Sedimentary Basins in the Western White Nile, Sudan, as Indicated by a Gravity Survey

An academic geophysical research as a regional gravity survey was made during 1994 in the Western White Nile to infer the shallow crustal structures in the area. The result of the survey was compiled as a Bouguer anomaly map with a contour interval of 2 ×10-5m/s2. It is found that the negative residual anomalies are related to the Upper Cretaceous sediments (Nubian Sandstone Formation) filling all depressions in the Basement complex surface while the positive residual anomalies are attributed to the relatively shallow or outcropping Basement rocks and the steep gravity gradients are resulting from the sharp contacts between the sedimentary infill and the Basement rocks. To define the geological structures in the area, 9 profiles were studied. For each of the profiles, measured and computed Bouguer gravity anomalies, crustal density model, subsurface geology evaluation were performed. A G-model computer program was applied in the gravity modeling, which is based on the line-integral method of gravity computation. A geological/structural map was proposed showing inferred sedimentary basins, faulting troughs and uplifted Basement block and tectonic trends. The basins are believed to be fault-controlled which developed by extensional tectonics (pull-apart mechanism). As for the mechanism and cause of faulting, the area is considered as a part of the Central Sudan rift system which had been subjected to several tectonic events since Early Cambrian to Tertiary times which resulted in the formation of several fracture systems associated with block subsidence, rifting and basin formation.