La Quinta Formation
Geologic formation in South America / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The La Quinta Formation is a Jurassic geologic formation which crops out in the Cordillera de Mérida and Serranía del Perijá of western Venezuela and northeastern Colombia. The formation is also present in the subsurface of the Cesar-Ranchería and Maracaibo Basins. At its type locality near La Grita, Táchira, it consists of a basal dacitic tuff followed by interlayered sandstones, tuffs, siltstones and rare limestones.[1] Dinosaur remains including Laquintasaura,[2] Tachiraptor, and Perijasaurus[3] are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.[4]
La Quinta Formation | |
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Stratigraphic range: Hettangian—Aalenian 201.46–174.8 Ma | |
Type | Geological formation |
Underlies | Río Negro Formation |
Overlies | Mucuchachi Formation |
Thickness | up to 11,000 ft (3,400 m) |
Lithology | |
Primary | Sandstone |
Other | Tuff, conglomerate |
Location | |
Coordinates | 8.15°N 72.02°W / 8.15; -72.02 |
Approximate paleocoordinates | 0.1°N 42.7°W / 0.1; -42.7 |
Region | Cesar-Ranchería & Maracaibo Basins Serranía del Perijá & Cordillera de Mérida |
Country | Colombia Venezuela |
Type section | |
Named for | La Quinta quarry |
U–Pb zircon analysis demonstrates that the formation dates to 200.91+0.55 Ma at its base[2] and a maximum age of 174.8 Ma.[3]