Desde un punto de vista regional, el Sistema Ordovícico de la Precordillera del centrooeste argentino puede subdividirse en dos tectofacies que habrían evolucionado paralelamente y en contextos casi independientes una de otra, acreccionadas durante la Orogenia Oclóyica y fases posteriores del Ciclo Caledónico.La tectofacies oriental (TOr), correspondiente a sistemas deposicionales de ambientes epicontinentales, se habría desarrollado sobre un sustrato estable con subsidencia lenta y continua, característica de corteza continental en márgenes pasivos.La tectofacies occidental (TOcc), correspondiente a sistemas deposicionales turbidíticos, se habría desarrollado, en cambio, sobre un depocentro activo con mayor flujo calórico característico de una corteza continental atenuada (<
Early Devonian trilobites are described based on material from Sierra de Las Minitas, in the northern extent of the Precordillera, western Argentina. This diverse fauna, the first one known from La Rioja Province, includes a species of the phacopid Paciphacops (Paciphacops) Maksimova, the calmoniids Talacastops zarelae Edgecombe, Vaccari and Waisfeld and Tormesiscus Waisfeld, Edgecombe and Vaccari, together with a proetid (Unguliproetus? sp.) and a dalmanitid. Fossils are preserved in nodules within a strongly folded dark and bioturbated shaley succession, included in a structural and stratigraphically complex geological setting. The taxonomic composition and taphonomic signature of the studied fossil locality are closely similar to those recognized within the lower part of the Talacasto Formation at Las Aguaditas section in San Juan Province. Lithologic and faunistic similarities allow a reliable stratigraphic correlation between both localities; therefore, the trilobite bearing rocks from the Sierra de Las Minitas are interpreted as the northernmost outcrops of the Talacasto Formation in the Argentine Precordillera and are considered to be Lochkovian in age. The remarkable lateral continuity of this fossiliferous stratigraphic interval indicates, as previously suggested, the development of a wide muddy-shelf setting in the Early Devonian Precordillera Basin.
Abstract This study reports on ooid diversity from different lithotypes of the Yacoraite Formation (Salta Group basin) in the Central Andes of north‐west Argentina. The ooids display a variety of internal and external morphologies that may be deployed as proxies for seawater chemistry and hydrodynamic processes. A short review of nomenclature problems is first discussed, followed by presentation of a two‐fold quantitative and qualitative methodology. Our proposed classification addresses internal and external ooid characters in order to understand growth in response to various environmental processes at an individual particle level. This classification allows discrimination between a variety of morphologies, but also evaluation of the complexity of the processes involved in ooid formation as seen in the fossil record. This study evaluates whether the ooids present within the Yacoraite Formation share similarities with ooids formed in marine versus marine lagoon and/or lacustrine environments. A possible lacustrine interpretation finds its origin in the diverse assemblage of ooid morphotypes present, which exceeds the variations described for marine ooids. However, growth paths and occurrence of various compound morphologies point to intense marine recycling, suggesting little accommodation. Together with other sedimentological characteristics, for example, bi‐directional cross‐bedding, tidal shoals, hummocky cross‐stratification and exposure surfaces, these features suggest that marine processes had an impact on the sediments. Therefore, the ooid assemblage of the Cretaceous Yacoraite Formation was most likely formed in a shallow coastal lagoon in the framework of an epicontinental sea that at times experienced marine flooding events. A detailed evaluation of processes involved in oolite formation is needed in order to improve the stratigraphic and palaeoenvironmental understanding of ooid formation through time. This includes examining alternating constructive and destructive stages, early binding and cementation, reworking, recycling and averaging processes.
We present the results of a gravimetric study carried out in the region of the General Levalle sedimentary basin, Cordoba Province, Argentina. We obtained the geometry of the basement roof and the surface of the crust-mantle interface for the region where the basin is located. The latter resulted in a surface with a gentle slope deepening to the west. The fact that the crust-mantle interface is rather plane indicates that the sedimentary column has not an anti-root to isostatically compensate it. Also, the gravimetric effect of the sediments was evaluated and substracted from the Bouguer anomalies. In the
Palaeomagnetic results from Palaeozoic volcanic and sedimentary units of the Famatina Ranges, in NW Argentina (28.7°S, 67.8°W) are reported. A late Early to late Middle Ordovician palaeomagnetic pole was obtained from a pre-tectonic remanence carried by magnetite and isolated in volcanics of the Molles Formation and the Cerro Morado Group (MCM1, 16.7°S, 357.2°E, A95 = 6.5°, K = 38.5, N = 14 sites). This pole position is rotated 39° clockwise respect to the coeval reference pole for Gondwana but it is consistent with previous Early Ordovician poles from the Famatina belt and the Faja Eruptiva Oriental in the Puna region of NW Argentina. The sedimentary layers of the Molles Formation, however, present a secondary magnetization carried by hematite, which is interpreted of Permian age and yields a pole position (MCM2) at 78.7°S, 330.8°E (A95 = 7.2°, K = 16.1, n = 27 samples). Two additional independent palaeomagnetic poles were obtained from the Permian De La Cuesta Formation, exposed at two different localities in the same area. While one consisted in a exclusively reverse polarity magnetization and a pole position (LC1, 76.9°S, 345.2°E, A95 = 6.0°, K = 21.1, n = 29 samples) compatible with the late Early to early Late Permian palaeomagnetic poles from South America, the other presented only normal polarities and a pole position (LC2, 74.5°N, 275.4°E, A95 = 2.0°, K = 258.3, n = 21 samples) suggestive of a Cretaceous remagnetization. These new palaeomagnetic results confirm on a much more robust database previous proposals that the Ordovician rocks of the Famatina belt have undergone a large clockwise rotation. They also constrain the rotation to pre-Permian times. Different tectonic models involving the Late Ordovician docking of a large para-authochthonous terrane or a pattern of systematic large-scale rotations in the Early Palaeozoic continental margin of Western Gondwana are discussed.
Abstract Although putative corals of uncertain affinities occur in the early Cambrian, the earliest definite tabulate corals have not been described prior to the Early Ordovician in North America. This paper reports a new finding of a tabulate-like coralomorph forming part of biostratigraphically well-constrained reef mounds in the latest Cambrian – Early Ordovician La Silla Formation in the Argentine Precordillera. The oldest record of the coralomorph genus Amsassia is reported and a new species, A . argentina , is erected. The discovery of this genus in the lowermost Ordovician modifies the previously proposed paleogeographic distribution and patterns of origination and migration routes of this coral-like organism. Amsassia argentina n. sp. constitutes a main framework builder together with a complex microbial consortium. This oldest occurrence of Amsassia as a reef builder represents a new record of a skeletal organism in the gap of metazoan reef constructors after the demise of archaeocyaths in the late early Cambrian.
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