Evolution of Nigeria's Benue Trough (Aulacogen): a tectonic model

Summary The tectonic evolution of Nigeria's Benue Trough has recently been the focus of investigations, especially in relation to continental drift and opening of the South Atlantic Ocean during Cretaceous times. Most of the tectonic models presented for the Benue depression have placed undue emphasis on certain plate tectonic concepts which are inconsistent with the salient geologic features of the trough. A possible model, involving the rise and cessation of mantle upwelling beneath a Cretaceous hot spot, and attendant patterns of doming, rifting, sedimentation, magmatism and tectonism, is proposed for the Benue aulacogen.