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Lithofacies and depositional environment of Middle Cambrian San Isidro Formation, Mendoza, Argentina

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Abstract

Outcrops of the San Isidro Formation (32 m) in west Mendoza province, consist of monotonous, nearly homogeneous-sequences of dark-gray to dark brown, thin-bedded limestones with shales, siltstones and interbedded medium to fine grained sandstones. This area is known for its fossiliferous localities of Middle Cambrian trilobites. Fossils include trilobites, particularly planktonic agnostids, sponge spicules, foraminifera and calcispheres. Both fossils and sedimentologic characteristics indicate relatively deep-water marine sedimentation.

The overall picture of depositional history represents a transgressive-regressive-transgressive sequence, as the result of moderate sea-level change. During the sea-level low-stands siliciclastic sediments were transported on the shelf and into the adjacent basin. It would seem possible that the presence of mudstone-wackestone over the low-stand sandstones represents a rapid sea-level rise.

Some aspects about diagenetic effects are discussed with special reference to cementation, neomorphism, dolomitization, pressure-solution, and silicification.

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  1. National Research Council, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Ricardo M. Palma

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Palma, R.M. Lithofacies and depositional environment of Middle Cambrian San Isidro Formation, Mendoza, Argentina. Carbonates Evaporites 10, 234–244 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03175408

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