Balfour Fm
Period:
Permian
Age Interval:
Late Permian (Tatarian)
Province:
SouthAfrica-Namibia-Botswana
Lithology and Thickness
Fluvial mudstones and sandstones
Lithology Pattern:
Clayey sandstone
Relationships and Distribution
Lower contact
Conformably overlies the fluvial mudstones and sandstones of the Middleton Fm
Upper contact
Conformably overlain by the fluvial sandstones of the Katberg Fm, a transition that closely approximates the Permo-Triassic boundary (Figure 2).
Regional extent
Main Karoo Basin, South Africa
GeoJSON
null
Fossils
Age
Late Permian (Tatarian), Capitanian - Changhsingian
Age Span:
Beginning stage:
Capitanian
Fraction up in beginning stage:
0.0
Beginning date (Ma):
264.34
Ending stage:
Changhsingian
Fraction up in the ending stage:
1.0
Ending date (Ma):
251.90
Depositional setting
Fluvial environments; deposited during the fully terrestrial "overfilled" stage of the Karoo retroarc foreland system, where terrestrial sedimentation outpaced basin subsidence (Figure 2).
Depositional pattern:
Additional Information
The Balfour Fm represents the uppermost unit of the Late Permian Beaufort Group succession in the Main Karoo Basin, positioned directly below the Permo-Triassic boundary marked by the overlying Katberg Fm.
Compiler:
From the O. Catuneanu et al. / Journal of African Earth Sciences 43 (2005) 211–253