Usme Formation
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The Usme Formation (Spanish: Formación Usme, Tsu, Teu) is a geological formation of the Bogotá savanna, Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes. The formation consists of a lower part with predominantly shales with intercalated sandstone beds and an upper sequence with sandstones and conglomerates. The Usme Formation dates to the Neogene and Paleogene periods; Late Eocene to Early Oligocene epochs, and has a maximum thickness of 300 metres (980 ft).
Etymology
The formation was defined by Hubach in 1957 and named after the locality of Usme, Bogotá.
Description
Lithologies
The Usme Formation is subdivided into a lower sequence of shales with intercalated sandstones and an upper part of sandstones and conglomerates.
Stratigraphy and depositional environment
The Usme Formation unconformably overlies the Regadera Formation and is overlain by the Tilatá Formation. The age has been estimated, based on palynological data, to be Late Eocene to Early Oligocene. The depositional environment has been interpreted as marine with the upper part deposited in a deltaic setting.
Outcrops

The Usme Formation is found in its type locality in the synclinal of Usme, the valley of the Tunjuelo River.
Regional correlations
| Ma | Age | Paleomap | Regional events | Catatumbo | Cordillera | proximal Llanos | distal Llanos | Putumayo | VSM | Environments | Maximum thickness | Petroleum geology | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.01 | Holocene | Holocene volcanism Seismic activity | alluvium | Overburden | |||||||||
| 1 | Pleistocene | Pleistocene volcanism Andean orogeny 3 Glaciations | Guayabo | Soatá Sabana | Necesidad | Guayabo | Gigante Neiva | Alluvial to fluvial (Guayabo) | 550 m (1,800 ft) (Guayabo) | ||||
| 2.6 | Pliocene | Pliocene volcanism Andean orogeny 3 GABI | Subachoque | ||||||||||
| 5.3 | Messinian | Andean orogeny 3 Foreland | Marichuela | Caimán | Honda | ||||||||
| 13.5 | Langhian | Regional flooding | León | hiatus | Caja | León | Lacustrine (León) | 400 m (1,300 ft) (León) | Seal | ||||
| 16.2 | Burdigalian | Miocene inundations Andean orogeny 2 | C1 | Carbonera C1 | Ospina | Proximal fluvio-deltaic (C1) | 850 m (2,790 ft) (Carbonera) | Reservoir | |||||
| 17.3 | C2 | Carbonera C2 | Distal lacustrine-deltaic (C2) | Seal | |||||||||
| 19 | C3 | Carbonera C3 | Proximal fluvio-deltaic (C3) | Reservoir | |||||||||
| 21 | Early Miocene | Pebas wetlands | C4 | Carbonera C4 | Barzalosa | Distal fluvio-deltaic (C4) | Seal | ||||||
| 23 | Late Oligocene | Andean orogeny 1 Foredeep | C5 | Carbonera C5 | Orito | Proximal fluvio-deltaic (C5) | Reservoir | ||||||
| 25 | C6 | Carbonera C6 | Distal fluvio-lacustrine (C6) | Seal | |||||||||
| 28 | Early Oligocene | C7 | C7 | Pepino | Gualanday | Proximal deltaic-marine (C7) | Reservoir | ||||||
| 32 | Oligo-Eocene | C8 | Usme | C8 | onlap | Marine-deltaic (C8) | Seal Source | ||||||
| 35 | Late Eocene | Mirador | Mirador | Coastal (Mirador) | 240 m (790 ft) (Mirador) | Reservoir | |||||||
| 40 | Middle Eocene | Regadera | hiatus | ||||||||||
| 45 | |||||||||||||
| 50 | Early Eocene | Socha | Los Cuervos | Deltaic (Los Cuervos) | 260 m (850 ft) (Los Cuervos) | Seal Source | |||||||
| 55 | Late Paleocene | PETM 2000 ppm CO2 | Los Cuervos | Bogotá | Gualanday | ||||||||
| 60 | Early Paleocene | SALMA | Barco | Guaduas | Barco | Rumiyaco | Fluvial (Barco) | 225 m (738 ft) (Barco) | Reservoir | ||||
| 65 | Maastrichtian | KT extinction | Catatumbo | Guadalupe | Monserrate | Deltaic-fluvial (Guadalupe) | 750 m (2,460 ft) (Guadalupe) | Reservoir | |||||
| 72 | Campanian | End of rifting | Colón-Mito Juan | ||||||||||
| 83 | Santonian | Villeta/Güagüaquí | |||||||||||
| 86 | Coniacian | ||||||||||||
| 89 | Turonian | Cenomanian-Turonian anoxic event | La Luna | Chipaque | Gachetá | hiatus | Restricted marine (all) | 500 m (1,600 ft) (Gachetá) | Source | ||||
| 93 | Cenomanian | Rift 2 | |||||||||||
| 100 | Albian | Une | Une | Caballos | Deltaic (Une) | 500 m (1,600 ft) (Une) | Reservoir | ||||||
