Los Molles Formation

Los Molles Formation
Stratigraphic range: Pliensbachian-Callovian
~185–165 Ma
Type Geological formation
Unit of Cuyo Group
Underlies Niyeu–Lajas Formation
Overlies Lajoa Formation
Lithology
Primary Organic shale
Other Lime-mudstone
Location
Coordinates 39°10′18″S 69°39′35″W / 39.17167°S 69.65972°W / -39.17167; -69.65972Coordinates: 39°10′18″S 69°39′35″W / 39.17167°S 69.65972°W / -39.17167; -69.65972
Region Neuquén Province
Country  Argentina
Type section
Country  Argentina

The Los Molles Formation is a geologic formation of Early Jurassic age, located at northern and central part of Neuquén Basin at Mendoza Shelf in Argentina. It is overlain by the Niyeu–Lajas Formation.[1]

It is the second largest oil and gas formation in the Neuquén Basin after Vaca Muerta Formation. The Los Molles Formation is estimated to have 275 trillion cubic feet (7.8×10^12 m3) of technically recoverable shale gas and 3.7 billion barrels (590,000,000 m3) of technically recoverable oil.[2] In July 2015, the Buenos Aires Herald indicated that Pan American Energy and YPF planned to drill 46 shale gas wells in the Grupo Cuyo formation (Los Molles) over the next four years in their Lindero Atravesado drilling block, at an estimated cost of US$590 million.[3]

In several outcrops, the Los Molles formation has been the site of paleontological discoveries: the ichthyosaurs Chacaicosaurus and Mollesaurus, and, in 2017, an ornithischian, Isaberrysaura, discovered with fossilised contents of the gut.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ McIlroy, Duncan; Flint, Stephen; Howell, John A.; Timms, Nick (2005). "Sedimentology of the tide-dominated Jurassic Lajas Formation, Neuquén Basin, Argentina". In Veiga, Gonzalo D. The Neuquén Basin, Argentina: A Case Study in Sequence Stratigraphy and Basin Dynamics. Geological Society of London special publication. Geological Society of London. p. 84. ISBN 9781862391901. ISSN 0305-8719.
  2. ↑ "Technically Recoverable Shale Oil and Shale Gas Resources: An Assessment of 137 Shale Formations in 41 Countries Outside the United States" (PDF). U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). June 2013. Retrieved June 11, 2013.
  3. ↑ Shale fields to get US$14 billion boost
  4. ↑ Salgado, Leonardo; Canudo, José I.; Garrido, Alberto C.; Moreno-Azanza, Miguel; Martínez, Leandro C. A.; Coria, Rodolfo A.; Gasca, José M. (2017). "A new primitive Neornithischian dinosaur from the Jurassic of Patagonia with gut contents". Scientific Reports. 7: 42778. doi:10.1038/srep42778.
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