The Balfour Formation is a geological formation that is found in the Beaufort Group, a major geological group that forms part of the greater Karoo Supergroup in South Africa. The Balfour Formation is the uppermost formation of the Adelaide Subgroup which contains all the Late Permian - Early Triassic aged biozones of the Beaufort Group. Outcrops and exposures of the Balfour Formation are found from east of 24 degrees in the highest mountainous escarpments between Beaufort West and Fraserburg, but most notably in the Winterberg and Sneeuberg mountain ranges near Cradock, the Baviaanskloof river valley, Graaff-Reniet and Nieu Bethesda in the Eastern Cape, and in the southern Free State province.Rubidge, B. S. (ed.) 1995b. Biostratigraphy of the Beaufort Group (Karoo Supergroup). South African Committee of Stratigraphy. Biostratigraphic Series 1. Pretoria, Council for Geoscience.
Geology The Balfour Formation overlies the Middleton Formation of the Adelaide Subgroup and underlies the Katberg Formation of the lower Tarkastad Subgroup, all comprising the greater Beaufort Group. The Balfour Formation is composed of five members which are listed below (from oldest to youngest):
Oudeberg Member Daggaboersnek Member Ripplemead Member Elandsberg Member Palingkloof member
The rocks of the Balfour Formation also incorporate the entire Daptocephalus Assemblage Zone, the lowermost portion of the Lystrosaurus Assemblage Zone, and the uppermost rocks of the Cistecephalus Assemblage Zone. Up until the middle section of the Ripplemead Member, the Balfour Formation correlates with the near contemporaneous Teekloof Formation west of the 24 degrees from Beaufort West westwards, and to the Normadien Formation north of the Orange River. However, the Elandsberg and Palingkloof Members do not have any lateral correlates west of 24 degrees. This is either due to past erosion of the upper, unknown members of the Teekloof Formation or there was a sudden cessation of sedimentary deposition in the western section of the Karoo Basin.Visser, J.N.J. and Dukas, B.A., 1979. Upward-fining fluviatile megacycles in the Beaufort Group north of Graaff-Reinet, Cape Province. Trans. Geol. Soc. S. Afr, 82(149), p.e154.
The sedimentary rocks of this formation are composed predominantly of alternating greenish-grey, bluish-grey, and grey-ish red mudstone that often contain siltstone lenses. The mudstones are very fine-grained, massive and exhibit blocky weathering. Claystone successions are also found which, along with the mudstones, frequently contain desiccation cracks, raindrop impressions, and calcareous nodules or concretions are found throughout. Rhythmites are also found. Sandstones are less common, but some notable units have been studied in the Balfour Formation. In the lowermost section of the Balfour is a sandstone-rich unit known as the Oudeberg Member. The sandstones in this unit are very fine-grained and are rich in feldspar. Another sandstone unit in the middle of the Balfour Formation is the Daggaboersnek Member which contains thin, tabular sandstones, and ripple structures are common.
The presence of these rocks reveal much about the past environment that they were deposited in. The dominance of fine-grained mudstone and less common, fine-grained sandstones indicates that the rock sediments were deposited in a low-energy, fluvial environment, most likely one that had meandering rivers. At the time of sedimentary deposition, the Karoo retroarc foreland system was in an overfilled phase, and purely terrestrial sediments occupied the Karoo Basin at this time. As this formation includes the rocks of both the Cistecephalus, Daptocephalus, Lystrosaurus Assemblage Zones, the Balfour Formation preserves the geological record for the end Permian extinction event. This is important as the end Permian extinction event was the largest mass extinction event in the Earth's history. This was followed by one of the worst biotic crises, which is reflected in the sudden and drastic sedimentary facies changes in the overlying Katberg Formation.
Paleontology
Where the Balfour Formation deposits correlate with the Daptocephalus Assemblage Zone, a great diversity of vertebrate fauna are found. This richness in species diversity observed in the Balfour Formation is especially true of dicynodonts as numerous different species of this successful, herbivorous therapsid have been recovered. Various species of burnetiamorph biarmosuchians, rubidgeine gorgonopsians, and therocephalian species such as Moschorhinus kitchingi and the earliest cynodont, Charassognathus gracilis, also appear. Parareptile species, namely captorhinids, the Younginiforme Youngina capensis, and a variety of temnospondyl amphibians, fishes, and plant fossils such as Glossopteris are likewise found. Glossopteris fossils or leaf impressions are particularly common in the Daggaboersnek Member. The uppermost unit of the Balfour Formation marks the Permian-aged side of the Permian-Triassic boundary. At this point in the biostratigraphy there is a marked drop in species diversity as the Permian-Triassic extinction event began to take its course at the time of sediment deposition. Paleofauna Reptiles Diapsids GenusSpeciesLocalityStratigraphic positionTimeMaterialNotesImagesYounginaY. capensis Klipplaat, Doornplaas, Toverwater, Beeldhouersfortien, and Wellwood. Lower DAZ Lopingian A diapsid reptile.
Parareptiles GenusSpeciesLocalityStratigraphic positionTimeMaterialNotesImagesAnthodonA. serrariusLower DAZ Changhsingian A pareiasaur. MilleropsisM. pricei Lower DAZ Changhsingian A millerettid parareptile.MillerettaM. rubidgei Lower DAZ. Changhsingian A millerettid parareptile. MillerosaurusM. nuffieldiLower DAZ Changhsingian A millerettid parareptile.PareiasaurusP. serridensLower and Upper DAZ Wuchiapingian and Changhsingian. A pareiasaur.OwenettaO. rubidgei Lower and Upper DAZ Wuchiapingian and Changhsingian A procolophonian parareptile. Sauropareion S. anoplus Middleberg and Barendskraal Farm. .Lystrosaurus decivis Assemblage Zone Induan. A basal procolophonid parareptile.
