A review on the provenance of the Voltaian Basin, Ghana: Implications for hydrocarbon prospectivity

Abstract
The Voltaian Basin of Ghana has taken significance as a potential oil and gas basin. Since Ghana became a petroleum-producing country, every attempt is being made to understand the sedimentary basins within the country’s territorial boundaries, particularly, the Voltaian Basin. This review paper investigates studies on the Voltaian Basin drawing on a comprehensive literature review based on database searches from Scopus, Web of Science, and Science Direct, among others. Several branches of geology such as mineralogy, geochemistry, igneous and metamorphic petrology, geochronology, and sedimentary geology among others were integrated to reconstruct the source of the Voltaian Basin sedimentary rocks. Application of compositional analyses to determine provenance using petrographic, mineralogical, and geochemical techniques are also discussed. Results based on articles retrieved from the comprehensive literature review summarize the findings on provenance studies; stating the sediment source and history of the rock types in the Voltaian Basin to be most likely from the Pan-African orogenic rocks having a felsic source with some inputs from metasedimentary source rocks. Findings from provenance studies further point to the depositional environment being of shallow marine source and having a fluvial to deltaic environmental features, suggesting that the depositional environment is suitable for hydrocarbon source rocks as well as reservoir rocks formation. With regards to petroleum exploration, a lot of research work needs to be done to identify the type of sedimentary organic matter present in the shales and the limestones of the Voltaian Basin. Furthermore, the rock properties that define petroleum reservoirs such as porosity, permeability, pore type, and rock compressibility as well as electrical properties of some important sandstones need to be thoroughly investigated.
Description
This article is published in Scientific African 18 (2022) e01429; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sciaf.2022.e01429
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Citation
Scientific African 18 (2022) e01429; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sciaf.2022.e01429
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