BULLETIN OF THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF PETROLEUM GEOLOGISTS VOL. 87, NO. 10 (OCTOBER, 1953), PP. 2503-2347, 7 FIGS. OIL EXPLORATIONS IN THE ORIENTE OF ECUADOR, 1938-1950" H, J. TSCHOPP Basel, Switzerland ABSTRACT ‘The Ecuadorian Oriente, a sparsely inhabited and badly accessible jungle area east of the Andes, covering nearly 100,000 sq. km., is part of the broad foreland belt which spreads between the Andean Cordilleras and the Brazilian shield. The Ecuadorian part of this foreland represents an asymmetric sedimentary basin filled with 324~r,000 meters of mostly marine Cretaceous and up to 4,500 meters ‘Tertiary deposits in brackish- and fresh-water facies. The line of greatest basinal depth extencls 80-100 km. east of the Andes. East of this line the thickness of the Cretaccous-Tertiary column decreases gradually toward the rising pre-Cretaccous basement and in the same time important facies changes fake place. The basin deepens from north to south, The pre-Cretaceous basement is well exposed in the Cutucé Mountains of the southwestern Oriente and consists there of at least 1,400 meters of marine Paleozoic rocks, 1,500 meters of marine Lower Jurassic, and 2,300 meters brackish to continental Middle to Upper jurassic. The line of greatest basinal depth separates two structural provinces: on the west the sub- Andean zone of foothill folds culminating in the Napo and Cutucd uplifts; on the east the Yasuni- Lorocachi trend of low basement ridges on the eastward rising Brazilian shield, The pre-Cretaceous substratum has been affected by Paleozoic and Jurassic folding (the latter along north-south trends, ancestral Andes), as evidenced by overlaps and angular unconformities at the base of the Pennsy! vanian, of the Middle to Upper Jurassic, and of the Cretaceous. The folds and uplifts in the sub- Andean zone of the Cretaceous-Tertiary basin are the result of the post-Miocene Andean orogeny with a slight precursory warping near the end of Cretaceous time and weak posthumous movements, in Quaternary time. The various terraces of Mesa fan deposits, contemporaneous with a climax of voléanism in the Andes, are post-orogenic, but suggest a possible epeirogenic uplift of the Andes to the extent of 1,000 meters or more. ‘The occurrence of the bituminous Napo formation (Albian-Coniacian) throughout the whole sub-Andean foreland, together with favorable reservoir rock and structural conditions, led to drilling on five foothill anticlines and on one of the fault structures on the Yasuni-Lorocachi trend. The tests, resulted in negligible quantities of heavy oil or produced only water with of without a scum of tarry oil. Most of the reservoie rocks had been fushed by fresh water IytRopuction Location?—The area described covers the so-called Oriente of Ecuador, that is, the entire area east of the Andes which is limited on the north by the Colom- bian frontier along the upper San Miguel and the Putumayo River, and on the east and south by the international boundary with Peru. This whole jungle- covered expanse is drained by large tributaries of the Amazonas River and thus virtually belongs to the great upper Amazon basin, 1 Manuscript received, February 16, 1953. This paper is published with the permission of the Royal Dutch Shell group and of the Standard Oil Company (N. J.).. * Former geologist of the Royal Dutch Shell group and general manager of The Shell Company of Ecuador Ltd., 1939-947. The paper is based on the results of geological field work between 1938 and 1948 by L, Dorsman, J. J. Dozy, K. Habicht, H. A. Haus, P. Hess, K. T. Goldschmid, J. U. Kappeler, L. Kehrer, V. Oppenheim, H. E. Parsons, E, Rod; photogeology shiely by JJ. Dozy and L. W. Walpole; paleontology by Hf. Baggelaar, W. A. v. d. Bold, M. Breistroffer, J. Brouwer, U. Haanstra; heavy minerals by B. L. M. Garreau and H. C. A. Swolls; gravity survey by L. Adler, €. Bokhorst, A. M. Th, Italiaander, J. Schipper, C. J. v. d, Werff; seismic survey by J. J. Augustijn, HL. Gregory, V. A. Olhovich, and G. L. Barksdale and G. M. Ratliff, both of Petty’ Geophysical Company; oil engineering by R. I. Baker, R. F. Madera, P. H, Schoute. 3 For geographic details such as localities and rivers, see Mp of Hispanic America, Iquitos Sheet. Seale, 131,000,000. Amer. Geogr. Soc., New York, 23032304 Pe Geologically the Oriente region is a part of the broad foreland filled with Cre~ taceous-Tertiary sediments which spreads between the Andean Cordilleras and the Brazilian shield. The discovery of prolific oil fields in this belt in Eastern Venezuela led to great expenditure for oil exploration in the continuation of this area toward the south, for example, in the Oriente of Ecuador. The first company to explore in Eastern Ecuador was the Leonard Explora- tion Company which acquired in r921 a concession over approximately one third of the sub-Andean zone from the Sumaco volcano south to the latitude of Macas. In 1937 The Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Company Ltd. applied for a concession over the whole of the Oriente (excepting a ro-kilometer-broad boundary strip), com- prising about 100,000 sq.km. The concession was granted on August 9, 1937. By the Rio de Janeiro Agreement of January 29, 1942, between Ecuador and Peru, the boundaries of the Oriente were modified. Of the original concession an area of 83,456 sq.km. remained, half of which was redeemed in 1948. In December, 1948, Esso Standard Oil Company (Ecuador) S.A. joined ‘The Shell Company of Ecuador Ltd. in the Oriente venture which, in the absence of commercial produc- tion, was terminated in 1950. Access-—When Shell started operations in 1938 the Oriente was accessible from the high intermontane plateau of Ecuador by means of some mule trails across the eastern ranges of the Andes, or through the Pastaza valley to Mera, This latter was the shorter route, as the Leonard Exploration Company had be- gun to build an automobile road to and down the Pastaza valley from Ambato, a town on the high plateau, to Rio Verde, whence construction had been continued by the Ecuadorian Government to within a 10 hours’ mule trip from Mera. Be- yond the villages of Napo, Puyo, Macas, and Mendez all travel through the vast jungle area had to be done on foot or in dugouts. In order to carry out an extensive program of aerial, geological, and geo- physical surveys, Shell started in 1938 the construction of a base camp with land- ing field at Shell-Mera, 8 km. southeast of Mera, During the subseques five other landing strips were built near Vuano, Macuma, Cangaime, ‘Tiputini, and Villano, Until 1943 supplies and equipment had to be transported by Indian carriers across the mountain passes, or by mules to Shell-Mera to which the Ecuadorian Government had in the meantime extended the automobile road down the Pastaza valley, beyond which all transport was extremely slow and entirely dependent on the few porters and dugouts available. However, the steady flow of materials after the war enabled the whole operation to become air- borne. Construction crews and field parties were supplied by amphibian planes or parachute drops, and thousands of tons of drilling machinery, casing, fuel, and food supplies were transported by more than a dozen small and big air- freighters to the various drilling sites. This was the first and largest 100 per cent airborne operation of its kind in the history of the oil industry. Methods of survey—An aerial survey carried out by Fairchild Aerial Surveys Inc. covered in two stages a total of 33,000 sq.km. across the foothill belt and partOIL EXPLORATIONS IN THE ORIENTE OF ECUADOR 2305 of the Central Oriente, The aerial map was tied to a net of astronomic points which also provided fixes for geological and geophysical surveys outside the photo- graphed areas. While the photogeological interpretation of the aerial photographs was being followed in the Western Oriente by geological field work, other field parties extended the geological reconnaissance along the bigger rivers of the East- ern Oriente. At the same time a gravimetric survey was carried through the whole of the concession. When it was found that in the Eastern Oriente the gravimeter did not give conclusive results, the geophysical survey was changed to seismic work. Previous work.—The first scientific explorer of the Oriente was Manuel Vil- lavicencio (1858) who mentions the occurrence of brea (asphalt) in the Hollin River, and salt-water springs in the Cordillera de Cutucd. Other travellers before and aiter Villavicencio crossed the Oriente only along its easiest route, the Napo River, and recorded no or only few observations of geologic interest (Orton, 1868). It was not until 1921 and 1927-1928 when Theron Wasson and J. H. Sin- clair in the employ of the Leonard Exploration Company investigated the area of Baeza-Coca-Macas-Canelos that the presence of the Cretaceous (Wasson and Sinclair, 1923, 1927) and the petrography of the underlying Misahualli (Colony and Sinclair, r928) became published knowledge. PiystoGRAPHY Topography—The region east of the Andean escarpment, the Oriente of Ecuador, is sharply divided into two morphologically distinct areas: (t) the Western Oriente comprising the sub-Andean zone of hills and mountains with in- tervening plains above the goo-meter level and (2) the Eastern Oriente consisting of lowlands which gradually slope downward to less than 200 m. near the eastern frontier with Peru. The division between the two is morphologically expressed by prominent west-facing strike ridges which extend from the bend of the Coca River, southeast of Cerro Lumbaqui, southward to the Napo River north of Vuano, whence they shift east of Vuano. Thence these strike ridges continue in a smoothly curved line to the Villano, Bobonaza, and Pastaza rivers, disappearing south of Cangaime. This division between West and East Oriente coincides with a regional flexure or steep flank which will be referred to under “Structure.” The two principal topographic features of the sub-Andean area are: in the north the broad and smooth Serrania de Napo (Napo uplift) topped by the Sumaco volcano, 3,900 m. high, and in the south the mountain ranges of the ierra de Cutucd which from elevations of about 1,400 m. in the north rise to more than 2,000 m. in the south. Serrania del Napo and Cordillera de Cutucé. are vestiges of the extensive eastern Cordillera system of Colombia and Peru. ‘The depression between the Napo and Cutucé upliits is typical Mesa country showing various levels bounded by abrupt cliffs 50-100 m. high. Where the Mesa is sufficiently removed, the underlying Tertiary formations appear in well de- fined dip slopes so that the principal structural trends can be outlined by a few reconnaissance flights,2306 H. J. TSCHOPP The topography of the Eastern Oriente between the broad swampy flood plains of the main rivers is low and rolling to slightly hilly. Drainage.