Sedimentation et volcanisme synsédimentaire de la série de base de l'adoudounien infra-cambrien à travers deux exemples de l'Anti-Atlas du Maroc

The Adoudounian Basal Series within the western part of the Moroccan Anti-Atlas Mountains was deposited in a varying palæogeographical setting. The first deposits of volcaniclastic and carbonate sediments accumulated in small shallow basins under tectonic control. Then, sedimentation became siliciclastic and volcano-detrital with coastal and deltaic sedimentation in the western area and lagoon-lacustrine in the eastern area. Synsedimentary alkaline volcanism, associated with normal faulting, indicates a within-plate extensional tectonic regime related to rifting, which affected the northern margin of the West African Craton, during Late Neoproterozoic-Early Cambrian times.     

Les rudistes du Crétacé moyen de la province Méditerranéenne occidentale. Evolution, paléoécologie, paléobiogéographie

Dans un premier temps on délimite les plates-formes à rudistes de la province méditerranéenne occidentale, au sein de laquelle on distingue, en fonction des particularités paléogéographiques locales, quatre sous-provinces. On souligne ensuite l'importance et la nature des événements paléogéographiques du Crétacé moyen qui ont joué un rôle dans la distribution et le développement des formations à rudistes; on distingue fondamentalement des événements eustatiques et tectoniques. Les événements biologiques sont caractérisés par un déclin ou une disparition des rudistes éocrétacés, un développement des Caprinidae et des Radiolitidae à l'Albo-Cénomanien, l'apparition des Hippuritidae et le déclin des Caprinidae au Turonien. On analyse les causes, les circonstances et les faits majeurs de l'évolution et de la paléoécologie des rudistes au cours de cette période.The rudistid platforms of the western Mediterranean embrace four palaeogeographical sub-provinces. The palaeogeographical events that decided the distribution and development of the rudistids are discussed. Of significance are eustatic and tectonic events.There was a decline or a disappearance of Early Cretaceous rudistids, a development of the Caprinidae and Radiolitidae around the Albian-Cenomanian, the appearance of the Hippuritidae and a decline of the Caprinidae in the Turonian. Factors of evolutionary and palaeoecological significance are reviewed.     

L'évolution géologique de Madagascar et la dislocation du Gondwana: une introduction

Between eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean, Madagascar was a part of the Gondwana at the end of the Proterozoic. Its evolution, from the Carboniferous through to the present times, displays successive stages of the Gondwana disintegration.The original location of Madagascar, close to present Kenya, is deduced from sedimentological, structural and palæomagnetic data. During Permo-Triassic times, it was submitted to a northeast-southwest regional extension, which resulted in the opening of the Karoo Basins. During the Mid-Late Jurassic, opening of the Somalian and Mozambican Oceanic Basins was accompanied by the translation of Madagascar along a north-south trending transform fault, located along the present Davie Ridge. The Late Cretaceous was characterised in the island by an acceleration of the subsidence in the coastal basins and by an important magmatic, essentially effusive, activity. This marked the beginning of a northeast-southwest extension, opening of the Mascarene Oceanic Basin and separation of India from Madagascar. Since the Neogene up to present times, another extensional regime developed, as in eastern Africa, characterised by a roughly east-west extensional horizontal direction, which results in the opening of faulted basins and the emission of Pliocene-Quaternary alkaline magmas.     

Les végétaux (Macrofossiles) du crétacé moyen de l'Europe occidentale et du Sahara. Végétations et paléoclimats

Cette note expose un ensemble de synthèses régionales sur les thèmes suivants: les macrofossiles de l'Angleterre; les bois de l'Albien du Boulonnais; les végétaux de Normandie du Crétacé moyen; les milieux forestiers littoraux du Cénomanien inférieur de l'Anjou et des Charentes; les macroflores du Crétacé moyen continental de l'Espagne; les gisements de l'Italie et du Sahara.L'esquisse d'une évolution possible de quelques végétations de ces contrées est proposée, ainsi que les arguments paléoclimatiques que l'on peut en déduire.This paper presents a regional synthesis concerning mid-Cretaceous plant megafossils from England, Normandy, Northern and Western France, Spain, Italy, and the Sahara. A possible evolution pattern is offered for these floras during mid-Cretaceous time; some climatic arguments are presented.     

