Abstract
A cluster of well-preserved recent volcanoes in the northern Bayuda Desert make up a more or less continuous field some 520 km2 in area surrounded by a number of isolated centres of eruption. The volcanoes are numerous but small; up to 400 m in height and 0.35 km2 in volume. Most of them are simple composite volcanoes with a pyroclastic cone skirted by a small lava field erupted from the same vent after explosive eruptions had ceased. In a few instances, however, the cone was eviscerated by more violent eruptions, leaving a deep explosion crater. The lavas are all nepheline-normative alkali basalts and contain a variety of xenocrysts and xenoliths from at least three different sources. The distribution of the recent volcanoes was partly controlled by large granitic ring-intrusions of the Basement Complex country rocks. These intrusions belong to the Younger Granite association of late Precambrian or Lower Palaeozoic age and represent a volcanic-intrusive episode widespread in northern Africa. The complexes are composed of cale-alkaline and peralkaline granites and syenites and a related plexus of dyke swarms.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Almond, D. C., 1967a, Discovery of a tin-tungsten mineralization in northern Khartoum Privince, Sundan. Geol. Mag.,104, 1–12.
—————, 1967b, Petrology of the basalt at Jebel Et Toriya, near Khartoum. Sudan Notes and Records,48, 141–150.
-----, 1968,Post-Nubian volcanicity in the Sudan, (In abstract) Proc. geol. Soc. Lond., No. 1644, 266–267.
Andrew, G., 1948,Geology of the Sudan. In Tothill (Ed.),Agriculture in the Sudan, London.
Black, R., andGirod, M., 1967,Controle structurale du volcanisme ancien et récent dans les régions du Hoggar, Air, Nigéria et Cameroun. (In abstract), Fourth Symposium of African Geology, Sheffield, 1967.
Delany, F. M., 1954,Recen contributions to the geology of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. Int. Geol. Cong., 19th., Algeria, C. R. XX, Assoc. Serv. Geol. Africaines, pt. 1, 11–18.
Fries, C., Jr., 1953,Volumes and weights of pyroclastic material, lava, and water erupted by Paricutin volcano, Michoacan, Mexico. Trans. Amer. Geophys. Union.,34, 603–616.
Grabham, G. W., 1920,The Bayuda volcanic fields. Sudan Notes and Records,8, 133–136.
Gregory, J. W., 1920,The « Times » Africa flight. Discovery of a new volcanic field. Nature,104, 667–668.
Kabesh, M. L., 1960,Mica deposits of northern Sudan. Bull. geol. Surv. Sudan, 7.
Mohr, P., 1961,The geology, structure and origin of the Bishoftu explosion craters. Bull. Geophys. Observ. Addis Ababa,2, 65–101.
Said, R., 1962,Geology of Egypt, Amsterdam, New York and London: Elsevier.
Sandford, K. S., 1935,Geological observations on the north-west frontier of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and the adjoining part of the southern Libyan Desert. Quart. J. geol. Soc. Lond.,41, 323–381.
Whiteman, A. J. (in press),Geology of Sudan Republic.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Almond, D.C., Ahmed, F. & Khalil, B.E. An excursion to the Bayuda volcanic field of Northern Sudan. Bull Volcanol 33, 549–565 (1969). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02596524
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02596524