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Journal of South American Earth Sciences 38 (2012) 147e158

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Journal of South American Earth Sciences


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Stratigraphic variations across the Maran Fold-Thrust Belt, Peru: Implications for the basin architecture of the West Peruvian Trough
Arne F. Scherrenberg a, *, Javier Jacay b, Rodney J. Holcombe a, Gideon Rosenbaum a
a b

School of Earth Sciences, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Av. Venezuela, cda. 34 s/n, Lima, Peru

a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history: Received 25 January 2012 Accepted 5 June 2012 Keywords: Basin inversion Growth strata Stratigraphy Maran Fold-Thrust Belt West Peruvian Trough Basin architecture

a b s t r a c t
Basin inversion has played a major role in the structural evolution of the Andean Orogeny. We present new observations from the Maran Fold-Thrust Belt (MFTB) in central Peru that show Cretaceous facies changes and thickness variations that may have been controlled by a series of faults in the basement of the West Peruvian Trough (WPT), separating this basin into smaller sub-basins. We present three new stratigraphic columns and a revised geological map, highlighting stratigraphic relationships within the MFTB. Our results show that a major boundary exists within the MFTB, across which stratigraphic units show distinct facies and thickness changes. This boundary is a long-lived intrabasinal structure (Chonta Fault), and its palinspastic reconstruction is of a half-graben geometry, with the graben oors tilted to the east. Our results indicate that the architecture of the WPT in central Peru during the Late Cretaceous may have been made up of three relatively small basins. 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Stratigraphic facies changes and thickness variations in foldthrust belts are commonly associated with the inversion of earlier basins (Coward, 1994). In this setting, some of the reverse faults are reactivated normal faults, which have also been active during basin development. Identifying and understanding these stratigraphic boundaries, their nature, and their extent is important for interpreting the basin evolution, and the structural framework of the orogenic belt. The Maran Fold-Thrust Belt (MFTB) in central Peru is an example of an orogen where stratigraphic boundaries have played an important role during basin inversion. However, geological information from this orogenic system is limited, with most work conducted prior to the 1980s (e.g. McLaughlin, 1924; Steinmann, 1929; Harrison, 1943; Benavides-Cceres, 1956; Wilson, 1963; Wilson et al., 1967; Myers, 1975; Cobbing, 1976, 1978) and relatively few studies completed in the last three decades (e.g. Janjou et al., 1981; Mgard, 1984, 1987a, 1987b; Benavides-Cceres, 1999; Rodrguez, 2008; Carlotto et al., 2009). The geology of the area is characterised by distinct facies changes and thickness variations across the fold-

thrust belt (Mgard, 1984), with the most pronounced variations in the Lower Cretaceous sedimentary cover of the West Peruvian Trough (WPT) (Fig. 1a and b). This has been interpreted to reect inversion of major basin-bounding faults with basement involvement (Mgard, 1987b) (Fig. 1c). A distinct eastward thinning and facies change has been recorded in Lower Cretaceous sandstone and shale units (Wilson, 1963). These variations may have been controlled by a series of faults in the basement, separating the WPT into two smaller basins (intra-arc and back-arc basins in Fig. 1a). However, the location and architecture of the basin-bounding fault and the level of basement involvement are not fully understood. This paper presents three new stratigraphic columns and a revised geological map, highlighting stratigraphic relationships within the MFTB between Hunuco and Lima. Our results unravel the architecture of the Late Cretaceous basin prior to the onset of Cainozoic Andean contractional deformation, and highlight the inuence of a long-lived basement structure on both sedimentation patterns and the subsequent basin inversion. 2. Geological setting The geological history of the MFTB in central Peru involved a pre-orogenic period of extension and crustal thinning, followed by episodic contraction during Andean orogenesis (Mgard, 1984, 1987b). The early phase of rifting in the WPT started in the Late Triassic but was superimposed on an earlier (Palaeozoic) rift

* Corresponding author. Tel.: 61 7 33469798; fax: 61 7 33651277. E-mail addresses: arne.scherrenberg@gmail.com (A.F. Scherrenberg), jjacayh@ unmsm.edu.pe (J. Jacay), rod@holcombe.net.au (R.J. Holcombe), g.rosenbaum@ uq.edu.au (G. Rosenbaum). 0895-9811/$ e see front matter 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jsames.2012.06.006

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system. The major phase of deposition started in the Late Jurassic with subsidence and deposition continuing until the Late Cretaceous (Mgard, 1984; Benavides-Cceres, 1999). The WPT is the westernmost of two depositional basins; it was separated from the East Peruvian Trough by the Maran High and was anked to the west by the Paracas High (Mgard, 1984; Benavides-Cceres, 1999) (Fig. 1a). An obscure boundary is generally considered to divide the WPT into a western intra-arc trough, dominated by igneous rocks of the coastal batholith, and an eastern back-arc basin, where continental clastic rocks and marine carbonates are discordantly overlain by volcanic rocks (Wilson, 1963; Wilson et al., 1967; Mgard, 1987a). The latter was subsequently deformed into the present MFTB.

