22

nd
LAK 2011, Heidelberg Abstracts 165
AMMONITE AND INOCERAMID EVIDENCE FOR AN EARLY TURONIAN
(CRETACEOUS) AGE OF THE BASE OF THE LOMA GORDA FORMATION IN THE
UPPER MAGDALENA VALLEY BASIN, SOUTH-WESTERN COLOMBIA
PEDRO PATARROYO
1
, EDLMA DE JESUS ANDRADE
2
& PETER BENGTSON
3
1:

Departamento de Geociencias, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Cr. 30 N. 4503, Bogot, Colombia:
pcpatarroyog@unal.edu.co c/o Institute of Earth Sciences, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 234, 69120
Heidelberg, Germany
2: Universidade Federal de Sergipe, Ncleo de Geologia - NUGEO. Av. Marechal Rondon, s/n - Jardim Rosa Elze,
49100-000 So Cristvo, SE, Brazil: edilma@ phoenix.org.br
3: Institute of Earth Sciences, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 234, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany: peter.
bengtson@geow.uni-heidelberg.de
The section studied is located along Bambuc Creek, north-west of the town of Aipe,
Department of Huila, south-western Colombia. The rocks form part of the AptianMaastrichtian
(Cretaceous) succession exposed on the western fank of the Media Luna Syncline in the Upper
Magdalena Valley Basin. In this area the syncline is affected by local faulting and intersected to-
ward the south by the Chusma Fault System.
The TuronianConiacian Loma Gorda Formation is well exposed in the basin. The forma-
tion rests on the Cenomanian Hondita Formation and underlies the Santonian cherts of the Olin
Group. Along Bambuc Creek, the Loma Gorda Formation reaches a thickness of 245 m and is
informally divided into three members. The boundary between the Hondita shales and the Loma
Gorda biomicrites is sharp, refecting a transgressive event with an increasing abundance of mi-
cro- and macrofossils.
The lower member of the Loma Gorda Formation consists of a 99-m-thick succession
of alternating micrites, biomicrites and black calcareous mudstones of varying thicknesses. The
mudstones contain fossiliferous carbonate concretions. Near the base of the lower member there
occur scattered phosphatic fragments, shark teeth and wood fragments. Approximately 6 m above
the base, the ammonites Fagesia cf. thevestensis (Peron, 1896) and Neoptychites cf. andinus
(Leanza, 1967), the inoceramid bivalves Mytiloides kossmati (Heinz, 1933) and M. goppelnensis
(Badillet & Sornay, 1980) and the bivalve Anomia sp. were collected. The ammonites and inocer-
amids indicate an early Turonian age for the base of the Loma Gorda Formation.
The recommended stratigraphic nomenclature for the AptianMaastrichtian succession
of the Upper Magdalena Valley Basin comprises the Yav, Caballos, Tetun, Hondita and Loma
Gorda formations, the Olin Group, and the Buscavidas and La Tabla formations. However, in
internal reports of petroleum companies and in some publi cations and geological maps an al-
ternative nomenclature usage can be found (Villeta Group or Formation, Bambuc shale, La
Luna Formation, Monserrate Formation, etc.), which may lead to stratigraphical problems and
confusions. The Loma Gorda Formation studied here is approximately equivalent to the La Luna
Formation of Venezuela.
LAK2011.indb 165 16.03.2011 15:27:29 Uhr
Stefan Gtz, Peter Bengtson,
Francisco J. Cueto Berciano,
Wolfgang Stinnesbeck (Eds.)
LAK 2011
22
nd
International
Coloquium on
Latin American Earth Sciences
Abstracts and Programme
Heidelberg, Germany
30 March - 1 April 2011
G
A
E
A

h
e
i
d
e
l
b
e
r
g
e
n
s
i
s

1
8
http://www.lak2011.uni-hd.de ISSN 0946-0535
1 8
h e i d e l b e r g e n s i s
G A E A
bookcovergaramond16.3G.indd 1 16.03.2011 16:37:15 Uhr
22
nd
LAK 2011, Heidelberg Organizing Team 1
Organizers
Wolfgang Stinnesbeck
Stefan Gtz
Organizing Team
Hpke Andresen
Gregor Austermann
Peter Bengtson
Francisco Jos Cueto Berciano
Karin Dietzschold
Ulrich A. Glasmacher
Jan Hartmann
Dominik Hennhfer
Anne Hildenbrand
Margot Isenbeck-Schrter
Arabella Jankovic
Martin Maier
Enric Pascual Cebrian
Stefan Rheinberger
Silvia Rheinberger
Simon Ritter
Christian Salazar
Christian Scholz
Cite as: Gtz, S., Bengtson, P., Cueto Berciano, F.J., Stinnesbeck, W. (Eds.) 2011: 22
nd
International Colloquium on Latin American Earth Sciences, Abstracts and Programme.
GAEA heidelbergensis 18, 231 p.
Cover picture: Eroded gypsum dunes of Cuatro Cienegas, Coahuila, NE-Mexico. In the background,
steeply folded Early Cretaceous limestones of the Sierra Madre Oriental. Photo: Stefan
Gtz
LAK2011.indb 1 16.03.2011 15:26:46 Uhr