—The drainage is chiefly controlled by the Napo and Pastaza river systems which converge from the depression between the Napo and Cutuct up- liits toward the northeast, east, and southeast. This fan-shaped convergence dates back to an ancestral river system responsible for the similarly spread Mesa fan. ‘The Napo and Pastaza are rejuvenated rivers depositing gravel approximately as far as Long. 77° W. Farther east the gradient of the Napo River lowers to an average of about 0.337 m. per km. between the Coca River and Tiputini In contrast to the Napo and Pastaza the Curaray River and its main tribu- east of Long. 77° are highly matured. The Curaray meanders in a broad swampy flood plain accompanied by numerous meander scars and oxbow lakes, and reaches the lowest elevation of the Oriente (180 m.) near the Peruvian border. Climate and population—The air temperature is not excessive in the Oriente and ranges from 20°C. in the morning to about 32°C. in the afternoon. The rain- fall which is highest just along the Andean escarpment (ycarly rainfall, 5,000 6,000 mm.) diminishes to about 3,000-4,000 mm. within the first 30 km. east of the Andes and is still much less near the eastern border with Pera. No real dry season exists, but a period of less rainfall occurs commonly from November to January. The population of this area of more than 80,000 sq. km. of tropical rain-forest is extremely thin and hardly exceeds 1 person per 2 sq.km. White settlers are few and segregated in small villages scattered along the Andean escarpment. The principal tribes of the Indian population are: Jumbos living along the Napo and Bobonaza rivers; Jibaroz, gathered in small warfaring tribes south of the Pastaza River; Aucas, savages with a markedly hostile attitude toward any invader of their territory, between the Napo, Curaray, and Arajuno rivers; and finally a few Cofanes along the San Miguel River. tari GEOPHYSICAL EXPLORATION Gravity surtey—The survey was begun in 1939 with the Holweck pendulum (232 stations), continued in 1940 by the Thyssen gravimeter (4,321 stations), and completed in 1946 with the La Coste gravimeter (1,751 stations). This net- work of observations covered all the bigger rivers and in the sub-Andean area, also many intervening tracts. The isogam picture indicates a regional gravity “slope” from east to west, with Bouguer values up to +15 mgls. near the eastern border of the Oriente, and up to —r4o mgls. along the foot of the Andes at Mera (J. W. de Bruyn, 1951). Many positive and negative anomalies of varying magni- tude were found distributed throughout the Oriente. When comparing them with geological and seismic results a general agreement was evident only in the sub- Andean zone with little or no agreement in the Eastern Oriente, excepting the Yasuni flexure or fault structure, The conclusion was reached that the gravityOIL EXPLORATIONS IN THE ORIENTE OF DOR 2307 anomalies are influenced to a large extent in the Eastern Oriente by deep base- ment masses. A differentiation between the effects from the basement and those from the Cretaceous-Tertiary shows in the strongly folded sub-Andean zone, but not in the Eastern Oriente where the folding of the Cretaceous and Tertiary in general was negligible Seismic survey—From July, 1943, to August, 1949, more than 3,000 km. of reflection lines were shot in the Oriente. ‘The first survey linked the Vuano struc- ture to the Napo outcrop area, Thereafter the survey extended along most of the big rivers and over some extensive intervening areas, especially in the Eastern Oriente where outcrops are rare and gravity results were unreliable. Velocity determinations were obtained from refraction lines shot in the lower Napo and Aguarico area, and by well shooting at Oglan and Tiputini. Good energy returns came from two principal reflection horizons, differentiated as A and B. ‘The lower or A reflection was found to correspond with the uppermost part of the Napo, and the B reflection approximately with the top Tena. Locally, a still higher C reflection was traced, but it is too discontinuous to serve for correlation over wide distances. In the easternmost Oriente a deep and fairly continuous D reflection seems to indicate the top of the pre-Cretaceous or possibly even pre-Misahualli basement. The A and B reflections were traced almost uninterruptedly over hundreds of kilometers and a phantom horizon had only to be used over relatively short distances. ‘The regional seismic picture (Fig. 1), as shown by the A, B, and D reflections and adjusted to the known well data, shows the dominant or A reflection (top Napo) dipping steeply from the Napo uplift and the foothill structures eastward to the basinal deep whose axis extends from east of the Napo-Coca confluence (2,750 m. subsea) across the lower Villano River (3,200 m. subsea) to the Bobo- naza River west of Teresa Mama (4,500 m. subsea) (Fig. r). East of this axis the A reflecting layer rises gently to the Yasuni-Lorocachi ridge and reaches, on the lower Napo River, a subsea depth of less than 1,250 m. The D reflection (top basement) has been recognized only around the Yasuni- Lorocachi ridge area, It is underlain by a velocity layer of 6,000 m./sec., prob- ably a granitic layer, except in the area of the lower Napo River where an inter- mediate unconformable layer (presumably metamorphics) with a velocity of 5,000-§,400 m./sec. intervenes between base Napo and the granitic substratum. ‘The Cretaceous-Tertiary structures superimposed on the basement are far from impressive (Fig. 7, sections 8, 9, and 10). Most of them, if not all, seem to repre- sent flexures or fault structures caused by faults with eastern or western down- throw and reaching into the basement. ‘The very significant variations in thickness of the A-D (Cretaceous) and AB interval (Tena) are discussed in the description of the respective forma- tions.‘sopensg worsert ‘a1uayg “dew (eor8ojoan—rt “oLg f We VE vam 00Ez= |y vanvo} wonseyey vo tunowo : 1 von uOnDOgRY Samy omy D. wercong a (iD) ayuess, ae t _ femnqung rwnsepy = ‘ # poraigpie ny Tomer, A 2ozomvs tenves Peed rotydoogereey, cea cam gone EEE] mo OL wBMOT webweg yey BRAC 203 7 -3NSDONIVE"IBHD 1 e fg Wo Te¥2RIMD- MD -totnty, — ESS} aNgD09NO-3NEDOB free ‘enquny mang nyemteny 22) aNIDONW-OMN (oumey pay ey [) (DOM +) AuvRRLYNO2310 H. J. TSCHOPP STRATIGRAPHY PALEOZOIC Faunal evidence for the presence of Paleozoic rocks in Eastern Ecuador was discovered by J. J. Dozy in r94o in the Northern Cutuci Mountains. The paleon- tologically proved Paleozoic rocks are subdivided into a lower group, the Pum- buiza formation, and an upper group, the Macuma formation. PUMBUTZA FORMATION (OLD PALEOZOIC) ‘This formation was named by K. T. Goldschmid in 941, after the outcrop area along the Pumbuiza River, a southern tributary of the Macuma River, about 30 km. west of the Macuma well. Lithology.—The bulk of the formation is composed of dark gray to black, thin-bedded slates, in places graphitic, and hard, fine-grained quartzitic sand- stones. As the base was not seen and the slates are highly folded and faulted, no reliable estimate of thickness is available. Stratigraphic relations—The contact with the overlying Macuma has not been observed directly. The comparatively much stronger folding of the Pum- buiza and supplementary indications from photogeological interpretation point to an angular unconformity separating the two formations. Paleontology and age-—No fossils were observed in outcrops, but some un- identified Lingula specimens were found in a loose block which appears to origi- nate in this formation. Based on its stratigraphic position beneath the overlying Macuma (Pennsylvanian) the Pumbuiza must be of old Paleozoic age. ‘The stratigraphic hiatus is of unknown extent and corresponds with a Caledonic phase of folding. MACUMA FORMATION (PENNSYLVANIAN) Originally called Cerro Macuma formation by Dozy in 1940, later shortened to Macuma formation by Goldschmid in 1943, its sole outcrop area is at Cerro Macuma, about 26 km. west of the Macuma well, and in its vicinity. In the ‘Macuma well itself the formation was reached at a depth of 6,997 feet. Lithology and thickness —The lower part of the formation, the lower Macuma, comprises about rg0-200 m. of dark blue-gray, mostly siliceous and thin-bedded, very fossiliferous limestones, in places pseudo-oilitic, alternating with bla shales and slates. The overlying upper Macuma consists of a thick sequence of white to dark gray, thin to thick and massive cliff-forming limestones and shale intercalations. The thinner limestones are siliceous, dark colored, and grade into marls and hard non-calcareous claystones which predominate in the upper part. Gradations from sandy limestones to pure greenish brown sandstones are com- mon to both subdivisions. The thickness of the upper Macuma has not been ob- served in a continuous section, but it may be roughly estimated at a maximum of 1,250 mOIL EXPLORATIONS IN THE ORIENTE OF ECUADOR 2311 Macuma formation in Macuma well—At a depth of 6,997 feet the drill passed from Chapiza sandstones into Macuma limestones. When coring between 6,998 and 7,008 feet about 4 feet of dark blue-gray, siliceous limestone with numerous fragments of Fenestella, crinoids, and brachiopods were recovered. A second core between 7,008 and 7,019 feet (total depth) consists of dark gray hard shale with calcareous streaks containing crinoids. In the absence of fusulines and specific identifications of the brachiopods, it is not yet ascertained whether these limestones belong to the upper or lower subdivision of the Macuma, as Fenes/ella and brachiopods occur in both. Stratigraphic relationsThe upper boundary, like the lower, coincides with an unconformity. The upper boundary has been observed on the north-flowing stretch of the Macuma River about 4 km. north of Cerro Macuma. Here sandy Macuma limestones and overlying Chapiza sandstones seem to be in perfect conformity. However, the relative position of the two formations in the same valley farther southwest, where the Macuma remains confined to the lower parts of the valley while the Chapiza persists for 2 kilometers higher on both sides of the valley, can be explained only by overlap, in the absence of faulting between the two. As the Chapiza formation belongs to the Jurassic, the contact Macuma-Chapiza corresponds with a major stratigraphic hiatus which com- prises the uppermost Paleozoic (Permian), the Triassic, and the Lower Jurassic. Paleontology and age—The lower Macuma limestones are rich in brachiopods. Provisional identifications by J. J. Dozy include: Spirifer sp., Productus cf. semireticulalus Martin, Productus sp., Orbiculoidea cf. nitida Phil. Chonetes, crinoids, and Fenestelle. In the thick upper Macuma, macrofossils are scantier, but may be concentrated locally. Within the uppermost 150-200 m. K. T. Goldschmid still observed Fenestella and the brachiopods Terebratula, Derbya, and Spirifer. Characteristic for the lower part of the upper Macuma are white limestones with a rich fauna of algae, bryozoans, ostracods, crinoids, and a great abundance of fusulines. Among the last-named, H. Baggelaar provision- ally determined Fusulinella and a smaller lenticular form comparable with Nummulostegina. These two forams place the lower part of the upper Macuma in the Upper Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian), As the uppermost brachiopods are not specifically identified, the question as to whether the Macuma ranges into the Permian can not yet be answered. IGNEOUS ROCKS IN PALEOZOIC Sills and dikes of fine-textured igneous magma and larger intrusions of granitic and dioritic magma are encountered in the Pumbuiza; some sills and dikes also occur in the Macuma, As a petrographic study of these igneous rocks has not been carried out nor has their relationship with the numerous volcanics of the overly- ing Chapiza been investigated, it remains a matter of speculation whether or not some of the Macuma igneous is contemporaneous with the Paleozoic or is of Jurassic age.a ee PALEOZOICS OF OTHER AREAS A thick series (1,000-+m.) of dark gray to black, slightly phyllitic slates, foliated slaty shales, and fine to medium-grained, commonly pyritic quartzitic sandstones, the Margajitas formation (Tschopp, 1948, p. 20) is tentatively and on pure lithological grounds correlated with the Pumbuiza. A few small lamelli- branchs, discovered by L. Kehrer in the sandy slates, were too crushed and badly preserved to permit identification. South of Mera, in the area of the Llushin, a tributary of the Pastaza River, similar beds occur in a highly disturbed, partly overthrust and semi-metamorphic complex of formations which in their eastern, apparently inverse part contain broken fossiliferous limestone layers and lenses and slaty black shales which can be safely attributed to the Cretaceous Napo formation. In how far the Chapiza and Paleozoic rocks share in the adjacent quartzitic sandstones, black shales, and slates on the west remains problematic. JURASSIC In the Southern Cutucti Mountains between Mendez (Lat. 2° 43" S., Long. 78°19" W.) and Yaupi (Lat. 3° S., Long, 77°51/ W.), the valleys of the Santiago, Yaupi, and Chapiza rivers permit the study of huge continuous sections, com- posed in their lower part of a marine limestone and shale series, the Santiago formation, and in their upper part of continental redbeds, the Chapiza forma- tion, SANTIAGO FORMATION (LOWER JURASSIC) ‘The name was chosen by K. T. Goldschmid in 1940 from the extensive out- crops along the Santiago River. Distribution —This formation covers almost the entire extension of the Western Cutucti Mountains from east of Macas (Lat. 2°18! S., Long. 78°7’ W.) southward to the Santiago River and continues beyond this river into Peru. Outside this area the formation is unknown in Ecuador, Lithology.