Actualisation des zonations d'Ammonites dans le Crétacé moyen du bassin anglo-parisien. Essai d'une zonation phylétique de l'Albien au turonien

Les études paléontologiques entreprises depuis le début du siècle dans le Crétacé moyen du bassin anglo-parisien ont abouti à la construction de tableux de répartition stratigraphique des ammonites relativement précis. Différentes zonations ont été proposées par les auteurs. Une discussion de ces zonations est envisagée en tenant compte des conceptions phylétiques actuelles de la zonéostratigraphie (Thomel, 1973).     

Le paléovolcanisme de la bordure occidentale de la boutonnière de Kédougou, Paléoprotérozoïque du sénégal oriental: incidences géotectoniques

The main petrographical and geochemical patterns (major, trace and rare earth elements) of the epimetamorphosed volcanic rocks from the Mako Supergroup (Birimian) from the central and southern part of the western border of the Kedougou-Kenieba Inlier (Palæoproterozoic) are presented. The petrographic patterns indicate a predominance of tholeiites with the middle and upper parts of the lithological sequence containing scarce andesite, rhyodacite and rhyolitic end members of calc-alkaline affinity. The observed geochemical trend is compared with the patterns from other Palæoproterozoic areas of the West African Craton, as well as recent volcanic rocks, whose geotectonic setting is well constrained. The evolution of the Kedougou Inlier corresponds to an ocean island-arc environment, in agreement with previous research on epimetamorphic volcanodetrital and sedimentary formations, and Birimian granitoids. This research underlines the importance of island-arc accretions in crust generation during Palæoproterozoic times in West Africa.     

Les structures de la couverture Néoprotérozoïque terminal et Paléozoïque de la région de Tata, Anti-Atlas centre-occidental, Maroc: déformation polyphasée, ou interactions socle/couverture pendant l'orogenèse hercynienne?

The western Anti-Atlas was formed by a Precambrian basement in the core of anticlines, surrounded by a Neoproterozoic and Palæozoic cover. The structural study of the Tata regional rocks shows a heterogeneous deformation, characterised especially by two types of folds in two orthogonal directions: north-south to north-northeast-south-southwest-trending and east-west-trending.The north-south structures are present in all of the Palæozoic cover and belong to the major Variscan compression of Late Carboniferous age by a comparison of the other domains of the western Anti-Atlas. Alternatively, east-west folding is assigned only to the lower part of the cover and consists of a ductile heterogeneous deformation, especially marked at the basement-cover interface. These folds are associated with a subhorizontal cleavage, indicating a southern vergence of the structures. A discussion of the age and the tectonic style of these structures is proposed, as well as their significance within the Variscan belt along the northern margin of the West African Craton.     

Transgressions-régressions, variations eustatiques et influences tectoniques de l'Aptien au Maastrichtien dans le Bassin de Paris occidental et sur la bordure du Massif armoricain

La série sédimentaire du Crétacé moyen et supérieur étudiée dans l'Ouest du Bassin de Paris et sur la bordure du Massif armoricain comporte sept pulsations transgressives qui peuvent être reconnues en fonction de la disposition géomètrique des dépôts et de l'enchaînement vertical des faciès.Les épisodes transgressifs atteignent leur phase paroxysmale, en alternance avec des stades de régression, successivement:

1. (1) à la fin de l'Aptien supérieur —(régression début Albien)

2. (2) au milieu de l'Albien supérieur —(régression fin Albien-début Cénomanien)

3. (3) au milieu du Cénomanien inférieur —(régression fin Cénomanien inférieur)

4. (4) à la fin du Cénomanien moyen —(régression fin Cénomanien)

5. (5) au milieu du Turonien inférieur —(régression du Coniacien)

6. (6) au Santonien puis Campanien —(régression fin Campanien)

7. (7) au Maestrichtien —(régression fin Maastrichtien)

Ces dépôts crétacés présentent une succession de séquences séparées par des discontinuités et des surfaces d'érosion plus ou moins marquées. Les caractères et la répartition de ces séquences sont analysés en domaine de sédimentation terrigène littorale et dans le bassin envahi par la craie. Il est alors tenté d'interpréter les variations bathymétriques d'une part en fonction d'évènements tectoniques locaux, d'autre part en relation avec des variations eustatiques plus générales.Middle and Upper Cretaceous deposits studied in the western Paris Basin and on the Armorican Massif margin show seven transgressive pulses that can be detected in the geometrical arrangement of the sedimentary bodies and the vertical succession of facies.The transgressive episodes, each delimited by a regressive phase, reached their peak during:

