The Floresta Formation (, Df) is a

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 expo ...

of the

Altiplano Cundiboyacense The Altiplano Cundiboyacense () is a high plateau located in the Eastern Cordillera of the Colombian Andes covering parts of the departments of Cundinamarca and Boyacá. (Do not confuse with The Altiplano or the Altiplano Nariñense, both fur ...

in the Eastern Ranges of the

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

. The sequence of

siltstone Siltstone, also known as aleurolite, is a clastic sedimentary rock that is composed mostly of silt. It is a form of mudrock with a low clay mineral content, which can be distinguished from shale by its lack of fissility. Although its permeabil ...

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of Clay mineral, clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g., Kaolinite, kaolin, aluminium, Al2Silicon, Si2Oxygen, O5(hydroxide, OH)4) and tiny f ...

coquina Coquina () is a sedimentary rock that is composed either wholly or almost entirely of the transported, abraded, and mechanically sorted fragments of mollusks, trilobites, brachiopods, or other invertebrates. The term ''coquina'' comes from the S ...

s and

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

beds dates to the

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era during the Phanerozoic eon (geology), eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian per ...

period; Late Emsian, Eifelian and Early Givetian epochs, and has a maximum thickness of . The unit is highly

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 i ...

;

brachiopod Brachiopods (), phylum (biology), phylum Brachiopoda, are a phylum of animals that have hard "valves" (shells) on the upper and lower surfaces, unlike the left and right arrangement in bivalve molluscs. Brachiopod valves are hinged at the rear e ...

bryozoa Bryozoa (also known as the Polyzoa, Ectoprocta or commonly as moss animals) are a phylum of simple, aquatic animal, aquatic invertebrate animals, nearly all living in sedentary Colony (biology), colonies. Typically about long, they have a spe ...

ns,

gastropod Gastropods (), commonly known as slugs and snails, belong to a large Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, freshwater, and fro ...

trilobite Trilobites (; meaning "three-lobed entities") are extinction, extinct marine arthropods that form the class (biology), class Trilobita. One of the earliest groups of arthropods to appear in the fossil record, trilobites were among the most succ ...

coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

s and

bivalve Bivalvia () or bivalves, in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class (biology), class of aquatic animal, aquatic molluscs (marine and freshwater) that have laterally compressed soft bodies enclosed b ...

s have been found in the Floresta Formation. Some fragments of

Placoderm Placoderms (from Ancient Greek πλάξ 'plax'', ''plakos'''Plate (animal anatomy), plate' and δέρμα 'derma'''skin') are vertebrate animals of the class (biology), class Placodermi, an extinct group of prehistoric fish known from Pal ...

fish fossils were found in the Floresta Formation, while the overlying Cuche Formation is much richer in fish biodiversity.

Etymology

The formation was first described as Floresta Series by Olsson and Carter in 1939. The current definition was given by Botero in 1950. The formation is named after Floresta, Boyacá, where the formation

outcrop An outcrop or rocky outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth and other terrestrial planets. Features Outcrops do not cover the majority of the Earth's land surface because in most p ...

s.Mojica & Villarroel, 1984, p.64

Description

Lithologies

The Floresta Formation is characterized by a lower sequence of

s and ochre to beige

s with alternating

s, while the upper part consists of siltstones with sandy beds.Morzadec et al., 2015, p.332

Stratigraphy and depositional environment

The Floresta Formation overlies the El Tíbet Formation and is overlain by the Cuche Formation. The age has been estimated to be Late Emsian to Early Givetian.Morzadec et al., 2015, p.355 Stratigraphically, the formation is time equivalent with the

Portachuelo Formation Portachuelo is a small town in Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlan ...

around Quetame.Morzadec et al., 2015, p.331 The

Onondaga Formation The Onondaga Limestone is a group of hard limestones and dolomites of Devonian age that forms geographic features in some areas in which it outcrops; in others, especially its Southern Ontario portion, the formation can be less prominent as a lo ...

of New York is considered time equivalent too.Giroud López, 2014, p.168 The formation contains

concretion A concretion is a hard and compact mass formed by the precipitation of mineral cement within the spaces between particles, and is found in sedimentary rock or soil. Concretions are often ovoid or spherical in shape, although irregular shapes a ...

s and a high diversity of

fossil 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 preserve ...

s. The formation was deposited in a transgressional and regressional epicontinental marine environment at the edge of the

Paleo-Tethys Ocean The Paleo-Tethys or Palaeo-Tethys Ocean was an ocean located along the northern margin of the paleocontinent Gondwana that started to open during the Middle Cambrian, grew throughout the Paleozoic, and finally closed during the Late Triassic; ex ...

