Subsurface Depositional Systems in Lake Turkana Basin, North-western Kenya: Based on Gravity and Seismic Data Investigations

Abstract

This study unravels subsurface structural features and further creates a better understanding of sedimentary rock sequences, believed to belong to Cretaceous-Tertiary age, which have been deposited under the vast Lake Turkana Basin (NW Kenya). The gravity anomaly maps and seismic profiles revealed the presence of several horst- and graben-like structural systems. It was also revealed that the basin could have attracted potential petroliferous sedimentary piles (2000-5200m thick) which are deposited on basement rocks of Precambrian age. The basin is known to have evolved through extension tectonics that brought out continental rifting as a part of the major Gondwanaland breakup in the Late Paleozoic time and continued in the Mesozoic and Tertiary. This movement was accompanied by a stupendous outpouring of the lava flows.