Palynology and paleoenvironment of uranium deposits in the Permian Beaufort Group, South Africa

An unusual suite of marine and continental microfossils was found in fine-grained clastic rocks from the uranium-bearing Lower Formation of the Beaufort Group. These rocks are classically defined as fluvial sandstones in a terrestrial sequence. Reworking of the microfossils from the underlying marine Ecca Formation cannot be ruled out; however, if they are in place, they may show that uranium mineralization followed a hither-to-before unrecognized paleosalinity gradient. If they are reworked, they show uranium mineralization follows a distinct zone that can be identified palynologically.