1. (1) late Late Aptian —(Early Albian regression)

2. (2) mid Late Albian —(Late Albian-Early Cenomanian regression)

3. (3) mid Early Cenomanian —(late Early Cenomanian regression)

4. (4) late Middle Cenomanian —(Late Cenomanian regression)

5. (5) mid Early Turonian —(Coniacian regression)

6. (6) Santonian-Campanian —(Late Campanian regression)

7. (7) Maastrichtian —(Late Maastrichtian regression)

The Cretaceous sediments occur as a series of sequences, separated by more or less important discontinuities and erosion surfaces. The features and distribution of these sequences have been studied in the nearshore region of terrigenous sedimentation and in the Chalk basin. An attempt is made to relate the bathymetric changes to either tectonic movements or more widespread eustatic oscillations.     

Late Quaternary palæoecology and palæoclimates of the eastern Sahara

Latest field research and palæoenvironmental reconstructions have revealed that within less than 6000 years the eastern Sahara experienced a dramatic climatic change similar to that in the western Sahara, passing from hyperaridity to semi-aridity (dry savanna) to its present hyperarid state. Groundwater levels started to rise about 9300 years before present (¹⁴C years BP), leading to the formation of a mosaic of freshwater lakes and swamps. Within a few decades, the aquifers were loaded and the palæopiezometric surface was as much as 25 m higher than it is today. The uplands generated up to 800 km long fluvial systems, which put an end to the endorheic drainage of the region and functioned as migration paths for large savanna mammals. These wetter conditions persisted in Western Nubia during the Holocene until ca 5000 years BP The climatic deterioration began around 5700 years BP as shown by evaporitic sediments. Reversal events prior to aridification during the Late Holocene were not recorded systematically in the sediments of the eastern Sahara because of the stability of the ecosystems. Changes in land-surface conditions such as palæolakes, swamps and vegetation created water vapour sources that generated local rainfall and buffered short dry spells. Radiocarbon-dated charcoal indicates that Neolithic human occupation culminated during this Early Holocene wet phase and ended ca 2000 years after the fading of the wet phase at about 3000 years BP, when the shallow aquifers were exhausted.     

Planktonic foraminiferal biostratigraphy and faunal turnover events during the Late Cretaceous-Early Tertiary along the Red Sea Coast, Egypt

Planktonic foraminiferal assemblages from the Late Cretaceous-Early Tertiary sedimentary sequence in Quseir (Hammadat section), Safaga (Wasif section) and Esh El-Mellaha (Esh El-Mellaha section) areas along the Red Sea Coast, provide a database for biostratigraphical subdivisions and marking of faunal changes. Ten planktonic foraminiferal zones were found. There are, from base to top, the Late Cretaceous Globotruncana ægyptiaca and Gansserina gansseri Zones and the Early Tertiary Parasubbotina pseudobulloides, Praemurica trinidadensis, P. uncinata, Morozovella angulata, Igorina pusilla, Globanomalina pseudomenardii, Morozovella velascoensis and M. edgari zones.Two intervals of non-deposition of sediments (hiatuses) in the study areas are recorded, indicating tectonic events. The first hiatus occurred all over the study areas near the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary. The second hiatus is restricted to the Late Palæocene of the Safaga area.Two global planktonic foraminiferal faunal turnover events are identified, reflecting major palæoceanographic changes. The faunal turnover event I occurred near the M. angulata/I. pusilla boundary near the Palæocene/Eocene boundary. These turnovers are characterised by the appearance and disappearance of species and changes in relative abundance, diversity and richness of species. Oscillation in the mean sea level in the study areas during the Late Cretaceous-Early Tertiary may be related to a true eustatic change in addition to the evidence for local tectonic control.     

