Cura-Mallín Group
Cura-Mallín Group (Spanish: Grupo Cura-Mallín) is a heterogeneous group of volcano-sedimentary formations of Oligocene-Miocene age, Colhuehuapian to Laventan in the SALMA classification, in south-central Chile and nearby parts of Argentina. The sediments belonging to the group were deposited in a lacustrine environment and alongside rivers in an intra-arc basin. Southeast of Laguna del Laja Cura-Mallín Group has a thickness of more than 1,800 metres (5,900 ft). The sediments making up the group deposited in an interval between 22 and 8 million years ago.
| Cura-Mallín Group | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: Upper Oligocene–Middle Miocene Colhuehuapian-Laventan (SALMA) | |
| Type | Geological group |
| Unit of | Cura-Mallín Basin Neuquén Basin |
| Sub-units | Various schemes, see text |
| Underlies | Cajón Negro Formation Trapa Trapa Formation |
| Overlies | Cretaceous granitoids Jurassic sediments |
| Thickness | >1,800 m (5,900 ft) |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | Sandstone, siltstone, shale, breccia, andesite lava |
| Other | Grainstone |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 37.7°S 71.2°W |
| Approximate paleocoordinates | 38.3°S 66.4°W |
| Region | Araucanía & Bío Bío Regions Neuquén Province |
| Country | Chile Argentina |
| Type section | |
| Named for | Mallín |
Cura-Mallín Group (Chile) | |
The outcrops of Cura-Mallín Group are found along a north-south elongate area. The group is considered an equivalent of Abanico Formation, either as a southern extension or as a lateral equivalent of that formation.