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Middlepits Formation

Middlepits Fm

Period: 
Permian

Age Interval: 
Early Permian (Asselian)


Province: 
SouthAfrica-Namibia-Botswana

Type Locality and Naming

Kalahari Basin (SW). Named after the village of Middlepits in southwestern Botswana. Note on Stratigraphic Status: While originally defined as a distinct formation by Smith (1984), some later researchers (e.g., Key et al., 1998) suggested abandoning the term and merging it into the upper Khuis Fm because the boundary between the two can be geologically ambiguous in boreholes. However, it remains widely used in Botswana palynostratigraphy literature, such as Modie, 2007)

Synonym:


Lithology and Thickness

Predominantly argillaceous (clay/silt-rich). Consists of purple to mid-dark grey flaser-bedded and laminated siltstones, very fine-grained sandstones, and pale-grey varves containing small, scattered dropstones.


Lithology Pattern: 
Siltstone


Relationships and Distribution

Lower contact

Conformably overlies the pebbly mudstones and rythmites of the Khuis Fm

Upper contact

Unconformably to paraconformably overlain by the transgressive marine sandstones and deep-water carbonaceous shales of the Ecca Gr (Ncojane Member / Kobe Fm)

Regional extent

Southwestern Botswana (Gemsbok Sub-basin). Uppermost Dwyka Gr equivalent (Botswana).


GeoJSON

null

Fossils


Age 

Early Permian (Asselian)

Age Span: 

    Beginning stage: 
Asselian

    Fraction up in beginning stage: 
0.0

    Beginning date (Ma): 
298.89

    Ending stage: 
Asselian

    Fraction up in the ending stage: 
0.1

    Ending date (Ma):  
298.35

Depositional setting

Late-glacial to post-glacial shallow water bodies.


Depositional pattern:  


Additional Information


Compiler:  

From the O. Catuneanu et al. / Journal of African Earth Sciences 43 (2005) 211–253; Smith, R.A. (1984): The lithostratigraphy of the Karoo Supergroup in Botswana; Modie, B. N. (2007): The Palaeozoic palynostratigraphy of the Karoo Supergroup and palynofacies insight into palaeoenvironmental interpretations, Kalahari Karoo Basin, Botswana.