—The normal development of the formation, as studied first in the eastern part of the outcrop area, comprises a monotonous sequence of thin- bedded dark gray to black, more or less siliceous limestones alternating with an equal amount of gray, fine to coarse, almost calcareous sandstones, with inter- calations of thin, sandy-micaceous, in some places bituminous black shales. The limestones are dense to finely crystalline, 1-50 cm. thick, with layers and nodules of black chert or with fine silica grains disseminated through the whole rock. The weathering color of the limestones is light gray, that of the sandstones brown. The shales are hard and splintery, with siliceous lamellae, and in many places nodular. Exceptionally, the shales occur in s-20-meter-thick units, but their over-all thickness is probably less than one third of the whole formation. Minor accessories are a few intraformational breccias and rare thin sandy tuffs and tuffaceous shales,OIL EXPLORATIONS IN THE ORIENTE OF ECUADOR 2313 Later investigations which were carried along the Santiago River westward up to and within the west flank of the Western Cutucd Mountains, revealed a facies change from the aforementioned normal development to a more volcanic facies. Approximately west of the main range, the Santiago limestones and shales contain abundant intercalations of volcanic breccias which grade laterally into green sandy tuffs and bentonitic shales. The whole is intruded and pierced by dikes, sills, and larger intrusions of green porphyritic, gray and green felsitic and diabasic igneous rocks. The intraformational pyroclastics demonstrate that submarine volcanic activity took place during Santiago time, and that part of the intrusions must be contemporaneous. Thickness —To compute the thickness of this intricately folded, faulted, and locally intruded formation is extremely difficult. Very rough estimates range from 1,500 to 2,700 m, Stratigraphic relations—The lower boundary has nowhere been observed. ‘The contact with the overlying Chapiza formation is included in the description of the Chapiza. Paleontology and age.—The fossil content is in general rather poor. Besides a few unidentified pelecypods, fish remains, and radiolarians, badly preserved, commonly crushed ammonites are thinly spread from the upper boundary down to the deeper parts of the formation, The ammonites show very evolute forms with strong radial ribs and a triple keel. They seem to belong to the genus Arietites of the Lower Liassic. During the earlier reconnaissance work some pelecypods resembling certain ‘Triassic forms had been collected from a sandy Santiago limestone about 3: km. southeast of Macas between the Western and Eastern Cutucti Mountains, How- ever, since later work showed these Santiago limestones to lie within a short distance of Chapiza outcrops and, moreover, identical pelecypods were found in the Arictifes-bearing Santiago, 8 km. southeast of Mendez, there is no paleon- tological evidence for the range of the Santiago into Triassic, Previous references to a supposed presence of the Triassic in the Santiago formation (Tschopp, 1945, p- 473, and 1948, p. 21) have to be modified accordingly. CHAPIZA FORMATION ‘The name Chapiza formation (Goldschmid, 1940) is derived from the out- crop area along the Chapiza River, from 25~31 km. north-northwest of Yaupi (Lat. 3° S., Long. 77°51” W.) where the stratigraphic relations of the formation are well defined Distribution—Widespread throughout the whole Eastern Cutueti Mountains and along the entire east flank of the Western Cutucd, the formation is missing along the western slopes. It underlies the whole of the Napo uplift, and plays a major role in the eastern ranges of the Cordillera north of Lat, 2° S. Tt was reached in the Vuano and probably also in the Tiputini well and was penetrated between 3,645 and 6,997 feet in the Macuma well.2314 H. J. TSCHOPP Lithology and thickness —The Chapiza represents on the whole a continental redbed formation. ‘Typical sections were studied between the Chapiza and Yapi rivers, about 25 km. north-northwest of Yaupi, and in the area of the upper reaches of the Chapiza River, about 35 km. north-northwest of Yaupi. In spite of these sections being either disturbed by faults or affected by potential intrusions, they permit the recognition of a broad three-fold subdivision, The lower one, the “Red and Gray Chapiza,” consists of alternating shales and sand- stones where gray and pink colors may locally dominate over red-brown, brick- red, and violet tints. In the vicinity of the Yaupi, Yapi, and upper Chapiza rivers this lower subdivision contains some thin layers of anhydrite, big veins of gypsum, concretions of dolomite, and also has a few salt-water springs. The middle subdivision comprises a similar sequence of alternating red shales and sandstones, “Red Chapiza,” but without any evaporite intercalations. The upper subdivision contains, besides red shales, sandstones, and conglomerates, a charac- teristic but varying amount of feldspathic sandstones, gray, green, and violet tuffs, tuffaceous sandstones, and tuff-breccias. Intrusions of porphyrite and diabase occur throughout the Chapiza, but lavas and pyroclastics are restricted to the upper subdivision, thus indicating a period of volcanic activity during late Chapiza time. ‘This pyroclastic facies of the Chapiza is also present in the upper part of the Chapiza section in the Northern Cutucti Mountains west of the Macuma well, but is entirely Jacking in the well section itself. Here, “Red and Gray Chapiza” with thin evaporites rests on Macuma (Pennsylvanian) and in turn is overlain by “Red Chapiza” without pyroclastics. In the Napo uplift the pyroclastic Chapiza was first mentioned by Wasson and Sinclair (1927, p. 1263) under the name “Misahuulli Basalts and Tuffs” after their occurrence in the Misahualli River which joins the Napo River about 15 km. downstream from Napo village. For this reason the term “Misahualli” was later used for the pyroclastic Chapiza. This latter is no longer considered as a facies of the Chapiza, but as the upper subdivision of this formation. A full description of the extrusive of the Misahualli is given by Colony and Sinclair (1932). In the Galeras Hills, 6-9 km. northeast of Napo, the “Misahualli” forms a veneer 40-50 m. thick on top of the “Red Chapiza.” Great masses of similar effusives and well bedded pyroclastics in the Guacamayos Mountains east of Baeza, and various other occurrences with or without Chapiza sand- stones, exist within (Topo area) or along the easternmost Andean ranges (south of Mera), and are all tentatively correlated with “Misahualli.” In the Vuano well quartzitic sandstones, silicified shales, and tuffaceous claystones, sharply differentiated from the overlying Hollin sandstone by their degree of induration and tectonic shattering, represent “Misabualli.” The bentonitic claystone recorded at 5,202-5,207 feet in the Tiputini well suggests the persistence of the “Misahualli” through the greater part of the Oriente. Thickness —The two sections measured in the type area of the Chapiza andOIL EXPLORATIONS IN THE ORIENTE OF ECUADOR 2315 Yapi rivers yield thicknesses which vary within wide limits, In other sections the higher parts are much truncated by the Hollin overlap (Table 1). ‘Taste I. Turckness or Cuariza Formation, Onrente, Eastern Ecuavor (In Meters) | Seton es | | Mountains 5 | -| Northern ; Macuma | Galeras | Upper Cuteucrt ; | Reaches, | Mountains ed ee Chapiza ‘River Red Chapiza’ a | Middle Chapiza 1,000 950 200 plus, 448 | I “Red and Gray Chapiza”” or Lower Chapiza 50 | Not exposed 503 __j Not exposed Gsoplus | 953 | Osoplus In the first vertical column the figure for “Misahualli” is probably much in- flated by large igneous bodies and the section of the lower Chapiza is possibly doubled by faulting. Stratigraphic relations —In the Southern Cutucd the Chapiza lies on the Liassic (Santiago); in the Northern Cutucd and in the Macuma well it rests on Pennsylvanian (Macuma). Somewhere north of a line between Macas and Cangaime well the Santiago is supposed to wedge out between Macuma and Chapiza formations. Disconformities at the base and within the “Misahualli” are common, The top boundary is marked by the Hollin overlap. Depositional conditions and volcanism.—Evaporites in the lower part of the formation reveal the proximity of the retreating Jurassic sea; cross-bedding in the sandstones, ripple marks, mudcracks in the shales, and the complete absence of marine life and paucity of flora point to continental deposition and a temporary arid climate, followed during the Misahualli phase by very intense subaerial volcanic activity. Lower and middle Chapiza are known in Ecuador only from east of the Cordillera Real, where they have been laid down in a broad north-south belt. Judged from the relief and the density conditions in the basement as depicted by the seismic survey, the Misahualli and underlying conglomerates of the Tiputini well overlap onto metamorphic or semi-metamorphic basement. This pre-Chapiza basement supplied the huge quantity of clastics for the lower and middle Chapiza sedimentary basin whose eastern limit probably extended west and parallel with the Yasuni Lorocachi ridge2316 H. J. TSCHOPP Paleontology and age-—Apart from plant casts and a few coal seams in the Misahualli member of the Chapiza, no other fossil remains have been found. A Middle to Upper Jurassic age of the Chapiza is deduced from its relative strat graphic position between the Liassic Santiago and the Lower Cretaceous Hollin. Indications for intensive volcanism, comparable with that of the Misahualli, do not exist in the Lower Cretaceous east of the Andes, either in Colombia or in Peru, This and the big erosional interval preceding the Hollin overlap support the idea that the entire Chapiza belongs to the Jurassic and does not range into the Lower Cretaceous, Correlation—The Chapiza is a facies equivalent of the Jurassic part of the Girén in Colombia and of the Sarayaquillo formation in eastern Peru (Kummel, 1948, pp. 1230-31). JURASSIC OROGENTES ‘The Chapiza overlap extends from Liassic to Pennsylvanian, that of the Hol- lin from Chapiza to Santiago. As both overlaps coincide locally with pronounced angular unconformities, they must have been preceded by considerable folding with subsequent erosional periods. Since we are not able to date exactly the range of the Hollin, these folding movements may have lasted into Lower Cretaceous time. The movements appear to have followed approximately north-south, that is, along Andean trends (north-south extension of lower and middle Chapiza sedi- mentary basin; restriction of the Cretaceous shelf facies to the area east and along- side of the present Cordillera Real). CRETACEOUS The Cretaceous of Eastern Ecuador begins with a continental sheet-sandstone, the Hollin formation, followed by a marine series of limestones, sandstones, and shales, the Napo formation. HOLLIN FORMATION (LOWER CRETACEOUS) This formation was first described by Wasson and Sinclair (1927, p. 1263) and named Hollin sandstone after its type locality along the Hollin River which joins the Misahualli River, 8km. east of Tena (Lat. 0° 59’ 30” S., Long. 77° 49 W.). Distribution—Its occurrence is everywhere co-extensive with the Napo fo! mation. Good exposures exist along most of the rivers which cut the Napo uplift and along the Cutucd Mountains. In all the wells Hollin was found underlying the Napo. Lithology—This sheet or blanket sandstone is generally coarse, white, porous, thick-bedded to massive, commonly cross-bedded and with sporadic ripple marks, Bedding planes are marked by thin intercalations of dark sandy, in many places micaceous shales and also black coaly shales in the upper part of the section. The average porosity, as measured from cores, is about 15 per cent in the Cangaime, Macuma, and Villano wells and more than 23 per cent in the Vuano well. The permeability is as a rule good,OIL EXPLORATIONS IN THE ORIENTE OF ECUADOR 2317 Thickness-—Estimates by different observers vary considerably. For the Southern Cutucti Mountains 200 m., in the Napo uplift about 1g0 m., may be considered a fair average. In