UPPER CRETACEOUS TO NEOGENE PALYNOLOGY OF THE MELUT BASIN, SOUTHEAST SUDAN

Abstract

Abstract The palynology of the Upper Cretaceous to Neogene non-marine succession in the Melut Basin, southeast Sudan was investigated. The palynomorphs are overwhelmingly of terrestrial origin, but rare brackish water dinoflagellate cysts and scolecodonts were encountered from the Lower Miocene and Oligocene-Miocene. Mangrove pollen, which is common in coeval West African coastal basins, is rare and inconsistent. Examples are Spinizonocolpites (Nypa) from the Campanian-Maastrichtian to Eocene and Rhizophoraceae (Zonocostites ramonae) from the Neogene. Based on the stratigraphic distribution of selected pollen and spores from four exploration wells, eight informal palynozones from the Campanian to the Neogene are proposed. The zones, in stratigraphically ascending order, are as follows: Assemblage Zone I, Campanian (lower Melut Formation); Assemblage Zone II, Campanian-Maastrichtian (middle Melut Formation); Assemblage Zone III, Maastrichtian (upper Melut Formation); Assemblage Zone IV, Paleocene (Yale For...