Chapter 12

Abstract

Marine Barremian deposits are represented in different lithostratigraphic units in Colombia, from the central part of the country to the north. Up to the Upper Magdalena Valley, continental deposits have been reported in the Yaví Formation; although until now, only Aptian plant remains have been recognized.Marine deposits include the shales and biomicrites of the Trincheras Formation to the west and southwest of Bogotá; the shales and biomicrites of the Fómeque Formation to the east and northeast of Bogotá; the biomicrites, biosparites, and shales of the Upper Calcareous Member of the Tibasosa Formation to the north of Bogotá; the shales and biomicrites of the Paja Formation near Villa de Leyva and to the northwest of Bogotá in the Middle Magdalena Valley; and in some cases, the biomicrites of the "Rosablanca" Formation.Sporadic occurrences of Barremian ammonites have been reported in the biomicrites of the Yuruma Formation, that occurs in northern Colombia near Venezuela; in the Cretácico del Río Cañas (La Guajira) deposits; and in the central and western regions of the Central Cordillera. Nevertheless, these have been poorly studied.Other lithostratigraphic units that have been cited as being related to the Barremian deposits, albeit without biostratigraphic support, are the Tibú-Mercedes Formation and, possibly, the Río Negro Formation. Barremian ammonites have been reported in the La Naveta Formation but with controversial stratigraphic control.Different fossil fauna and flora have been reported in these units, but ammonite biostratigraphy is the principal tool used to identify chronostratigraphic levels. Tethyan fauna allows one to correlate Barremian successions with standard biozones and biohorizons from the Mediterranean area, based on the Psilotissotia, Nicklesia, Pulchellia, Gerhardtia, Heinzia, etc.The sedimentary and ecological variations in the lithological units are the consequence of environmental factors, paleoecology, and basin differentiation that have recorded tectonic or subsidence influxes due to their local paleogeographic positions.

Exceptionally preserved ‘skin’ in an Early Cretaceous fish from Colombia

“…The occurrence of the ammonoid Nicklesia pulchella (Fig. 1C) found in the same layer and concretions cropping out at this locality, indicates an early Barremian age for this locality following (Patarroyo, 2009;Patarroyo, 2020).…”

La plataforma carbonática de la Formación Tibasosa Superior, Cretáceo Inferior, Cuenca Cordillera Oriental, Firavitoba-Boyacá, Colombia

“…The presence of ammonoids as Niklesia sp. as a key fossil allowed to delimit the studied stratigraphic section as Barremian deposits being coherent with the occurrence of other taxa as Echinoidea, Bivalvia and Gastropoda (Figure 9; Patarroyo, 2020). The paleogeographic distribution of the Paja, Ritoque, Rosablanca, Fomeque, Macanal, Juntas and the Upper Tibasosa formations provide tools to understand the lithologic changes associated with variations in bathymetry, sea-level rise, geological time, carbonate supply, and tectonics explaining why towards the west are frequent muddy siliciclastic rocks with abundant planktonic organisms while in the east exists more infaunal and epifaunal individuals (Patarroyo, 2020).…”

“…The paleogeographic distribution of the Paja, Ritoque, Rosablanca, Fomeque, Macanal, Juntas and the Upper Tibasosa formations provide tools to understand the lithologic changes associated with variations in bathymetry, sea-level rise, geological time, carbonate supply, and tectonics explaining why towards the west are frequent muddy siliciclastic rocks with abundant planktonic organisms while in the east exists more infaunal and epifaunal individuals (Patarroyo, 2020). The occurrence of worldwide carbonate platforms during the Lower Cretaceous implies that variations in the eustatic sea-level controlled the deposition of marine sediments, representing an important transgressive surface as occurs in Asia (e.g., Bachmann and Hirsch, 2006), Europe (e.g., Hoedemaeker and Herngreen, 2003), Africa (e.g., Reyment and Dingle, 1987), and America (e.g., Barragán and Melinte, 2006;Patarroyo, 2020); recording similar depositional systems and fossil content to the Upper Tibasosa Formation.…”

Depósitos del Aptiano inferior con amonitas y rudistas, Punta Espada, Alta Guajira (Uribia – Colombia). Litoestratigrafía y apreciaciones regionales

“…De tal suerte, con posición estratigráfica fue posible recolectar amonitas y rudistas del Aptiano en la misma localidad. Además, en sectores aledaños, se encontraron depósitos y fósiles del Barremiano, Albiano y Cenomaniano (Patarroyo, 2011(Patarroyo, , 2020.…”

“…En el camino entre el asentamiento de Punta Espada y Párauinkrein o Parabanclen es posible encontrar una sucesión que incluye depósitos del Barremiano, Aptiano, Albiano, Cenomaniano y Turoniano (Patarroyo, 2011(Patarroyo, , 2020Patarroyo y Götz, 2013, 2014. Rollins (1960Rollins ( , 1965, en donde se reconocen micritas grises y negras, biomicritas en capas gruesas y muy gruesas (Figura 5).…”