The eastward tapering wedge of sedimentary rocks in the back-arc basin represents Upper Jurassic to recent rocks, which are separated from a Palaeozoic basement by a major unconformity (Mgard, 1984; Benavides-Cceres, 1999). Within the MFTB, Lower Cretaceous facies and thickness changes are thought to occur across a reverse fault (reactivated normal fault) that separates the sedimentary wedge sequence into eastern and western facies (Mgard, 1987b) (Fig. 1c). Mgard (1987b) suggested that this reverse fault initiated as a listric growth fault that divided the back-arc basin and its strata into a thick sequence and a thin shelf sequence, and may have been basement-involved. The position of this reverse boundary does not overlap with the western boundary of the MFTB (Fig. 1a) (Wilson, 1963; Wilson et al., 1967)

Fig. 1. Map of central Peru and cross sections through the Cretaceous sedimentary cover (modied with elements from Wilson, 1963; Wilson et al., 1967; Mgard, 1984, 1987b; Benavides-Cceres, 1999). (a) Map illustrating the main Late Cretaceous tectonic units. (b) Schematic cross-section (AeA0 ) showing the prominent facies and thickness changes across the WPT during the Cretaceous. (c) Schematic cross-section (BeB0 ) of the current architecture of the inverted back-arc basin illustrating the simplied (Lower) Cretaceous stratigraphic variations across a thrust in the MFTB: the sandstone-dominated unit thickens to the west, whereas the shale unit disappears toward the east. Note that the extent of the Upper Cretaceous marl-limestone within the WPT and red bed sequence across the MFTB is poorly constrained. (For interpretation of the references to color in this gure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

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Fig. 1. (continued).

nor does it overlap with its eastern boundary (Romero, 2008; Carlotto et al., 2009). The lower part of the thick sequence is generally comprised of Upper Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous shale and sandstone intercalated occasionally by a limestone unit. The Upper Cretaceous sequence is dominated by limestone (Mgard, 1987b) (Fig. 1b). Contrastingly, the shelf sequence is characterised by a much thinner succession of Cretaceous sandstone and limestone horizons. The beginning of Andean orogenesis is marked stratigraphically by the cessation of marine input and the appearance of foreland red beds. Episodic orogenic pulses, crustal thickening and uplift were responsible for bringing the former back-arc basin to its present-day altitude (Mgard, 1984, 1987b; Benavides-Cceres, 1999) (Fig. 1c). Foreland red beds and arc-related volcanic rocks dominate the Cainozoic stratigraphy and blanket the deformed basin. The distribution of pre-Cainozoic stratigraphic units varies considerably across the MFTB (Fig. 2). Palaeozoic and early Mesozoic units are exposed on the belts eastern margin and are rarely exposed within the belt so the nature of basement rocks underlying the Cretaceous units is not entirely understood. The Cretaceous sequences show variations in several lower and upper units in an east-west direction, both in northern and central Peru (e.g. Wilson, 1963; Janjou et al., 1981; Benavides-Cceres, 1956) (Fig. 2). This has led to suggestions that the MFTB forms the boundary zone to the Western and Eastern cordilleras (Janjou et al., 1981) and that

the inverted West Peruvian Trough was comprised of numerous smaller basins (e.g. Mgard, 1987b; Carlotto et al., 2009). 3. Stratigraphy and revised geological maps We conducted extensive eldwork and produced a revised geological map of a w130 km long segment of the MFTB from approximately La Unin to Churn, and three stratigraphic columns from three different localities (Fig. 3). The choice of the three type localities for stratigraphic analysis was governed by access, complete stratigraphy and coverage of the key tectonic units in the study area. The localities are: (1) near Margos, where outcrops seem to include a complete sequence from the Palaeozoic basement to the Cainozoic red beds; (2) near Cauri, where the sequence seems similar to that near Margos, except for the missing Carboniferous succession and Upper Cretaceous marl and red beds, and (3) near the Iscaycruz mine, where the sequence appears representative for the Cretaceous in the western part of the study area; rocks older than the Cretaceous, as well as PalaeogeneeNeogene volcanic rocks, are not exposed in this sequence. Strata thicknesses of individual units in the Palaeozoic to Cainozoic section are predominantly eld estimates, complemented by information from the literature and map pattern. We think that the stratigraphic columns represent the overall stratigraphy averaged over large areas within the study area. However, we note that unit thicknesses are highly variable across the region.

