PALAEO-ENVIRONMENT, DIAGENESIS AND CHARACTERISTICS OF PERMIAN BLACK SHALES IN THE LOWER KAROO SUPERGROUP FLANKING THE CAPE FOLD BELT NEAR JANSENVILLE, EASTERN CAPE, SOUTH AFRICA: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE SHALE GAS POTENTIAL OF THE KAROO BASIN

摘要

We report on geochemical and petrophysical properties of shales from the Prince Albert, Whitehill and Collingham Formations of the Lower Karoo Supergroup, near Jansenville in the Eastern Cape, close to the tectonic front of the Cape Fold Belt. Results are based on two boreholes sited on a southerly dipping limb of a shallowly plunging syncline. Structural, sedimentological, lithological, mineralogical, geochemical and petrophysical analyses provide detailed characteristics that have become the focus of interest for potential shale gas occurrences.