Geology and geomorphology of southern Benin

Attanda Mouinou Igué and Ulrich Weller

email: weller@janus.gsf.de
Keywords: Geomorphology, Geology, SOTER Benin

1 Aims of the research

Physiography is the first criterion to be used for the characterisation within the SOTER
approach (SOil and TERrain, FAO,1993). The separation is based on the dominant
gradient of the slopes and the relief intensity. In combination with hypometric (absolute
elevation above sea-level) grouping, and a factor characterising the degree of
dissection, a broad subdivision of an area can be made and delineated on the map,
referred to as first and second level major landform. The major landform can be
subdivided according to lithology or geology. In southern and central Benin in particular
a combination of landform and lithology characterises the terrain units.
The aim of this study is to present the physiography and geology of a recent SOTER
study area in Benin which covers the surface between 9° latitude and thw Atlantic
ocean. The total area is about 37.000 km². It includes the departments of Ouémé,
Mono, Plateau, Atlantic, Couffo, and Zou.

2 Approach

The base of the presented map are topography (1:50.000, IGN, 1954, 1963) and
geology maps (1:200. 000 OBEMINES, 1989), which were digitised using Arc-Info
software.

3 Results and Interpretation

3.1 Geomorphology
The south of Benin is formed by the so-called coastal sedimentary basin. It extends
from Togo to Nigeria. To the south it is bordered by the Atlantic ocean, to the north by
the Precambrian basement (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Location of crystalline basement in West Africa and Benin
The dominating elements of the coastal basin are the seven major plateaux (Figure 2).
They are separated by large river streams; the Mono river forms the western boundary,
the Couffo, Ouémé‚ and in the northern part the Zou river intersect the plateaux from
north to south. In east-west direction the plateaux are separated by the central
depression. The southern plateaux are very even. They drop gently from their northern
fringe (160 m NN) to the south (20-40 m NN) where they are bordered by a former
erosive coastline and a level littoral belt that extends 4 - 10 km along the coast line.
Medium slopes (4 – 8 % gradient) encircle the plateaux and separate them from the
central depression, the valleys and the littoral belt.
Two types of valleys are incised into the plateaux. Narrow valleys with concave slopes
drain from north to south. E-W oriented broader valley systems show slopes. Another
morphological element on the two south-eastern plateaux are the numerous small
depressions without external drainage, almost circular in form and of varying size,
mainly in the range of 1 km of diameter. Their origin is not yet clear (Slansky, 1962).
The northern plateaux are a bit more undulating than their southern counterparts. To the
south they are separated by a softly sloping rise from the central depression. To the
north, steep and medium slopes lead over to the crystalline basement.
The central depression is very flat. It extends from Togo to Nigeria. The drainage
system is not very well developed. Some parts are frequently flooded due to imperfect
external drainage. In the western part some small hills of calcareous outcrop are found.
The particular geomorphology of Central Benin is closely linked to lithology and
geological history (Berding et van Diepen, 1982 ; Houndagba, 1984). The landscape is
characterised by peneplains with scattered inselbergs and plateaux; it is crossed in the
south-east by the Couffo river, in the west by the Ouémé which receives important
affluent from the Okpara (NE) and Zou (NW). NS oriented mountain chains occur at
Dassa, Gobada, Logozohe, Tchetti, Savalou, Lanta, and Badagba. The Dassa and
Savalou mountains represent the highest summits with up to 540 m NN but a medium
altitude of 400 m NN. The peneplains seam to correspond to an old levelling surface (or
old pediment) at a medium altitude of about 200 m. The peneplain itself is composed of
two levels :

• a medium level altitude (120-200 m) with very few marked landforms

convex flanks in granitic zones and short concave slopes elsewhere.
• a low level altitude (<120m).
At the border between the sedimentary plateau to crystalline basement steep slopes
occur. Some relics and outcrops of ferrugineous crusts appear north of Savalou.
In the west of the basement, the topography is very gentle. Basement outcrops are very
frequent but inselbergs are rare. In the east, the landscape is formed by hills and the
hydraulic network is dense. In the south, the landscape forms are more pronounced
with short rectilinear glacis. This zone corresponds to the younger part of the crystalline
basement (Volkoff, B. 1969).
In general, the peneplain can be considered as surrounded by two higher altitude levels:
• the sedimentary plateaux series in the south with more than 200 m and
limited by a ledge;
• the mountain range of Savalou in the north.
The plateau distinctly overlooks the peneplain by more than 50 m, in places 100 m
(Houndagba, 1984).