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Fig. 2. A comparison of the Cretaceous stratigraphy across the MFTB in central and northern Peru showing the rock units that outcrop in the study area (modied with sections from Benavides-Cceres, 1956; Wilson, 1963; Janjou et al., 1981). The last column illustrates the basic stratigraphic order of units described in this study, divided into ve segments that refer to sections 3.1e3.5.

3.1. Metamorphic units The lowermost unit of the study area is extensively folded, and consists of phyllite, sericitic schist with dark to light grey phlogopite, and metavolcanic intercalations. These rocks occupy approximately 40% of the surface geology of the study area and are exposed along the eastern margin of the FTB. The rocks are foliated, strongly silicied, and contain abundant quartz veins parallel and across the foliation. This unit is part of the Neoproterozoic-Palaeozoic Maran Complex (Wilson and Reyes, 1964; Dalmayrac et al., 1980; Chew et al., 2007; Cardona et al., 2009; Carlotto et al., 2009). A thick sequence (w160 m) of basaltic volcanic rocks discordantly overlies the Maran Complex. Thin layers of shale and crossbedded sandstone intercalate 0e10 m thick basic lava ows. This unit outcrops locally at the base of the canyons on the eastern side of the studied area, e.g. along the Lauricocha River between Cauri and Jess. We think that this volcanic sequence is a local ow, called the Cauri volcanics (Scherrenberg and Jacay, 2006). It may correlate regionally with the Vijus Formation in the Pataz area, and probably with the volcanic members of the Ollantaytambo Formation in the Cuzco region, giving it a likely LowereMiddle Ordovician age. Discordantly overlying these volcanic rocks is a 150e200 m thick schist sequence of metamudstone intercalated by ne- to coarse-grained, cross-bedded metasandstone. It is only exposed locally above the Cauri volcanics. Regionally, we think that these rocks pinch out westward, and correlate with the graptolite bearing Contaya Formation (Newell and Tafur, 1943), suggesting that this unit reects a MiddleeUpper Ordovician marine transgression. 3.2. PalaeozoiceMesozoic sequences The base of the PalaeozoiceMesozoic sequence lies discordantly on the Maran Complex near Margos, but is missing from the

sections near Cauri and probably farther west. The Lower Palaeozoic to Lower Cretaceous section is well exposed in the canyon near Cauri, but lacking the unit that makes up the base of the PalaeozoiceMesozoic sequences (Fig. 4). Therefore, we suggest that this basal unit pinches out to the west. The rocks of this unit grade from muddy argillaceous sandstone and shale up to sandstone and conglomerate with thin lenses of coal (containing plant remains). An upper sequence of reworked tuffs completes the 200e300 m thickness of this group. The entire succession is exposed east of the uplifted block exposing the Maran Complex in the east of this study area. We interpret this lowermost sedimentary group to pinch out to the west, and to correlate stratigraphically with the Carboniferous (wMississippian) Ambo Group (Newell et al., 1953). An uncleaved succession, dominated by red beds, unconformably overlies the Maran Complex, Contaya Formation and Ambo Group. In the study area, its upper section consists of a thick sequence of red and grey, medium to ne sandstone, with angular clasts, shale and volcanic and pyroclastic intercalations, and mudcrack textures. The lower sequence is predominantly represented by thick intervals of conglomerate and/or breccia, containing clasts of quartz, phyllite, and schist, and volcanic rocks. Within the conglomerate, clasts of intrusive rocks, limestone, quartzite, and gneiss are less abundant. The matrix is a red muddy arkosic sandstone. We interpret this sedimentary succession to correlate with the Mitu Group (McLaughlin, 1924). These rocks are exposed in the eastern part of the study area, where the thickness of the group is highly variable, from approximately 1100 m near Margos to 800 m near Cauri to zero at other localities. These large variations in thickness occur predominantly across faults, clearly demonstrated in the valley south of Cauri (Fig. 4). The lower facies indicates continental alluvial fan deposits (with eastward ow), whereas the upper facies is associated with ood plain deposits. (Half-) grabens can control rapid uctuations in their thicknesses, and

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Fig. 3. Geological map of study area (revised from base maps of Cobbing and Snchez, 1996a,b; Cobbing and Garayar, 1998) showing the three locations of logging spread across two ancient sub-basins of the WPT (deep basin and shelf) separated by the Chonta fault (CF). Eye symbol shows view direction of cross-section CeC0 presented in Fig. 4.

