Figure 3. Karoo Supergroup stratigraphic sections from northern and southern Malawi as presented by Cairncross (2001). The right column shows our modifications. The Chikwawa basalt of southern Malawi at 179 Ma is considered to have been emplaced during Karoo LIP magmatism. The Chiweta Beds of northern Malawi are similar in age to the lower portion of the Cistecephalus Zone, and the coal shales of southern Malawi are older than reported based on plants. The timescale shown is that used by Cairncross (2001). Gradstein and Ogg (2004) do not recognize Tatarian, but instead use Capitanian, Wuchiapingian, and Changhsingian for the comparable interval. In that scheme, the Chiweta Beds fall within the Wuchiapingian and are estimated to fall between 258 and 256 Mya.