The Stratigraphy of the New Tuli Basin Fossil Sites in Zimbabwe

dc.contributor.authorZondo, Michel
dc.contributor.supervisorChoiniere, Jonah
dc.contributor.supervisorBroderick, Timothy
dc.contributor.supervisorMunyikwa, Darlington
dc.date.accessioned2025-07-21T09:43:07Z
dc.date.issued2024-09
dc.descriptionA dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, to the Faculty of Science, School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024.
dc.description.abstractThis thesis investigated new fossil-bearing outcrops of the Mpandi Formation of Zimbabwe, exposed at Sentinel Ranch in the Tuli Basin, at sites named “Wedding Hill “and “Pimwe Hill”. The Mpandi Formation exposures at Sentinel Ranch reveal strata that were deposited in fluvial environments that occasionally experienced flooding in otherwise usually dry and hot climatic conditions. These fluvial systems deposited facies that are mostly dominated by fine sediments and their facies have similarities with those found in the main Karoo Basin of South Africa. The use of borehole data helped establish the thickness of the Mpandi Formation and the explorable portion of the formation was estimated to be around 54 metres. Detrital zircons collected from main Sentinel outcrops were used to estimate the maximum depositional age of the sediments using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (LA-ICPMS) methods. Although sparse, the youngest zircons in these samples yielded ages of 199.2 ± 5.1 Ma and 200.8 ± 5.8 Ma, with error bars suggesting maximum depositional ages in the earliest Jurassic or possibly the latest Triassic. A bonebed at the Wedding Hill site produced many postcranial bones of sauropodomorphs, including the articulated leg of a very large individual sauropodomorph, and the first theropod bones recorded from the Mpandi Formation at Sentinel. The discoveries improve our knowledge of the fauna diversity of the Mpandi Formation, permitting more accurate biostratigraphic correlation and enhancing our understanding of the Triassic- Jurassic interval.
dc.description.sponsorshipPalaeontological Scientific Trust (PAST)
dc.description.submitterMMM2025
dc.facultyFaculty of Science
dc.identifier0000-0002-7918-7028
dc.identifier.citationThe Stratigraphy of the New Tuli Basin Fossil Sites in Zimbabwe
dc.identifier.citationZondo, Michel. (2024). The Stratigraphy of the New Tuli Basin Fossil Sites in Zimbabwe. [Master's dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg]. https://hdl.handle.net/10539/45654
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10539/45654
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherUniversity of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
dc.rights©2024 University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
dc.rights.holderUniversity of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
dc.schoolSchool of Geosciences
dc.subjectStratigraphy
dc.subjectTuli Basin
dc.subjectFossil sites
dc.subjectUCTD
dc.subject.primarysdgSDG-15: Life on land
dc.subject.secondarysdgSDG-4: Quality education
dc.titleThe Stratigraphy of the New Tuli Basin Fossil Sites in Zimbabwe
dc.typeDissertation

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