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Colorado Basin
Colorado Basin
Cuenca del Colorado
	Location of the basin in Argentina
Coordinates	41°30′S 61°00′W / 41.500°S 61.000°W
Etymology	Colorado River
Country	Argentina
State(s)	Buenos Aires & Río Negro Provinces
Cities	Bahía Blanca, Viedma
Characteristics
On/Offshore	Both
Boundaries	Ventania High (N); Argentina Basin (E); Rawson/Río Negro High (S); San Rafael Block (W)
Part of	South Atlantic rift basins
Area	~180,000 km2 (69,000 sq mi)
Hydrology
Sea(s)	South Atlantic
River(s)	Río Negro & Colorado Rivers
Geology
Basin type	Passive margin on rift basin
Plate	South American
Orogeny	Break-up of Pangea
Age	Early Cretaceous-Quaternary
Stratigraphy	Stratigraphy
Field(s)	none

The Colorado Basin (Spanish: Cuenca del Colorado) is a sedimentary basin located in northeastern Patagonia. The basin stretches across an area of approximately 180,000 square kilometres (69,000 sq mi), of which 37,000 square kilometres (14,000 sq mi) onshore in the southern Buenos Aires Province and the easternmost Río Negro Province extending offshore in the South Atlantic Ocean.

The basin comprises a sedimentary succession dating from the Permian (pre-rift stage) and Early Cretaceous (rift stage) to the Quaternary, representing the passive margin tectonic phase of the basin history. The Mesozoic rifting in the basin resulted from the break-up of Pangea and the formation of the South Atlantic. Long hiatuses exist in the succession.

The basin is of paleontological significance for hosting fossiliferous stratigraphic units dating to the Late Miocene. The Arroyo Chasicó Formation defines the Chasicoan South American land mammal age and contains a rich mammal and other vertebrate fauna. The contemporaneous Cerro Azul Formation has provided fossil rodents, armadillos and opossums. The Middle to Late Miocene Gran Bajo del Gualicho Formation contains vertebrate fossils of the cetacean Preaulophyseter gualichensis. The Río Negro Formation has provided fossils of the glyptodont Plohophorus figuratus. The Permian succession in the basin has provided flora microfossils.

Contrasting with the South Atlantic passive margin basins to the north (Santos Basin in southern Brazil) and south; Golfo San Jorge and Austral Basins, the Colorado Basin does not produce hydrocarbons. Exploration for petroleum started in the 1940 with the drilling of two onshore wells and several onshore and offshore wells have been drilled in the 1960s, 1970s and 1990s. The main source rocks are found in the Permian succession, with reservoir rocks the Colorado Formation. Seals are provided by the Early Paleocene Pedro Luro Formation.

Description

The Colorado Basin stretches across an approximate area of 180,000 square kilometres (69,000 sq mi) with about 37,000 square kilometres (14,000 sq mi) onshore, underlying the southernmost Buenos Aires Province and the southeasternmost Río Negro Province. Cities inside the basin are Bahía Blanca and Carmen de Patagones in Buenos Aires Province and Viedma in Río Negro Province, the earliest founded city in Patagonia. The onshore part of the basin is crossed by the eponymous Colorado and Río Negro rivers. Surrounding the Río Negro, many salt lakes are present in the basin.^[1]

Some authors group the basin together with the Claromecó Basin to the north.^[2] The offshore part of the Colorado Basin laterally correlates with and gradually ranges into the sub-parallel Salado Basin and the deeper offshore Argentina Basin.^[3]^[4] The offshore extension of the basin into neighboring basins led to different definitions of its area, some authors use a surface area of 125,000 square kilometres (48,000 sq mi).^[5]

The Colorado Basin is bound to the north by the Ventania High,^[6] Sierra de la Ventana,^[7] or Sierras Australes,^[2] separating the basin from the Claromecó Basin, and to the south by the Rawson,^[8] or Río Negro High.^[9] In the northwest, the basin grades into the Macachín Basin and the western boundary is formed by the San Rafael Block.^[9]

