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Tectonic controls on late Cambrian-Early Ordovician deposition in Cordillera oriental (Northwest Argentina)

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Abstract

The western Gondwana margin underwent a complex geodynamic history during the early Paleozoic, and major uncertainties remain as to the role of tectonism in sedimentary dynamics. This study focuses on the lower part Santa Rosita Formation and the coeval Guayoc Chico Group (Cordillera Oriental; Northwest Argentina), ranging from the late Cambrian (Furongian; Age 10) to Early Ordovician (early Tremadocian; Tr1). This stratigraphic interval has been previously interpreted as deposited in an extensional basin to a retro-arc basin without major regional tectonic-induced deformation during its deposition, only recording long-term relative sea-level fluctuations. Four areas (Sierra de Cajas, Angosto del Moreno, Quebrada de Trancas, and Quebrada de Moya) were chosen because they host the most complete and temporally well-constrained stratigraphic sections of the Cordillera Oriental. Throughout the stratigraphic sections, four main facies zones are described and attributed to deposition in estuarine, foreshore-shoreface, delta-front, and offshore environments. Trilobite biozones are used as the biostratigraphic framework. By integrating sedimentary facies analysis, biostratigraphy, and sequence stratigraphy from the four selected sections, a new scenario showcasing the evolution of the basin is proposed. This scenario interprets a tectonically induced deformation during the deposition of the Santa Rosita Formation and the coeval Guayoc Chico Group. The newly acquired sedimentological data show that physiographical changes took place during the Cambrian-Ordovician transition and are expressed in various localities. This major change is recorded in the stratigraphic architecture, where extensive wave-ravinement surfaces and sedimentary hiatus are the result of local, syn-depositional basement uplifts. The initiation of the Puna-Famatinian volcanic arc during the Early Ordovician on the western margin was likely responsible for deformation in the retro-arc basin and the proposed scenario is consistent with the stratigraphic evolution in other areas of the Cordillera Oriental (e.g., Sierra de Mojotoro) and the Sierra de Famatina. Therefore, this study helps to constrain the evolution of the western Gondwana margin during the early Paleozoic, showing changes in the stratigraphic architecture and basin evolution from an extensional to a retro-arc style.

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Acknowledgements

We are thankful to Compañía Minera Aguilar S.A, Florencia Califano, Fernando Hongn and Marissa Fabrezi for hosting us during fieldwork. Grateful considerations are given to the aboriginal communities of Casa Grande, Vizcarra and El Portillo de Aguilar, who allowed us to work in the area of Sierra de Cajas. M. Gabriela Mángano, Brian Pratt, Sebastián O. Verdecchia, and Blanca A. Toro are thanked for fruitful discussion. Romain Vaucher gives special thanks to Juan A. Moreno, Nicolás J. Cosentino and Cecilia Echegoyen for their buena onda during these years providing a good working atmosphere as well to Samantha Blandin, who followed him through this postdoctoral journey far away from our home. The manuscript has been improved due to constructive comments made by the reviewers Udo Zimmermann, María Cristina Moya and Martin Keller. Financial support for this study was provided by Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) Grant PIP 112-201201-00581, Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (ANPCyT-FONCyT) PICT 2016-0588 and Global Ambassador Incoming Program of the University of Saskatchewan. Field trips and fossil collections were made under permission of the Secretaría de Cultura de la Provincia de Jujuy (Res. 01390_SC/2015) and the Secretaría de Cultura, Ministerio de Cultura y Turismo de la Provincia de Salta (Disp. int. 010/2010 and 007/2014). This is a contribution to PUE 2016 (CICTERRA–CONICET).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Físicas y Naturales. Av. Vélez Sársfield 299, X5000JJC, Córdoba, Argentina

    Romain Vaucher, N. Emilio Vaccari, Diego Balseiro, Diego F. Muñoz & Beatriz G. Waisfeld

  2. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas (CONICET), Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Tierra, (CICTERRA), Ciudad Universitaria, Av. Vélez Sársfield 1611, Edificio CICTERRA, X5016CGA, Córdoba, Argentina

    Romain Vaucher, N. Emilio Vaccari, Diego Balseiro, Diego F. Muñoz & Beatriz G. Waisfeld

  3. Applied Research in Ichnology and Sedimentology (ARISE) Group, Department of Earth Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada

    Romain Vaucher & Antoine Dillinger

  4. Department of Geological Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, 114 Science Place, Saskatoon, SK, Canada

    Luis A. Buatois

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  1. Romain Vaucher
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  2. N. Emilio Vaccari
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Correspondence to Romain Vaucher.