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Fig. 4. Schematic cross section along the valley south of Cauri with photos (view toward W) showing large thickness changes in the Permian Mitu red beds (Ps-m) across faults. The faults that do not inuence the overlying Goyllarisquizga Group (Ki-g) were inactive during Early Cretaceous deposition. One fault also bounds the Contaya metasediments and Cauri volcanic rocks (depicting a pre-rift geometry), indicating that it had been active earlier. More thickness changes across growth faults in the Mitu Group can be found along this valley south of Cauri, and indicate a syn-depositional extensional tectonic regime. PE-cm: Maran Complex (part of metamorphic basement). (For interpretation of the references to color in this gure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

consequently indicate an extensional/rifting tectonic regime during the Permo-Triassic deposition of the Mitu Group. Concordantly overlying the Mitu Group is a brownish grey micritic limestone (ne facies) that is nely laminated, contains abundant quartz grains as well as fossils, and outcrops as large, thin, karstied lenses or patches. These ne facies alternate with thick horizons of slope breccia facies that comprise limestone clasts and a ne conglomeratic matrix. These rocks are exposed in the eastern part of the study area. Their thickness changes from ca. 130 m near Margos to 60 m near Cauri to zero west of Jess and at some other localities. These thickness changes are related to pinchouts and faults. The rocks represent supra-, inter- and subtidal processes, and we correlate them with the Chambar Formation (Harrison, 1943; Mgard, 1968) of the Upper Triassic e Lower Jurassic Pucar Group (McLaughlin, 1924). The two younger formations that complete this group, the dominant supercrustal sequence in the eastern Cordillera, are not exposed and most likely are not represented in the study area. Along the NW limb of the Margos Syncline (on the Jess-Margos road) is a thin (60e70 m) horizon of conglomeratic breccia with abundant milky quartz and rare limestone clasts, discordantly overlying the Chambar Formation. The breccia unit displays weak cross-bedding, and contains a white sandy-ne conglomeratic matrix. We think that these rocks represent alluvial fan deposits that are related to a brief period of erosion and tectonic quiescence in the Upper Jurassic. We rst discovered this unit outside the study

area at Huacaybamba Puente Copuma along the Maran River from whence the name Copuma breccia is derived. At this locality, the breccia overlies the Pucar Group discordantly and is discordantly overlain by the Goyllarisguizga sandstone. 3.3. Cretaceous sequences An alternating sequence of thin-bedded, sub-greywacke sandstone and carbonaceous shale associated with coal lenses occurs in the cores of the Andean anticlines in the western part of the study area, but appears to be completely absent in the eastern part. Its estimated thickness of >375 m is minimal because the base of this sequence is not exposed in the study area. We consider these rocks to represent swamp deposits of the basal Cretaceous Oyn Formation (Wilson, 1963) that only appear in central Peru. The earliest Cretaceous age of this formation is based on plant remains and its stratigraphic location relative to other better-dated units. A thick sequence dominated by sandstone discordantly overlies the limestone units of the Chambar Formation or the metamorphic rocks of the Maran Complex in the eastern part of the study area, and the shale/coal of the Oyn Formation in the western part of the study area. The dominantly sandstone sequence correlates with the Lower Cretaceous Goyllarisquizga Group (Wilson, 1963). The group shows a pronounced facies variation across the area. In the eastern half of the study area, the units are entirely sandstone dominated and the group is undifferentiated. In the

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western half, carbonate-rich units are intercalated into the sandstone sequences, and the group comprises four lithologically distinct units: the Chim, Santa, Carhuaz and Farrat Formations. From east to west, the thickness of the Goyllarisquizga Group changes from 600 to 1100 m in the Margos section, to w500e800 m in the Cauri section, and then to w2000 m in the western succession near Iscaycruz. In the eastern half of the area, we have divided the Goyllarisquizga Group into a lower unit that consists of white coarse to ne quartzitic sandstone with large (5e10 m) sets of cross-beds, and an upper unit that is represented by medium to ne quartzitic sandstone, light grey in colour, with distinctive medium to large (1e5 m scale) cross-bedding, and intercalated by thin red shale-like layers with mud cracks and load casts. We interpret the facies of the lower unit of this group as eolian to uvio-eolian, indicative of desert environments. The upper unit comprises uvial facies deposited in wide ood plains typical of littoral to distal deltaic systems. In the western half of the area, the basal unit of the Goyllarisquizga Group that discordantly overlies the Oyn Formation is a w600e900 m thick sandstone-dominated unit (Chim Formation). It can be subdivided into a basal sequence of w1 m thick layers of medium to coarse grained sandstone, intercalated by coal horizons and various coloured shale, overlain by >1 m thick beds of white orthoquartzite that form the middle and upper part of the unit. Cross-beds and wave ripples are prominent and indicate W, SW and S current directions. We interpret the Chim Formation (Benavides-Cceres, 1956) as a uvio-deltaic (transitional) system that had an eastern source area, probably in the eolian sandstone of the Brasilian and Guianan cratons. Dark grey, microgranular fossiliferous dolomitic limestone and marl alternations concordantly overlie the orthoquartzite of the Chim Formation. They have a thickness ranging from w100 m to 260 m across the western part of the study area and are absent in the east. These rocks and their stratigraphic position are typical of the Santa Formation (Benavides-Cceres, 1956) in central Peru. Based on fossil content and sedimentary textures, we interpret its depositional environment as transitional, with brackish conditions near the shoreface, displaying oolitic tidal facies. This formation represents a high concentration of maximum transgressive sea levels in Valanginian times. A w400e800 m thick sequence of fossiliferous (plant remains) shale and marl intercalated by ne-medium grained, reddish to violet sandstone with aser-bedding and cross-bedding of the Carhuaz Formation (Benavides-Cceres, 1956) overlie the Santa Formation limestone concordantly, and only occur in the western part of the study area. Some fossils are characteristic of brackish conditions, such as coastal marsh environments that incur sporadic shallow marine transgressions as indicated by the occasional gypsum and oolitic limestone, bivalve trigoniidae, gastropoda, bioclastic limestone, and dinosaur tracks (in the Huallanca region). Consequently, we interpret the Carhuaz Formation as being deposited in a tidal at environment, which coincides with the end of the Valanginian transgression, represented by the Santa Formation. The Carhuaz Formation is overlain concordantly by a sequence of 0.1e1 m thick beds of orthoquartzitic sandstone that display red patina, common cross-beds and ripple-marks, and are intercalated by 1e10 cm thick layers of ne organic-rich marl. This unit may correlate with the Farrat Formation (Stappenbeck, 1929; Wilson, 1963), and is the uppermost part of the Goyllarisquizga Group in the western part of the study area. Rare, poorly preserved plant remains and ripple-marks in the sandy marl horizons indicate a uvial-deltaic depositional environment. The Pariahuanca Formation (Benavides-Cceres, 1956) is exposed as a yellow-beige sequence containing thin layers (up to

