Provenance analysis of the Pliocene Ware Formation in the Guajira Peninsula, northern Colombia: Paleodrainage implications

The Cocinetas Basin in the Guajira Peninsula, the northernmost tip of South America, today has a dry climate with low rainfall (ten months) and no year-long rivers or permanent standing bodies of fresh water. In contrast, the fossil and geological record indicate that the Cocinetas Basin was much we...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of South American earth sciences 2018-01, Vol.81, p.66-77
Main Authors: Pérez-Consuegra, Nicolás, Parra, Mauricio, Jaramillo, Carlos, Silvestro, Daniele, Echeverri, Sebastián, Montes, Camilo, Jaramillo, José María, Escobar, Jaime
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological Sciences
Biologiska vetenskaper
clast
Colombia
detrital deposit
Detrital geochronology
drainage
geochronology
Guajira Peninsula
heavy mineral
Heavy minerals
Paleogeography
petrography
Pliocene
Provenance
uranium-lead dating
zircon
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Summary:The Cocinetas Basin in the Guajira Peninsula, the northernmost tip of South America, today has a dry climate with low rainfall (ten months) and no year-long rivers or permanent standing bodies of fresh water. In contrast, the fossil and geological record indicate that the Cocinetas Basin was much wetter during the Miocene-Pliocene (∼17–2.8 Ma). Water needed to sustain the paleofauna could either have originated from local sources or been brought by a larger river system (e.g. proto Magdalena/Orinoco river) with headwaters either in Andean ranges or the Guyana shield. We present a provenance study of the Pliocene Ware Formation, using petrographic analysis of conglomerate clasts and heavy minerals, and U-Pb dating of 140 detrital zircons. Clasts and heavy minerals are typical of ensialic metamorphic and igneous sources. The detrital zircon age distribution indicates the Guajira ranges as the most probable sediment source. The overall results indicate that the fluvial system of the Ware Formation drained the surrounding ranges. The water was probably derived by local precipitation onto the Guajira peninsula. •Sediments of the Ware Fm. were derived from the Guajira ranges.•New statistical method to infer the most probable origin of detrital zircons among a set of potential sources.•Desertification of the Guajira Peninsula occurred over the past ∼2.8 Ma.•Local rivers drained the Guajira ranges during the Pliocene.
ISSN:0895-9811
1873-0647
DOI:10.1016/j.jsames.2017.11.002