Paleogeography of the Eosahabi River in Libya: New insights into the mineralogy, geochemistry and paleontology of Member U1 of the Sahabi Formation, northeastern Libya

Abstract

A large paleo-river of Miocene age traversing Libya from south to north has been previously demonstrated by seismic, stratigraphic, paleontological, and remote sensing data. The depositional environment of As Sahabi Formation in north central Libya is this large and now extinct Eosahabi River. However, the source of this major African river has remained controversial. Dark-colored sedimentary material with magnetic properties suggested a source from the basaltic Haruj as Aswad massif in south central Libya. To test this hypothesis, mineralogical and geochemical study of clayey sediments from three localities, P25, P28 and P96c, from fossiliferous Member U1 of the As Sahabi Formation, were carried out. Results strongly indicate very mature and re-processed sediments of continental origin, and felsic sources with no basaltic contribution. Thus the origin can be traced to an upland area of outcrop of rocks of Precambrian continental origin in northeastern Chad. An alternative scenario is that the Sahabi sediments originated from Precambrian outcrops in Ethiopia through an east–west river connection with the Nile. We consider this hypothesis unlikely, since it is based only on remote sensing data, and lacks any time control or geological supporting evidence. The abundant vertebrate fauna from the Sahabi Formation shows strong similarities with penecontemporaneous fossil faunas in Chad and is supportive of an origin of the Eosahabi River in Neogene mega-Lake Chad.