Accretionary Wedge: Inselbergs of Nigeria
February 17, 2009 at 09:11 | Posted in accretionary wedge, geology, Granite, Inselberg's, nigeosyncline, Nigeria | 9 CommentsThis month’s Accretionary Wedge Geosblogospheric carnival is hosted at Geotripper and the theme:
What are the places and events that you think should all geologists should see and experience before they die? What are the places you know and love that best exemplify geological principles and processes?
Since I’m a new in the geoblogosphere I figured that I take part.
There are many impressing geological features in Nigeria though the general awareness of these features by the general public leaves much to be desired. of these feature one of the most prominent and indeed awesome are the Granite inselbergs.Granite inselergs can be found in the areas of the basement complex which covers more than two-thirds of the country. Here are some of the most popular ones
Zuma Rock, Abuja, central Nigeria
Zuma rock Abuja Central Nigeria. View from the west
The most famous (Nigeria’s Ayer’s) and one of the largest at more than 1km across.
Idanre hills, Akure South west Nigeria
Idanre hills (Idanre town in the foreground)
Another famous one which has made the small town in the foreground a tourist destination.
Kwantankwashi hill, Zamfara North Central Nigeria
kwatankwarshi Inselberg
Wase rock, wase North east nigeria
Wase inselberg
Kajuru ludo hill, Kaduna Nigeria
Kajuru-Ludo hill
There are many more even outstanding examples in other parts of the country and is something that one cannot miss on any jurney around the nigeria.
The granite inselbergs are huge plutonic intrusions that were emplaced during the pan-african orogenic event which affected all of what is now Nigeria, most of africa and even the arabian peninsular and brazil (sugar loaf mountain). Though they were emplaced at depth 550 million years of erosion have brought them to the surface where the stand out due to their greater resistance to erosion than the surrounding migmatites , Gniesses and migmatic Gniesses.They dome shapes are result of exfoliation (a Chemical weathering process that peels away layers of rock).
Enhancing Oil
February 8, 2009 at 13:18 | Posted in energy, enhanced oil recovery, petroleum | Leave a comment
The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) in their third quarter report on the petroleum industry announced that the country’s oil reserves may dry up in the next 45 to 50 years. Their calculations were based on the estimates of the nation’s proven plus probable oil reserves which stood at 32.39 billion barrels plus 5.19 billion barrels of condensate as at January 2008. With current production levels at 2.108 million barrels a day and an estimated 730 million barrels per year the DPR expects a 2.23% reserves depletion rate and 45.75 years reserve index. These announcements, alarming as they sound, are based on current reserves and do not take into account though undiscovered reserves in promising areas like the deep offshore Niger Delta, the Anambra and Chad basins plus extra oil that may be obtained in the future through enhanced recovery. Continue Reading Enhancing Oil…
The Very First
February 4, 2009 at 14:06 | Posted in nigeosyncline | 3 CommentsYou’ll never get a second chance to make a first impression.
This is the first of many posts in what I think is the first blog on geology from a Nigerian perspective. Though of course issues from other fields will find their way into this blog from time to time (not too frequently I hope).
Why start a blog in the first place?
For some, it starts with a desire to be present on the internet. “To type your name on Google and a result comes out”. I had that desire at one time or the other. I think I heard the word blog for the first time in 2005 in my 2nd undergraduate year. I started considering starting one after the suggestion of a friend. What would I blog about? I was, to begin with, sceptical about the need for another blog on geology. On Nigerian geology? I had not and still have not come across one on that topic. “Then start one!” My friend suggested. “Your other Friend started a blog on Contemporary Nigerian Art.” He added. I promised to give it a thought.
As I am at the beginning of a career as a geologist (hopefully) in the academia, Nigeosyncline would actually be a sort of chronicle of my attempts to grapple with the challenges which face geologists in Nigeria. It won’t be presumptuous to say many young Nigerian geologists would be able to identify with some of the things here.
Now the blog is here and I hope as time goes by I’ll be putting a lot more on this blog. l am getting around to understanding my dashboard so there may be frequent changes to look appearance of the blog until I get a firm hand on the blogging business.
Blog at WordPress.com.
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