Bottomset and foreset sedimentary processes in the mixed carbonate-siliciclastic Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous Vaca Muerta Formation, Picún Leufú Area, Argentina

PAZ, MAXIMILIANO; PONCE, J.J.; BUATOIS, L.A.; MÁNGANO, M.G.; CARMONA, N.B.; PEREIRA EGBERTO; DESJARDINS, P.,

SEDIMENTARY GEOLOGY

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2019 vol. 389 p. 161 - 185

0037-0738

The Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous Vaca Muerta Formation at the Picún Leufú area constitutes bottomset andforesetmarine deposits comprising open bay, siliciclastic basin and mixed carbonate-siliciclastic shelf facies. Detailedsedimentological, ichnological and sequence stratigraphic analysis of six stratigraphic sections allows establishingtwo depositional sequences. Depositional Sequence 1 (DS1) begins with lowstand eolian depositsincluded in the Quebrada del Sapo Formation, and continues with thin, retrograding, transgressive open bay faciesof the VacaMuerta Formation encompassing coastal sand sheet and dune, marginal marine, bay margin anddistal bay facies. Above the transgressive deposits, the regressive hemicycle of DS1 consists of bottomset depositsrepresenting a siliciclastic basin facies association. Lobe and lobe fringe hyperpycnal flow sedimentation alternatedwithhemipelagic basinal deposition in an oxygen-deficient environment. A relative sea-level fall generateda sequence boundary, which coincides with an angular unconformity that marks the base of DepositionalSequence 2 (DS2). This sea-level fall triggered the formation of an extensive lowstand channel-fill and lobe complexat the base of the slope, followed by retrogradational lobe facies during the subsequent transgression. Theregressive hemicycle of DS2 represents foreset mixed carbonate-siliciclastic shelf facies, forming a slope mudbelt and slope sand bodies.Near the top, sedimentation in a foreset-topset transition resulted in the accumulationof bioturbated mixed slope and sandy shoal deposits. Sand bars and lagoonal facies occur on top of all sectionsand are truncated by a sequence boundary. The combined analysis provides insights into the sedimentary processesaffecting bottomset and foreset deposition, underscoring the role of wave-influenced hyperpycnalflows, and the effect on organic matter dilution in one of the most important unconventional reservoirs fromArgentina.