Early Miocene shallow-water corals from La Guajira, Colombia: part I, Acroporidae–Montastraeidae

Abstract

We document for the first time Miocene corals from the Siamaná and Jimol formations of the Cocinetas Basin in La Guajira Peninsula, northern Colombia. This is the first of two contributions dedicated to the description and detailed illustration of morphospecies collected during two scientific expeditions (2011, 2014) to the remote region. Here we report coral morphospecies attributed to the families Acroporidae, Agathiphylliidae, Astrocoeniidae, Caryophylliidae, Diploastraeidae, Merulinidae, and Montastraeidae. Eighteen species belonging to these seven families, included in nine genera, are described. Fifteen species are assigned to established taxa, while three remain in open nomenclature. Of the species identified, onlyMontastraea cavernosa(Linnaeus, 1767) exists today. The coral taxa described are typical of the Oligocene–Miocene transition and were important components of shallow-water reefs in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico region during this period. The occurrence ofAgathiphylliaspp.,Antiguastrea, andDiploastreaspp. confirms the presence of these genera in the Miocene of the Southern Caribbean. Coral assemblages suggest that the La Guajira coral community thrived in calm and shallow waters.

Early Miocene shallow-water corals from La Guajira, Colombia: Part II, Mussidae–Siderastreidae and Milleporidae

“…The samples studied were collected at the Arroyo Uitpa, Arroyo Ekieps, SW Ekieps, and Flor de La Guajira localities of the Siamaná Formation, and Punta Espada locality of the Jimol Formation (Fig. 1, Appendix 1) (Flórez et al, 2018, fig. 2).…”

“…The systematic paleontology, including key morphometric data (Table 1), is presented in alphabetical order. Sources of occurrence information are compiled in Flórez et al (2018, table 3). Taxonomic classifications were based on literature descriptions of the type material, and through comparisons with specimens housed at Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.…”

“…The Uitpa Formation is in turn overlain the by the Jimol Formation, with shallow marine mixed carbonate and siliciclastic deposits dating to the Burdigalian (Moreno et al, 2015; Silva-Tamayo et al, 2017). An extended description of the geological setting is provided in Flórez et al (2018).…”

“…We provide descriptions and classifications according to recent revisions to order Scleractinia (Fukami et al, 2004; Budd and Stolarski, 2009, 2011), as well as updates to the age and nomenclature of the Caribbean coral-bearing formations. The first part of this research included the descriptions of 18 morphospecies of the families Acroporidae, Agathiphylliide, Astrocoeniidae, Caryophylliidae, Diploastraeidae, Merulinidae, and Monstastraeidae (Flórez et al, 2018). Here, 14 morphospecies of the families Mussidae, Pocilloporidae, Poritidae, Siderastreidae, and Milleporidae are described and illustrated in detail.…”

Drastic Vegetation Change in the Guajira Peninsula (Colombia) During the Neogene

“…The ages of the Siamana Formation and the lower part of the Uitpa Formation are poorly constrained. The Siamana Formation, a massive reef unit that was likely part of the extensive reef development in the Caribbean during the late Oligocene (Johnson et al, 2009), has been variously dated as early Miocene, late Oligocene, or both (Carrillo-Briceño et al, 2016;Florez et al, 2018aFlorez et al, , 2018bSilva-Tamayo et al, 2017). In order to solve this age uncertainty, we dated the well sequence by performing a detailed biostratigraphic analysis using calcareous nannoplankton, foraminifera, and palynomorphs (dinoflagellates, pollen, and spores).…”