The Castilletes Formation ( es, Formación Castilletes, N1c) is a

fossiliferous A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

geological formation A geological formation, or simply formation, is a body of rock having a consistent set of physical characteristics ( lithology) that distinguishes it from adjacent bodies of rock, and which occupies a particular position in the layers of rock exp ...

of the

Cocinetas Basin The Cocinetas Basin ( es, Cuenca Cocinetas) is a small sedimentary basin of approximately in northeasternmost Colombia. The onshore pull-apart basin is located in the department of La Guajira at the border with Zulia, Venezuela. The basin is bou ...

in the northernmost department of

La Guajira La Guajira () is a department of Colombia. It occupies most of the Guajira Peninsula in the northeast region of the country, on the Caribbean Sea and bordering Venezuela, at the northernmost tip of South America. The capital city of the departm ...

, Colombia. The formation consists of

mudstones, siltstones and medium-grained to conglomeratic fossiliferous lithic to

quartzitic Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tect ...

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

s. The Castilletes Formation dates to the Neogene period;

Burdigalian The Burdigalian is, in the geologic timescale, an age or stage in the early Miocene. It spans the time between 20.43 ± 0.05 Ma and 15.97 ± 0.05 Ma (million years ago). Preceded by the Aquitanian, the Burdigalian was the first and longest w ...

Langhian The Langhian is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy, ICS geologic timescale, an age (geology), age or stage (stratigraphy), stage in the middle Miocene epoch (geology), Epoch/series (stratigraphy), Series. It spans the time between 15 ...

stages, Colloncuran and

Friasian The Friasian age is a period of geologic time (16.3–15.5 Ma) within the Early Miocene epoch of the Neogene, used more specifically within the SALMA classification of South America. It follows the Santacrucian and precedes the Colloncuran age. ...

in the SALMA classification, and has a maximum thickness of .

Etymology

The formation was defined by Rollins in 1965 and named after the village of Castilletes.Moreno et al., 2015, p.27

Description

Lithologies

The Castilletes Formation consists of

mudstones, siltstones and medium-grained to conglomeratic fossiliferous lithic to

s.Moreno et al., 2015, pp.27-32

Stratigraphy and depositional environment

The Castilletes Formation overlies the Jimol Formation and is overlain by the

Ware Formation The Ware Formation ( es, Formación Ware) is a fossiliferous geological formation of the Cocinetas Basin in the northernmost department of La Guajira. The formation consists of fine lithic to quartzitic sandstones, mudstones, pebbly conglomerate ...

. The age has been estimated to be Middle Miocene (16.7 to 14.2 Ma), Colloncuran and

in the SALMA classification. The invertebrate fauna of the Castilletes Formation is highly similar not only to that of the underlying Jimol Formation, but also to the Cantaure Formation of Venezuela.Moreno et al., 2015, p.31 The Castilletes Formation was deposited in a shallow marine (estuarine, lagoonal, and shallow subtidal) to fluvio-deltaic environment with strong fluvial influence.Rodríguez & Londoño, 2002, p.138 The Castilletes Formation correlates with the upper Cerro Pelado and Querales Formations of the Venezuelan Falcón Basin. This unit is also correlative with the Cantaure Formation of the Paraguaná Peninsula in Venezuela.Moreno et al., 2015, p.32

Fossil content

References

Bibliography

Local geology

* * *

Paleontology

* * * * * *

Maps

* * * * {{Paleontology in Colombia, state=collapsed Geologic formations of Colombia Neogene Colombia Burdigalian Langhian Miocene Series of South America Colloncuran Friasian Mudstone formations Siltstone formations Sandstone formations Deltaic deposits Fluvial deposits Shallow marine deposits Fossiliferous stratigraphic units of South America Paleontology in Colombia Geography of La Guajira Department