.Janvier & Villarroel, 1998, p.6 The uppermost part of the formation has been deposited in a deltaic setting,Giroud López, 2014, p.169 with the lower sequence formed in a coral reef environment.Giroud López, 2014, p.170

Fossil content

Remains of '' Barroisella sp.'',Morzadec et al., 2015, p.335 '' ?Tarutiglossa sp.'',Morzadec et al., 2015, p.336 '' Dipleura cf. dekayi'', '' Dechenella boteroi'',Morzadec et al., 2015, p.340 '' Mannopyge sp.'', '' Cordania gasepiou'', '' Viaphacops cristata'',Morzadec et al., 2015, p.342 '' Anchiopsis armata'',Morzadec et al., 2015, p.344 '' Synphoria stemmata'', '' Coronura cf. lessepsensis'',Morzadec et al., 2015, p.346 '' Greenops cf. grabaui'',Morzadec et al., 2015, p.348 '' Belenopyge contusa'', '' Kettneraspis callicera'',

fishes,Janvier & Villarroel, 1998, p.9 '' Platyceras nodosum'',Giroud López, 2014, p.39 '' Acrospirifer olssoni'', '' Anoplotheca cf. silvetii'', '' Atrypa harrisi'', '' Australospirifer cf. antarcticus'', '' Aviculopecten wellsi'', '' Brachyspirifer palmerae'', '' Camarotoechia dotis'', '' Chonetes cf. billingsi'', '' C. comstockii'', '' C. cf. stubeli'', '' Chonostrophia knodi'', '' Cyclotrypa boyaca'', '' C. carribeana'', '' C. dickeyi'', '' C. reticulata'', '' C. stellata'', '' Cymostrophia dickeyi'', '' C. schucherti'', '' C. waringi'', '' Cypricardinia cf. subindenta'', '' Cyrtina hamiltonensis'', '' Dalmanites cf. patacamayaensis'', '' Dictyostrophia cooperi'', '' Elytha colombiana'', '' Eodevonaria imperialis'', '' Favosites aff. hamiltonensis'', '' Fenestrellina colombiana'', '' F. olssoni'', '' F. acuta'', '' F. quadrata'', '' F. harrisi'', '' Fistulipora anomala'', '' F. megalopora'', '' Florestacanthus morenoi'', '' Heliophyllum halli'', '' Intrapora fragilis'', '' I. megalopora'', '' Leiorhynchus mysia'', '' Leptaena boyaca'', '' Meganteris australis'', '' Megastrophia hopkinsi'', '' M. pygmaea'', '' Meristella wheeleri'', '' Nucleospira concinna'', '' Odontopleura callicera'', '' Pentagonia gemmisulcata'', '' Phacops cf. salteri'', '' Pholidops florestae'', '' Platyostoma lineata'', '' Pleurodictyum americanum'', '' Polypora elegantula'', '' P. granulifera'', '' Prismopora inornata'', '' Schellwienella goldringae'', '' Semicoscinium colombiensis'', '' S. minutum'', '' Spinocyrtia cf. valenteana'', '' Spinulicosta spinulicosta'', '' Spirifer kingi'', '' Strophonella floweri'', '' S. meridionalis'', '' Sulcoretepora olssoni'', '' S. subramosa'', '' Taeniopora florestae'', '' Tropidoleptus carinatus'', '' Unitrypa casteri'', '' Acanthograptus sp.'', '' Actinopteria sp'', '' Amphigenia sp.'', '' Anthozoa sp.'', '' Camarotoechia sp.'', '' Cryptonella sp.'', '' Cyphaspis sp.'', '' Cryphaeus sp.'', '' Dalmanites sp.'', '' Derbyina sp.'', '' Gastropoda sp.'', '' Grammysia sp.'', '' Homalonotus sp.'', '' Leptostrophia sp.'', '' Mediospirifer sp.'', '' Orthoceras sp.'', '' Ostracoda sp.'', '' Orthis sp.'', '' Paraspirifer sp.'', '' Proetus sp.'', '' Pterinea sp.'', '' Strophodonta sp.'', '' Thamnopora sp.'', and '' Vitulina sp.'' have been described from the Floresta Formation.Floresta
at

Fossilworks Fossilworks was a portal which provides query, download, and analysis tools to facilitate access to the Paleobiology Database, a large relational database assembled by hundreds of paleontologists from around the world. History Fossilworks was cr ...

.org '' Colombianaspis carvalhoae gen. et sp. nov.'', '' Schizobolus pilasiensis sp. nov.'' and '' Tarijactinoides sp. nov.'',Morzadec et al., 2015, p.352 were newly described in 2015.

Outcrops

The Floresta Formation is found at the Floresta Massif around its type locality in Floresta, Boyacá,Mojica & Villarroel, 1984, p.70 stretching to the south until between

Busbanzá Busbanzá () is a town and municipality in the Colombian Departments of Colombia, Department of Boyacá Department, Boyacá. Busbanzá is part of the Tundama Province, a subregion of Boyacá. Busbanzá is located at from Sogamoso. It borders Beté ...

and Nobsa and to the west close to Belén, Cerinza and Tutazá.Plancha 172, 1998 The formation is also found in the upper course of the Chicamocha River in the eponymous

canyon A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency t ...

. Many of the fossils are on display in the paleontological museum of Floresta.

Regional correlations

Notes

References

Bibliography

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Maps

* * * * *

External links

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Peces devónicos de Colombia, diversidad en los mares y ríos de hace 410-355 millones de años
{{Paleontology in Colombia, state=expanded Geologic formations of Colombia Devonian System of South America Devonian Colombia Shale formations Deltaic deposits Reef deposits Geography of Boyacá Department