Journal of South American Earth Sciences, Vol. 6, No. 4, pp. 267-287, 1992 0895-9811/92 $5.00+ .

00
Printed in Great Britain © 1993 PergamonPress l.,td
& Earth Sciences & Resources Institute

Paleozoic paleogeographic and depositional developments on the

central proto-Pacific margin of Gondwana: Their importance to
hydrocarbon accumulation
K. H. A. GOHRBANDT
Chevron Overseas PetroleumInc., 6001 BollingerCanyonRoad, San Ramon,CA 94583-0946, USA
(Manuscript Received January 1993; Revision Accepted August 1993)

Ab,tract--During the Paleozoic Era, the western portion of the Gondwana continent between the equator and latitude 27"S of
present-day South America bordered the proto-Paeific Ocean as a predominantly convergent margin. Following the Middle Cam-
brian accretion of the Arequipa-Belen-Antofalla Terrane, an epicontinental sea with communication to the proto-Pacific Ocean
established itself along the length of the western margin of Gondwana during Late Cambrian and Early Ordnvician time. The
emergence of a proto-Cordillera led to significant separation of the epicontinental sea from the proto-Paeific Ocean during SU-
urian and Devonian times. Gradual erosion of that proto-Cordillera during Carboniferous and Early Permian time once again
facilitated widespread transgression of the proto-Pacific Ocean into the epieontinental domain. At the end of the Early Permian,
the sea retreated from Gondwana and a proto-Cordillera was re-established. The proto-Cordillera and the eraton of Gondwana
controlled sediment type and distribution in the epieontinental sea. Deposition occurred in five tectono-sedimentary cycles, which
were separated by orogenic pulses that resulted in region~ erosion of the previously deposited section. Oil and gas have been pro-
duced from the Paleozoic epicontinental sediments of Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, and Brazil, in an area in which exploration effoas
are ongoing. Sandstone reservoirs and argillaceous source rocks of commercial importance formed during the episodes of sedi-
mentation, but carbonates do not contribute to commercial hydrocarbon generation and accumulation. Cap rocks are provided by
shales or evaporites.

Resumen--Durante la era Paieozoica, la porci6n oeste de el continente de Gondwana entre el ecuador y latitud 27"S de Sur
Am6rica limit6 el Oceano proto-Pacffico como un margen predominantemente convergente. Signiendo la aereci6n de el terreno
Arequipa-Bel6n-Antofalla, durante el C~mhrico medio, un mar epicontinental con comunicaci6n al Oceano proto-Pacifico se
estableci6 a lo largo de1 margen oeste de Gondwana durante el C~tmbrico tardio y Ordovicico temprano. La emergencia de la
prnto-CordRlera durante el Sihirieo y Dev6nico caus6 una separaei6n significante entre el mar epicontinental y el Oceano proto-
Pacifieo. La gradual erosi6n de la proto-Cordillera durante el Carbonifero y P6rmi¢o temprano facilit6 una vez m ~ una amplia
transgressi6n del Oceano proto-Pacffico dentro del dominio epicontinental. A1 final del P6rmico temprano el mar se retir6 de
Gondwana y la proto-Cordillera rue restablecida. La proto-Cordillera y el craton de Goudwana eontrolaron el tipo de sedimentus
y distribuci6n en el mar epicontinental. La depesitaei6n ocurri6 en chaco ciclus tectono-sedimentarios los cuales fueren separadus
pot pulsos orog6uicus que resultaron en erosi6n regional de los secciones depositaries previamente. Aceite y gas hart sido produ-
cidos de los sedimento~ epicontinentales Paleozoieus de Argentina, Boliva, Peru y Brazil. Areniscas reservorio y rotes genera-
doras de eomercial impnrtaneia fueron formados durante episndios (le sedimentaci6n, pero carbonatos no contribuyeron a l a
generaci6n y acumulaci6n comercial de hidrocarburos. Shale y evaporitas forman la roca sello.

INTRODUCTION tectono-sedimentary cycles or depositional sequences in

the sense of Sloss et al. (1949). The sequences on the
TWICE DURING THE PALEOZOIC ERA the boundary South American craton, however, have a different chro-
between the proto-Pacitic Ocean and the Gondwana couti- nostratigraphic extent than the four Proterozoic to Paleo-
nent formed a convergent margin, with the proto-Pacific zoic sequences distinguished by Sloss et al. on the North
plate being subducted under the Gondwana continent. American craton (see also Sloss, 1988). The South Ameri-
Intrusive and extrusive magmatic-arc complexes were c;m cycles are named in accordance with established
generated in the course of subduction. Subduction was nomenclature and in ascending order, as:
interrupted by a phase of crustal quiescence during which Pampean Cycle: Vendian (Late Proterozoic) to Early Cambrian
a divergent margin existed. Rifting on the margin created a Tacsarian Cycle: Late Cambrian to Late Ordovician
temporary back-arc basin. Paleozoic sedimentation on the CordiUeran Cycle: Latest Ordovician to Late Devonian
continental shelf was controlled by the degree of crustal Sttbar.dean Cycle: Early Carboniferous to Early Permian
Gondwanian Cycle: Late Permian to Triassic (Mesozoic)
stability along the margin, paleotopography, depositional
environment, and magnitude and areal extent of intermit- Some of the section was metamorphosed under the influ-
tent episodes of erosion. Deposition occurred in five ealce of periodic orogenic activity.