the Macuma well it reaches 136 m.; in the Vuano well only 84 m. Stratigraphic relations —Along the east flank of the Southern Cutucd Moun- tains the Hollin rests without visible angular unconformity on Chapiza; on the west flank of the Western Cutuci it rests on Santiago. The whole of the Chapiza is missing there due either to non-deposition or pre-Hollin erosion. In the center of the Northern Cutucd, north-northwest of Cerro Macuma, the Hollin trun- cates a great part of the Chapiza flank. Other localities, where a strong angular unconformity was observed, have been reported from the east flank of the Napo uplift and from a point about 2} km. east of Barquilla (Lat. o° 19’ N., Long. 77° 26’ W.). Paleontology and age-—Except for plant remains the formation is completely barren of fossils, Because of its position above the strongly folded Chapiza and below the Albian part of the Napo, the Hollin is placed in the Lower Cretaceous. Whether it represents only the Aptian or also other stages of the Lower Creta- ceous is unknown. Oil indications —Oil stains and rich impregnation of parts of the sandstones are common along the Napo uplift and north of it. Along the Tena, Hollin, and Misahualli rivers tar commonly oozes from the sandstone cliffs and collects in small pools. These are the seepages reported by Sinclair and Wasson (1923). Spotty and irregular impregnation was noted in the Cangaime well in the upper- most 28 feet, and in the Macuma well in the upper 17 feet of the Hollin, In the Villano well impregnation is found in the upper 56 feet, but is rich only near the top; similarly in the Oglan and Vuano wells only the topmost 10 and 12 feet, respectively, show rich saturation. NATO FORMATION (ALDIAN-CONTACTAN) Type locality is at Napo village (Lat. 1° 3’ S., Long. 77° 47’ W.) on the Napo River, where the formation was described by Wasson and Sinclair (1927, p. 1264 et seq. Distribution—The Napo persists from the Cordillera Real eastward through- out the whole Oriente, as was proved by the wells and indicated by the seismic results. Along the Andean escarpment the Napo is considerably affected by tectonics and discontinuous in outcrop through faulting. Lithology and thickness—Based on lithology and aided by a persistent lime- stone horizon the Napo of the Cutucti Mountains and of the wells can be divided as follows. Lower Napo—Gray-green to dark gray and black or gray sandy shales with glauconitic sandstone nodules, lenses, and beds, and a few subordinate limestones oe ‘Middle Napo—Main limestone, a zone of thick-hedded to massive limestones which maintains @ remarkably constant thickness in the wells an i Upper Napo.—Gray-green, dark gray, and black shales. All three subdivisions show clearly in the electric logs of the foothill wells (Fig. 2).CANGAIME MACUMA ° Usa a < z om MSE. uw = ° tse HOLLING | Fig, 2.—Correlation of Napo formationVILLANO OGLAN LEGEND SE, RESISTIVITY ie Omran ee LTTE, ™ ws = © on in foothill wells, Oriente, Eastern Ecuador.VUANO BASE TENA MIDDLE NAPO U. 84. OdVN yamMod HOLLIN MISAHUALLI (cHapiza) Fic. 2 (concluded)OIL EXPLORATIONS IN THE ORIENTE OF Ei ADOR 2321 ‘The glauconitic sandstones of the lower Napo were found to be concentrated at three different levels, but lithologic character and thickness of the individual sands may vary from well to well. This applies also to porosity and perme- ability. ‘The thickness of the different sandstones and of the intermediate shales and limestones is shown in Table II, the correlations being based on cores and electric logs. ‘Tate II. Conntanion or Nato Foxuatton ax Fortin Wetts, Ontente, Eastans Ecvapon (Thickness in Meters) Vuano Shale and limestone Upper sandstone Shale and sandstone Lower Napo | Middle sandstone Shale and limestone Lower sandstone Subtotals, Totals ‘The middle Napo or main limestone attains its greatest thickness in the southeastern Cutuct area (100-150 m.). These limestones are thick-bedded to massive, mainly light gray, dense, and finely crystalline, rarely (Cangaime) pseudo-odlitic; a few shale intercalations also occur. Fossils are accumulated in layers and lumachelles and also in clusters irregularly spread through the lime- stone. Undisturbed colonial growths of reef-building organisms have not been observed, although bryozoans are present, in some places. Some vesicular porosity occurs in connection with fossils, but most porosity and permeability have been induced by jointing and fracturing. ‘The upper Napo shales of the wells are hard, splintery, laminated and of dark gray to black colors. Interbedded with them are varying amounts of thin- to medium-bedded dark gray, partly fossiliferous limestones, At the surface the shales are commonly bleached to pale green. Their thickness decreases from the southeastern Cutucti area (230 m.-++) to nil in the Vuano well. Stratigraphic relations and depositional conditions—The lower boundary of the Napo is traced by the first appearance of glauconitic sandstones or of the first foraminiferal black shales and limestones above the Hollin. The contact is every- where clearly conformable, The upper boundary coincides with a disconformity and small erosional gap. In Figure 3 the correlation of the Napo in the foothill wells is extended to southeastern Cutucii and the area of Galeras-Rio Payamino in the Napo uplift.2322 H. J. TSCHOPP Ro cuapza MacUMA ‘OctAN + 0 PAAMNG (Secact my CANGAIE 9 vauano PO Vutwo 4 eenke ones tt wed - Masha Gy : Ao fe coisa or ies esl ae eae Fic. 3—Diagrammatic section showing regional thinning of Cretaceous toward Oglan-Vuano area, Oriente, Eastern Ecuador. ‘The combined Napo members reach their maximum thickness in the south- eastern Cutuct area (700-800 m.). This thickness decreases abruptly toward the Cangaime well and thence more gradually toward the Vuano area (Table IT). The sections observed by the field geologists in the Napo uplift are not suffi ciently complete to permit exact zoning. The subdivisions shown for this area must be considered as approximate only. Of particular interest is the decrease of the lower Napo from the Cutucd to the Vuano area, where its thickness has shrunk to about 38 per cent of that in the southeastern Cutued Mountains. The combined thickness of middie and lower Napo is reduced in the same direction to about 44 per cent. Parallel variations in thickness are visible in the Hollin. As there are no indications of erosional gaps within the Hollin-Napo sequence, the mentioned reduction in Hollin and lower Napo is evidently depositional and regional, caused by a progressively stronger subsidence of the basin floor southward. As no marked facies changes occur from north to south, this deepening of the basin was balanced by greater accumulation of deposits in the south. If we now assume that the same tendency persisted during the whole of Napo time, we would expect a similar reduction or condensation, proportionate to that observed in the lower Napo members, to exist also in the upper Napo shales. The difference between such a propor- tionate, though hypothetical, column and the thickness actually observed is shown in Figure 3 as a shaded area. This shaded area represents the column of upper Napo shales removed during an erosional or possibly non-depositional interval prior to the deposition of the overlying Tena formation, At Vuano this gap probably does not exceed 100 m.; therefore, it is rather insignificant with reference to the great distance over which it gradually develop In this connection it must be mentioned that the seismic-reflection intervalOML EXPLORATIONS IN THE ORIENTE OF ECUADOR 2323 A/D, which is believed to represent the Hollin-Napo, shows a continuous thicken- ing of the Cretaceous from the Tiputini area in a westerly direction as well as southward on and along the Yasuni-Curaray trend. Also, the pre-Cretaceous basement (Brazilian shield) slopes from about 1,255 m. subsea in the Aguarico area to more than 1,500 m. subsea at Tiputini and to 2,500 m. subsea on the Curaray. The A/D interval has entirely wedged out in the area of the lower Aguarico and just north of the lower Napo (Fig. 1). In the Tiputini well (Fig. 5) the Cretaceous between 4,808 and 5,040 feet (1,465.5-1,536.2 m.) consists of slightly to very sandy Napo shales with glauconitic sandstones and a few sandy limestones. The interval 5,040-3,202 feet (1,536.2-1,585.5 m.) above the ben- tonitic claystones of the Misahualli belongs to the basal Napo and Hollin. ‘The entire Cretaceous here has a maximum thickness of 120 m. ‘The epineritic shelf facies of the Napo in the foothill wells has thus changed to a nearshore or shore- line facies at Tiputini. This change of facies together with the drastic reduction of the Napo formation points to the proximity of the northeastern limit of the Napo basin as forecast by the seismic interpretation. Since the main bulk of the Cretaceous west of the Cordillera Real is of orthogeosynclinal facies (several thousand meters of siliceous shales and cherts with a variable content of pyroclastic admixture), the western boundary of the Cretaceous shelf was approximately co-extensive with the Cordillera Real, and its width along Lat. 0° 3o' S. is about 200 km. Farther south the whole of the Oriente probably belonged to the realm of the Cretaceous shelf. What caused the abrupt lowering of sea-level at the end of Napo time and the subsequent erosional phase is not well understood. The deepening of the Napo basin toward the south may have been brought about by a regional tilt in the basement. Simultaneously Laramide folding within the Andes (indicated by thick coarse conglomerates in the Upper Senonian Junguilla formation, ‘T'schopp, 1948, pp. 26-27) may have affected the Napo basin, producing broad ridges and warps along the Galeras-Vuano-Cangaime and Yasuni-Lorocachi trend. The regional south plunge of both these trends follows the assumed regional tilt in the basement. Paleontology and age.—The fossils collected by Wasson and Sinclair (1927, pp. 1268-72) and identified by J. B. Reside, Jr., place the Napo formation in the Albian-Turonian. Collections of ammonites made by Shell geologists were examined by M. Breistroffer, Based on his determinations of the ammonites the range of the Napo is continuous from Albian to Coniacian, as shown in the follow- ing list. Oxytropidoceras was also found in a core from the lower Napo of the Vuano well, ‘The following foraminiferal fauna occurs throughout the whole Napo forma- tion: Globigerina, Globigerinella (2 sp.), Gitmbelina, Giimbelitria, Planulina cor- recta (Cassey), Haplophragmoides (var. sp.). In the upper Napo shales this Globigerina-Giimbelina fauna is accompanied by Globoiruncana (2 sp.) and Haplo-2324 H. J, TSCHOPP Ammonites Subdivision Peroniceras sp. Upper Napo Coilopaceras sp. indet. Middle Napo ‘Toronian Goilopoceras sp. nov. Manmites afl. barkeri Breiste. Neoptychites sp. juv. Sclloenbackia(?) sp. nov. Lower Napo Cenomanian Mantelliceras sp. nov. Knemicenass0. Lower Napo Albian Ixylropidoceras sp. indet. yr. mirapetianum d'Or, Oxyirop. cf. mul Oxyirop. sp. indet. Venesobizeras cf. Rorsteni Stiel sp Venecoliceras sp. indet. Neopityticeras sp. nov. gr. brottianum WOrb. sp. Diplocéras sp. nov. Diploceras sp. inde Lyelliceras sp. indet. Brancoceras sp. nov. phragmoides eggeri Cushm.; in the lower Napo by Planorbulina, Planularia, and Textularia, Besides Foraminifera, are recorded: fish and crustacean remains and the ostracods Brachycythere cf. foersteriana (Bosquet), B.. sphenoides (Reuss), B.? rhomboidalis (Berry), and other unidentified ostracods. Molluscan fossils are abundant and commonly form lumachelles. The only specific identifications so far are those by Reeside and listed in the paper by Was- son and Sinclair (1927, pp. 1270-72). The previously reported range of the Napo into the Aptian (Tschopp, 1948, p. 23) was chiefly based on a provisional determination of Colombiceras which was not confirmed by Breistroffer. Indications of oil—The black shales are commonly bituminous. Heavy oil is common in the limestones, but restricted to clusters of fossils and lumachelles or to joints and fractures. ‘The glauconitic sandstones show, as a rule, some impregnation, but the saturation varies with porosity and permeability between wide limits (Figs. 2 and 6). Although very strong gas seeps from the lower Napo sandstones at