| 113 | Aptian | Capacho | Fómeque | Motema | Yaví | Open marine (Fómeque) | 800 m (2,600 ft) (Fómeque) | Source (Fóm) | |||||
| 125 | Barremian | High biodiversity | Aguardiente | Paja | Shallow to open marine (Paja) | 940 m (3,080 ft) (Paja) | Reservoir | ||||||
| 129 | Hauterivian | Rift 1 | Tibú- Mercedes | Las Juntas | hiatus | Deltaic (Las Juntas) | 910 m (2,990 ft) (Las Juntas) | Reservoir (LJun) | |||||
| 133 | Valanginian | Río Negro | Cáqueza Macanal Rosablanca | Restricted marine (Macanal) | 2,935 m (9,629 ft) (Macanal) | Source (Mac) | |||||||
| 140 | Berriasian | Girón | |||||||||||
| 145 | Tithonian | Break-up of Pangea | Jordán | Arcabuco | Buenavista Batá | Saldaña | Alluvial, fluvial (Buenavista) | 110 m (360 ft) (Buenavista) | "Jurassic" | ||||
| 150 | Early-Mid Jurassic | Passive margin 2 | La Quinta | Montebel Noreán | hiatus | Coastal tuff (La Quinta) | 100 m (330 ft) (La Quinta) | ||||||
| 201 | Late Triassic | Mucuchachi | Payandé | ||||||||||
| 235 | Early Triassic | Pangea | hiatus | "Paleozoic" | |||||||||
| 250 | Permian | ||||||||||||
| 300 | Late Carboniferous | Famatinian orogeny | Cerro Neiva () | ||||||||||
| 340 | Early Carboniferous | Fossil fish Romer's gap | Cuche (355-385) | Farallones () | Deltaic, estuarine (Cuche) | 900 m (3,000 ft) (Cuche) | |||||||
| 360 | Late Devonian | Passive margin 1 | Río Cachirí (360-419) | Ambicá () | Alluvial-fluvial-reef (Farallones) | 2,400 m (7,900 ft) (Farallones) | |||||||
| 390 | Early Devonian | High biodiversity | Floresta (387-400) El Tíbet | Shallow marine (Floresta) | 600 m (2,000 ft) (Floresta) | ||||||||
| 410 | Late Silurian | Silurian mystery | |||||||||||
| 425 | Early Silurian | hiatus | |||||||||||
| 440 | Late Ordovician | Rich fauna in Bolivia | San Pedro (450-490) | Duda () | |||||||||
| 470 | Early Ordovician | First fossils | Busbanzá (>470±22) ChuscalesOtengá | Guape () | Río Nevado () | Hígado ()Agua Blanca Venado (470-475) | |||||||
| 488 | Late Cambrian | Regional intrusions | Chicamocha (490-515) | Quetame () | Ariarí () | SJ del Guaviare (490-590) | San Isidro () | ||||||
| 515 | Early Cambrian | Cambrian explosion | |||||||||||
| 542 | Ediacaran | Break-up of Rodinia | pre-Quetame | post-Parguaza | El Barro () | Yellow: allochthonous basement (Chibcha terrane) Green: autochthonous basement (Río Negro-Juruena Province) | Basement | ||||||
| 600 | Neoproterozoic | Cariri Velhos orogeny | Bucaramanga (600-1400) | pre-Guaviare | |||||||||
| 800 | Snowball Earth | ||||||||||||
| 1000 | Mesoproterozoic | Sunsás orogeny | Ariarí (1000) | La Urraca (1030-1100) | |||||||||
| 1300 | Rondônia-Juruá orogeny | pre-Ariarí | Parguaza (1300-1400) | Garzón (1180-1550) | |||||||||
| 1400 | pre-Bucaramanga | ||||||||||||
| 1600 | Paleoproterozoic | Maimachi (1500-1700) | pre-Garzón | ||||||||||
| 1800 | Tapajós orogeny | Mitú (1800) | |||||||||||
| 1950 | Transamazonic orogeny | pre-Mitú | |||||||||||
| 2200 | Columbia | ||||||||||||
| 2530 | Archean | Carajas-Imataca orogeny | |||||||||||
| 3100 | Kenorland | ||||||||||||
| Sources |
Legend
- group
- important formation
- fossiliferous formation
- minor formation
- (age in Ma)
- proximal Llanos (Medina)
- distal Llanos (Saltarin 1A well)
See also
Geology of the Eastern Hills
Geology of the Ocetá Páramo
Geology of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense
Notes and references
Notes
Bibliography
- Bayona, Germán; Montenegro, Omar; Cardona, Agustín; Jaramillo, Carlos; Lamus, Felipe; Morón, Sara; Quiroz, Luiz; Ruíz, María C.; Valencia and Mauricio Parra, Victor (2010), (PDF), Geología Colombiana, 35: 5–35, archived from (PDF) on 2017-03-30
- Guerrero Uscátegui, Alberto Lobo (1992), Geología e Hidrogeología de Santafé de Bogotá y su Sabana, Sociedad Colombiana de Ingenieros, pp. 1–20
- Montoya Arenas, Diana María; Reyes Torres, Germán Alfonso (2005), Geología de la Sabana de Bogotá, INGEOMINAS, pp. 1–104
Maps
- Acosta, Jorge E.; Ulloa, Carlos E. (1998), , INGEOMINAS, p. 1
External links
- Gómez, J.; Montes, N.E.; Nivia, Á.; Diederix, H. (2015), , Servicio Geológico Colombiano, p. 1