0.5 m thick) of ne sandstone with a calcareous matrix. It displays ripple-marks, aser bedding, and cross bedding, concordantly overlies the Goyllarisquizga Group, and appears as lenses in both the eastern and western parts of the study area. The Pariahuanca Formation generally thins eastward (w200 m near Iscaycruz to w60 m near Cauri), but shows a slight increase in thickness between Cauri and Margos (w100 m). The facies and textures are typical of foreshore environments, and farther east may even change into continental facies (perhaps across a fault) (Palacios et al., 1995). A sequence composed of 0.5e1 m thick, light grey-bluish (sandy) limestone layers, local sandstone, and calcareous shale, containing sporadic ne algal laminations and lenses of breccia and chert, concordantly overlies the Pariahuanca Formation, and gradually thickens westward from w100 m at Margos to w300 m at Cauri. The sequence splits into two distinguishable units near Iscaycruz and in the western half of the study area. Its fossil content is abundant, and represented by numerous bivalves, pelecypods, ostreidae and ammonites. Oolitic limestone with echinoderm remains intercalates with the limestone layers, of which some have a strong hydrocarbon odour. Facies and rhythmic sequences observed in the lower part of the unit indicate an external platform environment, but toward the top, its textures and structures indicate a shallower, more energetic setting. This unit marks the change from a transitional environment with dominant continental inux into deeper marine. It corresponds to the Crisnejas Formation (Benavides-Cceres, 1956), and is equivalent to the thicker Chulec and Pariatambo formations combined in the western part of the study area. The equivalent rocks, which concordantly overly the Pariahuanca Formation in the western part of the study area, constitute a w200 m thick sequence of clear grey marl and limestone that is fossil-rich. We think that these rocks represent the Chulec Formation (McLaughlin, 1924; Benavides-Cceres, 1956). The lower twothirds of this unit consists generally of thick limestone beds, whilst the upper part mainly comprises shaley and sandy marl intercalated by limestone. This sequence represents a depositional environment associated with an open platform to the west, several transgressive episodes, ammonite-rich fauna, and a period of moderate subsidence. Alternating beds of thin grey limestone with dark grey marlyshale (totalling w150e250 m in thickness) concordantly overlie the Chulec Formation limestone. Fossils are abundant from base to top, and chert nodules mark the top. We interpret this as the Pariatambo Formation (McLaughlin, 1924; Benavides-Cceres, 1956). Its overall lithology indicates anoxic conditions that provided bituminous facies. During this time, local oceanic-upwelling was associated with global eustatic sea-level changes and bituminous facies were deposited in an anoxic environment. Thick limestone sequences concordantly overlie the western Pariatambo and eastern Crisnejas Formations, and can be divided into three common subsequences: (1) the lower unit, comprising thin to medium beds (0.5e1 m thick) of limestone intercalated by black marl and chert, and locally, at the base of the sequence, by basalt; (2) the middle unit, representing thick limestone beds, occasionally associated with syn-sedimentary slumping; and (3) the upper unit, consisting of thin tabular limestone beds alternating with black marl. A section (5e10 m thick) of black marl, observed all over the region, characterises the middle-upper boundary. Another characteristic of this formation includes the presence of several layers with a strong hydrocarbon smell, bioturbation, oolites, and several ammonite species, including Llyelliceras ulrichi, Parengonoceras cf P.haasi, Manuaniceras Peruvianum multidum, Mortoniceras sp. and Parengonoceras aff. pernodosum. We interpret these rocks as the Jumasha Formation (McLaughlin, 1924), which is