Timburi Cocha on the upper Payamino River, only little gas has been found with the oil in the wells. There is no doubt that the Napo exhibits the characteristics of an oil-mother rock. The numerous and in many plac rich oil impregnation, however, while very impressive to the eye, are of no economic value, as has been proved by the various tests (see also chapter “Occur- rence of oil and drilling results”), Correlation of Hollin and Napo formations —Vhe Holli tinues into Huila and Caqueta in Colombia where E. Grosse (1935) described white sandstones overlain by Villeta. In eastern Peru the Pongo sandstone of Pongo de Manseriche (J. T. Singewald, 1927) and the lower part of the Oriente formation are correlatable with the Hollin, the upper part of the Oriente and the Chonta with the Napo (Kummel, 1948). Napo sequence con-OIL EXPLORATIONS IN THE ORIENTE OF ECUADOR 2325 TRANSITION BEDS FROM UPPER CRETACEOUS TO LOWER TERTIARY TENA FORMATION (?UPPER CRETACEOUS-PALEOCENE-?LOWER EOCENE) ‘The turn from Cretaceous to early Tertiary time is marked in Eastern Ecuador by a distinct change from an open-sea environment to a brackish- and fresh-water habitat. This change was rather abrupt and initiated an exten- sive deposition of redbeds which persist from the Upper Magdalena valley via Huila and Caqueté in Colombia through Eastern Ecuador to the Montafia of Peru. In Eastern Ecuador this formation of redbeds overlying the Napo was called ‘Tena by J. U. Kappeler in 1939, after the village of Tena where good and numer- ous exposures of this formation occur. South of the Pastaza River the same for- mation was first found on the Pangui River, where it cuts across the Cangaime structure; hence it was named Pangui by Dozy in 1940. For reasons of priority and simplicity, only the name ‘Tena is used in this paper. Distribution —Tena redbeds form the ubiquitous and normal cover to the Napo throughout the whole of the Oriente. The formation extends from the San Miguel River on the Ecuador-Colombia frontier southward to and along the east flank of the Napo uplift and around its southern plunge to about 20 km. north of Tena, A similar Tena outcrop, masked only along the Pastaza and Macuma rivers by Mesa deposits, follows the Cutut uplift from its north plunge to the Peruvian border. In the area of Mera (Lat. 3° 27’ S., Long. 78° 6” W.), Tena surrounds the Napo of the Mirador structure and accompanies the Cor- dilleran escarpment south of Mera for a considerable distance. Tena in typical redbed development is furthermore found within the fault belt east of the Central Cordillera (Cordillera Real), as well as north of Baeza (Lat. o° 28” S., Long. 77° 54’ W.), and also in the Topo area, west of Mera. Tena is also present west and east of the western Cutucti Mountains east and north of Mendez (Lat. 2° 43” Long. 78° 19 W.) in the Upano valley and along the Jaupi and Chapiza rive Finally, Tena redbeds were penetrated in all the wells drilled in the foothill struc- tures and in the Tiputini well near the eastern frontier with Peru. From the seis- mic results which link the foothill wells with the Tiputini well it can be concluded that the Tena (A/B interval) continues beneath the Tertiary basin throughout the whole of the Ecuadorian Oriente. Lithology—The Tena formation consists of multi-colored, chiefly red-brown clays with a varying amount of sandstones in the lowermost and upper part of the section. ‘The clays are massive to thin-bedded, even laminated, more or less sandy and colored in red-brownish tints which range from light red through brick-red to deep wine-red and purple. More gray and greenish colors have been reported from the deeper, sandy parts in the southern Cutuci Mountains, and these have also been commonly noticed in the wells. Apparently the red coloring has been intensified on the surface by weathering. The clays are somewhat marly, par- ticularly in the non-sandy parts of the formation, Hard siliceous claystone and2326 H. J. TSCHOPP sporadic, thin intercalations of green to brown chert are recorded from various wells. Sandstones, greenish to brown, well sorted, and commonly friable accumulate within the lowermost 200 m. along the Yaupi River, southeastern Cutucii Moun- tains, also in the lower 130 m. and 200 m., respectively, of the Tena in the Cangaime and Macuma wells. Similar sandstones, but commonly calcareous, are found in the lower Tena south of Mera, Thick white to brown quartz sand- stones, medium- to coarse-grained, generally non-calcareous, with bluish gray shale breaks and coaly streaks, were penetrated in the Tiputini well in the lower- most 60 m. above the Napo. Elsewhere this lower sandstone part is reduced to only a few white quartz sandstones (lithologically similar to the Sugar sandstone of the Peruvian Montafia) which rest on Napo, for example in the Mirador struc- ture (1-2 m.); along the east flank of the Napo uplift from the Galeras Hills to the Aguarico River (0.5~12 m.) with intercalations of red and greenish claystone; in the Oglan well (1.5 m.) overlain by brown and gray-green claystone. In the upper part of the Tena a sandy facies with some conglomerates is developed in the Cangaime (103 m.) and Macuma wells (91 m.) and also along the east flank of the Cutucti uplift, west of these two structures, and south of Mera. To this upper sandy facies belong also the uppermost 147 m. of Tena penetrated in the Villano well ‘Minor but characteristic features of the ‘Tena formation are pseudo-odlitic, commonly pyritic, sandy limestones and marls which generally occur at the base of sandstones, and in many places grade laterally into beds with rounded to subangular clay pebbles. The pseudo-oilites are rarely spherical, but ordinarily of oval, flattened, and irregular shapes. A pseudo-oilitic limestone, about 5 m. thick, was found in the Vuano well around 3,400 feet. ‘Tanue IIL. Tuicxwess ov Texa Formation, Ontente, Eastenn Eccaoon ness in Meters) -_ Deepest Part of | Yasuni- Areas near Cordillera a Sedimentary Curarey | Wells Basin Trend E. flank Napo uplift between Coca and | - ‘Napo River ‘Tiputini well ‘San Miguel rivers 509-705 1,000-+ 272 : 393 30 S. and E, of Mera 1000+ 485 | Lower Villano River | Rio Curaray | “800 369 Cutucd Mts. W. of Macuma 500-Goo | Macuma 512 | Bobonazo River | Rio Tigre (Terea Mama) | 6,000 | ! ¥,000-+ W. of Cangaime 700 | rivers 800 ~- Yaupi-ChapiOIL EXPLORATIONS IN THE ORIENTE OF ECUADOR 2327 Thickness—In comparing the thickness of Tena measured in the various sections with those of the wells and with the A/B interval of the seismic survey, it becomes clear that isopachic conditions in the ‘Tena are along general lines much akin to those in the Napo (Table IIL). Relatively small thicknesses exist in the foothill wells, where the reduction is clearly from south to north. Larger columns were measured along the Cutued and Napo uplifts and in the Mera area. Even in the eastern Cordillera ranges (Topo section, ro km, west of Mera), the thickness still amounts to about 700 m. and an upper part of unknown thick- ness is cut off by faulting. The seismic A/B interval tends to show maximum thicknesses in the deepest part of the basin from about halfway between the mouth of the Coca River and Providencia on the Napo River (1,000 m.) southward through the lower Villano (Soo m.) to the lower Bobonazo River (1,000 m.); further a gradual reduction of the Tena from the center of the basin toward the Yasuni-Lorocachi trend, and a considerable reduction from south to north on the trend itself, that is, from the lower Conambo aia the Curaray River to the Tiputini well where the Tena is only 272 m. thick Stratigraphic retations—Although the Napo-Tena contact is marked by a sharp lithologic break and an abrupt change of facies, no angular unconformity has been observed between the two formations. However, in the foregoing chapter (Fig. 3) it has been demonstrated that a relatively small erosional gap exists at the base of the Tena, Some additional evidence that the Napo top was subjected to erosion is provided by observations of the basal Tena in outcrops and wells. In the upper reaches of the Dashifio River (Lat. o° 1’ S., Long. 77° 22 W.), branch of the Rio Coca, K. T. Goldschmid observed the basal ‘Tena sandstone resting conformably on the hardened and uneven, manifestly eroded surface of upper Napo shales. No measurable difference of dip was noticed in the formations below and above the contact. The Napo shales which normally are dark blue- gray are at the contact bleached to light gray and greenish colors and are crossed by vertical fractures which do not continue into the overlying Tena sandstones. Fractures and cracks are filled with hard sandy material. Bleaching of the Napo shales at the contact has also been noticed elsewhere along the east flank of the ‘apo uplift and on its south plunge near Latas, 7 km. downstream from Napo village. Indications of a weathered Napo surface were encountered in the wells of Macuma and Oglan, and a basal layer of Napo rubble in the Villano well. Along the steeply dipping Cutucd east flank the Napo-Tena contact has only exceptionally been found well exposed, but. wherever observed, it is a con- formable contact in spite of the considerable thinning of the Napo shales along this flank from south to north. ‘The upper boundary of the Tena is as a rule rather sharp, South of the Pastaza River it is traced with the first appearance of the basal conglomerate of the Cuzutca formation, and north of this river by the occurrence of the Tiyuyacu conglomerates.2328 H. J. TSCHOPP Paleontology and age-~-As a rule the fossil content of the Tena is rather poor, Some Foraminifera of the Globigerina-Giimbelina assemblage of the Napo appear sporadically throughout the whole Tena, but have been found in some abun- dance only in the basal part. Rare specimens of Reehakina, Spiroplectoides, Siphogenerinoides aff, crelacea Cushm., Eponides, and Bulimina, occurring singly or in association, are more restricted to the upper half of the section. Among ostracods were noted thick-shelled, marine Brachycythere, known from the Napo, and a group of thin-shelled brackish- to fresh-water ostracods: Cyclocy- pris, Herpetocypris, Hliocypris, Metacypris, and various types of Candona whose diagnostic value remains yet to be ascertained. Odigonia of charaphytes, dissemi- nated irregularly over the entire Tena column, especially over the non-sandy parts, complete this faunal mixture which is obviously derived from marine, brackish- and fresh-water environments. The state of preservation of all these microfossils varies between wide limits so that many of them give the impression s their being in situ. of reworked material, and the freshness of others sugges ‘The predominant reddish colors of the Tena and the presence of chara seeds may induce one to consider the whole Tena as a fresh-water deposit, and all the microfossils with the exception of charaphytes and thin-shelled ostracods as having been washed in. However, it is possible that the red pigments originate largely from near-by land areas (Cordillera region) which were undergoing strong Jateritization, and as long as the charaphytes are not specifically determined, like those reported by R. E. Peck (Peck and Reker, 1947) from the Upper Cre- taceous and Lower Tertiary of Eastern Peru, their provenience (brackish inshore or fresh-water muds) and age remain problematical. Apart from the controversy as to whether the few representatives of the Globigerina-Gilmbelina assemblage and the ostracod Brachycythere persisted beyond the Napo or were reworked from the Napo, the fact remains that Reekakina and ated Foraminifera, mentioned before, have never been reported from the underlying Napo, and therefore can be considered as indigenous and characteristic for the Tena. These later Foraminifera have been found in the Mirador structure, east of Mera, and along the whole Napo uplift from its south plunge to the Colombian border, for several hundred kilometers, Reekakina is reported by H. E. Thalmann (1946, p. 1235) from the brackish Estancia beds of the Santa Elena Peninsula, West Ecuador, and its range is confined according to the same author (1949, pp. 506-07) to the Senonian- Paleocene. An uppermost Cretaceous to Paleocene age of the ‘Tena, while not conclusively proved, may be accepted as