Address all correspondenceto Dr. Klaus H. A. Gohrbandt: Tel [1] (510) 842-3708; Fax [1] (510) 842-0580.
This paper was presented at the "PrimeraConferenciaInternationalsobre las CueneasFanerozoleasdel GondwanaSudoeeidental,"
Santa Cruz, Bolivia.August 12-16, 1992.
267
268 K.H.A. GOHRBANDT

Understanding Paleozoic regional depositional and ero-

sional trends is crucial to the mapping of potential hydro-
carbon sources, reservoirs, and cap rocks and for
successful exploration in the Subandean Belt and its east-
ern foreland. As thermal maturation of potential hydrocar-
bon source material is partly a function of sedimentary
overburden, the thickness of overburden and its distribu-
tion must be understood when constructing predictive
hydrocarbon maturation models.
This review deals with that segment of the Gondwana
margin located between the equator and latitude 27°S of

/
present-day South America (Fig. 1) and focuses on the
Paleozoic sediments on the proximal shelf, represented by
the Subandean Belt and its eastern foreland, where they
are of interest for hydrocarbon exploration. The distal
shelf, as preserved in the inner portion of the Andean Oro-
gen. was incorporated in this review because structural
developments there affected deposition on the proximal
shelf. However. no lithologic details on the distal shelf are
displayed here. Uplift, faulting, and erosion in the course
of the Cretaceous to Tertiary Andean Orogeny and inter-
orogenic sedimentation have partly obliterated or • <~i
obscured the original Paleozoic depositional framework.
An attempt is made here to present a simplified and coher-
ent model of depositional and erosional trends and to rec-
oncile those published interpretations that contradict each
other. Fig. 1. General location map.
The study area encompasses Ecuador. Colombia, Bra-
zil, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, and Paraguay. The
nent in Middle Cambrian time (Fig. 4). The Puncoviscana
main geologic features, as illustrated on Fig. 2 and
repeated on Figs. 4 through 12, are the present outcrop of section was weakly metamorphosed at the end of the
basement in the Andean foreland and the Andean thrust cycle, in the course of the Pampean Orogeny, and was
front. Also indicated on Fig. 2 are the basins referred to in intruded by batholiths (Ramos, 1988). The Archean to
the text and geographic features. Proterozoic continental blocks and the section of the Pun-
cxwiscana Basin formed the basement for subsequent Pale-
ozoic sedimentation.
SUBSTRATUM OF THE POST-
MID-CAMBRIAN SECTION
The core of Gondwana in present-day South America is POST-MID-CAMBRIAN SECTION
made up of a mosaic of Archean to Early Proterozoic con-
tinental blocks that were amalgamated into a single conti- Subduction of the proto-Pacific Plate as part of the
nent later in the Proterozoic. The margins of some of those southern Iapetus Ocean (Dalla Salda et al., 1992; Cingo-
blocks were subsequently reactivated and tectonically lani et al., 1992, Fig. 9) under Gondwana commenced on
remobilized. the oceanic margin of the Arequipa-Belen-Antofalla Ter-
Deposits of the earliest recognizable cycle, the Pam- rane in Middle Cambrian time (at the end of the Pampean
pean, are included here in the substratum of the following Cycle), ceased during Silurian and Devonian time (Cordil-
Paleozoic section because they were laid down in a paleo- leran Cycle), and resumed in Carboniferous time (Suban-
geographic setting which is unrelated to that of the section dean Cycle). Sedimentation on the continental shelf was
above and were more strongly deformed than the over-
greatly affected by the crustal interplay between the proto-
lying sediments.
Pacific Plate and the accreting margin of the Gondwana
During the Pampean Cycle, of Late Proterozoic (Ven-
Plate. Orogenic activity along the continental margin
dian) to Early Cambrian age, the peripheral Puncoviscana
Basin developed on oceanic crust of the divergent margin caused the sea to retreat from part or all of the shelf in Late
of Gondwana in northwestern Argentina and adjacent Ordovician time, at the end of the Devonian Period, and
Bolivia. Thick turbidites with minor carbonates accumu- again at the end of Early Permian time. The three interven-
lated in the basin (Fig. 3) (Ramos, 1988; Jezek et al., ing intervals and the latest interval of deposition are
1985). The distal portion of the basin was transformed into grouped into four tectono-sedimentary cycles (Fig. 3):
a collision zone when the Proterozoic continental crust of Tacsarian (to end of Ordovician), Cordilleran (to end of
the Arequipa-Belen-Antofalla Terrane (Datum e t al.. Devonian), Subandean (to end of Early Permian), and
1986) docked on and became an integral part of the conti- Gondwanian (post-Early Permian).
 Western Gondwana margin as an environment for Paleozoic hydrocarbon accumulation 269

74oW 62°W
/ . , + , + ):
ECUADOR;~ " C O L O M B I A ~ ~ U * A N A e,RArON .. •
•
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I ARGENTINA
/ ALHUAMPA /'/
74* W 62* W

Fig. 2. Study area, as displayed on maps of Figs. 4 to 12, showing political boundaries, principal geological features, basins, and geo-
graphic features.

Fig. 3 (overleaf). Lithostratigraphy,depositional environment, and hydrocarbonsof the Paleozoic in the SubandeanBelt and its eastern
foreland (see Fig, 2 for locations).
270 K. FI. A. GOHRBANDT

BRAZIL
MIDDLE AMAZON UPPER AMAZON
mm~,m ~v.-,. ERA )ERIOD EPOCH STAGE
CYCUB
TATARIAN
GOND-
WANIAN
P LATE KAZANIAN
E KUNGURIAN
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M
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B SOLVAN
A
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t=~=pp~l QUARTZITIC SANOSTONE

~ DIAMICTITE
L~'~"~'~'] IN
VOL CANiC ROCKS
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I:::::::::1 TO QUARTZITE
P I
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ATDABANIAN CONGLOMERATE ~ GRANITE

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A ,:~R,-, I ............. DOLOMITE
A N ~ TOMMOTIAN
N 590
PROTEROZOIC
 Western Gondwana margin as an environment for Paleozoic hydrocarbon accumulation 271

PERU I BOLIVIA N.ARGENTINA

BENI PLAIN "ELBOW" I CHACO BOREAL CHACO CENTRAL
ACRE I MARANON IADRE DE DIOS & SUBANDES_ & SUBANDES
si
I w & SUBANDES •lw & SUBANDES

I i " ...... iii

- . _ ~
i i

N~

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................

