El Peñón Formation

El Peñón Formation
Stratigraphic range: Late Aptian ~115–112 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Type	Geological formation
Unit of	Villeta Group
Underlies	Capotes Formation
Overlies	Trincheras Formation
Thickness	more than 381 m (1,250 ft)
Lithology
Primary	Calcareous shale
Other	Siltstone, gypsum
Location
Coordinates	5°15′13″N 74°20′28″W / 5.25361°N 74.34111°W / 5.25361; -74.34111
Region	Altiplano Cundiboyacense Eastern Ranges, Andes
Country	Colombia
Type section
Named for	El Peñón
Named by	Ulloa
Location	El Peñón
Year defined	1982
Coordinates	5°15′13″N 74°20′28″W / 5.25361°N 74.34111°W / 5.25361; -74.34111
Region	Cundinamarca
Country	Colombia
Thickness at type section	381 m (1,250 ft)
Paleogeography of Northern South America 120 Ma, by Ron Blakey

The El Peñón Formation (Spanish: Formación El Peñón, Kipe) is a geological formation of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes. The formation consists of calcareous shales and siltstones and dates to the Early Cretaceous period; Late Aptian epoch and has a measured thickness at its type section of 381 metres (1,250 ft). Ammonite fossils have been found in the formation, deposited in a shallow marine platform environment.

The formation was defined and named in 1982 by Ulloa after El Peñón, Cundinamarca.^[1]

The El Peñón Formation has at is type section a thickness of 381 metres (1,250 ft),^[2] and is characterised by a sequence of calcareous shales and siltstones. The middle part of the sequence contains gypsum.^[3] Fossils of the ammonites Cheloniceras sp. and Epicheloniceras sp. aff. carlosacostai have been found in the El Peñón Formation.^[1]

The El Peñón Formation, part of the Villeta Group, conformably overlies the Trincheras Formation and is conformably overlain by the Capotes Formation.^[4] The age has been estimated to be Late Aptian.^[1] Stratigraphically, the formation is time equivalent with the Tablazo Formation and a lateral facies equivalent of the Socotá Formation.^[5] The formation has been deposited in a shallow marine platform environment.^[1] In the Late Aptian, central Colombia was dominated by shallow marine carbonate platform environments.^[6]

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Type locality of the El Peñón Formation to the west of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense

The El Peñón Formation, restricted to Cundinamarca, is locally found around its type locality,^[1] between Bituima and Guayabal de Síquima,^[7] and along the road from Villeta to Sasaima.^[2]

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

• Acosta Garay, Jorge E.; Ulloa Melo, Carlos E. (2002), Mapa Geológico del Departamento de Cundinamarca - 1:250,000 - Memoria explicativa, INGEOMINAS, pp. 1–108, retrieved 2017-04-26
• Acosta Garay, Jorge; Ulloa Melo, Carlos E. (2001), Geología de la Plancha 208 Villeta - 1:100,000 (PDF), INGEOMINAS, pp. 1–84, retrieved 2017-06-05 Archived 2017-03-24 at the Wayback Machine
• 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; Acosta, Jorge (1998), Plancha 208 - Villeta - 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

• Gómez, J.; Montes, N.E.; Nivia, Á.; Diederix, H. (2015), Plancha 5-09 del Atlas Geológico de Colombia 2015 – escala 1:500,000, Servicio Geológico Colombiano, p. 1, retrieved 2017-03-16