GEOLOGY

• Zaria is located between Latitudes 11o4”N and Longitudes 7o42” E. It forms a vast plain (penne plain) worn down through geological time dotted with crystalline rocks of long antiquity dating to the pre-Cambrian age. These materials are hard contorted and foliated rocks, consisting mainly of gneisses, schist, biotites and quartzite. These were good materials for the production of stone tools. This may explain the presence of assemblage of stone stools on the Zaria plains.
• Lateritic ironstone also developed during the Pliocene period, which was covered in most areas by Pleistocene alluvial deposits consisting of clay, sands and gravels ranging between 12.32 and 24.64 meters thick. This formed an important source of iron ore. There are evidences in the form of iron slags and abandoned smelting ovens, in many parts of Zaria, which suggests that the early inhabitants of Zaria effectively harnessed such resources for their use.