whole thus spans the period ca 320 ma to ca 120 ma. Jul 25, 2017 this is an overview of the karoo basin in south africa, and its geologic setting. Sedimentology of the karoo supergroup in the tuli basin. Depositional environments and stratigraphic correlation of. Kalahari karoo basin outline showing subbasins after smith, 1984, major pre karoo structural lines after modie, 2007, and outline of the study area in orange. The term karoo was extrapolated from the main karoo basin of south africa, to describe the sedimentary fill of all other basins of. Coal deposits of the karoo basin in south africa are contained within an 80250 mthick clastic sequence designated the vryheid formation. Prospectivity is greatest in the south west of the basin, where the shales have a high organic content, are thermally mature and sufficiently thick. Mar 18, 2020 the endpermian is associated with major changes in both marine and terrestrial biodiversity. The karoo basins of southcentral africa preserve a record of a special time in earths history, when the pangea supercontinent reached its maximum extent during the late paleozoicearly mesozoic interval.
This study entitled hydrogeological investigation in the fractured karoo aquifers a. Four of the five main stratigraphic groups which comprise the karoo of south africa are recognised in namibia. Pdf geophysically plumbing the main karoo basin, south. Carboniferouspermian glaciation in the main karoo basin, south africa.
North of the main karoo basin, the tec tonic regimes were. New species of dicynodont from the karoo basin of south. In main karoo basin, the permian ecca group hosts economically important coal deposits within the witbank and highveld coalfields. For more information, download the petroleum potential of the karoo basins pdf here. The term karoo was extrapolated from the main karoo basin of south africa, to describe the sedimentary fill of all other basins of similar age across gondwana. The karoo basin in south africa offers an ideal study area to evaluate these processes because the region is targeted for shale gas extraction in the near future, but has only been minimally developed for conventional energy extraction previously. Ecological persistence, incumbency and reorganization in the. The karoo basins of southcentral africa university of alberta.
Structure and evolution of hydrothermal vent complexes in the. Pdf geophysically plumbing the main karoo basin, south africa. Tectonic evolution of the cape and karoo basins of south. The sedimentary rocks of the karoo supergroup in the tuli basin south africa consist of various terrigenous clastic and chemical deposits parabreccias, conglobreccias, conglomerates, sandstones, finegrained sediments, calcretes and silcetes. Ecological persistence, incumbency and reorganization in. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. Inset shows the location of the basin within botswana. The supergroup consists of a sequence of units, mostly of nonmarine origin, deposited between the late carboniferous and early jurassic, a period of about 120 million years in southern africa, rocks of the karoo supergroup cover almost two thirds of the present land surface, including all of. Modie report on a field visit to exposures in the kalahari karoo basin of botswana the karoo supergroup of the kalahari basin. The karoo basin of south africa was explored for energy resources since the 1960s. The oil and gas basins of africa spiral imperial college london. Congo, and the karoo of southern africa as well as the saline rift. Origin and terminal architecture of a submarine slide. For this reason, the karoo basins sensu stricto, which show clear similarities with the main karoo basin of south africa, are generally restricted to southcentral africa fig.
The south african nonarchosauriform archosauromorph prolacerta and the archosauriforms proterosuchus, erythrosuchus, and euparkeria were important constituents of the early to early middle triassic karoo ecosystem following the endpermian mass extinction. Rubidge2 igeology department, university of the witwatersrand, private bag 3, wits 2050, south africa 2bernard price institute for palaeontological research, university of the witwatersrand. A reevaluation of unconventional natural gas in the karoo. If found in commercially viable quantities, this gas could help secure south africas energy future, but only if we can preserve the unique character of the area as well. See related open access article, is the vertebratedefined permiantriassic boundary in. Karoo basin shale gas unconventional concept play report. Ecca group shales within the karoo basin are poorly understood and integrated. Current petroleum exploration activities in the karoo are focused on three unconventional play types. Pdf the karoo basins of southcentral africa researchgate. The karoo basins of southcentral africa evolved during the firstorder cycle of supercontinent assembly and breakup of pangea, under the influence of two distinct. Because of their abundance in the beaufort group and the paucity of basin wide lithostratigraphic marker. If enough natural gas is found, it could provide south africa with a stable, cleanerburning energy supply for power generation and economic activity for decades. Late permian karoo basin tectonics in south africa are reflected as two finingupward megacycles in the balfour and upper teekloof formations. Geological map of the main karoo basin and surrounding karoo aged sedimentary subbasins and volcanic outliers in south africa, lesotho and swaziland, modified from vorster 2001.