reasonably well established, Whether the formation even extends into the lower Eocene is a question which, in the absence of faunal evidence, has to be left open The depositional conditions during Tena time seem to have been inter- mittently brackish- to fresh-water and limnic, possibly with brief marine ingres- sions in the earlier part. The action of waves and currents may sometimes have caused some reworking and redeposition of the fresh sediment, thus explaining local mixture of different facies elements. scOL EXPLORATIONS IN THE ORI VTE OF UADOR — 2329 Correlation with adjacent areas—Based on lithologic character and strati- graphic position, the Tena shows affinities with the Vivian-Cachiyacu-? basal Contamana succession in eastern Peru (Kummel, 1948). Some of the quart sandstones in the basal Tena are similar to the Peruvian Sugar sandstone (Vivian) which overlaps across the “Cretaceous shale interval” in the eastern part of the Contaya dome, Ucayali area (Ruegg and Fyfe, 1948, p. 81). The Tena is also correlative with the lower part of the Huayabamba group in eastern Peru, but certainly not with the Pozo and lower Chiriaco formations (Williams, 1949, pp. 7-8). Oil indications —Most of the sands in the lower and basal ‘Tena show either some impregnation with oil or smell of oil both in surface occurrence (Chapiza River, Mirador, east flank of Napo uplift) and in the wells (Cangaime, Macuma, Oglan, Tiputini). Oil indications in the upper sands have been observed only in the wells of Cangaime and Macuma, TERTIARY POST-TENA ‘The post-Tena Tertiary of Eastern Ecuador comprises a series up to 4,000 m. thick of fine to coarse clastic sediments of brackish- to fresh-water facies. The paucity of diagnostic faunal elements and the abrupt vertical and lateral litho- logic changes render correlations in time and space, both from south to north and west to east, extremely difficult, These adverse factors compelled the field geolo- gists to resort to local formation names for the lithological units of each area. ‘The writer’s tentative re-interpretation of the post-Tena stratigraphy along the foothills from south to north (Fig. 4) follows largely the trend of thought initiated by Dozy in 1940, and developed further by K. Habicht and L, Dorsman in 1947, by means of their semi-detailed mapping between Cangaime and Vuano. If correlation is difficult in the folded and well exposed foothills, it is still much more so in the 200-km,-wide expanse east of the foothill structures, where outcrops become more and more sporadic and dips are generally very low and generally unreadable. The alternative assumption of a very gentle east slope with progressively younger formations toward the east or a possible re-appearance of older formations due to an imperceptible regional west dip was cleared up as soon as the seismic survey showed the basin floor rising eastward. Finally, the ‘Tiputini well, drilled on the east border of the Oriente, proved the seismic in- terpretation to be basically correct, and in addition furnished two different foraminiferal faunas, the Ammobaculites A and B faunas, the first of which was also detected along the east flank of the Napo uplift, A fair correlation of forma- tions lying 200 km. apart across strike is thus possible (Fig. 5). ‘TIVUYACU-CHALCANA AND CU2UTCA-LOWER AND MIDDLE PASTAZA FORMATIONS. (EOCENE-OLIGOCENF) ‘The post-Tena sedimentary cycle in the sub-Andean zone commonly begins with coarse clastics, normally conglomerates which change at first intermittentlyMACUMA CANGAIME = > Qo 2 5 0 a | ro sil ink bas j_< 5 vel@nvus Zee ees vyNailodv no] v zi 4 vn 9 | o9vinvs Bo anal 1d - 01 W [209NO%4o4[ RB SnoswRNO] SissvENr wauargaaNe [JRO Fro, 4.~Tentative stratigraphical correlationsOGLAN + See MIGUEL] + _- - LEGEND Predominant : Clay Clay Tutfaceous (bentonitic) Gypsum & Clay oypsiferous ee Hate wh Tres ment Sand & Clay | on Mates i By Focamintere Sand pred. =[_—--.- Angular Uncntermity Conglomerate aw A oitnet Limestone & Sandstone FZJ Slate & Shale | va Dykes & Sills | from south to north, Oriente, Easter Ecuador.> Foor 0081 F008) Loocs toe }- coos Eppes jo s4e02% qin 81809 0} 9uy NYS we) ie rowtuy Peunojoause® SANOISAVID sano umo1q a \ ; feig (onuowag sing ope pasnojooues ce S3NOISAYID. ate $ \ 1 re | cunmeg owe ao Tam INILAdIL s9ynpou ‘swuowag useu6-onja “269uH4 SINOISONYS ~ swonasouoa snoasesyes sno19ysd48 "220 ‘payeSauves S3NOISAVID sujewes quejd “suswbesy um “spodesse8 m3} 2 supe wnseAB en Ni 1d ut snosaysaKs ‘pes y voosBenig osje umoug AOU SAyq5 z umoug 0} v80s8 S3NOLSONYS oj “sewarges> “sposease gE unoyusmy spodhos} SY3AIN TANDIN NVS-“ODIWNDVWIOD sanoisavid Joos yo 30 é ‘S3NOLSONVS foe on Sy LiMdOd¥N aos] 40 oobi] 3ONM1d HLNOS N 3 2 ¢ E 2° aropenay warseg ‘91uaHQ ‘Isva O} Isa wos suo FaxI0D aIydeHUIg—~ “OTT VN: | ea . a eget te wy 902 = pe otine tu wt oct = 008 OdVN' ce fie o umd x Va Cc x asennes 7 5 > bem ae iQ m = ana931 m = » Ee 2 |- oe 7 in N fe = > Ese = > SED DH oor 7 | a Sle z QO 2 a z S= 3 [54] ue vowsSio.8 “pos § = SEAS SSNOISATID rc Ol co _ _ >In 2 3] euney eurjeyery Oo S| = 9 x mo | saiveaHoroNod ro , ; : = z F% SANOISAYIO sanoisanys fees 228| | S | f=} 2 1 o09 Geos6: fesbenjg SFIVHS f= Sor eS > pe SANOLSAYT: | Ee: Ss1v¥aNOIONOD aeoges NowMe fecsey 12/0 |_| E * saNoisanvs _ ase} |8lz Sacer SNOISONNS “usesouep SINOISONYS f=], | ©] F_P gum pau g wm0.g Ea [e-<|_ “wen Sanousavid > _ — Poa c =x < ° IS veo B Ausbanig — SaTYHS. a> z “Oo 218 40:8 SaNOISANYS 4,,,| | c “Jo08-4 La a bean =x ——— eunepy__seyynaeqouniny abel = ——v Fl > 9 Seen z = $f. ses sanousavid = f= -2_s senoisanys [=== =A. J. TSCHOPP 2334 NYI50 psaneout eaanaay MALIA LB inte ten I ~ ne __ E18 Jo} swwowo |= a 2 ~ ie =o] wf fe] JP lel zh) 5 ond ow} [E12 x| 5/0. ood FL> on fs fo} wwe] z |? | Plu ” = | = >| |> wed de} |= > Pino le lo on >|\ Elen z of zOIL EXPLORATIONS IN THE ORIENTE OF ECUADOR 2335 1 W__[aNa009N0 = O03] ~ORS =v! | B89] ossvanr saarrmiaawe oad: fe afela go gd oc) f 8 £ ¢ 8 F FF 2 n> [ava |n-an || ving eg G <2 < = Zz |= zz ' hog batt nant Fit I iui anda bbl be \ , I AN rel Wet ener THAIN ace & TE iy tt eee ee 28 3 8 6 L iw] amor + YE aro] oe 3 Wiz fd ven oO 8 wo 1M ONWd |Od vN| 8 ig 03{0 303 1-D0RWa “IND TL | NVOVNODNVE INOY SISsvUAT Baean-310GINL {NA Fic. 6.—Correlation of wells drilled in Oriente, Eastern Ecuador.2336 H, J. TSCHOPP and farther up more gradually into red and mottled clays: the Tiyuyacu-Chaleana sequence north of the Napo River and the Cuzutca-lower and middle Pastaza sequence south of the Pastaza River. A, TIVUYACU-CHALCANA FORMATIONS The Distribution and litholog’ ‘uyacu formation, named by P. Hess in 1939, follows the Napo uplift in an almost continuous outcrop. The type locality is at Tiyuyacu Creek, 8 km, east-southeast of Napo village. Conglomerate to several meters thick, with subangular to rounded pebbles and cobbles occur, mainly in the lower part (Fig. 5). In the area of the Aguarico and San Miguel $ the basal conglomerate is locally developed as coarse breccia with white eous clay on top. The main components of the formation are sandstones, fine 10 coarse and conglomeratic, in places glauconitic, with intercalations of red, gray, and green shales. On the south plunge of the Napo uplift the Tiyu: in the area of the Coca and Aguarico rivers, its thickness has doubled to more than soo m. and still farther north it is nearer 700 m. according to photo-geologic studies. This increase in thickness coincides with the appearance of dark blue- gray splintery, commonly pyritic shales and dark green to light brown sandy shales in the upper half of the Tiyuyacu section (upper Tiyuyacu), the lithologic character of the lower half remaining essentially identical with that of the type locality (lower Tiyuyacu). In the Vuano, Oglan, and Villano wells bentoniti in the middle of the Tiyuyacu section (Fig, 6) and separates a sandy conglomer- atic lower part from a much shalier upper part. This differentiation is also visible in the electric log. In the Tiputini well the Tiyuyacu has become much less coarse and less sandy, but is still marked on the electric log (Fig. 5). From the Napo uplift eastward the thickness of the lower Tiyuyacu diminishes from 250 m, to 145 m, (Villano) and 8x m. (Tiputini), The decrease in grain and quantity irom west to east demonstrates the derivation of these clastics from an early Tertiary Cordillera in the region of the present Andes. Upward the Tiyuyacu grades into a thick monotonous red clay formation, named the Chaleana by P. Hess in 1939, with fine-grained sandstones in varying quantity, some veins of gypsum, and sporadic bentonite. The type locality is the Chalcana Creek, an affluent of the Tiyuyacu. Stratigraphic relations—The seismic B reil come from 20-70 m. above or below the ‘Ten: one u measures about 250 m occurs approximately clay ions, where checked by well uyacu contact and are thus considered as approximately indicative of this contact. The fair coincidence of reflection layer and contact zone, the sharp lithological break at the contact, and some indications from photographs in the east flank of the Napo uplift suggest the presence of a disconformity, possibly even of a slight angular unconformity at the base of the Tiyuyacu, In the outcrop area, however, field geologists found the contact to be conformable.OIL EXPLORATIONS IN THE ORIENTE OF ECUADOR — 2337 Paleontology and agen the Tiputini well an assemblage of eight species of Ammobaculiles, two species of Haplophragmoides and of other arenaceous Foraminifera, the Ammobaculites A fauna, was found in cores of the upper ‘Tiyuyacu and basal Chalcana. Various typical components of this fauna have also been observed in the uppermost part of the Tiyuyacu along the Aguarico and San Miguel rivers as also in the lowermost Chalcana of the faulted east flank of the Napo uplift south of the Galeras Hills (Fig. 5). The same fauna is typical of the lower San Fernando of the Colombian Llanos. Its age has been variously dated, but not older than middle Eocene and not younger than middle to upper Oligocene. Consequently, the upper Tiyuyacu and overlying Chalcana can be safely placed in the Oligocene, while the lower Tiyuyacu conglomerates may still belong to the Eocene. b. CU2UTCA-LOWER AND MIDDLE PASTAZA FORMATIONS. ‘The Cuzutea formation, named by Dozy in 1940, has been encountered only south of the Pastaza River along the east flank of the Cutucd uplift and on the Macuma and Cangaime structures, Type locality is Cuzutca Creek where it cuts into the west flank of the Macuma structure, The formation is best described as a series of gray-green, commonly glauconitic and pyritic, in some places conglomeratic sandstones with sandy micaceous, blue-green to red-mottled shales in the lower third, and similar shales but without red colors in the upper third, In the middle part thick-bedded to massive quartz sandstones predomi- nate. The bottom boundary is drawn, in agreement with the first observers, at a basal conglomerate overlain by a white, bentonitic? clay. Calcareous ledges occur throughout the formation. The only fossils are fish remains, a few arena- ceous foraminifera, and ostracods, chiefly of the genus Candona ‘The correlation of the Cuzutca with the Tiyuyacu of the northern areas is on strictly stratigraphic grounds and therefore must be considered as tentative only. ‘The overlying Pastaza formation is a thick sequence of reddish sandstones and clays, The clays prevail in the middle part (middle Pastaza). The lower Pastaza rests on the Cuzutca with coarse, in many places conglomeratic sand- stones, and has many similarities with the upper Tiyuyacu, but green splintery shales have never been reported, nor has any trace of the Ammobaculiles A fauna been observed. Correlation—The ‘Viyuyacu-Chalcana sequence is correlative in lithologic character and age with the Gualanday conglomerates and redbeds of the upper Magdalena valley in Colombia. The Cuzutca-lower and middle Pastaza may correspond with a lower member of the Contamana group in eastern Peru (Kummel, 1948, p. £254 ef seg.). The dark green shales (with A fauna) of the upper Tiyuyacu mark an ingress of brackish water and most likely represent @ time-equivalent of the Oligocene Pozo formation south of Yurimaguas, eastern Peru (Williams, 1949).2338 H. J. TSCHOPP ARAJUNO, UPPER PASTAZA, AND CURARAY FORMATIONS (MIOCENE) ‘The Arajuno formation, named by Hess in 1939 after the Arajuno tributary of the Napo River, 15 km, southeast of Napo village, is the sand and clay forma- tion which along the Napo uplift and in the northern foothills overlies the Chal- cana redbeds. Sandstones with stringers and lenses of pebbles, a few conglomer- ates, impersistent intercalations of bentonitic clay, and a remarkable flood of hornblende in the heavy-mineral content characterize the lower part of the Arajuno (“lower Arajuno”) in the area of the type locality. ‘The red clays of the middle part (“middle Arajuno”) where the Oglan well was spudded pre- dominate in the Villano well and in the area of Canelos down to the base of the Arajuno and merge there with the red clays of the Chalcana and middle Pastaza respectively. The lower boundary of the Arajuno and upper Pastaza is here obviously very uncertain. The boundary line shown in Figure 4 is only tentative and is merely one of several alternatives. In the Vuano area the red clays of the “middle Arajuno” wedge out north- ward. The overlying “upper Arajuno” like the upper Pastaza commonly contain lignites, lignitic clays and seams of autochthonous coal, The climatic conditions had become such to allow abundant plant life, and rivers and swamps were popu- Jated by turtles and fresh-water mollusks. ‘The whole area approximately cast of Long. 76° 30 W., between the Napo River in the north and the Conambo River in the south, shows sporadic exposures of an extremely low dipping formation. This formation consists mostly of well bedded light gray to blue-green or reddish, in some places gypsiferous clays which alternate with fine- to medium-grained sandstones, the Curaray formation, named by Dozy in 1943. Type locality is the Curaray River where the formation was first encountered. Tuffaceous admixtures, lignitic seams, and coaly black clays are common in the upper part. The characteristic faunal content comprises crustacean and fish remains, turtles, teeth, and bones of crocodiles and other vertebrates and particularly mollusks and arenaceous Foraminifera. In the Tiputini well this formation was penetrated from the surface to a depth of 2,570 fect (783 m.). Several horizons of mollusks were noted and the same odgonia of charaphytes, ostracods, and Foraminifera were found as in the out- crops along the Curaray, Tiputini, and Conambo rivers. The ostracod fauna is fairly rich and contains: Amonocytherides? ovata Mincher, Cyclocypris sp. a, Cypria sp., Cytheromorpha sp., Lymnocythere sp., Perissocytheridea matsoni St. var. Potamocypris sp., Candona sp., Cyclocypris sp. b., Herpetocypris sp., Iliocypris sp., Metacypris sp. The six first mentioned ostracods are believed to be restricted to the Curaray formation, the others have also been found in the Tena. The arenaceous Foraminifera are: Ammobaculites (2 sp.), Sigmoilina sp., Polystomella sp., Rotalia sp. This assemblage is referred to in this paper as the “Ammobaculites B” fauna.OL EXPLORATIONS IN THE ORIENTE OF ECUADOR 2339 The faunal content of the Curaray implies brackish-water iniluxes in an otherwise fresh-water environment and is not older than Miocene, No traces of this Ammobaculites B fauna have been found in surface or well samples of the Western Oriente, with the sole exception of Sigmoilina sp., characteristic for this fauna, in a fossil horizon of the Chalcana, about 200 m below a sandstone zone, which latter the writer refers to the Arajuno. Although the sole occurrence of a single component of the Ammobaculites B fauna is not sufficient evidence for a correlation of the upper part of the Chalcana with the Curaray, such a possibility has to be kept in mind. A specific study of the mollusks in the upper half of the Chalcana between Coca and the San Miguel River might settle this question. The ostracods which have been collected from this part of the Chalcana are unfortunately not diagnostic as almost all of them are known from the Tena and none of those restricted to the Curaray occurs in the Chalcana. Correlation —Arajuno and upper Pastaza formations are comparable with the Honda of the Magdalena valley, while the Curaray shows many affinities with the Miocene in Colombia. Their equivalent in eastern Peru is possibly the Chambira of the Contamana group (Kummel, 1948, p. 1254 e! se.) ‘CHAMBIRA FORMATION (310-PLTOCENF) About 13 km. cast of Canelos in the vicinity of Chambira on the Bobonaza River, the red to red-brown sand-clay sequence of the Arajuno is overlain by a series of very coarse clastics without red colors, the Chambira formation, named by H. A. Haus in 1940. The lower 400 m. are chiefly medium to very coarse- grained sandstones, commonly conglomeratic, with numerous clay-pebble hori- zons, and thin intercalations of blue-green, partly micaceous and sandy laminated clays with abundant plant remains. The succeeding 400 m. consist of tuffaceous sandstones with finely dispersed magnetite, and conglomerates, interbedded with brittle bentonitic claystones with leaf prints. At the top occur coarse conglomer- ate and gravel beds which thicken southward to more than 400 m. Lignitic or silicified logs are sporadic accessories of the Chambira formation. ‘The same formation continues southward all along the steep east flank of the foothill structures and forms a very pronounced scarp which gradually disap- pears in the south plunge of the Cangaime structure, The Chambira south of the Pastaza River has been referred to in previous papers of the writer (Tschopp, 1945, 1948), under the name of Ushpa, given by Dozy in 1940. From the Bobo- naza River to east of Cangaime the thickness increases from approximately 1,000 m, to more than 1,500 m. North of the Bobonaza River the Chambira sandstones become fine-grained, the conglomerates diminish and the clay content increases. In the Villano area and farther north it is difficult to differentiate the Chambira and the Arajuno, ‘The Chambira is a tuffaceous fan deposit which marks an intensified ero-NaPO SOUIN PLUNGE SECTION 1 110 ARARNO. TE ms ‘SECTION 3 SECTION 4 SECTION 5 a — ee cowed ms — eventaoon ARO. PLE SECON 8 180 NAPO SECTION 9 HO VRLANO ccuncl uPuier mAcUMA 1 SECTION 10 LEG Mi Meso Plo Pleistocene = asia fe | Men FoPlocene] [c.5 | Chalcane |Pa-omfoees ‘Cham | Chambira v Gq C Wester Oriente Eastern Orenie | rl eee hae _ Nosh South | Miccona || (iste | eaters 7c Ar | Aauro | Pau | Pasteze upper| Cur Cureray Na | Nao | LHe [ “Hotin | 16, 7.—Cross sections throughSECTION 6 conambo : 7 a S cat ENO By Gligocene Mm | Msshualh T "Upper to Middle a to Che | Chapiza Jurassic a Eocene Sa_| Santiago | ower Jurassic to ?Trassic Eocene - Paleocene -7U Cretaceous] [Maui | Macuma uoser, lower Pennsylvania - Coniacian to Alban | | Pb | ~ = Older Paleszoes Tower Cretaceous} Met Metamorphic Shists Oriente, Eastern Ecuador. ite2342 WW. J. TSCHOPP sional interval in the near-by Cordillera, It is younger than Arajuno and Pastaza, and judged from photo-studies also post-Curaray; hence, later Miocene to Plio- cene in age. -QUATERNARY) MESA FORMATION (?PLI0CE Thick piedmont, volcanic-fluviatile fan deposits spread from the eastern ranges of the Andes over the Oriente and mask the older formations over wide areas. These fan deposits comprise various terrace levels between about 1,460 m. and 450 m. above sea-level. The higher and older terraces are still preserved with- in the first 20 km, east of the Andes either as isolated mesas or resting against the Andean escarpment. The lower terraces, the most conspicuous of which is that of Mera, slope gently from about 1,150 m. above sea-level near the mountain front to approximately goo m. about 30 km. farther east. The Mesa of Mera is composed of tuffaceous sandstones and clays with various horizons of coarse conglomerates with torrential cross-bedding. Boulders of granite and gneiss up to several meters in diameter commonly occur. Along the cast flank of the foothill structures from Vuano to Cangaime the Mesa of Mera overlaps onto a strongly dissected Mesa-like formation, named by H. E. Parsons in 1942 the Rotuno formation after the Rotuno afiluent of the Bobonaza River. The Rotuno formation contains in the basal part deep brown fine sandy tuffs and tuff-sandstones with a few conglomerates and clay intercala- tions which change to alternating tuffaceous clays and sandstones farther east. Its thickness is more than 100 m. Both lower and upper boundaries are angular unconformities. Toward the deeper parts of the basin the distinction between Rotuno and Chambira becomes doubtful. In age the Rotuno may still range into the Pliocene but the overlying post- orogenic Mesa is Quaternary. SrRucture ‘The western margin of the area described in this paper is marked by a fault belt (Fig. x) 15-20 km, wide, bordering the crystalline backbone of the Ecuado- rian Andes, the Cordillera Real, a southern continuation of the Central Andes of Colombia (Tschopp, 1948, p. 36). ‘The cross sections (Fig. 7) reach just into the easternmost zone of faults which cause a sharp east-facing escarpment of the Andes from the Colombian to the Peruvian frontiers. East of this frontal scarp two major structural units can be recognized: the sub-Andean zone of foothill structures culminating in the Napo and Cutuctt up- lifts and the Yasuni-Lorocachi trend of low basement ridges on the eastward rising Brazilian shield (Fig. 7, sections 8-r0) SUB-ANDEAN BELT OF UPLIFTS AND FOLDS ‘This belt is bounded to the east by a steep zone accompanied over long dis- tances by reversed and thrust faults (Fi ‘This steep zone begins at the Coca River southeast of Cerro Lumbaqui and follows the east flank of the NapoOIL EXPLORATIONS IN THE ORIEN rE OF ECUADOR 2343 uplift southward to the Napo River where it disappears in the south plunge as it does also north of the Coca River. South of the Napo River the steep zone ap- pears shifted about 8 km, east and marks the steep east flank of the Vuano, Oglan, and Canelos-Umupi folds. On the Bobonaza River west of Sarayacu a new offset of this steep zone begins 4 km. farther west and continues southward to the Oso, Macuma, and Cangaime folds disappearing in the south plunge of the Cangaime structure. NAPO UPLIFT ‘The Napo uplift is more than 150 km. long and up to 4o km. broad with a sharp north plunge at the Aguarico River and a gentle south plunge at the Napo River. Its west flank can be traced from west of Napo village for about 25 km. northward. Here the oblique abutment of the west flank against the Andean scarp suggests overthrust of the Andean front eastward onto the Napo uplift. Farther north the west flank has been cut off or overthrust by the Andean front (Fig. 7, section 8). Otherwise, the Napo uplift is a very simple, broad warp with Napo-Hollin on a Misahualli substratum, the whole crowned by the 3,900-m.