Batoka Formation | |
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Stratigraphic range: Early Jurassic ~ | |
![]() Batoka basalt flows at Siyakobvu, Kariba District, Zimbabwe | |
Type | Geological formation |
Unit of | Upper Karoo Group, Karoo Supergroup |
Overlies | Forest Sandstone Formation |
Lithology | |
Primary | Basalt |
Location | |
Region | Zambezi River valley |
Country | Botswana Zambia Zimbabwe |
Type section | |
Named for | Batoka Gorge, Zambezi River |
Named by | G.W. Lamplugh |
The Batoka Formation is a geological formation in the Zambezi valley in Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It is predominantly a volcanic unit comprising mainly basalts. [1] It was formerly thought to contain sand stones containing the dinosaur Vulcanodon , however this was shown to be in error resulting from interpreting folding of the rocks as separate layers, with the sandstone layers actually being from the underlying Forest Sandstone. [2]
The formation is a volcanic unit, consisting mainly of high-titanium, low-potassium tholeiitic basalt flows. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
The lavas are dark, vesicular and porphyritic or massive basalts, with occasional pillows, [8] [9] [10] [11] although rare dacites and rhyolites have been reported from some areas of north-eastern Botswana. [12] The vesicular and massive basalts occur in alternating bands, with the vesicular bands usually being the top and base of each flow. [10] [12] The basalt mineralogy consists of mainly of plagioclase, augite, magnetite, some ilmenite and volcanic glass. In the Hwange area, vesicles consist mostly of quartz, chalcedony or calcite, [10] though zeolites, such as stilbite, mesolite and laumontite, are dominant towards Victoria Falls and in the lower Deka valley, [8] and are common in north-eastern Botswana. [12]
The basalt lavas are related to carbonatite intrusions in the Zambezi valley. [13]
The Batoka Formation is found in Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, in the Mid-Zambezi, Mana Pools and Cabora Bassa Basins. [3] [14] [15]
Lavas of the Batoka Formation have been dated at 180 to 179 Ma. [3]
The Batoka Formation is the uppermost formation in the Upper Karoo Group of the Karoo Supergroup, lying above the Forest Sandstone Formation. [14]
The Batoka Formation has been correlated to the Drakensberg Group of the Great Karoo Basin, South Africa, [15] and the basalts of the Tuli Basin in Botswana and Zimbabwe. [16]
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