A Tertiary age for upper Nubian Sandstone Formation, central Sudan

A newly discovered flora from the upper Nubian Sandstone Formation near Khartoum in central Sudan is Tertiary in age. The flora is well preserved, and comprises leaves, flowers, and fruits, many not yet described. At the generic level, they are comparable to forms that are known from the Eocene to Miocene. Aquatic plants indicate a lacustrine paleoenvironment; humid tropical forests thrived on the lakeshores. The Nubian Sandstone Formation of Sudan had been considered to be entirely of Cretaceous age; this new flora shifts the upper boundary into the Tertiary. The Tertiary Hudi Chert, found in scattered outcrops in the region of Atbara, was considered to overlie the Nubian Sandstone Formation. We suggest that the Hudi Chert is partly age equivalent to the Tertiary upper Nubian Sandstone at Jebel Mudaha.