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New contributions to the palaeoenvironmental framework of the Los Molles Formation (Early-to-Middle Jurassic), Neuquén Basin, based on palynological data

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Abstract

Being the main oil-bearing basin of Argentina, the Neuquén Basin contains a well-documented stratigraphic record of continental and marine sedimentation during the Jurassic and Cretaceous in the western margin of Gondwana. Marine sedimentation started in the Early Jurassic with the deposition of the offshore to prodelta shales of the Los Molles Formation, the basal unit of the Cuyo Group. A palynological study of outcrop samples of the Los Molles Formation at two localities, Puente Picún Leufú, southern Neuquén Basin, and Cordillera del Viento, central basin area, is presented. The palynological evidence allows inferring two different palaeoceanographic contexts during the deposition of the Los Molles Fm. At Puente Picún Leufú and the lower part of the Cordillera del Viento localities, the record of acritarchs and prasinophytes suggests a stratified water column, suboxic-to-anoxic bottom conditions, and a reduced salinity within the photic zone, associated with a marginal marine environment under restricted oceanic circulation. These conditions would have last at least until the Early Bajocian. Conversely, at the middle and mainly the upper part of Cordillera del Viento locality, the predominance of dinocysts in the assemblages indicates a hydrographically unstable shelf (non-stratified water mass column) with well-oxygenated bottom waters developed under open-marine settings with non-restricted oceanic circulation. The abundance and diversity of dinocyst assemblages are comparable with those observed in the Late Callovian Lotena Formation. These evidences suggest an open oceanic circulation due to the establishment of different seaways in the Neuquén Basin, during the final accumulation of the Los Molles Formation (Early Callovian).

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Acknowledgements

The authors kindly acknowledge to the Editor-in-Chief and the reviewers, Hartmut Jäger and Yuqian Gan, for their helpful suggestions, which improved the final version of the manuscript. This work was supported by the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) [under Grant PIP20130100279, P-UE 2016-22920160100047CO] and Secretaría General de Ciencia y Tecnología de la Universidad Nacional del Sur (SEGCyT) [under Grant PGI-24/H142].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto Geológico del Sur (INGEOSUR), Universidad Nacional del Sur- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas Y Técnicas (CONICET), Av. Alem 1253, cuerpo B´-1º Piso, B8000ICN, Bahía Blanca, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Daniela E. Olivera & Marcelo A. Martínez

  2. Departamento de Geología, Universidad Nacional del Sur (UNS), Av. Alem 1253, cuerpo B´-2do Piso, B8000ICN, Bahía Blanca, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Daniela E. Olivera, Marcelo A. Martínez, Carlos Zavala, Juan E. Di Nardo & Germán Otharán

  3. GCS ARGENTINA, Molina Campos 150, 8000, Bahía Blanca, Argentina

    Carlos Zavala & Germán Otharán

  4. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas de La Provincia de Buenos Aires (CIC), Bahía Blanca, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Juan E. Di Nardo

Authors
  1. Daniela E. Olivera
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  2. Marcelo A. Martínez
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  3. Carlos Zavala
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  4. Juan E. Di Nardo
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  5. Germán Otharán
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniela E. Olivera.

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Olivera, D.E., Martínez, M.A., Zavala, C. et al. New contributions to the palaeoenvironmental framework of the Los Molles Formation (Early-to-Middle Jurassic), Neuquén Basin, based on palynological data. Facies 66, 23 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10347-020-00607-8

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