Geology of Madagascar
The geology of
Summary
The center and eastern portions of the island consist primarily of
Tectonics
A NW-SE trending sinistral shear belt separates northern and southern crustal terranes. The Ampanihy ductile shear zone was created by flattening events associated with granulite metamorphism, isoclinal folding, flattened sheaths, steep to vertical foliations and sheath-like geometry of massif-type anorthosite bodies.[5]: 144
Paleontology
- The gondwanathere mammals, dinosaurs, crocodylians and other groups.
- The Middle Jurassic Isalo III Formation contains fossil dinosaurs.
- Typical Gondwanan flora of Glossopteris is found in the Permian formations in Madagascar.
- The four main Mesozoic sedimentary basins, the Diego Basin, the Majunga Basin, the Morondava Basin and the eastern coast Basin, contain a variety of ammonite faunas from the Permian–Triassic,[6] the Jurassic[7] and the Cretaceous.
Economic geology
Madagascar is the world's leading producer of many colored
Huge oil fields lie to the west of Madagascar, however they would require steam injection to extract, which is both technologically difficult and expensive. The oil fields of Tsimiroro and Bemolanga are estimated to hold combined reserves of 11.5 billion barrels.[8]
See also
References
- ^ "Madagascar, geology Extractive Industries Source Book". Extractive Industries. Retrieved October 23, 2016.
- ISBN 9780226303062.
- ISBN 9780226303062.
- ISBN 9780226303062.
- ^ a b Schlüter, Thomas (April 19, 2008). Geological Atlas of Africa: With Notes on Stratigraphy, Tectonics, Economic Geology, Geohazards, Geosites and Geoscientific Education of Each Country. Springer Science & Business Media. Retrieved October 23, 2016.
- ^ "Ammonoïdes (ammonites) permo-triasiques provenant de Madagascar (collection Collignon de l'Universit | CNRS Images". images.cnrs.fr (in French). Retrieved 2024-01-07.
- ^ "Jurassic ammonites from southwestern Madagascar". Gondwana Fossils. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
- ^ a b "Extractive Industries: Mining". Extractive Industries. Retrieved October 23, 2016.