Soatá Formation

{{short description|Geological formation in the Colombian Andes}}

{{Infobox rockunit

| name = Soatá Formation

| period = Pleistocene

| age = Late Pleistocene
~{{fossil range|0.0475|0.0388}}

| image =

| imagesize =

| caption =

| type = Geological formation

| prilithology = Shale

| otherlithology = Conglomerate, siltstone

| unitof =

| subunits =

| underlies = Holocene sediments of the Chicamocha River

| overlies = Capacho Formation

| thickness = up to {{convert|30.8|m|ft|abbr=on}}

| area = ~{{convert|130|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}

| map = Blakey Pleist - COL.jpg

| map_caption = Paleogeography of the Pleistocene

| location =

| coordinates = {{coord|6|18|00|N|72|39|46|W|display=inline,title}}

| region = Altiplano Cundiboyacense
Eastern Ranges, Andes

| country = Colombia

| extent = ~{{convert|30|x|7|km|mi|abbr=on}}

| namedfor = Soatá

| namedby = Villarroel et al.

| year_ts = 2001

| location_ts = Portugalete, Soatá

| coordinates_ts = {{coord|6|18|00|N|72|39|46|W|display=inline}}

| paleocoordinates_ts = {{coord|6.3|N|72.5|W|display=inline}}

| region_ts = Boyacá

| country_ts = Colombia

| thickness_ts = {{convert|30.8|m|ft|abbr=on}}

}}

File:Rio Chicamocha on PANACHI 01.JPG, heavily eroded the former Pleistocene terraces of the Soatá Formation]]

The Soatá Formation ({{langx|es|Formación Soatá}}) is a geological formation of the northern Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes. The formation consists mainly of shales with conglomerates and dates to the Quaternary period; Late Pleistocene epoch. The heavily eroded formation has a maximum measured thickness of {{convert|30.8|m|ft}}. It contains the lacustrine and fluvio-glacial sediments of elongated paleolake Soatá, that existed on the Altiplano in the valley of the Chicamocha River.

Fossils of the gomphothere Haplomastodon waringi, the capibara Neochoerus sp. and the deer species Odocoileus cf. salinae have been found in the Soatá Formation.

Knowledge about the formation has been provided by Colombian geologists Carlos Villarroel, Jorge Brieva and others.

Etymology

The formation was first proposed and named after Soatá by Villarroel et al. in 2001. The type locality is defined near Portugalete, Soatá.Villarroel et al., 2001, p.80

Regional setting

{{see also|Altiplano Cundiboyacense#Prehistory|Ocetá Páramo#Geology}}

File:Peyto Lake-Banff NP-Canada.jpg

The Altiplano Cundiboyacense, in the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes, was formed late in the regional uplift of the Andean orogeny. It is estimated that the main stage of uplift happened during the Plio-Pleistocene. The Western and Central Ranges were submerged much earlier, leaving a corridor to the Caribbean in the Neogene.

The compression in the Andean orogenic belt caused the formation of fold and thrust belts in the Eastern Ranges, where Cretaceous and Jurassic normal faults were inverted as thrust faults lifting up the Paleozoic (Floresta and Cuche Formations), Mesozoic and Paleogene strata. A hiatus existed on the Altiplano between the Late Eocene and Late Miocene, in several parts of the Altiplano continuing until the Pleistocene.

During the glacials and interglacials of the Pleistocene ("ice ages"), several paleolakes formed on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, of which Lake Humboldt on the Bogotá savanna was the most extensive (approximately {{convert|4500|km2|sqmi}}). Rivers were restricted during the drier glacial periods and the vegetation changed from páramo to Andean forest between the glacials and stadials and interglacials and interstadials.Urrego et al., 2016, p.702

Description

File:HaplomastodonPisa.JPG Haplomastodon waringi were found in the Soatá Formation]]

= Lithologies =

The Soatá Formation consists of whitish calcareous claystones and sandy siltstones with plagioclase, hematite, zircon, green and reddish biotite, hornblende and crystalline calcite in its upper, older terrace. This unit also contains foraminifera and fragments of shells.

The middle, younger unit is composed of basal greyish claystones with non-uniform matrix-supported conglomerates at the upper section. The uppermost layer contains siltstones, probably of volcaniclastic origin.Villarroel et al., 2001, p.82

The youngest sediments are found deepest in the basin and consist of claystones and greenish matrix-supported conglomerates. Rootlets and mammal fossils are more abundant in this layer.