Depositional cycles: an approach to the sequence stratigraphy of the Dakhla Formation, west Dakhla-Farafra stretch, Western Desert, Egypt

The latest Campanian-Middle Palæocene Dakhla Formation has been the subject of few sedimentological studies, despite its great areal distribution. This shale/mudstone unit exhibits marked facies variations in a northwest-southeast direction. The facies distribution patterns, stratal geometries and type, as well as frequency of the associated microfauna, allow a possible subdivision of the Dakhla Formation into ten depositional cycles. These cycles are delineated from each other by a bounding surface, which is defined by an abrupt facies change and/or intensively bioturbated hardground. The sediments of these cycles have been accumulated in a shallow subtidal-upper intertidal-flat environment during Late Cretaceous and in a middle/outer shelf-lower intertidal suite during Palæocene times. Deposition took place in a topographically irregular basin under a constantly high clastic input derived largely from the south and southwest. The cyclic pattern of deposition that characterises the Dakhla Formation, points to repeated relative sea level fluctuations. The submarine palæorelief also plays a significant role on the facies pattern. It is found that the succession was deposited along the marginal part of a palæostructural low. Its deeper area is located around present-day Edmonstone. The study of sedimentary facies characteristics and cyclicity of the Dakhla Formation leads to the recognition of four depositional sequences bounded by five type 2 sequence boundaries. The first and second type 2 depositional sequences correspond to the Late Maastrichtian Mawhoob Shale and lower-middle part of the Beris Mudstone Members, respectively. The third sequence comprises the Beris Mudstone Member ‘upper part’ and the Latest Maastrichtian partition of the Kharga Shale Member. The well-documented Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary marks the type 2 sequence boundary at the top of this sequence. The last depositional sequence coincides with the late Early-Middle Palæocene subdivision of the Kharga Shale Member. These sequences comprise nine systems tracts, mainly of transgressive and highstand systems tract deposits.     

Hierarchy of tectonic control on stratigraphic signatures: Base-level changes during the Early Permian in the Paraná Basin, southernmost Brazil

The Lower Permian sedimentary succession of the Paraná Basin in southernmost Brazil has an overall transgressive sedimentation regime, recorded by a clear retrogradation of the facies belt. However, important depositional strike-orientated variations and regional inversions occur in the sedimentation regime along the paleo-shoreline (i.e., along-strike) of the basin. At the regional scale, a huge source area was uplifted by the end of the Artinskian in the north and caused regression; the southern part of the study area increasingly was transgressed by the epicontinental sea (= regional inversion). This important tectonic overprint on the stratigraphic signature of the basin’s infill has a tectonic origin. The variable sedimentation regime along the paleo-shoreline is controlled by the structural framework of the basement, which is formed by several crustal blocks with different responses to tectonic strain induced by terrain accretion on the occidental margin of Gondwana during the Permian. Stratigraphic data indicate that during the Early Permian, there were at least two differential subsidence and uplift events, one by the end of the Sakmarian–Artinskian and another during the Late Artinskian–Kungurian.     

Les Vertébrés de la Partie Moyenne du Crétacé en Europe

Les gisements de Vertébrés de la partie moyenne du Crétacé en Europe sont peu nombreux, et des groupes importants (notamment les Mammifères) y sont encore inconnus. Les poissons sont mieux représentés que les tétrapodes, et plus utilisables d'un point de vue biostratigraphique. Pour un certain nombre de groupes de Vertébrés, la partie moyenne du Crétacé semble correspondre à un renouvellement faunique important.In Europe, fossil vertebrate localities in the middle part of the Cretaceous are not numerous, and some important groups (notably mammals) are still unknown there. Fishes are better represented than tetrapods, and more useful from a biostratigraphic point of view. For several groups of vertebrates, the middle part of the Cretaceous seems to correspond to an important faunal renewal.     

Le cordon sableux Limani-Yagoua, extrême-nord Cameroun, et son rôle hydraulique

The Limani-Yagoua mega sand-ridge, covering an area of 330,000 km² is well know in the extreme north of Cameroun. Similar structures have also been described in the Chad Republic (Bongor-Koro-Toro), Niger (Tal) and Nigeria (Bama). Two possible origins can be considered: (i) circum-lacustrine around the Lake Chad Basin, interpreted as a Holocene or Pleistocene palæo-shoreline, or (ii) æolian accumulation as a mega sand dune in an area of basin subsidence. The sand-ridge in northern Cameroun is an extremely permeable aquifer with discharge rates of 3–6 m³ h⁻¹. High nitrate levels (27–127 mg l⁻¹) have been observed in several boreholes. Tritium at 4.1 ut indicates recent groundwater recharge, suggesting infiltration of rainfall damned by the sand-ridge.     

