The Lower Karoo Group is a sequence of late Carboniferous and Permian sandstone sedimentary rocks of the Karoo Supergroup, found in Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique.

Lower Karoo Group
Stratigraphic range: Late Carboniferous-Permian
Opencast coal mine in Upper Karoo sequence at Sengwa, Gokwe North District, Zimbabwe)
TypeGeological group
Unit ofKaroo Supergroup
UnderliesUpper Karoo Group
Lithology
PrimarySandstone
OtherCoal, tillite, siltstone, mudstone
Location
Country Botswana
 Mozambique
 Zambia
 Zimbabwe

Geology

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The Lower Karoo corresponds to the lower portion of the Karoo Supergroup sequence. The basal unit comprises glacial tillites,[1] being the Dwyka Formation in the Mid-Zambezi Basin, Basal Beds in the Limpopo basins[2] and Kondo Pools Formation in the Mana Pools and Cabora Bassa Basins.[3] These are overlain in the Mid-Zambezi by the Wankie sandstones and coal and the Madumabisa Mudstone[1]

It is overlain and overstepped by the Upper Karoo Group.[1]

In the Mana Pools and Cabora Bassa Basins, the Kondo Pools Formation is overlain by the Mkanga Formation sandstone and mudstones.[4]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Catuneanu, O.; Wopfner, H.; Eriksson, P.G.; Cairncross, B.; Rubidge, B.S.; Smith, R.M.H.; Hancox, P.J. (2005). "The Karoo basins of south-central Africa". Journal of African Earth Sciences. 43 (1–3): 211–253. Bibcode:2005JAfES..43..211C. doi:10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2005.07.007.
  2. ^ Bordy, Emese M.; Catuneanu, Octavian (2001). "Sedimentology of the upper Karoo fluvial strata in the Tuli Basin, South Africa". Journal of African Earth Sciences. 33 (3–4): 605. Bibcode:2001JAfES..33..605B. doi:10.1016/S0899-5362(01)00090-2.
  3. ^ d'Engelbronner, E.R. (1996). "New palynological data from Karoo sediments, Mana Pools basin, northern Zimbabwe". Journal of African Earth Sciences. 23 (1): 17–30. Bibcode:1996JAfES..23...17D. doi:10.1016/S0899-5362(96)00049-8.
  4. ^ P. M. Oesterlen and B. D. Millsteed (1994). "Lithostratigraphy, palaeontology, and sedimentary environments of the western Cabora Bassa Basin, lower Zambezi Valley, Zimbabwe". South African Journal of Geology. 97: 205–224.