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Tlapana Formation

Tlapana Fm

Period: 
Permian

Age Interval: 
Early Permian (Kungurian)


Province: 
SouthAfrica-Namibia-Botswana

Type Locality and Naming

Kalahari Basin (NE). Named and formally defined from borehole records by the Botswana Geological Survey. It is a major constituent of the northern Karoo sequence in Botswana, frequently encountered as the host country rock during diamond mining operations (e.g., at the Orapa, Letlhakane, and Karowe kimberlite pipes). Upper formation in Ecca Gr in Kalahari Basin (NE)

Synonym: Tiapana Fm (sometimes misspelled in older texts, OCR transcriptions, or maps as "Tiapana")


Lithology and Thickness

Approximately 100 to 120 meters thick. It is a heavily carbonaceous (organic-rich) succession. The lower part is dominated by black carbonaceous shales, mudstones, and thick, well-developed coal seams. The upper part transitions into slightly less carbonaceous, grey to brown mudstones.


Lithology Pattern: 
Coal


Relationships and Distribution

Lower contact

Typically overlies the coarse, micaceous, white fluvio-deltaic sandstones of the Mea Fm. Where the Mea Arkose is absent due to pre-Karoo topography, it can rest directly on the Dwyka-equivalent glacial deposits (Dukwi Fm) or the Archean basement.

Upper contact

Conformably and transitionally overlain by the non-carbonaceous, pale reddish-grey to greenish siltstones and mudstones of the Tlhabala Fm (which represents the Beaufort Gr equivalent).

Regional extent

Widespread across the northern, northeastern, and central sub-basins of the Kalahari Karoo Basin in Botswana (including the Makgadikgadi/Sua Pan and Orapa regions). Middle to Upper Ecca Gr equivalent. In the northern and northeastern sub-basins of Botswana, it represents the exact chronostratigraphic and environmental equivalent to the coal-bearing Boritse Fm (found further south in the Central Kalahari Sub-basin).


GeoJSON

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Fossils


Age 

Early Permian (Kungurian)

Age Span: 

    Beginning stage: 
Kungurian

    Fraction up in beginning stage: 
0.0

    Beginning date (Ma): 
283.30

    Ending stage: 
Kungurian

    Fraction up in the ending stage: 
1.0

    Ending date (Ma):  
274.37

Depositional setting

Expansive paludal (peat swamp), floodplain, and shallow lacustrine continental environments.


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. Geological Survey of Botswana; Modie, B. N. (2007): The Palaeozoic palynostratigraphy of the Karoo Supergroup and palynofacies insight into palaeoenvironmental interpretations, Kalahari Karoo Basin, Botswana.