SYSTEMATIC PALEONTOLOGY OF PLANT REMAINS PALEOBOTANY FROM THE AGUA DE LA ZORRA FORMATION (UPPER TRIASSIC) MENDOZA, ARGENTINA

PEDERNERA, TOMÁS; BENAVENTE, CECILIA ANDREA; MANCUSO, ADRIANA CECILIA; OTTONE, EDUARDO GUILLERMO

Simposio; XVII Simposio Argentino de Paleobotánica y Palinología; 2018

The Triassic Cacheuta Group crops out in the North-west of Mendoza Province and includes,from base to top, four units: Paramillos, Agua de la Zorra, PortezueloBayo and Los Colorados formations. The Agua de la Zorra Formation is dominated by bituminous shales and marls,and subordinatedintercalations of fine-grained sandstones and mudstones.Few levels of peperitic and olivine basaltsare interbedded in the shale facies.The depositional system is interpreted as fluvio-lacustrine with episodic subaqueous incursions of lava. The age of this unit was referred to the Middle to Late Triassic. The aim of this contribution is to discussthe new plant material found in the Agua de la Zorra Formation from a systematic and taxonomicpoint of view. The remains of plant megafossils plants were collected systematically throughout the section at Paramillos de Uspallata locality. We found remains assignedPlant remains were referred to 16 species, included in six taxonomic groups and one insertaesedis taxataxon. Equisetaceae (Neocalamites sp.), Osmundaceae (Cladophlebismesozoicaand C. mendozaensis.), Corystospermales (Dicroidiumargentum, D. crassum,D. odontopteriode,Johnstoniacoriacea, J. sterlzeriana, Xylopterisargentina,X.elongataAndZuberiafeistmanteliand Z. zuberi), Cycadales(Taeniopteris sp.), Ginkgoales (Sphenobaiera sp.), Voltziales (Heidiphyllum elongatum), Podocarpaceae (Rissikia media), and I.S.leafs, Lingufoliumsp cf. L. patagonicum were recognized. The material presented studied herein increases in 12 taxa the existingrecord enriching our knowledge of the Upper Triassic paleoflora communities of the Agua de la Zorra Formation.