Abstract
The Ajali Sandstone is a dominantly sandstone formation of Campanian-Maestrichtian age occurring within the Anambra Basin, Southern Nigeria. Previous interpretations of the Ajali Sandstone have suggested fluvial and fluvio-deltaic settings, with the sediments having been derived from westerly source areas of the Abakaliki-Benue fold belt and the granitic basement of the Camerounian Highlands. However, process interpretations of sedimentary structures and palaeocurrent analyses from the Ajali Sandstone south of Nsukka suggest a tidally influenced regime, possibly tidal shelf, characterized by shoreline-parallel sand bodies with intercalations of shelf muds. Evidence includes both planar and trough cross sets which display occasional herringbone cross-stratification, reactivation surface sets and the typical ‘bundle structure’ associated with these discontinuity surfaces, overlying storm-generated granular beds. A dominantly southerly (ebb) current is indicated by the large-scale planar cross beds interpreted as avalanche sets of sandwave bedforms. The trace fossils Ophiomorpha and Skolithos also indicate a shallow marine depositional environment for the Ajali Sandstones.
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