- high volcano, Sumaco, which has become known for its alkaline lavas (Colony, 1932). The outer east slope of the uplift is complicated by a few marginal fold and fault structures, the most prominent of which is the Galeras structure, This is aligned and is comparable with the foothill folds of Vuano-Cangaime. cuTucd vpLier The counterpart of the Napo uplift in the south is the Cutucd uplift with ele- vations of more than 2,000 m. Like the Napo uplift, it plunges near the Pastaza River beneath the Mesa-covered Mera-Puyo depression. In the south the Cutuct uplift continues into the Cordillera del Condor south of the Santiago River. Near Yaupi a longitudinal major fault with westerly downthrow cuts into its east slope and separates an eastern Cutucti fold range from the main uplift. This eastern bifurcation trends southward into the area between the Santiago and Morona rivers. While the eastern Cutuct range represents a heavily faulted fold struc- ture, the west Cutucdi ranges are built up by an anticlinorium of Santiago lime- stones with a relatively simple, though broken west slope formed by Hollin-Napo- Tena, In the less uplifted northernmost part of the Cutucd range the pre-Hollin peneplain is still visible around the plunge of the uplift as a broad warp over the Paleozoic-Jurassic core, quite like the Cretaceous veneer of the Napo uplift (Fig. 7, sections 8 and 10). Except for the Mirador structure which is in the vicinity of the Andean es- carpment, all the foothill folds occur in en échelon alignment. ‘They are from north to south the structures of Galeras, Vuano, Ogian, Canelos-Umupi, Oso, Macuma, and Cangaime. The Galeras structure is open in Chapiza, Vuano in Chalcana, Oglan and Canelos-Umupi in Arajuno, Oso in lower Pastaza, Macuma in Cuzutea, and Cangaime in Tena. The Napo top which is at Galeras about 600 m. above sea-level has dropped at Vuano to 760 m. subsea, at Canelos to about z,000 m.2344 H. J. TSCHOPP subsea, to rise again at Macuma and Cangaime to 80 and 56 m., respectively, above sea-level. The asymmetric shape of all these folds demonstrates that they have been produced by tangential pressure acting from the Andes toward the foreland. ‘The youngest formation involved in the folding is the Rotuno which occurs in the steep flank east of the Oso structure; hence, the climax of the orogenic move- ments is post-Rotuno, that is, post-Miocene to post-Late Pliocene. Earlier Ter- tiary folding movements are indicated by the unconformity (? inter-Pliocene) at the base of the Rotuno and by the probable unconformity (pre-upper Eocene) at the base of the Tiyuyacu. Possible slight incipient folding or warping is sug- gested by the disconformity at the base of the Tena (transition Upper Cretaceous- Early Tertiary). After the Rotuno the whole region underwent rapid denudation and up to 4,000 m. of sediments were removed. Over the uneven surface thick Mesa fan deposits were spread across the western half of the Ecuadorian Oriente. ‘The post-Rotuno Mesa of the Mera level lies practically undisturbed across the Western Oriente except for the very gentle, almost imperceptible tilt over the anticlines. This tilt indicates very weak posthumous movements in Quaternary time. ‘The various Mesa levels between 1,460 and 450 m. above sea-level were brought about by periodic rejuvenation and subsequent grading of the drainage. ‘The rejuvenation of the rivers is considered to have been caused either by various stages of epeirogenic uplift of the Andes chiefly in Quaternary time, accruing to at least 1,000 m., or by different climatic cycles changing the load and/or volume of the rivers without the interference of radial uplift, The fact, however, that the Mesa formation is contemporaneous with a climax of volcanic activity in the Andes, favors a periodic epeirogenic tilt of the Andes as being the principal cause of the various Mesa levels, The few structures mapped east of the steep flank are either small and deep as the Villano structure or without a proved closure as the Yuralpa structure, ‘The asymmetric ridges of the Yasuni-Lorocachi trend have most likely not been formed by tangential folding, but rather by faults which reach the pre-Cre- taceous basement. With the exception of the Yasuni flexure which is indicated by a row of surface dips, and the Lorocachi high which is slightly reflected at the surface, these very smooth basement ridges are not discernible in the surface geology. OCCURRENCE OF O11 AND DRILLING RESULTS ‘The Oriente of Ecuador is a region of thick sedimentation, but the sedimen- tary cycles have at various times been interrupted by denudational periods of varying length and intensity. Leaving out of consideration the non-metamorphic Paleozoic formations (Macuma and Pumbuiza) which are confined to a very small area and are entirely non-bituminous, the sedimentary column comprises from 8,000 m. to possibly more than 13,000 m. of Mesozoic and ‘Tertiary deposits with two marine bitumi- nous formations, the Santiago and Napo.OIL EXPLORATIONS ID THE ORIENTE OF ECUADOR 2345 Thickness (Meters) Formation and Age Predominant F Fresh-water to brackish | 5,000 max. | Tertiary incl. transition beds to Upper Cretaceous Disconformity—Slight Erosion Marine Napo Middle to Upper Cretaceous By 200 Hollin Lower Cretaceous en Angular Unconformily—Lntensive Erosion near base 7 1,000- 4,500 Chapiza Middle to Upper Jurassic Inular Cnconfermily--Iatensive Erosion Marine atiago Lower Jurassic Total : Mesozoic and Tertiary formations ‘The Napo is a bituminous formation which extends through the whole Oriente. ‘The numerous oil indications in the outcrop area testify to the source-rock char- acter of the Napo. Although the results of the early field work show the Napo to represent only a relatively thin marine intercalation between two huge, predominantly fresh- water sequences, the occurrence of porous, in many places richly impregnated, sands below, in, and above the Napo, and the presence of clayey cap rock, to- gether with attractive anticlinal structures, were factors which appeared prom- ising enough to warrant test drilling. The first location chosen was the Vuano structure situated only 25-30 km. from the nearest outcrops of oil-saturated Hollin sandstones and with a north closure of about goo m. (Figs. 1 and 7, section 1). After abandoning this well as commercially unproductive, the structures of Macuma and Cangaime were drilled with the same negative result (Fig. 7, sections 5 and 6). Simultaneously with the Cangaime well, a flank well was drilled at Oglan in order to test possible accumulation against the thrust fault (Fig. 6, section 2). This well also was a failure. The next well was located near the confluence of the Tiputini River and the lower Napo River, on the Yasuni-Lorocachi ridge; it furnished much strati- graphical information but no production. Finally, it was decided 10 test a struc- ture in the deeper part of the Tertiary basin. The Villano structure seemed best suited for this purpose, but the result of this sixth and last well was negative. OLL IMPREGNATION IN WELLS In all the foothill wells some saturation with heavy tarry oil was found in the uppermost part of the Hollin and in the sandstones and limestones of the Napo. The Macuma and Cangaime wells showed in addition indications in the Tena sands (Figs. 2 and 6). Traces of oil found by core analysis in the Tiyuyacu (V: lano) or on the ditch while drilling through Tena (Oglan) are of little note,2346 A. J. TSCHOPP In the Tiputini well rich saturation occurred in the upper part of the basal ‘Tena sands, while impregnation in the Napo itself was very poor. ‘The testing operations resulted in negligible quantities of heavy oil: at Vuano x0 bbls. oil (19° A.P.I.) with 14 bbls. water (3,300 mgr. Cl. per ltr.) and little gas were swabbed in 6 days from the lower Napo; at Oglan viscous tarry oil (7.4° A.P.1.) flowed at the rate of 4 bbls. with some included gas from basal Tena and upper Napo; furthermore, 2 bbls. of tar (6.9° A.P.I.) without gas were obtained from the middle Napo main limestone; at Villano 3 cu, ft. of tarry oil (7.6° A.P.L) with little gas were collected from the middle Napo main limestone; at ‘Tiputini water (1,100 mgr. Cl. per Itr.) with little heavy oil (A.P.L. 7.6°) flowed at a daily rate of 836 bbls. water and 4 bbls. oil from the upper part of the basal Tena sands. All other tests gave only water with or without a scum of oil. From tests and core analyses it is evident that fresh to brackish water had invaded the Hollin either entirely or to near its top in the Macuma, Vuano, Og- lan, and Tiputini wells. In the Villano well the Hollin is still salt-water-bearing down to about so feet below its top, but farther below the salinity of the water drops rapidly. In the Cangaime well fresh to brackish water reaches into the top part of the lower Napo. Connate salt water still exists in the lower Napo of all the other foothill wells. POROSITY AND PERMEABILITY Porosity is ordinarily good in the Hollin and in some of the sands of the lower Napo and ‘Tena. The permeability is excellent throughout the Hollin and satis- factory in the lower Tena sands of Tiputini, but in general rather poor in the sands of the lower Napo and especially in the main limestone of the middle Napo. In the latter, a little primary porosity is restricted to clusters of fossils, and some secondary porosity induced by joints and fissures is present, but the joints are generally very tight, CHARACTERISTICS OF OIL ‘The A.P.L. gravities range from 20° A.P.L. for oil of the lower Napo (middle sand complex) at Vuano to 6.9° A-P.I. for oil of the middle Napo (main limestone) at Oglan, The oil from the limestone is heavier than that from the sands. At Cangaime, judged by the refraction index, the oil from the upper Tena sands is lighter than that from the Napo and Hollin, but at Tiputini the reverse seems to be the fact. The oil still stored in the Hollin, Napo, and Tena is heavy black viscous resid- ual oil which apparently has lost practically all its volatiles. The oils from the lower Napo of Vuano and Oglan which are still connected with connate waters of a salinity in excess of 30 gr. Cl,/Itr. are the least altered, but their distillation returns are also very low. Depth appears to have no improving influence on the quality of the oil, as the gravity of the oil from the middle sand complex of Oglan (9,031~9,140 feet) with 13.6 A.P.I. is lower than that of the same sand complex at Vuano (4,596-OIL EXPLORATIONS IN ‘HE ORIENTE OF ECUADOR — 2347 4,728 fect) with 15.1° A.P.L. in spite of the big difference in depth. The gravity of the main limestone oil changes only little from Oglan (8,624-8,733 feet, 6.5° A.P.1,) to Villano (10,078-10,257 feet, 7.9° A.P.I.) REFERENCES Cited or in addition to that mentioned in H. J. Tschopp (1948) Bauer, E., 1947, “Glaciations pleistocénes et terraces climatiques en Equateur,” Bull. Assuc. Géogr Francaise, No. 188-89 (November-December), pp. 90-00. , 1947, “Sur le soulevement principal de la Cordillére Orientale des Andes de ’Equateur et la création du réseau du Haut-Amazone,” Compt. Rend. Acad. Sci. Paris, t. 225, No. 17, DD. 749-31 + 1948, “Nouvelles données sur la structure des Andes de PEquateur,” ibid, 220, No. 17, pp. 1383-84. Buuyn, J. W. DE, 1951, “Tsogam Map of Caribbean Sea and Surroundings and of SE. Asia,” Proc 3d World Pelr. Congr., Sec. 1, pp. 508-612. Condy, R. J., ano StvctatR, J.'H., 1928, “The Lavas of the Volcano Sumaco, Eastern Ecuador, South America,” Amer. Jour. Sci., Vol. 16. ——, 1932, “Igneous and Metamorphic Rocks of Eastern Ecuador,” Annals New York Acad, Vol. 34 (August) Grosse, E., 1035, “Acerca ce la geologia del sur de Colombia” in Com pilacion de los estudios geologicos oficiales en Colombia 1917-1933, Tomo III, Ministerio de Industria, Bogota. Kuiniet, Beexnarp, 1948, “Geological Reconnaissance of the Contamana Region, Peru,” Bull. Geol. Soc. America, Vol. 50, pp. 1217-66. Oprenent, V., 1943, “Geologia de la Sierra de Cutucd, Frontera Peru-Ecuador,” Bol. Soc. Geol. Peru, XIV-XV, pp. 104-21. Onron, Janes, 1868, "Physical Observations on the Andes and the Amazon,” Amer. Jour. Sci, Vol: 46, pp. 203"13. 1870, The Andes and the Amazon. 356 pp. Harper and Brothers, New York Peck, R. E., an Rexer, C. C., 1047, “Cretaceous—Lower Cenozoic Charophyta from Peru,” Amer, Mus. Nat. Hist. Novit,, No. 1360, pp. 1-6. Rizss, W., And Fytx, D., 1948, “Some Outlines on the Tectonics of the Upper Amazon Embay- ment,” Int. Geol. Congr., Rept. 18th Session, Great Britain, Pt. IV, pp. 77-85. London. Smictair, Josera H., ano ‘Wasson, THERON, 1923, “Explorations in Easter Ecuador,” Geogr. ‘Reviess, Vol. x3 (April, 1923) Smicewatp, J. T., 1927, “Pongo de Manseriche,” Bull. Geol. Soc. America, Vol. 39, PP. 447-64 STEWNMANN, G., 1929, Geologie von Peru. Carl Winters Universitactsbuchhandlung, Heidelberg. ‘Tuatmany, H. E., 1946, “Foraminiferal Genus Rzehakina in Western Ecuador,” Bull. Geol. Soc. ‘America, Vol.'§7, No. 12, Pt. 2, p. 1235. » 1949, “Regional-Stratigraphische Verbreitung der Foraminiferen Gattung Rzehakina Cush- man, 1927,” Lcl. Geol. Helo. 42, 2, DP» 506-7. ‘Tscuorr, H. J., 1945, “Bosquejos de la geologia del Oriente Ecuatoriano,” Bol. 1..4.P., Vol. 2, Nos (Februaty), pp. 486-84 , 1948, “Geologische Skizze von Ekuador,” Bull. Assoc. Suisse Geol. et Ing. du Pétrole, Vol. 25, No. 48, PP. 14-45. : Vin aviceNci0, MANUEL, 1858, Geografia de lo Republica det Ecuador. sos pp. New York. Wasson, THERON, anv Sixctair, J. H., 1927, “Geological Explorations East of the Andes in Ecua- dor,” Bull, Amer. Assoc. Petrol, Geol., Vol. 11, No. 12, DD. 1253-81. Wrirants, M. D., 1949, “Depositos terciarios continentales del Valle dei Alto Amazonas,” Soc. Geol. Peru, Pt. II, fase. §. Lima. Worn, A,, 1940, “Streiizuege eines Geologen durch Ekuador,” Natur und Volk, 70, pp. 329-37 and 3937400. i.