We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
A NEW STROMATOLITE OCCURRENCE IN THE NSUZE GROUP, PONGOLA SUPERGROUP OF NORTHERN KWAZULU-NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA.
- Authors
HICKS, N.; DUNLEVEY, J. N.; LIU, K. W.
- Abstract
A new site containing stromatolite-bearing silicified carbonates horizons is described in the Nsuze Group within the Nkandla Basin of the Pongola Supergroup. The stromatolite-bearing carbonate units are interbedded with calcareous arenite and represent stratiform biostromes exhibiting both smooth and wrinkled laminations. Microbially-accentuated current ripples are regularly preserved upon stratiform stromatolitic substrates. The recognition of these stromatolite-bearing units in a previously undifferentiated Nsuze Group succession not only increases the area in which these accretionary, organo-sedimentary structures have been identified, but more importantly can provide the basis for regional lithostratigraphic correlation between the relatively well-defined stratigraphy of the main Pongola Basin and the more deformed and much less well-defined sequences in the structurally complex Nkandla Basin. The improved understanding of the regional stratigraphy generated by the recognition of this stromatolite-bearing marker horizon will provide a fundamental factor in deciphering the relationships of Pongola Supergroup inliers and the tectonic development of the region during the Mesoarchaean.
- Subjects
KWAZULU-Natal (South Africa); SOUTH Africa; STROMATOLITES; CARBONATE rocks; CARBONATES; PONGOLA Supergroup (South Africa)
- Publication
South African Journal of Geology, 2011, Vol 114, Issue 2, p195
- ISSN
1012-0750
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.2113/gssajg.114.2.195