La Irene Formation is a Maastrichtian geologic formation in southern Patagonia, Argentina. The formation is 230 metres (750 ft) thick and underlies the Chorrillo Formation and rests on top of the Cerro Fortaleza Formation.[1]
| La Irene Formation | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: Maastrichtian ~ | |
| Type | Geological formation |
| Underlies | Chorrillo Formation |
| Overlies | Cerro Fortaleza Formation |
| Thickness | 230 m (750 ft) |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | Sandstone |
| Other | Shale |
| Location | |
| Location | Patagonia |
| Coordinates | 50°24′S 72°12′W / 50.4°S 72.2°W |
| Approximate paleocoordinates | 52°18′S 62°00′W / 52.3°S 62.0°W |
| Region | Santa Cruz Province |
| Country | Argentina |
| Extent | Austral Basin |
  La Irene Formation (Argentina) | |
Description
editThe formation comprises lithified, sandy sandstones and lithified, argillaceous, sandy shales deposited in a fluvial deltaic environment.
At the base of Cerro Calafate a column of about 230 metres (750 ft) in thickness was measured along the road. The 110 m below represent a succession of sandy banks clear yellowish brown color to white and dark pelitic packages fining upwards cycles are stacked to form a sequence with a clear trend growing grain and stratum. Sandy banks (coarse to fine sand) show increasing thickness from 2 m at the base to more than 9 m, whereas intercalated mudstones show an opposite trend with thickness ranging from 15 m at the base to 1 m. At the top of lower shaly packets (the thickest) are preserved carbonaceous shale intervals, thinly laminated. 120 m above correspond to a succession of amalgamated conglomeratic sandy banks where preservation is extremely rare shaly intervals.[2]
Fossil content
editReferences
edit- ^ Marenssi et al., 2003, p.406
- ^ La Irene Formation at Fossilworks.org
- ^ Povilauskas et al., 2008
Bibliography
edit- Povilauskas, L.; Barreda, V.; Marenssi, S. (2008), "Polen y esporas de la Formación La Irene (Maastrichtiano), sudoeste de la provincia de Santa Cruz, Argentina: primeros resultados", Geobios, 41 (6): 819–831, Bibcode:2008Geobi..41..819P, doi:10.1016/j.geobios.2008.07.002, hdl:11336/114579
- Marenssi, Sergio A.; Casadío, Silvio; Santillana, Sergio N. (2003), "Estratigrafía y sedimentología de las unidades del Cretácico superior-Paleógeno aflorantes en la margen sureste del lago Viedma, provincia de Santa Cruz, Argentina" (PDF), Revista de la Asociación Geológica Argentina, 58: 403–416, retrieved 2018-08-30