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, II

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~ i~ ~ii

~=1

t . . . . "7'
272 K.H.A. GOHRBANDT

74eW 62" W

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PRESUMED
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BASEMENT
~ ~ - AI~OUIPA-BELEN-
ANTOFALLA
EARLY CAMBRIAN
TERRANE
CAMBRIAN INTRUSWE$

Fig. 4. Parapean Cycle: Areal extent of Early Cambrian sedimentation (Puncoviscana Basin). Accretion of the Arequipa-Belen-
Antofalla Terraneonto Gondwana(Amazonian Cratonand Pampean Terrane)and closureof the basin. Subductionwith arc-magmatism
on the oceanic margin of the terrane.

Tacsarian Cycle suture between the Arequipa-Belen-Antofalla Terrane and

Gondwana (Amazonian Craton and the Pampean Terrane).
The Tacsarian Cycle, Late Cambrian to Late Ordovi- This graben, with a steep boundary toward the terrane,
cian, is the first fully Phanerozoic cycle. Intrusives related may have extended from northwestern Argentina to south-
to subduction of the proto-Pacific Plate penetrated the oce- ern Peru (Fig. 5). The onlap of Upper Cambrian sediments
anic margin of the accreted Arequipa-Belen-Antofalla Ter- onto basement is mapped at the surface in the Eastern Cor-
rane in coastal northern Chile (Damm et al., 1986), and a dillera (Amengual et al., 1979). The paleogeographlc dis-
possible shallow half-graben came into existence in Late tribution of Upper Cambrian rocks shown here (Fig. 5)
Cambrian time in the region of the presumed interior COJTesponds fairly well to that illustrated by Bordonaro
 Western Gondwana margin as an environment for Paleozoic hydrocarbon accumulation 273

74*W 62 ~ W
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it~,/'l==,=;#==t c~mA. ~ v e s

Fig. 5. Early Tacsarian Cycle: Areal extent of Late Cambrian sedimentation. Formation on the margin of Oondwana (Amazonian Cra-
ton and Pampean Terrane) of a possible shallow half-graben with a steep boundary toward the Arequipa-Belen-AntofaUa Terrane. Sub-
duction with arc-magmatism on the oceanic margin of the Arequipa-Belen-Antofalla Terrane.

(1992) and Cingolani et aL (1992). No proof exists, how- of the graben fill is presumed to be mainly Late Cambrian
ever, that Cambrian rocks actually extend into the Suban- and is constrained by radiometric dating of an underlying
dean foreland of northern Argentina and Paraguay. batholith and paleontologic dating of the overlying sedi-
The section in the Eastern Cordillera of Argentina and ments (Aceflolaza and Bordonaro, 1988; see Bordonaro,
Bolivia consists of quartzitic sandstones that are partially 1992; Ramos, 1988; Turner, 1964). The trace fossils
cross-laminated and contain some schistose interbeds (Fig. (Turner, 1964) attest to a shallow marine depositional
3). The total thickness is estimated here to be on the order environment.
of 1000 m. The Arequipa-Belen-Antofalla Terrane and the In the "Elbow" area of the Bolivian Eastern Cordillera,
Pampean Terrane were potential clastic sources. The age a section consisting of anhydrite, conglomerate, and sand-
274 K . H . A . GOHRBANDT

74"W 62" W
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f
AND ITS MAGMATIC ARC

OF THE WESTERN
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ERRANE !
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BASIN IN MID ORDOVICIAN

EARLY OROOVIClAN BACK !i!i:.!

ARC BASIN AND ITS MID
ORDOVlClAN SUCCESSOR iii::iii H, ..
FORELAND BASIN (PUNA B A ~
BASIN CLOSURE AND FOLDING i:i I
INLATE ORDOVICIAN
, I I
OUTCROP 74* W SUBCROP 62* W
PRE-SILURIAN
SEDIMENTS EROSION
I+++++++++++~

~;x;x~"~x~e'~yJ~
BASeMENT
ORDOVICIAN INTRUSIVES
[--]

(THICKNESS IN METERS)
DATA POINTS
ORDOVIClAN
OF WESTERN CORDILLERA

Fig. 6. Late Tacsarian Cycle: Areal extent of Ordovician sedimentation. Formation of a back-arc riftbasin on the Arequipa-Belen-
Antofalla Terrane in Early Ordovician time. Closure of the basin since Middle Ordovician time. Subduction with arc-magmatism along
the oceanic margin of the Are,quipa-Belen-Antofalla Tcrrane. Initiationof minor extension on the Amazonian Craton. Regional erosion
prior to the deposition of Silurian sediments.