Basin evolution

The basin started forming in the Middle to Late Jurassic with the break-up of Pangea and the formation of the Southern Atlantic.^[10] The main rifting took place in the Early Cretaceous.^[5] The pre-rift sequence of the basin comprises the Pennsylvanian Lolén Formation of the Ventana Group,^[11] and the Sauce Grande, Piedra Azul, Bonete and Tunas Formations of the Pillahuincó Group,^[2] dating to the Permian.^[12] During the late Paleozoic, the Colorado Basin was located in the south polar region, causing a sequence of glacial deposits in the basin. These deposits were mostly sourced from the African basin, the Karoo and Kalahari Basins. The Early Permian sediments are characterized by the presence of diamictites. A transgression in the Permian led to the deposition of the Piedra Azul Formation.^[13] The succession contains several hiatuses, dating to the Triassic and Early Jurassic, Albian and Paleogene.^[14]

The early Mesozoic succession is missing, and the main rifting phase happened in the Barremian and Aptian, around 120 million years ago, represented in the Fortín Formation.^[15] The post-rift sag stage dates to the early Late Cretaceous leading to the deposition of the alluvial and fluvial sediments of the Colorado Formation.^[14] The drift stage is represented by the Pedro Luro Formation.^[14] The later Cenozoic succession is characteristic of a terrestrial passive margin setting and comprises the Paleocene Elvira,^[14] Middle Miocene Barranca Final Formation,^[16] and the Middle to Late Miocene Gran Bajo de Gualicho Formation.^[17] This formation in most of the basin is overlain by the Río Negro Formation.^[18] The Late Miocene succession in the westernmost area of the basin is represented by the Arroyo Chasicó and eolian Cerro Azul Formations,^[19] cropping out in the northern onshore part of the basin.^[20] This sequence is covered by the Late Miocene to Early Pliocene eolian and fluvial Río Negro Formation,^[21]^[22] outcropping in a thin band along the eponymous river.^[1]

Stratigraphy

Age	Group	Formation	Environment	Tectonic regime	Maximum thickness	Petroleum geology	Notes
Quaternary	alluvium			Passive margin
Early Pliocene		Río Negro	Eolian & fluvial		480 m (1,570 ft)		^[21]^[22]
Late Miocene		Río Negro	Eolian & fluvial		480 m (1,570 ft)		^[21]^[22]
Chasicoan-Huayquerian		Cerro Azul	Eolian		180 m (590 ft)		^[19]^[23]
Chasicoan		Arroyo Chasicó	Floodplain				^[24]
Mayoan		Gran Bajo de Gualicho	Shallow marine		57 m (187 ft)		^[17]
Laventan
Colloncuran
Friasian
Santacrucian
Mid Miocene		Barranca Final	Marine		300 m (980 ft)		^[16]
Oligocene	Hiatus
Late Eocene	Hiatus
Middle Eocene		Elvira					^[14]
Early Eocene	Hiatus
Late Paleocene	Hiatus
Early Paleocene		Pedro Luro		Drift		Seal	^[14]
Maastrichtian	Hiatus
Campanian		Colorado	Alluvial & fluvial	Sag		Reservoir	^[14]
Santonian
Coniacian
Turonian
Cenomanian
Albian	Hiatus
Aptian		Fortín		Syn-rift		Reservoir Source	^[15]
Barremian		Fortín		Syn-rift		Reservoir Source	^[15]
Middle Jurassic	Hiatus
Early Jurassic
Triassic
Late Permian	Pillahuincó	Tunas		Pre-rift	1,500 m (4,900 ft)	Source	^[2]
Early Permian		Bonete				Source	^[2]
		Piedra Azul					^[2]
		Sauce Grande					^[2]
Pennsylvanian	Ventana	Lolén	Basement				^[11]

Paleontological significance

The Miocene formations cropping out onshore have provided a rich mammal fauna. The Arroyo Chasicó Formation is the defining formation for the Late Miocene Chasicoan South American land mammal age, ranging from 10 to 9 million years ago.^[25] The formation contains many mammal species, birds and reptiles.^[26] The Cerro Azul Formation contains fossils of the rodents Chasichimys bonaerense,^[27] Neocavia pampeana,^[28] Reigechimys plesiodon and R. simplex,^[29] the armadillos Chasicotatus ameghinoi,^[23] and Macrochorobates scalabrinii,^[27] and the opossum Zygolestes tatei,^[30] among other mammals. The Río Negro Formation has provided fossils of the glyptodont Plohophorus figuratus.^[31]

The marine Gran Bajo de Gualicho Formation contains many bivalve, gastropod and echinoid fossils,^[32] and the cetacean Preaulophyseter gualichensis.^[33] The Eocene succession in boreholes of the basin has provided many species of dinoflagellates,^[34] and in the Permian sequence 131 species of spores, algae, funghi and pollen were registered.^[35]