= Stratigraphy =

The Soatá Formation unconformably overlies the Cretaceous Capacho Formation, and is overlain by the Holocene infill sediments of the Chicamocha River, the course of which severely eroded and fragmented the Soatá formation.IGAC, 2005, p.150 The formation is subdivided into three units of different lithological character and sedimentary dip in a terrace setting. The Soatá Formation is time-equivalent with the upper part of the Sabana Formation on the Bogotá savanna and the Chinauta deposits near Fusagasugá in the southwest of the Altiplano.Villarroel et al., 2001, p.84Hoyos et al., 2015, p.263 Two samples were analysed for radiometric dating and provided ages of 45,900 ± 1,600 and 39,600 ± 800 years BP.Villarroel et al., 2001, p.90 This corresponds to the Chicagota interstadial and the Tagua stadial, when the glaciations were at their maximum extent.Hammen, 1986, p.27Rutter et al., 2012, p.32

= Depositional environment =

The depositional environment has been interpreted as lacustrine (Lake Soatá) and fluvio-deltaic. Contrasting with the wide and shallow Lake Humboldt on the Bogotá savanna, Lake Soatá was probably close to {{convert|400|m|ft}} deep. The paleolake was approximately {{convert|30|km|mi}} long and widest between Soatá and Boavita at {{convert|7|km|mi}}.Villarroel et al., 2001, p.81

= Fossil content =

In the Soatá Formation, fossils of Haplomastodon waringi, Neochoerus sp. and Odocoileus cf. salinae have been found.[https://paleobiodb.org/classic/displayCollResults?collection_no=146529 Soatá] at Fossilworks.org The fossil content is fragmentary.Villarroel et al., 1996, p.85

Outcrops

{{Location map | Altiplano Cundiboyacense

| width = 250

| lat_deg = 6.300067

| lon_deg = -72.662799

| label =

| float = left

| position = right

| mark = Green pog.svg

| marksize = 12

| outside = 1

| caption = Type locality of the Soatá Formation to the northeast of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense. The Chicamocha River valley is clearly visible.

}}

The Soatá Formation is apart from its type locality Portugalete found around Soatá (Jútua), and stretches to the north near the border of Boyacá and Santander, northeast of Tipacoque. To the south, the formation may have reached until Socotá.Villarroel et al., 2001, p.88

Regional correlations

Notes

References

= Bibliography =

{{citation |last=Van der Hammen |first=Thomas |year=1986 |title=Cambios medioambientales y la extinción del mastodonte en el norte de los Andes |journal=Revista de Antropología, Universidad de los Andes |volume=II |pages=27–34}}
{{citation |last1=Hoyos |first1=Natalia |last2=Monsalve |first2=O. |last3=Berger |first3=G.W. |last4=Antinao |first4=J.L. |last5=Giraldo |first5=H. |last6=Silva |first6=C. |last7=Ojeda |first7=G. |last8=Bayona |first8=G. |last9=Escobar and C. Montes |first9=J. |year=2015 |title=A climatic trigger for catastrophic Pleistocene–Holocene debris flows in the Eastern Andean Cordillera of Colombia |journal=Journal of Quaternary Science |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=258–270 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.|doi=10.1002/jqs.2779 |bibcode=2015JQS....30..258H }}
{{citation |last1=Rutter |first1=N. |last2=Coronato |first2=A. |last3=Helmens |first3=K. |last4=Rabassa |first4=J. |last5=Zárate |first5=M. |year=2012 |title=Glaciations in North and South America from the Miocene to the Last Glacial Maximum |publisher=Springer |pages=1–67}}
{{citation |last1=Urrego |first1=Dunia H. |last2=Hooghiemstra |first2=Henry |last3=Rama Corredor |first3=Oscar |last4=Martrat |first4=Belén |last5=Grimalt |first5=Joan O. |last6=Thompson |first6=Lonnie |last7=Bush |first7=Mark B. |last8=González Carranza |first8=Zaire |last9=Hanselman, Bryan Valencia and César Velásquez Ruiz |first9=Jennifer |year=2016 |title=Millennial-scale vegetation changes in the tropical Andes using ecological grouping and ordination methods |journal=Climate of the Past |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=697–711|doi=10.5194/cp-12-697-2016 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2016CliPa..12..697U |hdl=10871/20575 |hdl-access=free }}
{{citation |last1=Villarroel |first1=Carlos |last2=Concha |first2=Ana Elena |last3=Macía |first3=Carlos |year=2001 |title=El Lago Pleistoceno de Soatá (Boyacá, Colombia): Consideraciones estratigráficas, paleontológicas y paleoecológicas |journal=Geología Colombiana |volume=26 |pages=79–93 |publisher=Universidad Nacional de Colombia |author1-link=Carlos Villarroel }}
{{citation |last1=Villarroel |first1=Carlos |author2-link=Jorge Brieva |last2=Brieva B. |first2=Jorge |last3=Cadena |first3=Alberto |year=1996 |title=La Fauna de Mamíferos Fósiles del Pleistoceno de Jútua, Municipio de Soatá (Boyacá, Colombia) |journal=Geología Colombiana |volume=21 |pages=81–87 |author1-link=Carlos Villarroel }}
{{citation |last=Various |first=Authors |year=2005 |title=Estudio General de Suelos y Zonificación de Tierras del Departamento de Boyacá |publisher=IGAC |pages=1–256}}