stone has been assigned a Cambrian age (Castaflos and shallow shelf which spread from Colombia to Argentina
Rodrigo G., 1978). Quartzitic sandstones, volcanics and (Fig. 6). The back-arc Puna Basin formed on the continen-
schists in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru (Fig. 3) tal margin in northern Chile and northwestern Argentina
are also considered to be Cambrian in age (Marocco, by rifting and clockwise rotation of part of the Arequipa-
1978). Belen-Antofalla Terrane around a postulated pole which
In Ordovician time. the Cambrian depocenter expanded was centered offshore of southern Peru. The basin sub-
and the Gondwana margin was converted into a wide and sided rapidly and its crust became partially oceanized
 Western Gondwana margin as an environment for Paleozoic hydrocarbon accumulation
(Bahlburg and Breitkreuz, 1991; Mpodozis and Ramos,
1989). A magmatic arc on the Arequipa-Belen-Antofalla
Terrane continued to exist until Late Ordovician time,
while the oceanic margin of the terrane was subducted by
the proto-Pacific Plate. Closure of the back-arc basin
occurred in Middle Ordovician time when the parautoch-
thonous, rotated segment of the Arequipa-Belen-Antofalla
Terrane moved in a counterclockwise direction, detached
from its crustal substratum, was thrust over the margin of
its former back-arc basin, and the basin was converted into
a foreland basin. Finally, the basin fill was compressed,
folded, obducted, and inverted into the Puna Arch. Colli-
sion of the detached segment of the Arequipa-Belen-Anto-
falla Terrane with Gondwana in Late Ordovician time
climaxed in the Ocloyic Orogeny (Bahlburg and Breit-
kreuz, 1991). Extension commenced on the Amazonian
Craton in Late Ordovician time and resulted in creation of
the Lower and Middle Amazon Basins (MosmAnn et al.,
1986; Schobbenhaus et al., 1984).
The Ordovician sea advanced onto the pericratonic
shelf from centers in Argentina and Colombia (Fig. 6).
Sediments as old as earliest Ordovician (Tremadocian) are
known only from the Eastern Cordillera and the Altiplano
of northwestern Argentina and southern Bolivia - - i.e., the
distal foreland shelf and the back-arc Puna Basin (Fig. 3)
(Bahlburg and Breitkreuz, 1991; Castagios and Rodrigo G.,
1978; Turner, 1964), and from the Macarena Massif and
the adjacent Llanos foreland basin of Colombia (Ulloa M.
et al., 1982; I-Iarrington and Kay, 1951). The sea spread
from these two regions onto two shelves in between, one
across the foreland and another along the distal continental
margin (Padllha de Quadros, 1988; Acefiolaza and Baldis,
1987; Marocco, 1978; Laubacher, 1978; Dalmayrac, 1978;
M6gard, 1978; Castaflos and Rodrigo G., 1978). This
transgression ended in latest Early Ordovician (late Areni-
gian) time. The sea retreated from the epicontinental
region at the beginning of latest Late Ordovician (Ashgil-
lian) time. The newly forming Middle Amazon Basin was
invaded by a shallow sea in Late Ordovician time (Mos-
mann et al., 1986) from the direction of today's Atlantic
region. No Late Ordovician regression, as on the cratonic
foreland, occurred in the Middle Amazon Basin. The
paleogeographic setting of Ordovician sediment distribu-
tion shown by Baldis (1992), Cingolani et at. (1992), and
Aceffolaza (1992) is not as precise as displayed in this
paper, which incorporates subsurface data (seismic sur-
veys and wells).
Marine shales, with minor silicified sandstones and
limestones, are exposed in the Eastern Cordillera of
Argentina and dated as Early to Middle Ordovician (Fig.
3) (Tremadocian to Llanvimian). The reported thickness,
about 4500 m (Fig. 6) (Turner, 1964), is considerably
greater than the 935 m of Ordovician section penetrated in
a key well in the frontal portion of the Andean thrust belt
of Argentina and can probably be attributed to tectonic
duplication of the section. In the well, the Ordovician sec-
tion is made up in the lower third of shales and in the
upper two-thirds of sandstones. In outcrops in Bolivia,
shales of Early Ordovician (Tremadocian and Arenigian)
to early Middle Ordovician (Llanvimian) age are similarly
275
overlain by mixed sandy and argillaceous deposits of
younger Middle Ordovician (Llanvimian) age and then, in
turn. by massive quartzitic sandstones of early Late
Ordovician (Caradocian) age (Castatios and Rodrigo G.,
1978). The thickness of that section is about 1500-2000 m.
On the surface in Peru, the section has the same age range
as in Bolivia (Laubacher, 1978; Marocco, 1978). At its
base are 400-m-thick elastics; these are overlain by 2000
to 3500 m of flysch-like shales and siltstones. The Late
Ordovician interval is represented by about 3500 m of
quartzitic sandstones, with a minor shale component
(Benavides, 1991; Lanbacher, 1978; Marocco, 1978). On
the Asunci6n High in Paraguay (Fig. 6), 700 m of unfos-
siliferous sandstones between basement and a Lower
Silurian section (Putzer, 1962) are considered to be Ordo-
vician in age (Aceftolaza and Baldis, 1987). A veneer of
Ordovician shales and siltstones is preserved on the fore-
land in Peru and Brazil. The distal Puna Basin contains a
3500-m-thick sequence of basic lavas, volcaniclastic
debris flow deposits, and volcaniclastic turbidites of later
Early Ordovician (Arenigian) age, and another 3500 m of
turbidites that presumably span the Middle Ordovician
time interval (Bahlburg and Breitkreuz, 1991; Mpodozis
and Ramos, 1989; not shown in Fig. 3).
Sands that were deposited on the proximal foreland
shelf during Early to Middle Ordovician time were
derived from the Amazonian Craton and Pampean Terrane
(Benavides, 1991). The shale basin of the distal shelf
graded into the back-arc Puna Basin, which was filled by
volcaniclastics from the magmatic arc on the Arequipa-
Belen-Antofalla Terrane (Bahlburg and Breitkreuz, 1991).
The vertical transition in the shale basin to sandstone in
early Late Ordovician (Caradocian) time is a regional phe-
nomenon resulting from shallowing of the Ordovician sea.
Sedimentation in the Middle Amazon Basin took place
under strong terrigenous influx, which produced fluvio-
deltaic to marine sandstones with minor shale interbeds
(Fig. 3) (Mosmann et al., 1986; Schobbenhaus et al.,
1984).
The Ocloyic Orogeny is expressed by regional uplift
and erosion in the Eastern Cordillera of northwestern
Argentina, and presumably in parts of the Andean foreland
of northern Argentina, Paraguay, and southern Bolivia
(Fig. 6). No significant erosion attributable to the Ocloyic
Orogeny is noticeable in the Eastern Cordillera and in the
Subandean Belt of Bolivia and southern Peru. The Ordovi-
cian section was exposed to severe erosion during Silurian
and Early Devonian times in the foreland, north of central
Peru.
Cordilleran Cycle
The continental margin of Gondwana was quiescent
during the Cordilleran Cycle, from latest Ordovician time
until after the Devonian System was deposited. The
boundary between Gondwana and the proto-Pacific Plate
was converted into a divergent margin during this period.
Intrusive activity on the Puna Arch - - i.e., the Eastern
Cordillera Eruptive Belt (Turner and Mtndez, 1979) - -
was not the result of subduction but of subvertical shear
276 K . H . A . GOI-I3RBANDT

