The Mealla Formation is a geological formation of the Santa Bárbara Subgroup, part of the Salta Group in the Salta Basin in northwestern Argentina whose strata date back to the Middle to Late Paleocene of the Paleogene.
Description The Mealla Formation comprises sandstones ranging upward to siltstones with a basal conglomerate bed. The formation unconformably overlies the Yacoraite Formation and is overlain by the Thanetian Maíz Gordo Formation. The thickness of the formation ranges from .Narváez, 2009, p.22 The formation is the lowermost unit in the Santa Bárbara Subgroup, representing the post-rift phase of the Salta Basin. The Mealla Formation was deposited in a fluvial environment. Other parts of the formation contain freshwater stromatolites, interpreted as deposited in a shallow lacustrine environment.Narváez, 2009, p.23
The basal conglomerate is thick, matrix-supported with 80% of the clasts coming from quartzites from the Cambrian Mesón Group, with the remainder of the clasts provenanced by the Precambrian Puncoviscana Formation and the quartzarenites of the Santa Victoria Group. The conglomeratic section also contains paleosols.Sánchez & Marquillas, 2009, p.389 The pollen analysis performed by Quattrocchio et al. in 1997 indicated a phase of higher aridity during the deposition of the Mealla Formation.Narváez, 2009, p.172
The formation was initially described as Riochican, and later as Itaboraian, but after the redefinition of the Itaboraí Formation to Early Eocene, the Mealla Formation is Peligran to Riochican in age. The Mealla Formation is correlated with the Río Loro Formation that crops out in the Sierras Pampeanas to the southeast of the Salta Basin.
Fossil content The following fossils were reported from the formation:Mealla Formation at Fossilworks.org Mammals Notoungulata Archaeogaia macachaae Notoungulata - Henricosborniidae Simpsonotus majorPascual et al., 1978 S. praecursor Reptiles Pelomedusidae indet. Sebecus ayrampu Snakes Powellophis andina Pollen Aquifoliaceae Gemmatricolpites subsphaericusNarváez, 2009, p.134 Haloragaceae Myriophyllumpollenites sp.Narváez, 2009, p.109 Oenotheraceae Corsinipollenites menendeziiNarváez, 2009, p.108 Pandanaceae Pandaniidites texus Salicaceae Rousea patagonicaNarváez, 2009, p.171 Ulmaceae (Phyllostylon) Verrustephanoporites simplexNarváez, 2009, p.115
See also South American land mammal ages Itaboraí Formation
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