San Juan Formation, Argentina Explained

San Juan Formation
Type:Formation
Period:Ordovician
Age:Ordovician
Prilithology:Limestone, marl
Otherlithology:Mudstone
Namedfor:San Juan Province
Region:San Juan Province
Coordinates:-30.3°N -68.2°W
Paleocoordinates:-35.4°N -132.8°W
Overlies:La Silla Formation
Thickness:300–
Extent:Precordillera

The San Juan Formation (Spanish; Castilian: Formación San Juan) is a geologic formation in Argentina. The formation comprising limestones, mudstones and marls was deposited in a shallow marine reefal environment and preserves many fossils dating back to the Ordovician period. The formation overlies the La Silla Formation and crops out in the Precordillera of San Juan Province.[1]

The oldest calcareous microfossils, known as calcisphers or calcitarchs, were found in the Early Ordovician (Floian) strata of this formation. Trilobites, gastropods and echinoderm Nuia sibiria have been collected from the same deposits.[2]

See also

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Sánchez . Teresa M. . Carrera . Marcelo G. . Benedetto . Juan Luis . 1996 . Variaciones faunísticas en el techo de la formación San Juan (Ordovícico Temprano, Precordillera Argentina): Significado paleoambiental. . 33 . 2 . 185–200 . es.
  2. Florencia Moreno, Ana Mestre, Susana Heredia. May 2023. Lower Ordovician calcareous microfossils from the San Juan Formation, Argentina: A new type of calcitarch and its paleoenvironmental implications. Andean Geology. 50. 2. 302—317. 10.5027/andgeoV50n2-3469. en. 11336/223379. free.