Soatá Formation
| Soatá Formation | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: Late Pleistocene ~ | |
| Type | Geological formation |
| Underlies | Holocene sediments of the Chicamocha River |
| Overlies | Capacho Formation |
| Area | ~130 km2 (50 sq mi) |
| Thickness | up to 30.8 m (101 ft) |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | Shale |
| Other | Conglomerate, siltstone |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 6°18′00″N 72°39′46″W / 6.30000°N 72.66278°W |
| Region | Altiplano Cundiboyacense Eastern Ranges, Andes |
| Country | Colombia |
| Extent | ~30 km × 7 km (18.6 mi × 4.3 mi) |
| Type section | |
| Named for | Soatá |
| Named by | Villarroel et al. |
| Location | Portugalete, Soatá |
| Year defined | 2001 |
| Coordinates | 6°18′00″N 72°39′46″W / 6.30000°N 72.66278°W |
| Approximate paleocoordinates | 6°18′N 72°30′W / 6.3°N 72.5°W |
| Region | Boyacá |
| Country | Colombia |
| Thickness at type section | 30.8 m (101 ft) |
Paleogeography of the Pleistocene | |
The Soatá Formation (Spanish: Formación Soatá) is a geological formation of the northern Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes. The formation consists mainly of shales with conglomerates and dates to the Quaternary period; Late Pleistocene epoch. The heavily eroded formation has a maximum measured thickness of 30.8 metres (101 ft). It contains the lacustrine and fluvio-glacial sediments of elongated paleolake Soatá, that existed on the Altiplano in the valley of the Chicamocha River.
Fossils of the gomphothere Haplomastodon waringi, the capibara Neochoerus sp. and the deer species Odocoileus cf. salinae have been found in the Soatá Formation.
Knowledge about the formation has been provided by Colombian geologists Carlos Villarroel, Jorge Brieva and others.