Cheuquemó Formation

Cheuquemó Formation
Stratigraphic range: Late OligoceneEarly Miocene
Underlies Santo Domingo Formation
Overlies Bahía Mansa Metamorphic Complex
Thickness more than 1,200 m (3,900 ft)
Lithology
Primary Conglomerate, sandstone, mudstone, tuff
Other Coal
Location
Region Los Lagos Region
Country  Chile
Type section
Named by Floreal García, 1968

Cheuquemó Formation (Spanish: Formación Cheuquemó) is a geological formation of sedimentary rock in south-central Chile. The sediments of the formation were deposited during the Late Oligocene and Early Miocene epochs. The formations lower sections are made up of conglomerate, then successions of sandstone, tuff and mudstone rich in organic material follows. The formation indicates that sedimentation occurred in a estuarine (paralic) and other non-marine (continental) environments. It contains fossils of the following genera: Mytilus, Cardium and Turritella. Stratigraphically it overlies the Bahía Mansa Metamorphic Complex and underlies the Miocene Santo Domingo Formation.[1]

Description

The formation is very similar to the Pupunahue Beds found further north, with the sole difference that the fossil assemblage in both seem to indicate different ages. While Cheuquemó is possibly about 14 million years old (Miocene), the Pupunahue Beds are 35–25 million years old.[2]

See also

References

  1. Elgueta, Sara; Le Roux, Jacobus; Duhart, Paul; McDonough, Michael; Urqueta, Esteban (2000). Estratigrafía y sedimentología de la cuencas terciarias de la Región de Los Lagos (39-41°30’S) (in Spanish). Santiago, Chile: Servicio Nacional de Geología y Minería. pp. 15–16. ISSN 0020-3939.
  2. Alfaro, G.; Gantz, E.; Magna, O. (1990). "El yacimiento de carbón Catamutún (La Unión)". Actas. Segundo Simposio sobre el Terciario de Chile (in Spanish). Santiago, Chile: Departamento de Geociencias, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Concepción. pp. 11–28.
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