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Petrographic and Geochemical Characterization of Basalts in Bangangte Area (West Cameroon): Implications on Their Source

Received: 25 October 2015     Accepted: 6 November 2015     Published: 7 December 2015
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Abstract

The Bangangte area belongs to the Cameroon Volcanic Line. The volcanic rocks exposure in the area consist of fine microlitic porphiritic Basalts which still poorly surveyed. Petrographically, the studied rocks are made up of minerals like plagioclase, clinopyroxene, olivine phenocrysts and a lot of opaque minerals within a very fine grained matrice. The Bangangte basalts are quartz normative free and are olivine, Diopside, Hypersthene normative. Alkaline (Na2O + K2O) contents vary from 2.247% to 5.46%. These rocks are low-Mg basalts with the Mg# values vary from 42.86 to 45.95 which are characteristic of primitive mantle source. The studied rocks are alkali to transitional basalts with Nb/Y ratio>1.5. Chondrite normalized spider diagram pattern of REE shows uniform patterns with enrichment in LREE and a relative depletion in HREE. While MORB normalized spider diagram pattern of multi elements reveals a negative anomaly with K2O, with enrichement in LILE and depletion in HREE. The Eu anomalies are positive to nulle and are typical of alkali basalts. The Bangangté transitional alkali basalts were formed in intraplate setting of continental part of the CVL. They are the products of partial melting of about 13% of an asthenosphere made up of garnet peridotite. Geochemically, the studied basalts are similar to alkali basalts from Mount Bamenda.

Published in Earth Sciences (Volume 4, Issue 6)
DOI 10.11648/j.earth.20150406.18
Page(s) 266-274
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This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2015. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Bangangte, CVL, Alkali to Transitional Basalts, Asthenosphere, Garnet Peridotite

References
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    Pierre Wotchoko, Joëlle Flore Tene Djoukam, Gus Djibril Kouankap Nono, Patrice Arnaud Kouske, David Guymollaire Nkouathio, et al. (2015). Petrographic and Geochemical Characterization of Basalts in Bangangte Area (West Cameroon): Implications on Their Source. Earth Sciences, 4(6), 266-274. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20150406.18

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    Pierre Wotchoko; Joëlle Flore Tene Djoukam; Gus Djibril Kouankap Nono; Patrice Arnaud Kouske; David Guymollaire Nkouathio, et al. Petrographic and Geochemical Characterization of Basalts in Bangangte Area (West Cameroon): Implications on Their Source. Earth Sci. 2015, 4(6), 266-274. doi: 10.11648/j.earth.20150406.18

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    AMA Style

    Pierre Wotchoko, Joëlle Flore Tene Djoukam, Gus Djibril Kouankap Nono, Patrice Arnaud Kouske, David Guymollaire Nkouathio, et al. Petrographic and Geochemical Characterization of Basalts in Bangangte Area (West Cameroon): Implications on Their Source. Earth Sci. 2015;4(6):266-274. doi: 10.11648/j.earth.20150406.18

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  • @article{10.11648/j.earth.20150406.18,
      author = {Pierre Wotchoko and Joëlle Flore Tene Djoukam and Gus Djibril Kouankap Nono and Patrice Arnaud Kouske and David Guymollaire Nkouathio and Solange Atenkia Fonkem},
      title = {Petrographic and Geochemical Characterization of Basalts in Bangangte Area (West Cameroon): Implications on Their Source},
      journal = {Earth Sciences},
      volume = {4},
      number = {6},
      pages = {266-274},
      doi = {10.11648/j.earth.20150406.18},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20150406.18},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.earth.20150406.18},
      abstract = {The Bangangte area belongs to the Cameroon Volcanic Line. The volcanic rocks exposure in the area consist of fine microlitic porphiritic Basalts which still poorly surveyed. Petrographically, the studied rocks are made up of minerals like plagioclase, clinopyroxene, olivine phenocrysts and a lot of opaque minerals within a very fine grained matrice. The Bangangte basalts are quartz normative free and are olivine, Diopside, Hypersthene normative. Alkaline (Na2O + K2O) contents vary from 2.247% to 5.46%. These rocks are low-Mg basalts with the Mg# values vary from 42.86 to 45.95 which are characteristic of primitive mantle source. The studied rocks are alkali to transitional basalts with Nb/Y ratio>1.5. Chondrite normalized spider diagram pattern of REE shows uniform patterns with enrichment in LREE and a relative depletion in HREE. While MORB normalized spider diagram pattern of multi elements reveals a negative anomaly with K2O, with enrichement in LILE and depletion in HREE. The Eu anomalies are positive to nulle and are typical of alkali basalts. The Bangangté transitional alkali basalts were formed in intraplate setting of continental part of the CVL. They are the products of partial melting of about 13% of an asthenosphere made up of garnet peridotite. Geochemically, the studied basalts are similar to alkali basalts from Mount Bamenda.},
     year = {2015}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Petrographic and Geochemical Characterization of Basalts in Bangangte Area (West Cameroon): Implications on Their Source
    AU  - Pierre Wotchoko
    AU  - Joëlle Flore Tene Djoukam
    AU  - Gus Djibril Kouankap Nono
    AU  - Patrice Arnaud Kouske
    AU  - David Guymollaire Nkouathio
    AU  - Solange Atenkia Fonkem
    Y1  - 2015/12/07
    PY  - 2015
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    DO  - 10.11648/j.earth.20150406.18
    T2  - Earth Sciences
    JF  - Earth Sciences
    JO  - Earth Sciences
    SP  - 266
    EP  - 274
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-5982
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20150406.18
    AB  - The Bangangte area belongs to the Cameroon Volcanic Line. The volcanic rocks exposure in the area consist of fine microlitic porphiritic Basalts which still poorly surveyed. Petrographically, the studied rocks are made up of minerals like plagioclase, clinopyroxene, olivine phenocrysts and a lot of opaque minerals within a very fine grained matrice. The Bangangte basalts are quartz normative free and are olivine, Diopside, Hypersthene normative. Alkaline (Na2O + K2O) contents vary from 2.247% to 5.46%. These rocks are low-Mg basalts with the Mg# values vary from 42.86 to 45.95 which are characteristic of primitive mantle source. The studied rocks are alkali to transitional basalts with Nb/Y ratio>1.5. Chondrite normalized spider diagram pattern of REE shows uniform patterns with enrichment in LREE and a relative depletion in HREE. While MORB normalized spider diagram pattern of multi elements reveals a negative anomaly with K2O, with enrichement in LILE and depletion in HREE. The Eu anomalies are positive to nulle and are typical of alkali basalts. The Bangangté transitional alkali basalts were formed in intraplate setting of continental part of the CVL. They are the products of partial melting of about 13% of an asthenosphere made up of garnet peridotite. Geochemically, the studied basalts are similar to alkali basalts from Mount Bamenda.
    VL  - 4
    IS  - 6
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Geology, Higher Teacher Training College, University of Bamenda, Bambili, Bamenda, Cameroon

  • Department of Geology, Higher Teacher Training College, University of Bamenda, Bambili, Bamenda, Cameroon

  • Institute of Technology, University of Douala, Douala, Cameroon

  • Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, University of Dschang, Dschang, Cameroon

  • Department of Geology, Higher Teacher Training College, University of Bamenda, Bambili, Bamenda, Cameroon

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