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thought to have a variable thickness (e.g. Wilson, 1963). Our thickness estimates of this limestone sequence show an apparent east to west thickening from Margos (w1000 m) through Cauri (w1500 m) to Iscaycruz (>2000 m). The top of the sequence at the latter two localities is not present, so the thickness is underestimated. Based on the faunal diversity in the study area, this formation developed in an epicontinental carbonate platform, where an open, shallow platform was associated with submarine bars of oolitic sand, distinct layers of ammonites and moderate to strong bioturbation. Intercalations of hydrocarbon-rich rocks with no fossils demonstrate eustatic sea-level variations ranging up to maximum transgressive sea-level stands. The observed ammonite species indicate a middle/late Albian to late Turonian age for the Jumasha Formation, which is similar to previously published biostratigraphic ages (Benavides-Cceres, 1956; Von Hillebrandt, 1970; Romani, 1982; Jaillard, 1986). A thin (up to 120 m thick) unit concordantly overlies the Jumasha Formation and comprises a progressively thinning sequence of grey to greenish blue limestone, marl and gypsum. Its fossil content includes several species of echinoderm, bivalves, invertebrate remains (annelids), and rare pectinids. This represents the Celendn Formation (Benavides-Cceres, 1956). Although this formation appeared absent in the western part of the study area, we observed sh teeth and scales in some levels of the eastern part of the study area. The evaporites and annelids indicate a Sabkha depositional environment that evolved into a slightly deeper water environment westward, where ammonites occurred. The faunal content of the Celendn Formation, combined with a regional correlation to equivalent units in northern Peru, indicate a Coniacian-Santonian age, perhaps ranging up to the early Campanian. 3.4. Cretaceous-Palaeogene foreland sequence The appearance of widespread red beds marks a transition into completely terrestrial sequences that are broadly coeval with the initiation of Andean orogenesis. In the study area, the Casapalca Formation (McLaughlin, 1924) is characterised by red, cross-bedded and graded sandstone, alternating with mica-poor red shale. At the base of the formation, calcareous marl with colours ranging from greenish to reddish-purple indicates sporadic marine incursions in a tidal at environment. Toward the top, sporadic ood plain and abundant alluvial fan deposits, including thick uvial sequences of braided channels, dominate the sequence. The prominent cross beds indicate NE current directions near Margos and WSW directions near Lauricocha. To the east, the Casapalca Formation overlies the Celendn Formation disconformably and is quite widespread. In the west, it is only preserved in the cores of synclines paralleled by thrust faults. Its map pattern indicates foreland depocentres east of the paralleling fault traces. Its thickness is unknown due to the absence of a concordantly overlying sequence. Age estimates for the unconformably overlying Calipuy volcanics (see below) indicate a minimum Palaeocene age for the red beds. 3.5. PalaeogeneeNeogene volcanic arc sequences Discrete bodies of andesitic-rhyolitic volcanic rocks unconformably overly the folded Cretaceous-lower Palaeogene sequences throughout the area. These volcanic rocks not only preserve a record of arc activity across this continental margin, but also provide minimum age constraints on tectonic events within the broader Andean Orogeny. The rocks unconformably overly the strongly folded Cretaceous sequence, but some are themselves broadly folded, thus providing evidence for younger deformation. Typically, conglomerates at the base of the volcanic sequence are overlain by a thick series (>500 m) of broadly folded andesitic