Petroleum exploration

Contrary to other Southern Atlantic marginal basins, as the Golfo San Jorge and Austral Basins to the south, and Santos Basin of Brazil to the north, the Colorado Basin is not producing hydrocarbons. The first wells in the northern onshore part of the basin were drilled in 1946 (Pedro Luro-1) and 1948 (Ombucta-1) by YPF. Another phase of onshore exploration happened in the 1960s, with seven wells drilled by Shell.^[36] Offshore drilling started in 1970 by Hunt Oil and after seismic acquisition in the 1970s by YPF,^[37] some wells were drilled in 1977 by the same company. Renewed exploration started in the mid-1990s with several wells drilled by Union Texas and Shell.^[38] The offshore Cruz del Sur x-1 well provided oil shows of 39° API.^[39]

References

^ ^a ^b Geologic Map Hojas 4163-II/IV & I/III, 2006
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Balarino, 2012, p.344
^ Pucci, 2006, p.17
^ ENARSA, s.a., p.3
^ ^a ^b ENARSA, s.a., p.2
^ Daners et al., 2016, p.285
^ Balarino, 2009, p.20
^ ENARSA, s.a., p.1
^ ^a ^b Barredo & Stinco, 2010, p.60
^ Geologic Map Hojas 3963-III & IV, 2009, p.42
^ ^a ^b Balarino, 2009, p.24
^ Balarino, 2009, p.22
^ Balarino, 2009, p.23
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ENARSA, s.a., p.4
^ ^a ^b Barredo & Stinco, 2010, p.52
^ ^a ^b Geologic Map Hojas 3963-III & IV, 2009, p.39
^ ^a ^b Reichler, 2010, p.192
^ Reichler, 2010, p.183
^ ^a ^b Visconti et al., 2010, p.259
^ Geologic Map Hojas 3963-III & IV, 2009, p.5
^ ^a ^b Pérez, 2010, p.7
^ ^a ^b Geologic Map Hojas 3963-III & IV, 2009, p.8
^ ^a ^b Scillato Yané et al., 2010, p.51
^ Zárate et al., 2007
^ Chasicoan at Fossilworks.org
^ Arroyo Chasicó at Fossilworks.org
^ ^a ^b Verzi et al., 2008
^ Madozzo Jaén et al., 2018, p.250
^ Sostillo et al., 2014
^ Goin et al., 2000, p.108
^ Punta Bermeja at Fossilworks.org
^ Reichler, 2010, pp.191-192
^ Buono, 2013, p.36
^ Daners et al., 2016, p.293
^ Balarino, 2012, p.343
^ Rossello, 2016, p.175
^ ENARSA, s.a., p.8
^ ENARSA, s.a., p.5
^ Pucci, 2006, p.18

Bibliography

General

Balarino, M. Lucía (2012), "Palinología del Pérmico de la Cuenca Claromecó-Colorado, Argentina", Ameghiniana, 49 (3): 343–364, doi:10.5710/AMGH.v49i3(462), hdl:11336/97930, retrieved 2019-03-06
Balarino, M. Lucía (2009), Palinoestratigrafía del Paleozoico Superior de la Cuenca Colorado, República Argentina, y su correlación con áreas relacionadas (PhD thesis), Universidad Nacional de La Plata, pp. 1–566
Barredo, Silvia P.; Stinco, Luis P. (2010), "Geodinámica de las cuencas sedimentarias: su importancia en la localización de sistemas petroleros en la Argentina" (PDF), Petrotecnia, Abril: 48–68, retrieved 2019-03-06
Daners, Gloria; Guerstein, G. Raquel; Amenábar, Cecilia R.; Morales, Ethel (2016), "Dinoflagelados del Eoceno Medio a Superior de las Cuencas Punta del Este y Colorado, latitudes medias del Atlántico Sudoccidental" (PDF), Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia, 19 (2): 283–302, doi:10.4072/rbp.2016.2.11, retrieved 2019-03-06
ENARSA, Geología de la Cuenca del Colorado (PDF), Energía Argentina S.A, pp. 1–13, retrieved 2019-03-06
Pucci, Juan Carlos (2006), "Situación de las cuencas marinas de la República Argentina" (PDF), Petrotecnia, Abril: 16–26, retrieved 2019-03-06
Rossello, Eduardo A (2016), Tectosedimentary characterization of the oil producer basins in Argentina (PDF), GFZ Potsdam, pp. 1–192, retrieved 2019-03-06

