THE SIMILARITY BETWEEN VOLTA DELTA SEDIMENTS AND THE CRETACEOUS OF THE ATLANTIC COASTAL PLAIN UNDERSTOOD AFTER PEACE CORPS EXPERIENCE

The exposure to deltaic sedimentation in the tropical setting of southeastern Ghana and southwestern Togo helps to answer questions about the origin of the Atlantic Coastal Plain Province in North America. The location and growth of deltas such as the Volta are controlled by (1) peritectonic basins on the margins of continents, (2) fluctuations in sea level, (3) stream piracy and (4) variations in river discharge. Deltaic provinces, such as the Volta and Niger, overly peritectonic basins which serve as sediment depocenters. The strand plain deposits between these deltas result from long shore drift from the deltas. The modern deltaic and interdeltaic deposits overlying crystalline basement rocks and tectonic basins are similar to the Cretaceous sediments that underlie the Atlantic Coastal Plain. The geologic setting of the modern, incipient coastal plain of the eastern Gulf of Guinea is similar to the geologic setting of the Cretaceous coastal plain of eastern United States.

The study of these geologic similarities resulted from Peace Corp experience.