A model for the tectonic evolution of the Benue Trough of Nigeria

Based on the results of a detailed magnetic study of the Lower and Middle Benue Trough of Nigeria carried out by the author and results of previous geophysical studies of the Benue Trough and of similar structures elsewhere in the world, a possible model for the tectonic evolution of the Benue Trough has been developed. It is here suggested that the tectonic evolution of the Benue Trough of Nigeria involved the rise of a mantle plume or mantle upwelling, emplacement of intrusive igneous material in the crust, crustal stretching and thinning and consequently rifting. It is thought that this sequence of events may have been repeated in a cyclic manner with intercyclic structural deformations. The basic ideas of the model is shown to be in agreement with acceptable ideas on riftogenesis.