Appendix 1: Proposed Stratigraphic Subdivision

Appendix 1: Proposed Stratigraphic Subdivision

The Guayoc Chico Group is redefined in this study and subdivided into four stratigraphic formations (see main text for details and Figs. 4 and 5 for correlation with other formational names). From base to top, these are: the Pardioc, Lampazar, Angosto del Moreno, and Pupusa formations. The Padrioc and the Lampazar formations were previously defined in the literature; however, the Angosto del Moreno and the Pupusa formations are newly introduced names in this study and are defined hereafter.

Angosto del Moreno formation

Name origin:

Angosto del Moreno is the name of the locality where the formation is described.

Type area:

Southeast of Salinas Grandes area, Province of Jujuy, Argentina.

Type section:

Angosto del Moreno.

GPS points:

Base 23°55′18.17′′S 65°48′52.49′′W.

Top 23°55′19.18′′S 65°48′47.05′′W.

Facies:

Greyish sandstone-dominated interval mostly displaying trough cross-stratification. Siltstone-dominated intervals are interbedded with hummocky cross-stratified sandstone.

Thickness:

Maximum 120 m; minimum 60 m.

Boundaries:

The base is placed where trough cross-stratified, medium-grained sandstone replaces a muddy siltstone-dominated interval of the Lampazar Formation. The upper boundary corresponds to the base of a muddy siltstone-dominated interval of the Pupusa Formation.

Fossils:

Neoparabolina frequens argentina (Kayser 1876); Beltella ulrichi (Kayser 1897).

Age:

Late Cambrian; Furongian; late Age 10.

Note:

The wave ravinement surface eroding the Angosto del Moreno Formation occurring in the Angosto del Moreno is responsible for the thickness variation (see Fig. 10c).

Pupusa formation

Name origin:

Pupusa is the vernacular name of a plant growing in the Andes used by native people as an infusion for helping with the altitude sickness.

Type area:

Southeast of Salinas Grandes area, Province of Jujuy, Argentina.

Type section:

Angosto del Moreno.

GPS points:

Base 23°54′51.96′′S 65°49′0.46′′W.

Top 23°54′51.49′′S 65°48′48.77′′W.

Facies:

Greenish siltstone-dominated package with interbedded trough cross-stratified sandstone, hummocky cross-stratified sandstone and mudstone. In the upper part of this interval, interbedded trough cross-stratified sandstone and shell beds become increasingly common.

Thickness:

maximum 160 m minimum 100 m.

Boundaries:

The base corresponds to the transition from a trough cross-stratified sandstone-dominated interval of the Angosto del Moreno Formation to a siltstone-dominated interval. The Pupusa Formation ends with the Tumbaya Unconformity mantled by the siltstone-dominated package of the Acoite Formation (Middle Ordovician; Floian - Dapingian)

Fossils:

Jujuyaspis keideli (Kobayashi 1936); Leiostegium douglasi (Harrigton 1937); Saltaspis steinmanni (Koabayashi 1936); Hapalopleura acantha (Malanca & Brandán 2000); Parabollinella argentinensis (Kobayashi 1936); Onychopyge sp, Kainella morena (Vaccari & Waisfeld 2010); Kvania azulpampensis azulpampensis (Benedetto 2007); K. azulpampensis dichotoma (Benedetto 2007); Gondwanorthis calderensis alternata (Benedetto and Muñoz 2017); Chaniella pascuali (Benedetto 2009).

Age:

Early Ordovician; Tremadocian; early Tr1.

Note:

The wave-ravinement surface eroding the Angosto del Moreno Formation at Angosto del Moreno is responsible for the thickness variation, since the Pupusa Formation fills the created depression (see Fig. 10c).

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Vaucher, R., Vaccari, N.E., Balseiro, D. et al. Tectonic controls on late Cambrian-Early Ordovician deposition in Cordillera oriental (Northwest Argentina). Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 109, 1897–1920 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-020-01879-9

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