74~W 62oW

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I I t t |:~:,~;:| ~ + +li I I ,,,

74* W 6 2 ~' W
OUTCROP ~ SILURIAN INTRUSIVES OF
EASTERN CORDILLERA

~:~:r~:~:~:~:~:~~~S~l 8UBCROP ~ - - - ~ CARBONIFERousPRE'DEVONIAN

ANOEROSIoNEARLY
SILURIAN
Ii ii i i i iit OLDER SEDIMENTARY
IN ANDEAN FORELAND
COVER r - - 1 DATAPOINTS
(THICKNESS IN METERS)

Fig. 7. Early Cordilleran Cycle: Areal extent of Silurian sedimentation. Formation of an interior sea which was separated almost
entirely from the proto-Pacific Ocean by a land ridge (proto-Cordillera and Puna Arch). Intrusions. Continuation of minor rifting on the
Amazonian Craton, dividing it into the Ouyana and Brazilian Cratons. l_x,calized erosion prior to the deposition of Devonian sediments
and during Early Carboniferous time.

(Bahlburg and Breitkreuz, 1991). Subduction was the proto-Pacific Ocean (Fig. 7) (Laubacher et al., 1982).
renewed, however, just outside the study area in part of Minor extension on the Amazonian Craton continued into
northern Chile, at the end of the Devonian, when the Chil- the Cordilleran Cycle, ultimately resulting in its subdivi-
enia Terrane docked onto Gondwana (Mpodozis and sion into a Guyana and Brazilian Craton by the interven-
Ramos, 1989). A land ridge consisting of the Ptma Arch ing Amazon Graben.
and a proto-Cordillera became the new and dominant Gondwana rotated at the end of the Ordovician Period
topographic feature on the outer margin of Gondwana. into a position on the southern hemisphere such that the
That ridge separated an interior epicontinental sea from South Pole was located at the eastern corner of present-
 Western Gondwana margin as an environment for Paleozoic hydrocarbon accumulation
day South America and the study area was north of lati-
tude 60"S (Scotese et al., 1992). Some glaciation occurred
during latest Ordovician (late Ashglllian) to Early Silurian
(Llandoverian and Wenlockian) time in two separate
regions, on the Puna Arch and on the Brazilian Craton.
The extension of the glaciation on the Brazilian Craton in
Llandoverian time into the Middle Amazon Basin was
recently documented by Grahn and Caputo (1992). Glacial
deposits were either laid down in place or transported by
icebergs into the marine environment. Contemporane-
ously, the sea reoccupied the pericratonic shelf from the
direction of Argentina. In an early phase of the Cordilleran
Cycle, some of the areas of earlier Ordovician sedimenta-
tion were invaded by the Silurian sea (Fig. 7). The Silurian
sediments pinch out in northern Bolivia at the foot of the
Eastern Cordillera, as displayed by Pareja and Ball6n
(1978). The epicontinental sea did not extend beyond
southern Peru (M6gard, 1978), and was probably con-
nected to the ocean through a narrow passage at that lati-
tude. The sea bordered the continental margin on the
proto-CordiUera and the Puna Arch (Padula et al., 1967).
The territory of central and northern Peru, Ecuador, the
Upper Amazon of Brazil, and southern Colombia
remained emergent. A regional regression that lasted
throughout the early part of Early Devonian (Gedinnian
and Siegenian) time ended the early phase of deposition
during the Cordilleran Cycle. The Middle Amazon Basin
continued as a shallow embayment from a sea around
today's Atlantic seaboard (Mosmann et al., 1986). Maxi-
mum transgression occurred during earliest Silurian
(Llandoverian) time. The paleogeographic setting of Sil-
urian rocks displayed by Balclis (1992), Cingolani et al.
(1992), and Benedetto et al. (1992) is considerably differ-
ent from that shown in this paper, which is based on a
wealth of subsurface data.
The Cordilleran Cycle commenced in the Subandean
Belt of Argentina and Bolivia and its immediate foreland
and in the Subandean Belt of southern Peru with a basal,
10 to 680-m-thick complex of diamictites, glacio-marine
sandstones, and marine shales (Fig. 3) (Crowell et al.,
1980). Locally, a thin limestone is developed on top of the
sequence. The age assignment of this section varies
between latest Ordovician (late Ashgillian: Moualdi and
Boso, 1987; see Sempere, 1990) and Early Silurian
(Llandoverian and Wenlockian: Benavicles, 1991; Branisa
et al., 1972; Amos, 1972). Marine conditions prevailed
throughout the rest of the Silurian time interval as shales,
with variable amounts of siltstone and sandstone, were
deposited. Thicknesses between 900 and 4000 m have
been reportedfrom outcrops in the Bolivian and Argentine
Eastern Cordillera (Castaflos and Rodrigo G., 1978;
Turner, 1964). Significant amounts of sands that accumu-
lated in Bolivia in Late Silurian time were derived from
the proto-CordiUera. The glaciogenic sediments of the lat-
est Ordovician/Early Silurian interval were replaced
