Caleta Herradura Formation Explained

Caleta Herradura Formation
Type:	Geological formation
Period:	Messinian
Age:	Late Miocene-Pliocene (Montehermosan)
Prilithology:	Sandstone, sandy mudstone, breccia, conglomerate
Otherlithology:	Diatomite
Namedfor:	Caleta Herradura Chica
Region:	Antofagasta Region
Coordinates:	-23.4°N -70.5°W
Paleocoordinates:	-23.5°N -69.8°W
Underlies:	La Portada Formation
Overlies:	Jorgino Formation
Thickness:	380m (1,250feet)
Extent:	Mejillones Peninsula

Caleta Herradura Formation (Spanish; Castilian: Formación Caleta Herradura) is a geologic formation of Late Miocene (Montehermosan) age, cropping out on the Mejillones Peninsula in northern Chile. The erosion at the Coastal Cliff of northern Chile have created particularly good exposures of Caleta Herradura Formation. The formation deposited in a half graben within Mejillones Peninsula. The formation rests nonconformably on the Jorgino Formation.^[1]

Fossil content

The following fossils have been found in the formation:

Group	Fossils	class=unsortable	Notes
Mammals
Birds	Spheniscus chilensis, Milvago sp., Phalacrocorax sp.
Fish

See also

• Cerro Ballena
• Coquimbo Formation
• Navidad Formation
• Pisco Formation

Further reading

• S. D. Emslie and C. G. Correa. 2003. A new species of penguin (Spheniscidae: Spheniscus) and other birds from the late Pliocene of Chile. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 116(2):308-316

Notes and References

1. Di Celma . Claudio . Cantalamessa . Gino . 2007 . Sedimentology and high-frequency sequence stratigraphy of a forearc extensional basin: The Miocene Caleta Herradura Formation, Mejillones Peninsula, northern Chile . . 198 . 1–2 . 29–52 . 10.1016/j.sedgeo.2006.11.003. 2007SedG..198...29D .