S E P a R a T a Triassic Age of the Continental Pular Formation, Sierra
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S E P A R A T A Revista Geológica de Chile 35 (1): 147-161. January, 2008 Revista Geológica de Chile Triassic age of the continental Pular Formation, Sierra de Almeida, Antofagasta, northern Chile Hans Niemeyer1, Ana María Zavattieri2, Sara Ballent3, Alba Zamuner4, Oscar Gallego5 1 Departamento de Ciencias Geológicas, Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Católica del Norte, Avda. Angamos 0610, Antofagasta, Chile. [email protected] 2 Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales (IANIGLA, CRICYT-CONICET), Mendoza, Argentina. [email protected] 3 CONICET, División Paleontología de Invertebrados, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Paseo del Bosque s/n, 1900 La Plata, Argentina. [email protected] 4 CONICET, División Paleobotánica, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Paseo del Bosque s/n, 1900 La Plata, Argentina. [email protected] 5 FACENA-UNNE, Departamento de Biología, Paleontología y CONICET, Área de Paleontología, Centro de Ecología Aplicada del Litoral, Corrientes, Argentina. [email protected] ISSN 0716-0208 Editada por el Servicio Nacional de Geología y Minería con la colaboración científi ca de la Sociedad Geológica de Chile Avda. Santa María 0104, Casilla 10465, Santiago, Chile. [email protected]; http://www.scielo.cl/rgch.htm; http://www.sernageomin.cl Revista Geológica de Chile 35 (1): 147-161. January, 2008 Revista Geológica de Chile www.scielo.cl/rgch.htm Triassic age of the continental Pular Formation, Sierra de Almeida, Antofagasta, northern Chile Hans Niemeyer1, Ana María Zavattieri2, Sara Ballent3, Alba Zamuner4, Oscar Gallego5 1 Departamento de Ciencias Geológicas, Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Católica del Norte, Avda. Angamos 0610, Antofagasta, Chile. [email protected] 2 Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales (IANIGLA, CRICYT-CONICET), Mendoza, Argentina. [email protected] 3 CONICET, División Paleontología de Invertebrados, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Paseo del Bosque s/n, 1900 La Plata, Argentina. [email protected] 4 CONICET, División Paleobotánica, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Paseo del Bosque s/n, 1900 La Plata, Argentina. [email protected] 5 FACENA-UNNE, Departamento de Biología, Paleontología y CONICET, Área de Paleontología, Centro de Ecología Aplicada del Litoral, Corrientes, Argentina. [email protected] ABSTRACT. In this contribution, we present a reassessment of the Pular Formation age (Sierra de Almeida, Antofagasta) that in previous papers was attributed to either the Late Paleozoic or Triassic. At Quebrada del Medio, the Pular Formation includes a 379-meter-thick stratigraphic section formed from base to top by conglomerates, sandstones, black bituminous shales and limestones, tuffaceous sandstones and a poorly welded ignimbrite that accumulated in fl uvial and lacustrine environments. A multidisciplinary study of the fl ora and fauna was undertaken. The existence of diagnostic Gondwana microfl ora and macrofl ora allows attributing a Middle Triassic to early Late Triassic age to the Pular Formation. Keywords: Pular Formation, Triassic, Gondwana fl ora, Fluvial and lacustrine environments, Chile. RESUMEN. Edad triásica de la Formación Pular de ambiente continental, Sierra de Almeida, Antofagasta, Norte de Chile. En esta contribución se presentan nuevos antecedentes acerca de la edad de la Formación Pular (Sierra de Almeida, Región de Antofagasta) que, en trabajos previos, ha sido atribuida tanto al Paleozoico Superior como al Triásico. En la Quebrada del Medio, la formación incluye una sección estratigráfi ca de 379 m de espesor constituida, de base a techo, por conglomerados, areniscas, lutitas negras bituminosas, calizas y areniscas tobáceas que, culminando con un nivel de ignimbritas pobremente soldado, se acumularon en ambientes fl uvial y lacustre. Se efectúa un estudio multidisciplinario de la fl ora y la fauna. La existencia de micro y macrofl ora diagnóstica de Gondwana permite establecer que la Formación Pular se depositó entre el Triásico Medio y el Triásico Tardío temprano. Palabras claves: Formación Pular, Triásico, Flora gondwánica, Ambientes fl uvial y lacustre, Chile. 