Controls on rifting in Africa and the regional tectonic model for the Nigeria and East Niger rift basins

Abstract

Since early Mesozoic times, three phases of rifting have occurred in Africa and are related to distinct phases of breakup of Gondwana. These contrasting rift episodes have provided an insight to the extent to which plate tectonic processes and more localised mechanical anisotropy processes within the African lithosphere have influenced rifting. Gravity modelling of the Nigeria and East Niger rift basins shows the extent and nature of the broad (regional) positive Bouguer anomaly associated with these rifts. The removal of this regional anomaly allows the delineation of the (residual) negative Bouguer anomaly which reflects the lateral extent and thickness of Mesozoic and Cenozoic sediments. This residual anomaly is interpreted using iterative three dimensional modelling, by incorporating a density-depth function derived from well logs. Results indicate that an extensive basin complex exists in eastern Niger with sedimentary sections greater than 7 km in depth and are in good agreement with the aeromagnetic data. A simple estimate of crustal extension across the East Niger rift basin indicates that up to 58 km of crustal stretching has occurred, placing an upper limit on the amount of sinistral strike-slip movement required within the Benue Trough to open the East Niger rift. A similar strike-slip and extension rift geometry is observed elsewhere in the West and Central African rift system which indicates that the Cretaceous period was an important time for strike-slip tectonics. Changes in the differential opening of the Central and South Atlantic Oceans during the Cretaceous can adequately explain the large strike-slip displacements and associated rift basins in West and North Central Africa and are considered here to more closely reflect the initial rift processes that shaped the continental margin of Africa than those associated with the modern East African rift system.