Geologic maps

Etcheverría, Mariela P.; Folguera, Alicia; Miranda, Fernando; Faroux, Abel J.; Getino, Pablo R.; Dalponte, Marcelo Raúl (2009), Hojas Geológicas 3963-III y IV Colonia Juliá y Echarren y Pedro Luro (PDF), SEGEMAR, pp. 1–61, retrieved 2019-03-06
Etcheverría, Mariela P.; Folguera, Alicia; Dal Molin, Carlos Nelson; Dalponte, Marcelo Raúl; Ferro, Georgina; Franchi, Mario (2006), Hojas Geológicas 4163 - II/IV y I/III Viedma y General Conesa (PDF), SEGEMAR, p. 1, retrieved 2019-03-06

Arroyo Chasicó Formation

González Ruiz, Laureano R.; Scillato Yané, Gustavo J.; Krmpotic, Cecilia M.; Carlini, Alfredo A. (2012), "A new species of Peltephilidae (Mammalia: Xenarthra: Cingulata) from the late Miocene (Chasicoan SALMA) of Argentina" (PDF), Zootaxa, 3359: 55–64, retrieved 2019-02-15
Pérez, María Encarnación; Deschamps, Cecilia M.; Vucetich, María Guiomar (2018), "Diversity, phylogeny and biogeography of the South American 'cardiomyine' rodents (Hystricognathi, Cavioidea) with a description of two new species", Papers in Palaeontology, 4 (1): 1–19, Bibcode:2018PPal....4....1P, doi:10.1002/spp2.1095, hdl:11336/42361, retrieved 2019-02-12
Rasia, Luciano L.; Candela, Adriana M. (2016), "Lagostomus telenkechanum, sp. nov., a new lagostomine rodent (Caviomorpha, Chinchillidae) from the Arroyo Chasicó Formation (late Miocene; Buenos Aires Province, Argentina)", Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 37 (1): e1239205, doi:10.1080/02724634.2017.1239205, hdl:11336/72389, retrieved 2019-02-12
Zárate, Marcelo A.; Schultz, Peter H.; Blasi, Adriana; Heil, Clifford; King, John; Hames, Willis (2007), "Geology and geochronology of type Chasicoan (late Miocene) mammal-bearing deposits of Buenos Aires (Argentina)", Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 23 (1): 81–90, Bibcode:2007JSAES..23...81Z, doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2006.09.018, retrieved 2019-03-06

Cerro Azul Formation

Goin, F.J.; Montalvo, C.; Visconti, G. (2000), "Los marsupiales (Mammalia) del Mioceno superior de la Formación Cerro Azul (Provincia de La Pampa, Argentina)", Estudios Geológicos, 56 (1–2): 101–126, doi:10.3989/egeol.00561-2158, hdl:11336/108700, retrieved 2017-08-15
Madozzo Jaén, M. Carolina; Pérez, M. Encarnación; Montalvo, Claudia I.; Tomassini, Rodrigo L. (2018), "Systematic review of Neocavia from the Neogene of Argentina: Phylogenetic and evolutionary implications" (PDF), Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 63: 241–260, retrieved 2019-03-08
Scillato Yané, Gustavo Juan; Krmpotic, Cecilia Mariana; Esteban, Graciela Irene (2010), "The species of genus Chasicotatus Scillato-Yané (Eutatini, Dasypodidae)" (PDF), Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Geológicas, 27: 43–55, retrieved 2019-03-08
Sostillo, Renata; Montalvo, Claudia I.; Verzi, Diego H. (2014), "A new species of Reigechimys (Rodentia, Echimyidae) from the Late Miocene of central Argentina and the evolutionary pattern of the lineage", Ameghiniana, 51 (4): 284–294, doi:10.5710/AMGH.24.04.2014.2741, retrieved 2019-02-12
Verzi, D.H.; Montalvo, C.I.; Deschamps, C.M. (2008), "Biostratigraphy and biochronology of the Late Miocene of central Argentina: Evidence from rodents and taphonomy", Geobios, 41: 145–155, Bibcode:2008Geobi..41..145V, doi:10.1016/j.geobios.2006.09.005, retrieved 2019-03-06
Visconti, Graciela; Melchor, Ricardo N.; Montalvo, Claudia I.; Umazano, Aldo M.; De Elorriaga, Elena E. (2010), "Análisis litoestratigráfico de la Formación Cerro Azul (Mioceno Superior) en la Provincia de La Pampa" (PDF), Revista de la Asociación Geológica Argentina, 67: 257–265, retrieved 2019-03-06

