TITLE:
Evidence of Atlantic Extension in South-East Togo: Case of Fracturing in the Sandstone Relics of Tohoun
AUTHORS:
Essodina Padaro, Mahaman Sani Tairou, Yawoa Dzidzo Da Costa, Zikpi Yawovi Amoudji
KEYWORDS:
Fractures, Paleostress, Atlantic Extension, South-Togo
JOURNAL NAME:
International Journal of Geosciences,
Vol.12 No.5,
May
28,
2021
ABSTRACT: The sandstone relics of probable Cretaceous age
found around Tohoun show an extensional tectonics imprint associated with the
Atlantic opening. This imprint consists of normal fault networks well expressed
on two sites of outcrop and corresponds to three fracturing episodes
materialized by families of conjugated planes striking E-W, NW-SE, and NE-SW.
Striated plane data analysis shows three
extensional axes successively N-S, NE-SW and NNW-SSE. The reconstructed paleostress tensors can be
attributed to pre- to syn-rift phases responsible for the development of
primary basin structures in the Gulf of Guinea. This preliminary analysis,
concerning only fractures in the basal sequence relics, remains to be extended
to the entire Togolese coastal basin to a better definition of the Atlantic
dynamic.