3.2 Geology
The south of Benin is formed of sediments deposited over the so-called crystalline
basement which inclines with approximately 2 % towards the south. The crystalline
basement of Benin is surrounded by three sedimentary basins: coastal basin (meso-
Cenozoique) in the south, the Kandi basin in the north-east (Palaeozoic) and the
Precambrian voltaic basin in the north-west (Faure et Volkoff, 1996).
(Figure 1). At the coast line the sedimentary layer has a thickness of approximate 2000
m. Figure 3 gives an overview of the stratigraphic arrangement. According to
OBEMINES (1989) the following units can be found:
Unit I: Turonien - Coniacien, TC, A layer of 50 to 150 m (at exposure) of quartz sands
and sandstones that has been correlated to an offshore sequence of Turonien
sandstone directly overlying the crystalline basement. Due to this fact an age of 90 Mio.
years has been attributed to it. The deposition has taken place in a coastal environment.
This unit forms the northern border of the plateaux.
Unit IIa: Maestrichtien, Ma The main part of the northern plateaux is covered with
sediments of this unit. It has formed in a sub-littoral environment with a base of the type
barrier island, due to a rapid transgression. The lithology is constituted of fine quartz
sand with kaolinitic grey to green clays. The thickness of the sediments is variable with
a maximum of 180 m.
Unit IIb: Paleocene inferior - middle, Pim The unit IIb is divided from IIa by a
compacted glauconithic - oolithic cut due to the drop of the sea level at the transition
from Maestrichtien to Paleocene . This unit has formed under the same conditions and
with the same lithology as unit IIa. It covers the northern part of the central depression.
The thickness is very constant with approximately 50 m.

Table 1: Stratigraphy of geological sediments in southern Benin, comparisons of data OBEMINES (1989)
and Slansky (1962)

Period Epoque Age Ma Unit (Slansky,

Quaternary 03 VIII Alluviums

Tertiary Pliocence VII Continent

Miocene Tortonien » 10 VI Terminal

Burdigalein » 20 V

Aquitanien

Eocene Bartonien » 40 IV Lutetien

Lutetien

Ypresion » 50 IIIb Ypresien

Paleocene Thanetien » 53 - 60 IIIa Paleoc. S

Danien » 60 - 65 Iib Paleoc. In

Cretacean Superior Maestrichtien » 70 Iia Maestrich

Coniacien

Turonien » 90 I Missing

Unit III: Paleocene superior - Ypresien, Ps The center of the central depression is
covered mainly by sediments of this unit. It has been subdivided due to a glauconithic
layer that corresponds to the maximum of the marine level at the transition from
Paleocene to Eocene age. Deposited in a external sublitoral environment the unit IIIa
(Paleocene superior) is formed by dark grey clays and marl. The content of attapulgite
and kaolinite is variable. The highest attapulgite content is found at the base.
Unit IIIb (Ypresien) is made up of greenish clays, dominated by attapulgite. Calcaric and
phosphatated layers appear frequently. The conditions of formation were the same as
for unit IIIa, only a bit less anoxic. Unit III has a maximum thickness of 155 m.
Unit IV: middle Eocene, Em The southern part of the central depression is covered with
sediments of the middle Eocene with a maximum thickness of 170 m.
It is formed of grey-greenish attapulgite clays with shallow layers of bio-clastic
wackestones. Shell layers and sandy-silty pockets indicate a more internal sub-litoral
formation.
Unit V: Lower Miocene This unit has only been detected in drills.
Unit VI: Upper Miocene, Ms The southern plateaux are entirely build up by this unit. It
has formed in a changing environment under coastal conditions.Cycles of barrier island
formation and continental deposition form interstrata with marine formations. This
indicates propagation of the coast line during that age. Due to these facts the annotation
'Continental terminale' given to that formation (Slansky, 1962) has been dropped. The
surface formations of this unit are mainly sandy clays, in some cases iron-indurated
sand/claystone.
Unit VII: Pliocene - Pleistocene During this period only shallow fluviatile deposits can be
detected in various parts of the area, mainly at the southern borders of the plateaux and
oriented towards the large valley systems. They mainly show gravelly deposits with
sandy clays.
Unit VIII: Quaternary Quaternary deposits are found at the coastal belt and in the river
systems. They can have considerable depths, e.g. up to 100 m in the Ouémé valley.
The low sea level during the glacial period has lead to deeply incised valleys that have
been refilled with sandy and clayey Holocene sediments. The coastal belt has formed
under the influence of several changes of the sea level. During the transgression of the
Inchirien a raised sea level has formed a cliff coast in the Upper Miocene. The cycles of
rise and set of the sea level during the glaciary period has formed a coast with barrier
islands of different ages with lagoon valleys and tidal sandy deposits.

