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Khatt Formation
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Khatt Fm base reconstruction

Khatt Fm

Period: 
Stenian

Age Interval: 
early Stenian


Province: 
Taoudeni Basin

Type Locality and Naming

This formation is mainly in the eastern portion (e.g., Hank sub-basin) of the Taoudeni Basin, which a vast intracratonic sedimentary basin spanning parts of Mauritania, Mali, Algeria, Burkina Faso and Guinea.

Synonym:

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

The Khatt Fm is made up of transgressive sandstones (Taylor and Giles, 2013). It is equivalent to the lower half of the Ksar Torchane Fm in the Atar Gr of the Adrar Subbasin.


Lithology Pattern: 
Sandstone


Relationships and Distribution

Lower contact

Unconformably overlies the Chegga Fm of the Douik Gr

Upper contact

Conformably overlain by the En Nesoar Fm

Regional extent

Eastern part of the Taoudeni Basin.


GeoJSON

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Fossils


Age 

See El Mretiti Gr for brief explanation of is age model. The component formations are scaled within this Stenian interval according to their relative schematic thicknesses and coeval-deposits in the Adrar sub-basin on the stratigraphic figure of Martin-Monge et al. (2016). CAVEAT – All ages and age spans in the Hodh Supergroup are entirely speculative and schematic; the entire pre-Cryogenian succession awaits accurate dating!

Age Span: 

    Beginning stage: 
Stenian

    Fraction up in beginning stage: 
0.12

    Beginning date (Ma): 
1,176.00

    Ending stage: 
Stenian

    Fraction up in the ending stage: 
0.25

    Ending date (Ma):  
1,150.00

Depositional setting

Transgression


Depositional pattern:  


Additional Information


Compiler:  

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

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

Kah, L. C., Bartley, J. K., and Stagner, A. F. (2009): Reinterpreting a Proterozoic enigma: Conophyton-Jacutophyton stromatolites of the Mesoproterozoic Atar Group, Mauritania. International Association of Sedimentologists, Special Publication, 41: pp. 277-295

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