The Benue Trough

The Benue Trough of Nigeria is a rift basin in central West Africa that extends NNE–SSW for about 800 km in length and 150 km in width. The southern limit is the northern boundary of the Niger Delta, while the northern limit is the southern boundary of the Chad Basin (Fig. 4.1). The trough contains up to 6,000 m of Cretaceous – Tertiary sediments of which those predating the mid-Santonian have been compressionally folded, faulted, and uplifted in several places. Compressional folding during the mid-Santonian tectonic episode affected the whole of the Benue Trough and was quite intense, producing over 100 anticlines and synclines (Benkhelil, 1989). Major such deformational structures include the Abakaliki anticlinorium and the Afikpo syncline in the Lower Benue, the Giza anticline and the Obi syncline in the Middle Benue, and the Lamurde anticline and the Dadiya syncline in the Upper Benue Trough.