The crystalline basement consists of two blocs: an eastern one mainly composed of
migmatite and granite and a western one composed of gneiss and granulite (Aicard,
1957; Pougnet, 1957).
The Precambrian crystalline rocks are usually known a ‘’basement complex’’.
Petrographically, they are largely composed of acid metamorphic rocks of the
‘’Dahomeyen series’’ (gneiss, quartzite, migmatite). Included are granites and basic
intrusive gabbro as well (Pougnet, 1957; Aicard, 1957; BRGM, 1960; Aicard and
Pougnet, 1952). According to OBEMINES (1989) the area has three groups of
morphostructural units: the proterozoic, granitoid and metamorphic complex.

The Proterozoic is composed of three series :

• The Lanta series is a sedimentary series of volcano-clastics which
appears at the surface and covers 5 km². Lithology is characterised by
sandstones and microconglomerate with quartz pebbles.
• The Daho-Maho series appears at the surface between Ouémé river and
Fita in the north of the study area. They extend 100 km long and 10 km
wide and are composed of volcanic rocks rhyolite, microgranite, alkaline
granite and basalt.
• The Ouédo series is composed of volcanic acid rocks and occur around
Setto between the Ouedo and Zou rivers.

The granitoide group is composed of granite rocks which appears at the surface around
Lanta (150 km²) and at Gobada (50 km²). They contain biotite. Included are
monzodiorites as well. The absence of deformation shows that these granites intruded
after regional metamorphism (postcynematic granite). The determined age of Lanta
granite, (K/Ar, 523 ± 6 Ma-IRB, 1985) and Gobada granite, (521 ± 6 Ma-IRB, 1985) can
therefore represent a cooling age.

The metamorphic complex

This group contains a wide of variety of rock types. Migmatites (mgn) cover more than
60 % of the study area and show a great variety of morphologies. This unit includes
gneiss with biotite and amphibole, amphibolites and gneiss with granite which is
characterised by intensive migmatisation. The amphibolites are sometimes
characterised by leucosomatic material which shows agmatitic structure. One mylonitic
zone crosses the migmatite (NE direction) in the extreme south-east of the crystalline
socle.
A Rb/Sr age was determined by IRB (1985) on migmatitic gneiss from two samples of
the Dassa-Zoumè zone. The determined age is 916 ± 65 Ma. This value may indicate
the age of the metamorphic event linked to the migmatisation. The conventional age
determined by Bonhomme (1962) on a gneiss sample from Savè is on the contrary 528
± 16 Ma.
Gneiss eye-agate with biotite and with amphibole (gno). This unit consists of
orthogneiss normally associated to migmatite. The rocks form elongated mountains with
abrupt slopes.
Granites - Two types of granite exist: porphyric granite and granite with biotite.
Porphyric granites are constituted by potassic feldspars, quartz, red biotite and
plagioclase.
Granites with biotite are located in the western part and appear at the surface in
Agouna, Tchetty, Adanhoue. They form small hills. In some places they are affected by
metamorphic deformations which create foliated levels with eye-agate structure. That is
the case of the Tré granite around Dassa-Zoumè, placed in the eye-agate gneiss.
Gneiss with amphibole and biotite, (gnab) These rocks form a long strip in the central
western part of the basement and consist principally by gneiss layered with
amphibolites and biotite, with nodules of amphibolites and pyroxenites.
Within the metamorphic complex additionaly occur amphibolites, alkaline gneiss with
pyroxene (gnp), quartzite (Q), marble (M), gneiss with biotite and hyperstene (gngr)
granulites (gr), charnockites gabbroites (ch-gb), agmatitic metagabbros (gnd),
blastomylonites and mylonites (my).
The most distinctive sedimentary basin and basement complex rock types are depicted
on a separate map (Figure 4), and a geological cross-section (Agouna/Zou and Agbado
rivers/Dassa-zoumé/Ouémé and Okpara rivers) is given in figure 5. The symbols
correspond to the ones on the geological map legend.