Cretaceous stratigraphy and palaeoenvironments of the Southern Petén Basin, Guatemala

The Cretaceous deposits of the Southern Petén Basin, an oil-producing province, are located to the south of the Yucatan Platform and to the east of the Chiapas Carbonate Platform of Mexico. The succession in the southern part of this basin has been studied both in wells and at outcrop by microfacies analysis. It is composed of 5000 m of shallow marine carbonates and evaporites with a few thin layers of pelagic limestones rich in organic carbon and planktic foraminifera deposited during peak transgressions or maximum flooding. The sedimentation of this thick succession was not continuous, and the section is punctuated by subaerial erosional bounding surfaces and a single hardground which marks the final drowning of the carbonate platform during the late Maastrichtian. New age determinations have been obtained on the basis of planktic and benthic foraminifera from the Aptian to Santonian Cobán Formation, D, C, B and A Members. Cobán C (Albian) and B (Cenomanian) Members are the present oil reservoirs. The rudist and alveolinid limestones of late Campanian and Maastrichtian age referred to the Campur Formation in the Southern Petén Basin are here reassigned to the Angostura Formation, as recognized in the Chiapas area. The Actela Formation is defined here to encompass the limestone breccia deposits that occur at the Cretaceous–Tertiary boundary and extend into the Parvularugoglobigerina eugubina Zone of early Danian age. The D, C, B and A Members of the Cobán Formation and the Angostura Formation represent second order transgressive and regressive trends in a passive margin area where the deposits indicate a succession of various environments, including fluviatile, salinas, shallow marine carbonate platform, outer shelf and intrashelf basin. High subsidence rates, sea-level changes and tectonic uplift controlled the sedimentation.

Abstract

Les formations crétacées du sud-est du Bassin du Petén, région pétrolière du nord du Guatemala, sont situées au Sud du Yucatan et à l'Est du Chiapas au Mexique. Ces sédiments ont été étudiés à la fois dans deux puits et à l'affleurement par l'analyse des microfaciès. Cet ensemble sédimentaire est composé de 5000 m de carbonates de plate-forme de faible profondeur et d'évaporites, dans lesquels s'intercalent de minces couches de calcaires pélagiques riches en matière organique et en foraminifères planctoniques. Ces calcaires pélagiques se sont déposés lors des maximums de transgressions. La sédimentation de cette épaisse série n'est pas continue et est ponctuée par quelques surfaces d'érosion sub-aérienne et une surface durcie qui souligne l'ennoyage définitif de la plate-forme carbonatée au Maastrichtien terminal. De nouvelles datations ont été obtenues sur la formation Cobán et ses membres D, C, B et A qui s'étagent de l'Aptien au Santonien. Les membres C (albien) et B (cénomanien) constituent les réservoirs productifs. Les calcaires à rudistes et à alveolinidés du Campanien supérieur–Maastrichtien ont été appelés à tort au Petén formation Campur. Ils doivent, selon nous, être attribués à la formation Angostura comme au Chiapas voisin, où affleurent des faciès comparables et de même âge. Une nouvelle formation est créée (formation Actela) pour les brèches calcaires de la limite Crétacé–Tertiaire et de la Zone à Eugubina du Danien inférieur. Les membres D, C, B, A de la formation Cobán et la formation Angostura représentent des cycles transgressifs–régressifs de deuxième ordre. Sur cette marge passive du Petén, les dépôts correspondent à des environnements variés comme des terres émergées soumises à une altération karstique et à des dépôts fluviatiles, des salinas, des plates-formes carbonatées marines, des shelf externes et des bassins intra plate-forme. La sédimentation a été, ici, contrôlée par une forte vitesse de subsidence, les variations du niveau marin et des soulèvements tectoniques.     

Interprétation quantitative de l'anisotropie de susceptibilité magnétique

We propose a model in which the magnetic susceptibility anisotropy is considered as resulting from the distinct properties of two rock components. This model suggests that differences in the susceptibility ellipsoid can be principally related to mineralogical variations. Thus, some difficulties in the quantitative interpretation of anisotropy data may be explained. This model is consistent with a detailed analysis carried on Dalradian rocks from Scotland.A new methodology of anisotropy analysis is derived. It is based on the fact that, in specimens from a same sample, the susceptibility ellipsoid often varies, but relations nevertheless exist between values of the principal and mean susceptibilities. For each sample, measurements are made on 6–12 specimens. The study of the relations between principal and mean susceptibilities permits separation of the anisotropies of the rock components, the anisotropy determination appearing the best for the high susceptibility component.

