Mohammed Z, Awad MZ and Eisawi
Abstract
The palynology of the Upper Cretaceous to Neogene non-marine succession in the Rawat Basin, White Nile State Sudan was investigated. An attempt was made to determine the relative age, and depositional environment of the studied interval. Based on the stratigraphic distribution of selected pollen and spores from two exploration wells, seven informal palynozones from the Campanian to the Neogene are proposed. The zones, in stratigraphically ascending order, are as follows: Assemblage Zone I, Campanian (Gelhak Formation); Assemblage Zone II, Maastrichtian (Melut Formation); Assemblage Zone III, Eocene (Yabus Formation); Assemblage Zone IV, Oligocene (Adar Formation); Assemblage Zone V, Oligocene/Miocene (Jimidi Formation); Assemblage Zone VI, Miocene (Miadol Formation); Assemblage Zone VII, Miocene/Pliocene (Daga and Agor formations). The ages are based on stratigraphic ranges of marker species in contemporaneous basins in Africa and South America and a series of assemblage species such as Ladakhipollenites lehmanii, Triorites sp (Zone I), Proteacidites sigalii (Zone II), Proxapertites operculatus (Zone III), Deltoidospora cf. africana (Zone IV), Magnastriatites howardii (Zone V), Cyathidites minor (Zone VI), Verrucatosporites usmensis (Zone VII). The paleo-environment of deposition were determined to range from fluvial to lacustrine environments.