towards the proto-Cordillera in the Altiplano of southern
Peru by 600 m of marine shales and sandstones of earliest
Silurian (early Llandoverian) age. Lower Silurian (lower
Llandoverian) sandstones of marine origin and a thickness
of 350 m have replaced glaciogenic sediments on the
SAES 6/4--E
277
Asunci(m High in Paraguay (Putzer,1962; Wogart, 1961).
The Siluriansectionis thought to attaina thicknessof up
to 1000 m in the subsurface of this region (Wiens, manu-
script). In the front of the Peruvian Subandean Belt. sev-
eral hundred meters of black shales overlie glaciogenic
sexliments and are coeval in the Altiplano with 200 to 600-
m-thick sandstones (Fig. 3) (Laubacher et al., 1982;
Laubacher, 1978). The Silurian sequence has been reached
in the Andean foreland by only a few wells. One key well
in the "Elbow" area of Bolivia penetrated a 1296-m-thick
Silurian section (Fig. 7). In northwestern Argentina, the
thickness of the Bolivia-equivalent Silurian shales (Padula
et al., 1967) decreases from 737 m in the Subandean Belt
to 432 m in the foreland. On the foreland basin margin in
the Serranias Chiqnitanas of Bolivia, massive sandstones
between basement and definite Devonian beds were
assigned a Late Silurian age by some workers. The transi-
tion from those marginal sandstones to basinal shales in
the subsurface is unclear due to lack of sufficient well
data. In the Middle Amazon Basin, a marine shale com-
plex, up to 100 m thick, is developed at the base of the Sil-
urian section. Deposition of the overlying terrigenous
sediments ended in Early Silurian time. The combined
Ordovician-Silurian section attains a thickness of about
700 m (Mosmann et al., 1986).
Part of the Silurian section was eroded from the front of
the proto-Cordillera at the time of an Early Devonian
regression. That section was again eroded in the course of
the Early Carboniferous glaciation in the Chaco Central,
on the Asunci6n High, and in two other areas south of the
Michicola High (Fig. 7) (Padula et al., 1967).
Continuous sedimentation from the Silurian into the
Devonian Period took place only in southem Bolivia, in
Paraguay, and in Argentina (Fig. 3) as the sea retreated
from most of Gondwana to form a remnant marine basin
during Early Devonian time. Sandstones up to 350 m thick
were deposited in this basin (Castafios and Rodrigo G.,
1978). Erosion outside the basin removed Silurian depos-
its in the Andes of Bolivia and southern Peru, and in the
Middle Amazon Basin of Brazil (Fig. 7), and cut into the
Ordovician section of the adjacent land.
The late phase of deposition during the Cordilleran
Cycle commenced in late Early Devonian (F.msian) time
and lasted until the end of the Devonian Period (Famen-
nian). The beginning of this late phase of the Cordilleran
Cycle roughly coincides with the boundary between the
Tippecanne and Kaskaskia Sequences as defined by Sloss
et al. (1949) on the North American Craton. The continen-
tal margin of Gondwana continued to be tectonically qui-
escent. The Cordilleran Cycle terminated with the Early
Hercynian Orogeny, which caused partial metamorphism
of the earlier section in the Peruvian Andes (Benavides,
1991; Daimayrac, 1978; Laubacher, 1978; M6gard, 1978).
The Maraflon and SolimOes Basins (Fig. 8) were added
to the Amazon Basin during Devonian time, by renewed
rifling.
The sea re-entered the Silurian depocenter from the
direction of Argentina and Brazil (Parana Basin) late in
Early Devonian (Emsian) time and advanced beyond the
region of Silurian deposition. It gradually extended into
278 K . H . A . GOHRBANDT

74eW 62" W
r ~,l + + + + o,- + 4~ [

• • • i C R .'A T O N
~ +++ +
÷
÷
+
+
+
÷
+
÷
+ + + +
+ + +
÷,.,-.,.....:.: ./÷*.,.+÷÷,,÷÷* + + + + + + + + + + + 4
+ + ÷ '. • • + + + ÷ + + + + + + + + + + +. + + + + + + + + ~
. + ÷ + + + + .
~+÷++++÷++++++~.dmmqmlmF~+
+ + + + +
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ . .

• + + + + +
÷÷ + + + + + ÷ + + + +

• ÷ + +÷~
÷ + ÷÷÷
÷ ÷ ÷ ÷ ÷
+ .... .:... . . . + + + + + + + + + .
f + + + + + + + ++ + + + + + + + .
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
÷~+* + [ CENTER OF
. . . . . . . . . ~ ~ + + + + + % + ~ + ' + + +
~ n v ~ w v ~ ÷ + + + + + + ÷ + + + + + + + + + +
÷~ I GLACIATION
++++++++++++÷+++++++++++÷+++++++++++++÷++++++
÷ IN TERMINAL
÷ DEVONIAN
,BAS~.÷÷*÷ * .....
............................ ~ ÷
•:.:.:+:-:.:.:.:.:.:.. + . ÷ + ÷ ÷ + * + + + .

~ ~ : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : + t + . +. .+ . + . +. .+ + + ~ +

BRAZILIAN
~++
+ +++++++++++4
~ + + + + + + ~
.... C R A T O N
+ + + + + + + +
++++++++++++++~
+++++++ + + +

• ÷ + + + + + + + + +++ + 4+
++++ + * +
+ + +

, cHACO~
+ BOREAU.
S~----'~+ BASIN "",
400MI.
I I I . . . . .
400"KM"

PROTO - PACIFIC

kici.~Ot.A.
• :. :.m.:....: .:• .: .:
" ' ' i.-:.:.'