Résumé

L'examen d'un modèle de roche, où l'anisotropie est considérée comme résultant des propriétés de deux constituants, montre que l'ellipsoïde de susceptibilité dépend fortement de la composition minéralogique. Ainsi s'expliquent certaines difficultés de l'interprétation quantitative des résultats d'anisotropie. Ce modèle est testé avec succès sur une série du Dalradien d'Écosse.Une nouvelle méthodologie d'analyse de l'anisotropie en découle. Elle est basée sur la constatation que l'ellipsoïde de susceptibilité présente souvent des fluctuations dans les différents spécimens taillés dans un même échantillon, et que des relations simples existent cependant entre les différentes valeurs des susceptibilités principales et moyenne. Pour chaque échantillon, les mesures sont faites sur 6–12 spécimens. L'étude des relations entre susceptibilités principales et moyenne permet une séparation des anisotropies des constituants de la roche, la détermination de l'anisotropie semblant d'autant meilleure que la susceptibilité est plus forte.     

Charophytes du Crétacé moyen et données nouvelles sur l'Evolution des Clavatoracées

La découverte de nouveaux gisements dans le Sud de la France révèle la persistance, dans le Cénomanien, d'Embergerella cruciata, Atopochara restricta et A. brevicellis (Clavatoraceae). Une parenté entre les genres Embergerella (Barrémien-Cénomanien) et Septorella (Maastrichtien) est envisagée sur la base d'une nouvelle interprétation de la structure de l'utricule. Pour la première fois, des représentants de la famille des Characeae sont décrits dans le Cénomanien: Peckisphaera revesti n. sp. et le Turonien: Mesochara fusiformis n. sp. Indications biostratigraphiques: dans l'état actuel des connaissances sur les flores de Charophytes du Crétacé moyen, seul le Cénomanien est bien caractérisé, par A. multivolvis à laquelle s'ajoute maintenant une nouvelle association de quatre espèces; l'Albien et le Turonien, pour lesquels des précisions sont apportées, restent toutefois encore mal individualisés.The discovery of new localities in the South of France shows that Embergerella cruciata, Atopochara restricta and A. brevicellis (Clavatoraceae) continued into the Cenomanian. A relationship between the genera Embergerella (Barremian-Cenomanian) and Septorella (Maastrichtian) is suggested on the basis of a new interpretation of the structure of the utricle. Representatives of the family Characeae are described for the first time, Peckisphaera revesti n. sp. in the Cenomanian and Mesochara fusiformis n. sp. in the Turonian. Biostratigraphic information: in the present state of knowledge of Middle Cretaceous Charophyte floras, only the Cenomanian is well characterized, by A. multivolvis to which is now added a new association of four species. Although new information is presented on the Albian and Turonian, they are still inadequately understood.     

Relationship between volcanism and marine sedimentation in northern Austral (Aisén) Basin, central Patagonia: Stratigraphic, U–Pb SHRIMP and paleontologic evidence

The northernmost part of the oil-producing Austral Basin, known as Aisén Basin or Río Mayo Embayment (in central Patagonian Cordillera; 43–46°S), is a special area within the basin where the interplay between volcanism and the initial stages of its development can be established. Stratigraphic, paleontologic and five new U–Pb SHRIMP age determinations presented here indicate that the Aisén Basin was synchronous with the later phases of volcanism of the Ibáñez Formation for at least 11 m.yr. during the Tithonian to early Hauterivian. In this basin marine sedimentary rocks of the basal units of the Coihaique Group accumulated overlying and interfingering with the Ibáñez Formation, which represents the youngest episode of volcanism of a mainly Jurassic acid large igneous province (Chon Aike Province). Five new U–Pb SHRIMP magmatic ages ranging between 140.3 ± 1.0 and 136.1 ± 1.6 Ma (early Valanginian to early Hauterivian) were obtained from the Ibáñez Formation whilst ammonites from the overlying and interfingering Toqui Formation, the basal unit of the Coihaique Group, indicate Tithonian, early Berriasian and late Berriasian ages. The latter was a synvolcanic shallow marine facies accumulated in an intra-arc setting, subsequently developed into a retro-arc basin.