pyroclastic, breccia and lava ows overlain slightly discordantly by a thick sequence of unfolded lithied ash-ow tuffs (ignimbrites). This sequence is typical of the Calipuy Group (Cobbing et al., 1981). Facies and thickness variations in the andesitic and pyroclastic ows (which are associated with minor discordances) indicate different volcanic centres. We observed various dykes and sills in the study area, of which some could represent subvolcanic conduits of these volcanic rocks. 4. Discussion 4.1. Stratigraphic correlations across the study area Fig. 5 shows the age, thickness and stratigraphic relationships of the Mesozoic formations in the western part of the study area (from the Iscaycruz section), and their correlation with the Palaeozoic to Mesozoic formations in the eastern parts of the study area (Cauri and Margos sections). The Maran Complex, Mitu Group and Chambar Formation are thought to underlie (most of) the western part, whereas the other units appear to pinch out in the east. The Maran Complex is suggested to represent the basement of the central and northern Peruvian Andes (e.g. Mgard, 1987b), and is therefore presumed to form part of the substratum of the western part of the study area. The Mitu Group and Chambar Formation rocks are not exposed in the western part of the study area, but can be observed in the area of Cauri and Margos. The observed eastward disappearance of the basal Cretaceous Oyn shale unit, and the distinct facies changes and thinning of the Goyllarisquizga Group from west to east in the study area, conrm earlier suggestions that the Lower Cretaceous sedimentary cover of the WPT is characterised by east-west thickness variations and facies changes (Wilson, 1963). However, the change observed here occurs across a reverse fault, the Chonta Fault (CF), well inside the MFTB and not along the western or eastern margins. This fault does not coincide with the proposed boundary position of Wilson (1963) that supposedly separates the WPT into a marginal trough in the west and the slope to the Maran High (back-arc basin in Fig. 1) in the east, nor with the proposed boundary of Romero (2008) and Carlotto et al. (2009) that supposedly separates a structural high to the east and basin to the west. The question then becomes whether the WPT has any other major boundaries that divide it into additional sub-basins. The change in the Upper Cretaceous and uppermost Lower Cretaceous units across the area is recognised by thickness variations across faults and in facies changes within two units. Primarily, the thinner mixed facies of the Crisnejas Formation in the east become the clearly distinguishable middle Albian Chulec limestone and Pariatambo shale Formations in the west, with the Chonta Fault marking the boundary zone. The Pariahuanca Formation, however, is thinning to the east, and is suggested to show an eastward facies change from transitional to continental (Palacios et al., 1995). This change could be across the Chonta Fault, but this has not been clearly observed by us. Additionally, the lower Upper Cretaceous Jumasha Formation clearly shows a westward thickness increase across the Chonta Fault. Facies changes are less distinct, although further subdivision of this unit into subunits, as done in northern Peru (Fig. 2), could lead to better lateral facies distinction. The Upper Cretaceous Celendn Formation does not extend into the western area. This could be the result of erosion, but could also be related to the onset of the Andean Orogeny, which presumably uplifted the tectonic block west of the Chonta Fault above sea level. This scenario could explain the absence of the Celendn marl horizons in the western part. The facies changes in the Celendn Formation in the eastern part of the study area, from limestone through marl to gypsum, indicate desiccation of the eastern block

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Fig. 5. Stratigraphic columns, showing the age, thickness (in metres) and stratigraphic relationships of Mesozoic formations in the western part of the study area (from the Iscaycruz section), and their correlation with the Palaeozoic to Mesozoic formations in the eastern parts of the study area (Cauri and Margos sections). An overall SW-ward thickness increase is apparent in the Cretaceous sedimentary rocks, and distinct facies changes occur between the Cauri and Iscaycruz columns. Note that the horizontal grain size scale does not apply to the limestone units. F, ne grained; M, medium grained; C, coarse grained; V, very coarse grained; P, pebble size; Cb, cobble size.

due to either very slow uplift or a drop in sea level. This difference in uplift rate between the eastern and western tectonic blocks explains why Campanian to Neogene foreland red beds are found only in the eastern part of the study area. The Casapalca Formation red beds also only persist as far as the Chonta Fault. Beyond that boundary, the Jumasha is the youngest exposed unit of the Cretaceous sequence. Similarly to the Celendn Formation, it may have been present in the west but removed by erosion. Except of the Celendn Formation, the Casapalca Formation is the earliest unit that shows evidence of syn-deformational deposition, with the establishment of foreland-like depocentres. It is unlikely that such foreland systems would persist much farther west beyond the Chonta Fault. The incorporation of these red beds into the subsequent thin-skinned fold-thrust belt implies an eastward stepping of the deformation front into the foreland system, masking the original westward margin of that depositional system.

4.2. Fault architecture and basement involvement The Chonta Fault is a major boundary within the study area of the MFTB that not only separates the Cretaceous sedimentary wedge into thicker western and thinner eastern facies, but also penetrates the Palaeozoic units. This provides insight into its architecture and suggests that the fault is basement-involved. In the context of this discussion, the term basement has two meanings. All rocks below the major unconformity at the base of the Cretaceous sequences (base of Oyn Fm in the west and base of the Goyllarisguizga Group in the eastern part) are the stratigraphic basement to the Cretaceous WPT (Mgard, 1984; Vicente, 1989). These basement rocks include the Lower Palaeozoic metamorphic rocks, and a relatively thin supercrustal sequence of CarboniferousJurassic sedimentary rocks. To the northwest, just outside the main study area, rocks of the Mitu Group red beds have been observed,

