Villeta Group
Stratigraphic range: Aptian-Coniacian ~125–87 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Villeta, type locality of the Villeta Group
Type	Geological group
Sub-units	Conejo Fm., La Frontera Fm., Simijaca Fm., Hiló Fm., Pacho Fm., Chiquinquirá Sst., Capotes Fm., Socotá Fm., El Peñón Fm., Trincheras Fm.
Underlies	Guadalupe Group
Overlies	La Naveta Formation
Lithology
Primary	Sandstone, shale, limestone
Location
Coordinates	5°00′59″N 74°28′54″W / 5.01639°N 74.48167°W / 5.01639; -74.48167
Region	Altiplano Cundiboyacense Eastern Ranges, Andes
Country	Colombia
Type section
Named for	Villeta
Named by	Humboldt
Year defined	1810
Coordinates	4°35′31″N 74°03′15″W / 4.59194°N 74.05417°W / 4.59194; -74.05417
Region	Cundinamarca, Boyacá, Huila, Santander
Country	Colombia
Paleogeography of northern South America 105 Ma, by Ron Blakey

The Villeta Group (Spanish: Grupo Villeta) is a geological group of the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes, to the west of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense. The group, a sequence of shales, limestones and sandstones, is subdivided into various formations; Conejo, La Frontera, Simijaca, Hiló, Pacho, Chiquinquirá, Capotes, Socotá, El Peñón, and Trincheras, and dates to the Cretaceous period; Aptian-Coniacian epochs. The group stretches out across four departments, from Huila in the south, through Cundinamarca and Boyacá to southern Santander in the north. The upper part of the Villeta Group is time-equivalent with the La Luna Formation of the Middle Magdalena Valley (VMM) and Sierra Nevada del Cocuy, the Oliní and Güagüaquí Groups of the Guaduas-Vélez synclinal and the Chipaque Formation of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense. The lower part has been correlated with the Simití, Tablazo and Paja Formations of the VMM, the upper Tibasosa, Une and Fómeque Formations of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense and the Capacho, Aguardiente, Tibú-Mercedes and upper Río Negro Formations of the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy.

The group was first described by Alexander Von Humboldt around 1810 as the " Villeta Tonschiefer", German name for Villeta's clay slate.^[1] The group was subsequently published in 1892 by Hettner in his book Die Kordilleren von Bogotá and named after its type locality Villeta on the western flanks of the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes.^[2]

The sequence comprises an alternation of sandstones, shales and limestones and the lithologies and lateral facies variations are described in detail in the various formations comprising the group. Mineralizations of zinc, cadmium and molybdenum have been found in the Villeta Group.^[3]

The Villeta Group overlies the La Naveta Formation and is overlain by the Guadalupe Group. The age has been estimated to be Aptian-Coniacian and the unit is subdivided into the Conejo, La Frontera, Simijaca, Hiló, Pacho Formations, the Chiquinquirá Sandstone, and the Capotes, Socotá, El Peñón, and Trincheras Formations. The core extent of the group has been defined by Cáceres and Etayo in 1969, running from Apulo in the south to Muzo in the north.^[2][4] The Villeta Group has been deposited in a marine environment and the organic rich shales and pelagic limestones and cherts of the Villeta Group and equivalent units comprise 60-70% of the Cretaceous record in the Eastern Ranges. They provide a good opportunity to study the interactions between tectonics eustatic sea level and sedimentation that regulate relative sea level in a basin.^[5]

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Type locality of the Villeta Group to the northwest of the Bogotá savanna

The formations of the Villeta Group are apart from its type locality near Villeta, found in other parts of the western flanks of the Eastern Ranges, stretching from Huila in the south to southern Santander in the north.^{[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]}

