Paleoenvironmental interpretation of the deposits of the Saldeño Formation (Upper Cretaceous) in the High Cordillera of Mendoza (Argentina)
Main Article Content
Abstract
The Saldeño Formation consists of up to 250 m of siltstones, sandstones, conglomerates and limestones located in almost a continuous belt from the Mesón de San Juan (33° 33´ SL) up to Laguna del Diamante area (34° 06´ SL), in the high Cordillera of Mendoza. A paleoenvironmental interpretation has been made for these deposits. The lower section of the unit was deposited in an alluvial fan environment and it is not genetically related with the uppermost sections. The analyses of the middle and upper section of the unit suggested that the deposition took place in a transitional environment from a muddy distal fluvial system to a restricted shallow marine environment with intervals laid under brackish conditions and tidal influence. Marine fossils including bivalves, gastropods, fishes and lobsters were discovered for first time on the upper section of this unit. However, the maastrichtian age of the Saldeño Formation were established with nannofossils and micropalinological analyses. These marine deposits show strong evidences of having been laid by an Atlantic transgression.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Nota de copyright
Los autores conservan los derechos de autor y garantizan a la revista el derecho de ser la primera publicación del trabajo licenciado según una licencia de atribución Creative Commons que permite a otros compartir el trabajo con el reconocimiento de la autoría y de la publicación en la que se publicó por primera vez.
Declaración de privacidad
Los nombres y direcciones de correo electrónico introducidos en esta revista se usarán exclusivamente para los fines declarados por esta revista y no estarán disponibles para ningún otro propósito u otra persona.