Gran Bajo del Gualicho Formation

Buono, Mónica R (2013), Evolución de los Balaenidae (Mammalia, Cetacea, Mysticeti) del Mioceno de Patagonia: Sistemática, Filogenia y Aspectos Paleobiológicos (PDF), Universidad Nacional de La Plata, pp. 1–232, retrieved 2019-03-06
Reichler, Valeria A (2010), "Estratigrafía y paleontología del Cenozoico marino del Gran Bajo y Salinas del Gualicho, Argentina, y descripción de 17 especies nuevas" (PDF), Andean Geology, 31: 177–219, retrieved 2019-03-06

Río Negro Formation

Pérez, Mariano (2012), Análisis paleoambiental del miembro superior de la Formación Río Negro (Mioceno-Plioceno de Patagonia septentrional): un ejemplo de interacción fluvio-eólica compleja (BSc. thesis) (PDF), Universidad Nacional de La Pampa, pp. 1–47, retrieved 2018-09-10 Archived 2018-09-10 at the Wayback Machine

[GeoMap2006-1] Geologic Map Hojas 4163-II/IV & I/III, 2006

[Balarino2012_p344-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Balarino, 2012, p.344

[Pucci2006_p17-3] Pucci, 2006, p.17

[ENARSA_p3-4] ENARSA, s.a., p.3

[ENARSA_p2-5] ENARSA, s.a., p.2

[Daners2016_p285-6] Daners et al., 2016, p.285

[Balarino2009_p20-7] Balarino, 2009, p.20

[ENARSA_p1-8] ENARSA, s.a., p.1

[Barredo2010_p60-9] Barredo & Stinco, 2010, p.60

[GeoMap2009_p42-10] Geologic Map Hojas 3963-III & IV, 2009, p.42

[Balarino2009_p24-11] Balarino, 2009, p.24

[Balarino2009_p22-12] Balarino, 2009, p.22

[Balarino2009_p23-13] Balarino, 2009, p.23

[ENARSA_p4-14] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ENARSA, s.a., p.4

[Barredo2010_p52-15] Barredo & Stinco, 2010, p.52

[GeoMap2009_p39-16] Geologic Map Hojas 3963-III & IV, 2009, p.39

[Reichler2010_p192-17] Reichler, 2010, p.192

[Reichler2010_p183-18] Reichler, 2010, p.183

[Visconti2010_p259-19] Visconti et al., 2010, p.259

[GeoMap2009_p5-20] Geologic Map Hojas 3963-III & IV, 2009, p.5

[Perez2012_p7-21] Pérez, 2010, p.7

[GeoMap2009_p8-22] Geologic Map Hojas 3963-III & IV, 2009, p.8

[Scillato2010_p51-23] Scillato Yané et al., 2010, p.51

[Zarate2007-24] Zárate et al., 2007

[FWChasicoan-25] Chasicoan at Fossilworks.org

[FWArroyoChasico-26] Arroyo Chasicó at Fossilworks.org

[Verzi2008-27] Verzi et al., 2008

[Madozzo2018_p250-28] Madozzo Jaén et al., 2018, p.250

[Sostillo2014-29] Sostillo et al., 2014

[Goin2000_p108-30] Goin et al., 2000, p.108

[FWPuntaBermeja-31] Punta Bermeja at Fossilworks.org

[Reichler2010_p190_191-32] Reichler, 2010, pp.191-192

[Buono2013_p36-33] Buono, 2013, p.36

[Daners2016_p293-34] Daners et al., 2016, p.293

[Balarino2012_p343-35] Balarino, 2012, p.343

[Rossello2016_p175-36] Rossello, 2016, p.175

[ENARSA_p8-37] ENARSA, s.a., p.8

[ENARSA_p5-38] ENARSA, s.a., p.5

[Pucci2006_p18-39] Pucci, 2006, p.18

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PROFILPELAJAR.COM

Colorado Basin, Argentina

Description

Basin evolution

Stratigraphy

Paleontological significance

Petroleum exploration

See also

References

Bibliography

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