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Assabet el Hassiane Gr
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Assabet el Hassiane Gr base reconstruction

Assabet el Hassiane Gr

Period: 
Tonian

Age Interval: 
late Tonian


Province: 
Taoudeni Basin

Type Locality and Naming

This formation is mainly in the western portion (e.g., Adrar and Hohd sub-basins) of the Taoudeni Basin, which a vast intracratonic sedimentary basin spanning parts of Mauritania, Mali, Algeria, Burkina Faso and Guinea. Upper group of the Hodh Supergroup in this region.

Synonym: Aioun Gr in Hodh subbasin

References: Martin-Monge et al., 2016

[Fig. 1: Location of the Taoudeni Basin Province and the four assessment units defined in the study by Brownfield et al. (2015)]

[Fig. 2: The Taoudeni Basin (Taupin et al., 2017)]

[Fig. 3: Abolag-1 well, R well and Atar Group type section stratigraphy, facies description and correlation in the Taoudeni Basin, and organic richness profile in the Abolag-1 well (Claue,1981; Rooney et al.2009; Trompette,1973; Albert-Villanueva et al. 2016)]

[Fig. 4: Generalized stratigraphy of the Taoudeni Basin in Mauritania. Lithostratigraphic name equivalences are provided for the Adrar, Hank and Hodh depocentres. The major discontinuities are numbered and reference to global glacial and tectonic events is provided. (From Martin-Monge et al. (2016) as modified after Lahondere et al. (2003, 2005)]


Lithology and Thickness

It contains shale, very fine-grained to conglomeratic sandstones and sparse limestones (Martin-Monge et al., 2016). Characterized at the base by quarzitic sandstones, cherts and oolites grading upward into red to brownish siltstones close to the midsection. In the upper section, it is characterized by shaly limestones and fine-grained sandstones interbedded with silty shales, which then grades into fine-grained sandstones and siltstones (Villanueva et al., 2016). The equivalent of the Assabet El Hassiane/Aioun Group in the Hank Subbasin is the Bir Amrane Gr.


Lithology Pattern: 
Sandy Claystone


Relationships and Distribution

Lower contact

Unconformably (regional D3) overlies the Touiderguilt-Tifounke Fm within the Atar Group of the Hodh Supergroup

Upper contact

Unconformably (regional D4 = Sturtian glacial) overlain by the Jbeliat Gr (Jbeliat Khang Naam Gr) of the Marinoan glacial till.

Regional extent

This formation is mainly in the western portion (e.g., Adrar-Hohd sub-basin) of the Taoudeni Basin


GeoJSON

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Fossils


Age 

See Hohd Super Gr entry for discussion of age assignments to Neoproterozoic units. Assigned as upper Tonian, because it is terminated by the scour and lowstand associated with the onset of the Cryogenian glacial episode.

Age Span: 

    Beginning stage: 
Tonian

    Fraction up in beginning stage: 
0.4

    Beginning date (Ma): 
888.00

    Ending stage: 
Tonian

    Fraction up in the ending stage: 
0.9

    Ending date (Ma):  
748.00

Depositional setting

Assabet el Hassiane Gr is made up of terrigenous alluvial plain to outer shelf sediments.


Depositional pattern:  


Additional Information


Compiler:  

Enam O. Obiosio, Solomon Joshua Avong and Henry Nasir Suleiman (2024) - Stratigraphic Lexicon compiled from the following publications:

Wenzhe, G. (2009): Hydrocarbon generation conditions and exploration potential of the Taoudeni Basin, Mauritania. Pet. Sci., 6: pp.29-37

Taylor, C. D. and Giles, S. A. (2013): Mineral Potential for Sediment-Hosted Copper Deposits in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania: Phase V, Deliverable 75. U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia

Martin-Monge, A., Baudino, R., Gairifo-Ferreira, L. M., Tocco, R., Badali, M., Ochoa, M., Haryono, S., Soriano, S., El Hafiz, N., Mez, J. H., Chacon, B., Brisson, I., Grammatico, G., Varade, R., and Abdallah, H. (2016): An unusual Proterozoic petroleum play in Western Africa: the Atar Group carbonates (Taoudeni Basin, Mauritania). In: Sabato Ceraldi, T., Hodgkinson, R. A. & Backe, G. (eds) Petroleum Geoscience of the West Africa Margin. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 438, http://doi.org/10.1144/SP438.5

Bradley, D. C., Motts, H. A., Horton, J. D., Giles, Stuart, and Taylor, C. D. (2015): Geologic Map of Mauritania (Phase V, Deliverables 51a, 51b, and 51c), Chap. A1 of Taylor, C. D., ed., Second Projet de Renforcement Institutionnel du Sector Minier de la Republique Islamique de Mauritanie (PRISM-II): U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2013-1280-A1, 3 pl., http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/ofr20131280.