Early Permian geological formation in South Africa
Whitehill Formation
Stratigraphic range: Artinskian-Kungurian ~282.6–275 Ma
PreꞒ
Ꞓ
O
S
D
C
P
T
J
K
Pg
N
Type
Geological formation
Unit of
Ecca Group
Sub-units
Khabus Tuff
Underlies
Collingham & Tierberg Formations
Overlies
Prince Albert Formation
Area
600 km × 600 km (370 mi × 370 mi)
Thickness
50–70 m (160–230 ft)
Lithology
Primary
Black shale, dolomite, mudstone
Other
Gypsum, halite, tuff, dolerite (intrusions)
Location
Coordinates
21°12′S14°06′E / 21.2°S 14.1°E / -21.2; 14.1
Approximate paleocoordinates
51°00′S30°30′W / 51.0°S 30.5°W / -51.0; -30.5
Region
ǁKaras Region Eastern, Northern & Western Cape
Country
Namibia South Africa
Extent
Nama & Karoo Basins
Geologic map of Namibia with the Whitehill Formation partly cropping out in the southeastern area (orange)
Extent of outcrops of the Ecca Group in South Africa in orange, the group is also found in the subsurface underneath the Beaufort Group in yellowEarly Permian paleogeography (280 Ma)
The Whitehill Formation, alternatively written as White Hill Formation and formerly known as White Band or Whitehill or White Hill Member, is a regional Early Permian (Artinskian to Kungurian, dating to around 282 to 275 Ma) geologic formation belonging to the Ecca Group in the southeastern ǁKaras Region of southeastern Namibia and Eastern, Northern and Western Cape provinces of South Africa.
The formation comprises black shales, mudstones, siltstones, dolomite beds, gypsum and halite layers and a layer of tuff within the formation. With a thickness between 50 and 70 metres (160 and 230 ft) and present in an area of 600 by 600 kilometres (370 by 370 mi), the formation is considered the primary target for shale gas potential in the Southern Karoo. Total Organic Carbon (TOC) values average 4.5% with a range from 0.5 to 14.7%, placing the formation in the same range as the well-known Barnett Shale and Marcellus Formation of the United States.
The Whitehill Formation of the Karoo and Nama or Kalahari Basin is contemporaneous with the Huab Formation of the Huab Basin and is correlated with a series of formations in the Pelotas and Paraná Basins in southeastern Brazil, deposited in a larger basinal area, 150 million years before the break-up of Pangea. The abundance of Glossopteris and Mesosaurus fossils are characteristic of the Gondwanan correlation across present-day South America, Africa, Antarctica and Australia. The Whitehill Formation has provided fossil reptiles, insects, fish and flora.
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The WhitehillFormation, alternatively written as White Hill Formation and formerly known as White Band or Whitehill or White Hill Member, is a regional...
hamatotergum is an extinct cephalochordate from the Early Permian-aged WhitehillFormation in South Africa. It is known from a single, 11 mm long specimen found...
were found in southern Africa, WhitehillFormation, and eastern South America (Melo Formation, Uruguay and Irati Formation, Brazil), two widely separated...
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crystallisation of different minerals at different temperatures, resulted in the formation of a structure rather like a layered cake consisting of distinct rock...
animals has been found worldwide in some Late Triassic and Early Jurassic formations. The type species C. bauri, originally given to the genus Coelurus by...
the mixture and the formation of a nearly monomineralic layer on the magma chamber floor. The leading theory regarding the formation of the Merensky reef...
recovered from this formation. WhitehillFormation: Mudrock and shale dominant in the west/northwestern facies. The shale rock in this formation weather out white...
was discovered at the "Upper Drumbo Farm" locality in the upper Elliot Formation which is part of the Stormberg Group in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa...
surface. The Witwatersrand Basin is a largely underground geological formation which surfaces in the Witwatersrand. It holds the world's largest known...
Sidney H. Haughton. They were collected from the Triassic Lower Elliot Formation, dating to the early Norian, on the north slope of the Thaba 'Nyama (Black...
The Clarens Formation is a geological formation found in several localities in Lesotho and in the Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, and Eastern Cape provinces...
part of Gondwana. The basins in which it was deposited formed during the formation and breakup of Pangea. The type area of the Karoo Supergroup is the Great...
based on numerous skull and postcranial fossils from the Upper Elliot Formation. It had a simpler tooth and jaw anatomy than later ornithischians, and...
discovered at the Voyizane locality, in the Elliot Formation of the Stormberg Group of rock formations, 1,770 m (5,807 ft) above sea level, on Krommespruit...
The Katberg Formation is a geological formation that is found in the Beaufort Group, a major geological group that forms part of the greater Karoo Supergroup...
valley floors while the erosion resistant sandstones (of the Peninsula Formation) form the parallel ranges, the Cape Fold Mountains, which reach a maximum...
Normandien and Katberg Formations. It had not been until 1977 that additional fossils of Thrinaxodon had been discovered in the Fremouw Formation of Antarctica...
The Elliot Formation is a geological formation and forms part of the Stormberg Group, the uppermost geological group that comprises the greater Karoo...
the fossil remains of only two individuals, found in the Upper Elliot Formation of Qacha's Nek District in Lesotho and Cape Province in South Africa....
basins surrounding the continent. Other sediments ended up making the formations of Uloa, upper Alexandria, Bredasdorp, Elandsfontyn, Varwater. Post-African...
a genus of sauropodiform dinosaur found in the Early Jurassic Elliot Formation of South Africa. The only species is Antetonitrus ingenipes. Sometimes...
the Early Jurassic (Hettangian to Sinemurian ages) strata of the Elliot Formation located in the Cape Province, South Africa. Lycorhinus, including the...
the Kundaram Formation of India, Usili Formation of Tanzania, the Upper Madumabisa Mudstone Formation of Zambia, and the Teekloof Formation and Abrahamskraal...
Thomas Henry Huxley, based on a specimen from the Induan-age Panchet Formation of India. Ankistrodon has been regarded as a synonym of Proterosuchus...
Global Information
Namibia
South Africa