Central kalahari karoo basin and its subdivision belts redrawn after smith, 1984. The conference will be held in port elizabeth, south africa, 2930. Depositional architecture and sequence stratigraphy of the karoo basin floor to shelf edge succession, laingsburg depocentre, south africa. We can therefore use the development of the caz as a minimum estimate of the time required for postptme recovery of the karoo ecosystem. The most significant deposits are located in the artinskiankungurianaged no. The outcrops of karoo supergroup permian strata in southern africa. Geographically, the southern karoo basin hosts the primary unconventional reservoirplaytargets for. This period of life on earth is particularly well documented by a tremendous wealth of fossils from the karoo supergroup of south africa. Permiantriassic magnetostratigraphy in the karoo basin of south africa. Origin and evolution of the cape mountains and karoo basin linol, b. Further, groundwater in the karoo basin is the primary source of both drinking and. Pdf permiantriassic magnetostratigraphy in the karoo.
The karoo basin reaches 600,000 sq km in central and southern south africa and contains thick, organic rich shales such as the permian whitehill formation. Pdf seismic imaging of dolerite sills in the karoo basin, with implications for shale gas potential. The early ordovician to early carboniferous cape basin 160 ma is believed to have developed by extensional processes cloetingh et al. We are committed to the sustainable development of cleanburning natural gas in an environmentally sound manner, while working collaboratively with local communities to ensure all concerns are addressed and considered.
Smith osteohistology of the triassic archosauromorphs prolacerta, proterosuchus, euparkeria, and erythrosuchus from the karoo basin of south africa, journal of vertebrate paleontology 316, 12381254, 1 november 2011. The dwyka group fa1 forms the base of the karoo supergroup in the gemsbok sub basin and overlain by the ecca group deposits. Karoo time, which includes the dwyka, ecca, beaufort and stormberg lithostratigraphic units. Geological survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 5. Swne schematic cross section of the main karoo basin, according to a foreland basin model e. Karoo basin for future exploration of geothermal energy with respect to power genera tion in south africa. Contact metamorphic devolatilization of shales in the. Laingsburg karoo basin, south africa, provide a rare opportunity to analyse and interpret their emplacement history and deformation processes at a scale comparable to seismic examples.
Click download or read online button to get stratigraphy of south africa book now. We believe that the environmentally sensitive karoo can be protected even if it becomes a national energy resource. This is an overview of the karoo basin in south africa, and its geologic setting. Oct 30, 2012 we are pleased to announce the lasi v workshop on the physical geology of subvolcanic systems. The karoo supergroup is the most widespread stratigraphic unit in africa south of the kalahari desert.
Extensive outcrops in the tanqua depocentre, south. The karoo basin covers around 610,000 square kilometres 237,000 square miles, and its size and geology lends itself to potentially enormous volumes of unconventional shale gas. Pdf the karoo basins of southcentral africa evolved during the firstorder cycle of supercontinent assembly and. New geochemical and palaeontological data from the permiantriassic boundary in the south african karoo basin test the synchronicity. The endpermian is associated with major changes in both marine and terrestrial biodiversity. Origin and evolution of the cape mountains and karoo basin. The main karoo basin constitutes a retroarc foreland basin, while the rest are intracratonic sag basins or rift basins. The postglacial fluviodeltaic deposits represent an important shift in climate in the early permian. Evolution, architecture and hierarchy of distributary deep.
Furthermore, the effects of deformation, shale degassing, fluid migration and the natural fracturing characteristics of target shales i. Report on a field visit to exposures in the kalahari. Rubidge d a department of earth and atmospheric sciences, university of alberta, 126 earth sciences building, edmonton, alta. We can therefore use the development of the caz as. Schulz and colleagues reexamined a wide range of existing drill holes and detected significant proportions of drilling fluids that may have affected earlier oil or gas calculations. Assessment of permian coalbed gas resources of the karoo. Aukarob hardveld is a semi desert natural region of south africa. This latter area, referred to as the huab basin in the. Contact metamorphic devolatilization of shales in the karoo.
Stratigraphy of the karoo supergroup in southern africa. We are pleased to announce the lasi v workshop on the physical geology of subvolcanic systems. The karoo is a special place that must be respected socially and environmentally. The base of the lystrosaurus assemblage zone, karoo basin. Deflating the shale gas potential of south africas. Stratigraphy of south africa download ebook pdf, epub.
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