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Fig. 6. Block diagram showing the palaeogeography of central Peru during the Late Cretaceous (revised from Mgard, 1987b; Marocco, 1987; Jacay, 1992) and a schematic crosssection of the eastern basins of the WPT illustrating in more detail the basin structure. The latter shows the facies and thickness changes across the Chonta Fault, eastward tilting of the sub-basins, stratigraphic thinning on the shoulder of the half-graben, and increasing bed dips with depth. The absence of the Celendn and Casapalca Formations to the west of the Chonta Fault may be due to erosion or may be the effect of the build up of sufcient relief. The thickness and type of facies at depth in both sub-basins can vary, as well as the thickness of units to the east and west of the Chonta Fault, which is marked by the question marks. Arrows on either side of the schematic cross-section indicate two of the prominent facies changes. sb, stratigraphic basement.

folded together with the Cretaceous sequence. This suggests that even though the basal Cretaceous Oyon shales were thought to represent the main dcollement level for the thin-skinned FTB (e.g. Wilson et al., 1967), a deeper basal detachment may be present in the Palaeozoic sequences. Tectonically, the basement to the thinskinned FTB represents the rocks beneath the basement detachment, and these are dominantly metamorphic rocks (although locally may include some of the Carboniferous-Jurassic sedimentary rocks). The facies/thickness boundary described here (cf. Chonta Fault) could reect a long-lived intrabasinal structure. Such a structure may have extended into the metamorphic basement and reactivated as a basin structure through multiple basin-forming events. The same boundary also corresponds to a major change in deformation style across the MFTB (Mgard, 1987b; Scherrenberg, 2008), further reinforcing the fundamental nature and likely basement involvement of the controlling structure. The Chonta Fault, the present-day expression of the structure, is a steeply dipping reverse fault, which we interpret as an inverted normal fault.

The pattern of thickness variation across the Chonta Fault provides a constraint on the likely geometry of the postulated basin fault. Units are consistently thickest west of the boundary. On the eastern side, units are thinnest close to the boundary (in the Cauri section) and thicken away from the boundary (Margos section). These observations are consistent with a half-graben geometry, with the graben oors tilted to the east (Fig. 6). In addition to its Permian precursor, the Chonta Fault must have persisted as a growth fault throughout much of the history of the Cretaceous basin. 4.3. Basin reconstruction of the central MFTB Fig. 6 shows a schematic reconstruction of the main tectonic elements in central Peru during the Late Cretaceous with an emphasis on the back-arc basin of the WPT. The reconstruction shows distinct facies changes and thickness variations in the Lower Cretaceous sedimentary cover of the MFTB, conrming the relationship to a basement-involved fault that divides the FTB into two

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parts (Mgard, 1987b). The stratigraphic relationships suggest that the growth fault was active from the early Permian until at least the latest Cretaceous and probably up to the Neogene. Most importantly, Fig. 6 illustrates schematically the distinct facies changes and thickness variations in the Permian to Neogene rocks. The abrupt change occurs across a major reverse fault inside the MFTB (as suggested by Mgard, 1987b). This fault has experienced a complex kinematic history. It was active as a normal fault during basin formation, and was subsequently inverted during the development of the MFTB (Fig. 1c). In addition, local slickenlines on the fault indicate a (local) strike-slip component. The episodic activity of this fault is further expressed in the stratigraphic unconformities (Fig. 5), which we attribute to temporal changes in the geodynamic setting, such as plate realignments, changes in convergence rates and ridge subduction. 5. Conclusions A major boundary exists within the MFTB, across which stratigraphic units show distinct facies and thickness changes. These changes are observed within a large section, from the Permian Mitu Group to at least the Upper Cretaceous Jumasha Formation. The most pronounced variations are found in the lower units (Oyn Fm, Goyllarisquizga Group, Crisnejas-Chulec-Pariatambo Fm) and one upper unit (Jumasha Fm) of the Cretaceous basin. The boundary corresponds to a prominent reverse fault, the Chonta Fault, within the MFTB. The Chonta Fault is a long-lived intrabasinal structure, which extends into the (metamorphic) basement and reactivated as a basin structure through multiple basin-forming events. At present, the Chonta Fault is a steeply dipping reverse fault representing an inverted normal fault. The architecture of the Chonta Fault depicts a half-graben geometry, with the graben oors tilted to the east (Fig. 6). The pattern of thickness variation across the fault is thickest west of the boundary, while eastward it is thinnest close to the boundary (in the Cauri section) and thickens away from the boundary (Margos section). Besides its Permian precursor, the Chonta Fault persisted as a growth fault throughout much of the history of the Cretaceous basin. We conclude that during most of the Cretaceous, the WPT was divided into three sectors: an intra-arc trough, a deep basin and a platform/shelf. This basin architecture provides insight into the inherited structural framework of the Andean Orogeny in central Peru. Acknowledgements AngloGold Ashanti Ltd Pty is thanked for their generous nancial and logistical support. References
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