' CHILENIA ==[==m'~=====[===

==== ==[[===
TERRANE

LATEGONDWANADOCKEDDEvONI
~i::::i"i:::::::::::::::::::::::i
::i::.i::i[i:: ANONTOIi::::: N •:::::. ===============================.::
=====

iiiii
74 ° W 62 ° W
PRE-CARBONIFEROUS AND EARLY
OUTCROP CARBONIFEROUS EROSION

SUBCROP (THICKNESS IN METERS) DEVONIAN

1.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'1 OLDER SEDIMENTARY COVER
L . _ . . . . . A IN ANDEANPOREtAND

Fig. 8. Late Cordilleran Cycle: Areal extent of Devonian sedimentation. Re-establishment of an interior sea in late Early Devonian
time, following partial retreat of the sea at the beginning of the Devonian period. Renewal and progression of rifting between the Guy-
ana and Brazilian Cratons. Advance of the interior sea and a sea on today's Atlantic seaboard into the Amazon Graben. Onset of glaci-
ation near the Amazon Graben. Inundation of part of the proto-CordiUeraby the proto-Pacific Ocean. Accretion of the Chilenia Terrane.
Early Carboniferous erosion of variable magnitude.

the Solim0es Basin (Fig. 8) and nearly connected with of the proto-Cordillera (Bahlburg and Breitkreuz, 1991;
another seaway which reached for a second time into the Boucot et al., 1980; Escobar et al., 1980).
Middle Amazon Basin from the direction of today's Atlan- Two discrete faunal provinces can be distinguished in
tic Ocean. The Purus Arch separated the two seaways this part of Early to early Middle Devonian Gondwana
(Padilha de Quadros, 1988). The Devonian sea also (Barrett and Isaacson, 1988), suggesting that the proto-
encroached from the proto-Pacitic Ocean onto the margin Pacific Ocean and the interior sea were separated by a con-
 Western Gondwana margin as an environment for Paleozoic hydrocarbon accumulation
tinuous, unsegmented land ridge - - i.e., by a proto-Cordil-
lera, along the length of Gondwana's margin (Isaacson and
Sablock, 1990; Isaacson, 1977).
The interior, epicontinental sea became shallower in
Late DevoniAn time and retreated to the central part of its
depocenter (Helwig, 1972). A new phase of glaciation set
in at the end of Devonian time in the region of the Amazon
basins (Padilha do Quadros, 1988) when the South Ameri-
can segment of Gondwana rotated again to a position
above latitude 60 *S (Scoteseet al., 1992). As shown in
Fig. 8, the paleogeographic setting of Devonian rocks is
very different from that displayed by Baldis (1992), which
was not based on apparently extensive subsurface control.
The pinch-out of Devonian sediments in the center of
northwestern Bolivia coincides approximately with the
Subandean thrust front. Devonian sediments extend in
northwestern Bolivia into the foreland only in the Madre
de Dios Basin, in the region that borders Peru.
Fully open-marine shales were deposited in the interior
sea during the late Early Devonian (Fxnsian) and Middle
Devonian (E,ifelian and Givetian) interval (Fig. 3). Sand
influx at that time is noticeable on the foreland margin of
the Brazilian Craton and along the margin of the proto-
Cordillera. In the Solim0es Basin, transgressive sand-
stones are coeval with basinal shales. A regional, upward
shallowing of the Devonian inland sea, including the
SolimOes Basin (Mosmann et al., 1986), took place in Late
Devonian time as the sea began receiving clastics from
both the Brazilian Shield and the proto-Cordillera. Dia-
mictites were laid down in the Amazon Basins at the end
of the Devonian Period (Padilha de Quadros, 1988).
The greatest thickness of Devonian sediments, over
4000 m, acctmaulated in the Andean foreland in the Chaco
Boreal Basin (Fig. 8). In the Madre do Dios Basin, up to
2000 m of Devonian sediments were deposited. The Devo-
nian section is reduced to about 250 m in the Maratton and
Solimres Basins but reaches about 1300 m in the Middle
Amazon Basin (Schobbenhaus et aL, 1984).
Early Carboniferous erosion removed all Devonian
sediments from the Contaya Arch and some of the Devo-
nian section from the Maraflon Basin and the margin of the
Madre de Dios Basin (Fig. 8). The Chaco Boreal Basin in
southern Bolivia and adjacent Paraguay was only briefly
exposed to erosion at the close of the Devonian Period
(E,arly Itercynian Orogeny), but the extension of that basin
into the Chaco Central was uplifted (Michicola and Asun-
cirri Highs) and the Devonian section largely removed
(Wiens, manuscript; Padula et al., 1967) by Early Carbon-
iferous to early mid-Carboniferous glaciation. Erosion of
the Devonian sequence in the Solimres and Middle Ama-
zon Basins took place during the latter part of that interval.
Along the oceanic margin of the proto-Cordillera (Fig.
8), a narrow shelf passed into a deep basin. Sandstones
and siliceous shales of the shelf (Boucot et al., 1980)
grade into a thick turbidite sequence for which few age
data are available. Sedimentation appears to have contin-
ued nnintemlpted into the Carboniferous Period (Bahlburg
and Breitkreuzo 1991).
279
Subandean Cycle
A new subduction zone originated along the oceanic
margin of the newly-accreted Chilenia Terrane at the
beginning of the Subandean Cycle and extended to north-
ernmost offshore Chile in Early Carboniferous time
(Mpodozis and Ramos. 1989), at which time extension in
the Amazon basins ceased.
Carboniferous successor basins followed, unaffected by
the Early Hercynian Orogeny, above some Devonian dop-
ocenters (Fig. 9), while regional uplift on the continental
shelf created wide land areas in Early to mid-Carbonifer-
ous time. In the early phase of the Subandean Cycle, from
Early to mid-Carboniferous time, a Proto-Cordillera con-
tinued to exist but was partially eroded and subsided
below sea level. Because of the sharp difference in Early
Carboniferous depositional environment on either side of
that ridge, it is assumed here, in contrast to Helwig (1972),
that the proto-Cordillera still formed a major barrier in
Early Carboniferous time and was fragmented only in
coastal northern Peru.
Uninterrupted sedimentation from the Devonian into
the Carboniferous Period occurred in the remnant interior
basin (Castallos and Rodrigo G., 1978) and also in the
Solimres and Middle Amazon Basins (de Melo, 1988).
Access from the open sea into the Early Carboniferous
interior basin was restricted when the basin received del-
taic and glacial deposits (Fig. 3). Lower Carboniferous
glacio-marine sediments overlie marine Devonian rocks in
the Lake Titicaca region (Barrios, pers. commun., 1993)
and limnofluvial influx prevailed in southern Peru (Newell
et al., 1953). The bulk of the Lower Carboniferous (Visean
to Namurian) sequence was initially laid down under shal-
low-marine conditions (Laubacher, 1978), but deposition
changed to deltaic-fluvial at the end of the early phase of
the Subandean Cycle (Barrios, pers. commun., 19__). The
South American segment of Gondwana rotated toward the
equator during Permo-Carboniferous time (Scotese et al.,
1992) and the southern tip of South America moved
through the South Pole. This rotation resulted in migration
of the glaciation center in Early Carboniferous time from
the Amazon region to the Chaco Central (Pampean Arch:
Padula et al., 1967). Glacial erosion of the Paleozoic sec-
tion generated debris which was shed into the periglacial
Tarija and Santa Cruz Basins (Helwig, 1972). In the Mid-
dle Amazon and SolimOes Basins, sedimentation in a
mainly continental environment ended during the early
part of the Early Carboniferous.
The thickness of the marine-influenced Early to mid-
Carboniferous section in Peru reportedly varies from more
than 1500 m (Laubacher, 1978) to 830 m (Dalmayrac,
1978) (Fig. 9). The thickness in the Madre de Dios Basin
in the Andean foreland is no more than 500 m. The bound-
ary between the Early and Late Carboniferous time inter-
vals was not mapped in the region of glacial deposition in
the Santa Cruz and Tarija Basins and, therefore, the com-
bined Carboniferous thickness is shown for these basins
on Figs. 9 and 10. That total thickness reaches 1500 m in
the two basins and as much as 2000 m in the southern Sub-
280 K . H . A . GOHRBANDT

