Niger Delta Basin (geology)
The Niger Delta Basin, also referred to as the Niger Delta province, is an extensional rift basin located in the
Basin formation
The Niger Delta Basin was formed by a failed rift
Lithology
The sediment fill in the Niger Delta basin is characterized by three major depobelts. These three cycles show that the basin experienced an overall
- Basement
The oceanic basement rock is the oldest rock in the basin and is
- Cretaceous
There is a section of rock in this basin from the middle to late Cretaceous which is poorly understood due to its significant burial depth. It is believed to be composed of sediments from a tide-dominated coastline,[1] and there are believed to be several layers of shales, although their distribution is unconstrained.
- Akata Formation
The Akata Formation is
- Agbada Formation
The Agbada Formation dates back to Eocene in age. It is a marine facies defined by both freshwater and deep sea characteristics. This is the major oil and natural gas-bearing facies in the basin. The hydrocarbons in this layer formed when this layer of rock became subaerial and was covered in a marsh-type environment rich in organic content. It is estimated to be 3,700 meters thick.[1]
- Benin Formation
The Benin Formation is Oligocene and younger in age. It is composed of continental flood plain sands and alluvial deposits. It is estimated to be up to 2,000 meters thick.[1]
Tectonic structures
The tectonic structures in the Niger Delta Basin are typical of an extensional rift system, but the added shale
- Basin inversion
Basin inversion is caused by uplift and/or compression in this basin. The compression is caused by the toe detachment of the shale diapirs. Basin inversion forms anticline structures, which serve as a great oil trap. Clay smears in the sediments seal the formations so oil does not escape out.[1]
- Basinward dipping reflectors
Basinward dipping reflectors are a common feature of extensional type rift basins. As fault blocks extend they rotate to dip towards the center of the basin. At the top of these fault blocks sub basins can form.
- Shale diapirs
The shale diapirs are from the Akata Formation. This structure is formed due to the improper dehydration of the formation and the over pressuring by the overlying and denser Agbada Formation.[1]
- High-angle normal faulting
High-angle
Oil and Gas
The Niger Delta is the twelfth largest province in the world by known oil and gas resources.[4] The Niger Delta Basin produces around 2 million barrels of oil per day. The entire system is predicted to contain 34.5 billion barrels of oil and 94 trillion feet3 of natural gas. This area is still very heavily explored by oil companies today. It is one of the largest oil producers in the world.[1]
Oil Pollution
This incredibly well-endowed ecosystem contains one of the highest concentrations of biodiversity on the planet, in addition to supporting abundant flora and fauna, arable terrain that can sustain a wide variety of crops, lumber or agricultural trees, and more species of freshwater fish than any ecosystem in West Africa.[11]
The advent of
- We witnessed the slow poisoning of the waters of this country and the destruction of vegetation and agricultural land and good water source by oil spills which occur during petroleum operations. But since the inception of the oil industry in Nigeria, more than fifty years ago, there has been no concerned and effective effort on the part of the government, let alone the oil operators, to control environmental problems associated with the industry.[20]
In July 1979, an incident on the coastal zone of the Forcado tank 6 terminal spilled 570 thousand barrels of oil into the Forcados estuary, affecting the sea species and surrounding swamp forest.[4] In January 1980, the Funiwa No.5 Well in Funiwa Field spilled 421 thousand barrels of oil into the ocean, damaging 836 acres of mangrove forest.[4] In 1983, 5 000 barrels were spilled causing high mortality in crabs, fish and shrimps.[4] Until 1999, an average of 240 thousand barrels of crude oil was spilled in the zone every year.[4]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Tuttle, Michele; Charpentier, Ronald; Brownfield, Michael. "The Niger Delta Petroleum System: Niger Delta Province, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Equatorial Guinea, Africa". United States Geologic Survey. United States Geologic Survey. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
- ^ a b c fatoke, oluwaseyi adedamola (2010). sequence stratigraphy of the pliocene-pleistocene strata and shelf-margin deltas of the eastern niger delta, nigeria (ph.d.). university of houston.
- .
- ^ a b c d e Tuttle, Michele L. W.; Brownfield, Michael E.; Charpentier, Ronald R. "Niger Delta (Akata-Agbada) Petroleum System OF99-50H, Chapter A". pubs.usgs.gov. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
- ^ "Oil and the environment - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)". www.eia.gov. Retrieved 2022-05-31.
- .
- ^ "'This place used to be green': the brutal impact of oil in the Niger Delta". the Guardian. 2019-12-06. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
- ^ P.C. Nwilo & O. T. Badejo: Impacts of Oil spills along the Nigerian coast The Association for Environmental Health and Sciences, 2001
- ^ "Conserving and restoring wetlands in Nigeria's Niger River Delta". Wetlands International. Archived from the original on 2022-02-26. Retrieved 2022-02-26.
- ^ Adebayo, Bukola (2019-03-27). "Major new inquiry into oil spills in Nigeria's Niger Delta launched". CNN. Retrieved 2022-03-12.
- ^ "oil spill in Nigeria". 6 January 2012.
- ^ Donatus, Peter (2016-10-15). "Shell's Nigeria ecocide is creating a refugee crisis". www.greenleft.org.au. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
- ^ "UNEP Ogoniland Oil Assessment Reveals Extent of Environmental Contamination and Threats to Human Health". UNEP. 2017-08-07. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
- ^ "'Ecocide' movement pushes for a new international crime: Environmental destruction". NBC News. 2021-04-07. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
- ^ "Fighting ecocide in Nigeria". theecologist.org. 5 February 2014. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
- ^ "UNPO: Ogoni: An Ecocide in the Making?". unpo.org. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
- ^ Albert,Amaratunga, Haigh (Nov 29,2017) "Evaluation of the Impacts of oil spill Disaster on communities and its influence on Restiveness in Niger Delta, Nigeria."
- ^ Osemwengie, Garrick (2010-03-05). "As Goodluck would have it:Theophilus Danjuma ! His $500 Million Booty & $100 million Donation to Charity". Sahara Reporters. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
- ^ Vidal, John (2010-05-30). "Nigeria's agony dwarfs the Gulf oil spill. The US and Europe ignore it". The Observer. Retrieved 27 July 2010. government's National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (Nosdra) says that between 1976 and 1996 alone, more than 2.4m barrels
- ^ Ayanlade, Proske (August 31, 2015)."Assessing wetland degradation and loss of ecosystem services in the Niger Delta, Nigeria."
- ^ Ayanalde,Proske (August 31, 2015). "Assessing wetland degradation and loss of ecosystem services in the Niger Delta, Nigeria."
External links
- The Niger Delta Petroleum System: Niger Delta Province, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Equatorial Guinea, Africa, United States Geological Survey, 1999
- Regional Geology and Petroleum Prospectivity, Nigeria - São Tomé and Príncipe Joint Development Zone (JDZ)