View source for Earth:Lower Karoo Group

{{Infobox rockunit
| name           = Lower Karoo Group
| period         = Permian
| image          = 95 sengwa coliery.jpg
| caption        = Opencast coal mine in Upper Karoo sequence at Sengwa, Gokwe North District, Zimbabwe)
| type           = Geological group
| age            = Late Carboniferous-[[Earth:Permian|Permian]]
| prilithology   = [[Earth:Sandstone|Sandstone]]
| otherlithology = [[Earth:Coal|Coal]], tillite, [[Earth:Siltstone|siltstone]], mudstone
| namedfor       =  
| namedby        = 
| region         = 
| country        = {{BOT}}<br />{{MOZ}}<br />{{ZAM}}<br />{{ZIM}}
| coordinates    =
| unitof         = Karoo Supergroup
| subunits       =
| underlies      = [[Earth:Upper Karoo Group|Upper Karoo Group]]
| overlies       = 
| thickness      =
| extent         =
| area           =
| map            =
| map_caption    =
}}

The '''Lower Karoo Group''' is a sequence of late [[Earth:Carboniferous|Carboniferous]] and [[Earth:Permian|Permian]] [[Earth:Sandstone|sandstone]] [[Earth:Sedimentary rock|sedimentary rock]]s of the Karoo Supergroup, found in Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique.

==Geology==
The Lower Karoo corresponds to the lower portion of the Karoo Supergroup sequence. The basal unit comprises glacial tillites,<ref name=Karoobasins/> being the [[Earth:Dwyka Group|Dwyka Formation]] in the Mid-Zambezi Basin, Basal Beds in the Limpopo basins<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/S0899-5362(01)00090-2|title=Sedimentology of the upper Karoo fluvial strata in the Tuli Basin, South Africa|year=2001|last1=Bordy|first1=Emese M.|last2=Catuneanu|first2=Octavian|journal=Journal of African Earth Sciences|volume=33|issue=3–4|pages=605|bibcode = 2001JAfES..33..605B }}</ref> and Kondo Pools Formation in the Mana Pools and Cabora Bassa Basins.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/S0899-5362(96)00049-8|title=New palynological data from Karoo sediments, Mana Pools basin, northern Zimbabwe|year=1996|last1=d'Engelbronner|first1=E.R.|journal=Journal of African Earth Sciences|volume=23|issue=1|pages=17–30|bibcode = 1996JAfES..23...17D }}</ref>  These are overlain in the Mid-Zambezi by the Wankie [[Earth:Sandstone|sandstone]]s and [[Earth:Coal|coal]] and the Madumabisa Mudstone<ref name=Karoobasins/>

It is overlain and overstepped by the [[Earth:Upper Karoo Group|Upper Karoo Group]].<ref name=Karoobasins>{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2005.07.007|title=The Karoo basins of south-central Africa|year=2005|last1=Catuneanu|first1=O.|last2=Wopfner|first2=H.|last3=Eriksson|first3=P.G.|last4=Cairncross|first4=B.|last5=Rubidge|first5=B.S.|last6=Smith|first6=R.M.H.|last7=Hancox|first7=P.J.|journal=Journal of African Earth Sciences|volume=43|issue=1–3|pages=211–253|bibcode = 2005JAfES..43..211C }}</ref>

In the Mana Pools and Cabora Bassa Basins, the Kondo Pools Formation is overlain by the Mkanga Formation sandstone and mudstones.<ref name=O&M>{{cite journal|author=P. M. Oesterlen and B. D. Millsteed|title=Lithostratigraphy, palaeontology, and sedimentary environments of the western Cabora Bassa Basin, lower Zambezi Valley, Zimbabwe|journal=South African Journal of Geology|year=1994|volume=97|pages=205–224}}</ref>

== See also ==
* {{C|Karoo|Karoo−related topics}}
* {{C|Paleozoic Africa}}
* {{C|Sandstone formations}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{coord missing|Zambia}}

[[Category:Permian System of Africa]]
[[Category:Sandstone formations]]

{{Sourceattribution|Lower Karoo Group}}