Proterosuchids GenusSpeciesLocalityStratigraphic positionTimeMaterialNotesImagesProterosuchusP. fergusi Barendskraal farm and Middleburg. Lystrosaurus assemblage zone. Changhsingian. A complete skull. A proterosuchidae reptile.
Synapsids Therapsids Cynodonts GenusSpeciesLocalityStratigraphic positionTimeMaterialNotesImagesCharassognathusC. gracilis Wuchiapingian A cynodont.CynosaurusC. suppostus Cistecephalus and Lower to Upper Daptocephalus Assemblage Zones. Wuchiapingian - Changhsingian. A cynodont.ProcynosuchusP. delaharpeae New Bathsheba. Wuchiapingian A cynodont.ProgalesaurusP. lootbergensis New Lootsberg Pass. Lystrosaurus Assemblage Zone. Lopingian A skull, dentition, and postcranial skeleton. A cynodont.Vetusodon Abdala, Fernando & Gaetano, Leandro. (2019). A new, large cynodont from the Late Permian of the Karoo Basin, South Africa and its bearings in epicynodont phylogeny.. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlz004. V. elikhulu Enyezane. Upper DAZ Lopingian A partial skull A cynodont.
Dicynodonts GenusSpeciesLocalityStratigraphic positionTimeMaterialNotesImagesDaptocephalusD. leoniceps Lower to Upper DAZ. Changhsingian A dicynodont.DolomitipesD. accordii A dicynodont.D. icelsiDicynodontoidesD. recurvidens Nooitgedacht 68. Lower to Upper DAZ A skull and postcranial element. A dicynodont.EmydopsE. arctatus A dicynodont.LystrosaurusL. curvatus Nooitgedacht 68 and Fairydale. Upper DAZInduan. A skull.A dicynodont.L. declivis Lystrosaurus Declivis Assemblage Zone Induan. A skull and a complete skeleton.L. maccaigi Upper DAZ Changhsingian.L. murrayi lower part of Palingkloof Member, Lystrosaurus Assemblage Zone. Induan. A skull and skeleton.OudenodonO. bainiiLower to Upper DAZ A small dicynodont.
Gorgonopsids GenusSpeciesLocalityStratigraphic positionTimeMaterialNotesImagesAloposaurusA. tenuis Lopingian A gorgonopsid. CyonosaurusC. kitchingiLopingian A gorgonopsid.C. longicepsLower to Upper DAZDinogorgonD. rubidgei Cistecephalus and Daptocephalus assemblage. Lopingian A gorgonopsid.Inostrancevia I. africana lower slope of the hill, Loskop, Nooitgedacht 68. Upper DAZ Lopingian A partial skeleton including a complete skull and occluded mandible, the entirety of the precaudal axial column, partial scapulae, partial right pelvis, the right femur, and a disarticulated left humerus, ulna, radius, and tibia. A predatory inostranceviinae gorgonopsid.LeontosaurusL. vanderhorsti Lower DAZ Lopingian A gorgonopsid.LycaenopsL. ornatusLower DAZ Guadalupian A gorgonopsid.ParagalerhinusP. rubidgei Wellwood Dicynodon Assemblage Zone. A partial skull. A gorgonopsid.RubidgeaR. atrox Lower DAZ. Lopingian A gorgonopsid. ScylacopsS. capensisLower DAZ Lopingian A gorgonopsid.
Therocephalians
GenusSpeciesLocalityAssemblage ZoneTimeMaterialNotesImagesCradognathusC. albanensisLloyd, J. K.; Durand, F. (2025). "A new akidnognathid synapsid specimen from the Permian of Cradock, South Africa and the revision of Hewittia albanensis". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 70 (2): 339–355. doi:10.4202/app.01187.2024. Unknown part from the Chris Hani District Municipality Cistecephalus assemblage Zone Changhsingian A partial skull with an occluded partial lower jaw that misses the portions posterior to the orbit. An akidnognathid therocephalian. IctidochampsaI. platyceps New Bethesda Commonage Lower DAZ Wuchiapingian/ChanghsingianA whaitsiidae therocephalian.IctidosuchoidesI. intermediusUpper DAZ A therocephalian. IctidosuchopsI. intermedius Induan A therocephalian.MoschorhinusM. kitchingi Spitskop, Nooitgedacht 68. Upper DAZ A weathered skull along with a complete skull, partially articulated anterior skeleton, and disarticulated pelvis and hind limb. A therocephalianNotaelurodonN. kitchingi New Bethesda Commonage Dicynodon Assemblage Zone Wuchiapingian A specimen A therocephalian.Olivierosuchus O. parringtoni Palingkloof Member Lystrosaurus assemblege zone. Induan A complete skull and anterior half of skeleton in articulation, including vertebrae, ribs, pectoral girdle, partial left humerus, and complete right forelimb, including terminal phalanges. A therocephalian.PromoschorhynchusP. platyrhinus Wuchiapingian/Induan A therocephalian.TheriognathusT. microps A therocephalian.TetracynodonT. tenuis A therocephalian.
Correlation The Balfour Formation is known to corresponds in age with the Cis-Uralian fauna of Russia and the Sanga do Cabral Formation, Paraná Basin of Brazil. Correlations with other Late Permian - Early Triassic deposits abroad remain inconclusive.
References