4 Conclusions

The geomorphology of the southern study area is characterised by seven major

plateaux separated by large river streams and the central Lama depression. In the north
of these plateaux, the landscape is a peneplain with scattered inselbergs, plateaux and
shallow valleys.
The plateaux are formed of sediments deposited over the crystalline socle. These
sediments belong to the Quaternary, Tertiary and Cretaceous period. The southern
crystalline basement of Benin can be considered as a portion of the continental crust
with intermediate depth, composed by meta-sedimentary series (quartzite, marble and
partly gneiss) associated with granite of different ages. According to Bigioggero et al.
(1988), the granites belong to different geological periods. In fact, porphyric granites
(yo), eye-agate granitic gneiss (gno) and granites with biotite (y) show a distribution of
typical elements of the anatectic granites derived from a continental crust.
On the contrary, the granite of Lanta and Gobada, and particularly the granite of Fita,
are characterised by a high share of Nb and Y and by a low Rb/Nb+Y ratio, which
suggests an origin (magma with alkaline tendency) in greater depth.
Although it is crossed by mylonitic bands of regional importance, the basement appears
uniform without remarkable variations of the lithologic, metamorphic and tectonic
characteristics.

5 References

AICARD P., 1957 : Le ‘précambien du Togo et du Nord-Ouest du Dahomey. Bull. dir.

Fédér. Min. Géol. Affr. Occ. Fr. Dakar 23, 226 p.
AICARD, P. and POUGNET R., 1952 : Le Dahomeyen du Dahomey et du Togo
francais. Congrès Géol. Intern. Alger Assoc. Serv. Géol. Afr., A.S.G.A:, XX. 107-113.
BERDING, F. et Van DIEPEN C.A., 1982. Notice explicative des cartes d’aptitude
culturale de la R. P. du Bénin. Etude n° 251 CENAP/Cotonou
BIGIOGGERO, B.et al. 1988: Données préliminaires sur les granites du Bénin
méridional. Rendiconti SIMP Vol. 43 n° 1
BONHOMME, M. 1962: Contribution à l´étude géochronologique de la plate-forme de l
´Ouest africain. Ann. Fac. Sc. Univ. Clermont, Géol. Min. , 5ème fasc. , 1962. (thèse
Clermont –Ferrand).
BRGM, 1960 : Carte géologique de la république du Dahomey (Bénin) á 1/1000.000
OBEMINES Cotonou.
FAO, 1993: Global and National Soil and Terrain Digital Database (SOTER).
Procedures manual. World Soil Resources Reports No. 74 FAO. Rome. Italy.
FAURE, P. and B. Volkoff, 1996: Différenciation régionale des couvertures
pédologiques et litho-geomorphologie sur socle granito-gneissique du Bénin (Afrique
Occidentale). C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris t. 322, série IIa , p. 393-400.
HOUNDAGBA C.J., 1984 : Analyse typologique des paysages d’Abomey-Zagnanado
en R.P. du Bénin. Thèse 3e cycle Université Louis Pasteur Strasbourg. 286p.
IGN 1954: Cartes topographiques du Bénin au 1:50.000. Feuilles Sud Benin. IGN
Cotonou, IGN Paris.
IGN 1963: Cartes topographiques du Bénin. Au 1:50.000. Feuilles Centre Benin. IGN
Cotonou, IGN Paris.
IRB, 1985: Etude de la cartographie géologique et prospection minière de
reconnaissance au sud du 9ème paralléle. Rapport du Projet F:E:D: N° 5100.11.13.015,
p.111
OBEMINES, 1989: Carte géologique du Bénin à 1:200 000. Office Béninoise des
Mines. Cotonou, Bénin.
POUGNET, R. 1957: Le precambien du Dahomey. Bulletin n° 22 de la D. F. du Min. et
de la géographie Afrique Occidentale Francaise. Dakar, n°22.
SLANSKY, M. 1962: Contribution à l´étude du bassin sédimentaire côtier du Dahomey
et du Togo. Mem. Bur. Rech. Géol. Min.
VOLKOFF B. (1969). Carte pédologique de reconnaissance de la République Populaire
du Bénin. Feuille Dassa-Zoumè (Socle cristallin). ORSTOM, Paris. 63p.

6 Further Readings
LEVEQUE, A. 1979: Pedogenèse sur socle granito-gneissique du Togo. Differenciation
des sols et remaniements superficiels. Travaux et documents de l´ORSTOM, n° 108,
Paris, 224 p.
7 Related Websites

8 Annotations

Figure 2: Digital elevation model of southern Benin

Map1 : Geology of southern Benin

9 Data Links

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• source data: tab delimited text (*.txt), excel5 (*.xls), rich text format (*.rtf)

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