Cretaceous stratigraphy of the central Colombian Eastern Ranges

Age	Paleomap	VMM	Guaduas-Vélez		W Emerald Belt		Villeta anticlinal		Chiquinquirá- Arcabuco	Tunja- Duitama	Altiplano Cundiboyacense		El Cocuy
Maastrichtian		Umir	Córdoba		Seca		eroded		Guaduas				Colón-Mito Juan
					Umir				Guadalupe
Campanian					Córdoba
					Oliní
Santonian		La Luna	Cimarrona - La Tabla										La Luna
Coniacian			Oliní				Villeta	Conejo		Chipaque
			Güagüaquí	Loma Gorda	undefined			La Frontera
Turonian				Hondita	La Frontera	Otanche
Cenomanian		Simití	hiatus		La Corona			Simijaca					Capacho
					Pacho Fm.			Hiló - Pacho	Churuvita	Une			Aguardiente
Albian					Hiló				Chiquinquirá	Tibasosa	Une
		Tablazo			Tablazo			Capotes - La Palma - Simití	Simití				Tibú-Mercedes
Aptian					Capotes			Socotá - El Peñón	Paja		Fómeque
		Paja			Paja	El Peñón		Trincheras					Río Negro
							La Naveta
Barremian
Hauterivian						Muzo					Cáqueza	Las Juntas
		Rosablanca							Ritoque
Valanginian					Ritoque	Furatena	Útica - Murca		Rosablanca	hiatus		Macanal
					Rosablanca
Berriasian		Cumbre			Cumbre				Los Medios			Guavio
		Tambor			Arcabuco				Cumbre
Sources

Geology of the Eastern Hills

Geology of the Ocetá Páramo

Geology of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense

• Humboldt, Alexander V. (1810), Vues des Cordillères, et monumens des peuples indigenes de l'Amérique, Chez N. Maze, p. 11, retrieved 2020-03-08
• Acosta, Jorge E.; Ulloa, Carlos E. (2002), Mapa geológico del Departamento de Cundinamarca 1:250,000 - Memoria Explicativa, INGEOMINAS, pp. 1–108
• Acosta Garay, Jorge; Ulloa Melo, Carlos E. (2001), Geología de la Plancha 208 Villeta - 1:100,000 (PDF), INGEOMINAS, pp. 1–84, retrieved 2018-05-12
• Villamil, Tomas (2012), Chronology Relative Sea Level History and a New Sequence Stratigraphic Model for Basinal Cretaceous Facies of Colombia, Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM), pp. 161–216

• Ulloa, Carlos E; Rodríguez, Erasmo (2009), Plancha 170 - Vélez - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-06
• Renzoni, Giancarlo; Rosas, Humberto (2009), Plancha 171 - Duitama - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-06
• Fuquen M., Jaime A; Osorno M, José F. (2009), Plancha 190 - Chiquinquirá - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-06
• Renzoni, Giancarlo; Rosas, Humberto; Etayo Serna, Fernando (1998), Plancha 191 - Tunja - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-06
• Ulloa, Carlos; Acosta, Jorge (1998), Plancha 208 - Villeta - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-06
• Montoya, Diana María; Reyes, Germán (2009), Plancha 209 - Zipaquirá - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-06
• Terraza, Roberto; Moreno, Giovanni; Buitrago, José A.; Pérez, Adrián; Montoya, Diana María (2010), Plancha 210 - Guateque - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-06
• Ulloa, Carlos E; Rodríguez, Erasmo; Acosta, Jorge E. (1998), Plancha 227 - La Mesa - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-06
• Acosta, Jorge E.; Guatame, Rafael; Torres, Oscar; Solano, Frank (1999), Plancha 245 - Girardot - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-06
• Acosta, Jorge E.; Ulloa, Carlos E. (1998), Plancha 246 - Fusagasugá - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-06
• Calcedo, Juan Carlos; Terraza, Roberto (2000), Plancha 264 - Espinal - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-06
• Acosta, Jorge; Calcedo, Juan Carlos; Ulloa, Carlos (1999), Plancha 265 - Icononzo - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-06