The Upper Cretaceous (Santonian-Maastrichtian) phosphate deposits in the west of the Neiva subbasin, Upper Magdalena Valley, Colombia
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https://doi.org/10.32685/0120-1425/bol.geol.49.2.2022.621Keywords:
Phosphates, Neiva subbasin, Upper Magdalena Valley, Upper Cretaceous, facies, stratigraphy
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Abstract
It has long been known that economically exploitable phosphates in Colombia are contained within the Upper Cretaceous marine sedimentary successions (Cathcart and Zambrano, 1967; Mojica, 1987; Zambrano and Mojica, 1990). In the western region of the Neiva subbasin, which lies within the Upper Magdalena Valley (UMV), these layers are restricted to the Santonian-Maastrichtian interval, which is represented by the Lidita Inferior, Lidita Superior and Yaguará formations. The phosphates are laterally discontinuous and exhibit variations in the facies over short distances. The facies analysis and the stratigraphic correlations allowed us to infer that the facies in these units represent a very shallow marine environment that occurred at the transition between the offshore zones and the upper shoreface and included the lagoonal conditions identified within the Aico Formation. It is possible that paleotopographic variability and differential subsidence affected the lateral continuity and thickness of the Santonian-Maastrichtian lithostratigraphic units. Furthermore, subsequent tectonic events may have modified the spatial distribution of the phosphate deposits. The La Plata (Chusma) fault divides the study area into two structural domains. One is located in the west, in the hanging wall, where the oldest rocks of the pre-Cretaceous basement crop out, and the other domain is located in the east, within the footwall. This footwall is where the outcrops of the Cretaceous-Quaternary sedimentary sequences characteristic of the Neiva subbasin are found. In the footwall there are important folds, such as the Media Luna syncline and the San Francisco anticline to the north, the La Guagua anticline in the central area, and the La Hocha anticline and the El Vegón syncline to the south. Some of these folds are truncated by regional reverse faults with a dextral-strike component, such as the La Plata (Chusma), San Francisco and Betania faults.
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