148 TRIASSIC AGE OF THE CONTINENTAL PULAR FORMATION, SIERRA DE ALMEIDA, ANTOFAGASTA, NORTHERN CHILE 1. Introduction relationships of each of them before any attempt to correlate them, should be done. In the areas of the Atacama and Punta Negra This multidisciplinary study includes a revi- Salars in the Antofagasta Region of northern Chile sion of the stratigraphical and paleontological a thick succession of pre-Jurassic volcanic and analyses on microfl ora, macrofl ora, conchos- volcaniclastic rocks crops out. Here, interbeds of tracans and calcareous microfauna of the Pular limnic beds can be observed (Pichowiak et al., Formation that crops out in the Sierra de Almeida 1987). Some of these interbeds are fossiliferous (Fig. 1) and that was studied at Quebrada del Me- allowing a chronological assignment, correlations dio, a tributary of Quebrada Pajonales (Fig. 2). with neighbouring formations and paleogeogra- phic reconstructions (Breitkreuz and Zeil, 1994). They mainly belong to the Middle Member of the Tuina Formation (Raczynsky, 1963), El Bordo Strata (Fortt, 19811), Sierra de Varas Formation (Marinovic et al., 1995), Middle Member of the Peine Formation (Breitkreuz, 1991) and the Pular Formation (Brüggen, 1942) (Fig. 1). It was assumed that all these interbeds would show the same stratigraphic position and thus represent a single lacustrine depositional event that developed during the Late Carboniferous- Early Permian (Bahlburg and Breitkreuz, 1991; Breitkreuz et al., 1992). Nevertheless, much care should be taken in correlating them, since they could represent lacustrine events that would have occurred at different times. Taking into account the considerable degree of confusion in the chro- nological assignment of these units, we suggest in this paper that a partial revision of the ages and sedimentary environments, including the contact FIG. 2. Geological sketch of the Pular Formation, modifi ed from Osorio and Rivano (1985). 1. Zorritas Formation: cuarzoarenites (Devonian - Early Carboniferous); 2. La Tabla Formation: andesitic and acid volcanites (Late Paleozoic); 3. Granitoids (Late Paleozoic); 4. Pular Formation: sandstones, conglomerates, bituminous shales, and ignimbrites (Middle to early Late Triassic); 5. Pajonales Formation: red-beds of sandstones and FIG. 1. Geographic location of the Pular Formation, Sierra de conglomerates (Maastrichtian); 6. Basalts (Cenozoic); Almeida, Antofagasta Region, northern Chile. The lo- 7. Gravels (Cenozoic). i. Stratigraphic section (this cations for Tuina, El Bordo, Sierra de Varas and Peine work); ii. Stratifi cation attitude; iii. Reverse fault; v. formations are also shown. Transcurrent fault. 1 1981. Geología general de los Cuadrángulos Cerro Químal, Laguna Tebinquiche, Llano de la Paciencia y Salar de Atacama, II Región, escala 1:100.000. Instituto de Investigaciones Geológicas (Unpublished), 48 p. Santiago, Chile. Niemeyer et al./ Revista Geológica de Chile 35 (1): 147-161, 2008 149 2. Stratigraphy 2.1.1. Unit I 20 m of coarse, purple, clast-supported, conglo- 2.1. Stratigraphic section merate with clasts 2-50 cm in diameter composed of rhyolite, rhyolitic tuffs and andesite in a scarce matrix The 379 m thick Pular Formation overlies with of coarse-grained sandstone. The larger clasts, of up an erosive contact the Late Carboniferous-Early to 50 cm in diameter, consist of brown to yellow frag- Permian La Tabla Formation and underlies with a mental welded ignimbrite derived from the La Tabla pseudoconcordant contact the Maastrichtian Pajo- Formation (Carboniferous-Permian; Gardeweg et al., nales Formation. This succession is well exposed at 1994), which immediately underlies the conglomera- Quebrada del Medio (Fig. 3). It includes a thinning tes of Unit I with an erosive contact. The defi nition of and fi ning upward sedimentary succession in its lower this conglomerate as the base of the Pular Formation third (units I-III). Unit IV is a volcanic-rich sandstone agrees with that given by Covacevich et al. (1988). layer, and Unit V, an ignimbrite. A description of the different units, from base to top is as follows: 2.1.2. Unit II 140 m of up to 30 m thick tabular bodies of matrix-supported conglomerates (Fig. 4a), with trough cross-stratifi cation, organized in at least, three fi ning-up cycles. They are composed of well rounded to subrounded clasts, up to 20 cm in diameter, em- bedded in a coarse-grained green sandstone matrix. The base of the conglomerate bodies (one of them showing imbricated clasts) is erosive and irregular and they grade upwards to coarse-grained sandstones and, near the top of the unit, to thin parallel beds up to 20-30 cm thick of yellow to light gray medium fi ne-grained sandstones. 2.1.3. Unit III 76 m of well-bedded (laminated) and indurated black bituminous shales (Fig. 4b) including two 20- centimeter-thick limestone intercalations hosting ostracod fauna (Fig. 4c) and stromatolitic algae (Fig 4d). Upper levels contain carbonaceous shales with fossil plant remains (Pseudoctenis fi ssa, see Age and fossiliferous content paragraph). FIG. 3. Stratigraphic section of the Pular Formation. Roman num- bers I to V show the units in which the Pular Formation