74eW 62eW
• " "\..i~+.:'e,",*. + , . . . . . . lJ1"'':l~l~:~, ~ ' + ~ + + + + ~ + J+ '

÷ ÷ " ": ": ":": : g " ~" " ~ ÷ ~" £ 1 ÷

":":"~:~::~/: U÷Y A" N " AE÷ "'(C~'R A T Q
.. .
.l÷
. +
÷ + . +& ÷ +
÷+ ÷ b" . ~
......
" . ,I I ÷ +~ i *+ ' *+' ~ ++ Y+, r ; " ÷ ' * ' ÷ ' J C N ~
* * ÷* . . . . . . . .
+ + +
L +
.-,- + + + + + + + ~ .

.., . + . , , .+ . + + ++ ' v• . ~. :. . +. . +/ . +~ .+ : ÷ : . : .• : - " Y i+- ÷ .

• ..~ + ÷.÷÷.+ • + ÷.÷..÷÷/.~÷ + ÷ ÷ ~. . . . .
. . . . + + + + + • . + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• • .., + + + + + + + .~ + ' - % + + + ",4, + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + .... • • ." ". . . '. " . ' ' •

.....
• "... ~.
+
+,~+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
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+
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+
+
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+
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~ : ~
. . . . .
: : ~
i z :...:.:lwu.II
i
.'...'3~+J..2~O + + + + + + + + + ~" + e- ============================ +.- .'.- .... ~5::~."~"."--.'7".
• .......7.~.+ . / ~ + + . . . . . . ~ .:~<,ae=-=========r~===:=========:=:=:===;=* ~ARCH . . . . . . . .~l!l~,.li.!!
.. ~.....~7~....~ + + + . . . . . . . . .: ......... ::..::.x.;,:.:.,.~'.
. . . . .
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+ *~ ......... ... :.... . . . ~ ............... .. ÷ • • . . . . . . . . . . . . .

.......................................................... ::::BASIN :.:,::.:: ...........

............................ +
+ ..................

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
+ + + + + + + ~ , . ~ _ : . ~ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
~ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
+ - - - -
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
" + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + ÷ + + ÷ + + ÷ + +
" + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + ÷
• + + + + + + + + + + + ÷ + + + + + +

÷ + ÷ ÷ + + + + ÷ + + + + +

-+-,-~.~ B
-_ R+A Z I L I A N
~ + + + + + ÷ + + + + + + +
.:~,....
~...;... . . . . . . . .. .. ..~. .. .. ..~. . . . . . ... ~
~N~..I~I~,,~., .L~.~N71 C R A T O N

~ + + + + + +~+ + 1 T 1
& EOLIAN '
* SANTA
CRUZ
~---% BASIN "
~ INCLUDES MID TO
LATE CARBONIFEROUS
~+ HIA--T~-IIETWEEII

4**K.

!iiiii
A NEW SUBOUCTIOH~II:!
ZONE FORMED
ON THE OCEANIC
i i!!i!iiii!!i
M A R G I N OF T H E i
ACCRETED CHILENU~III ill
TERRANE. i !if::

74 ° W 62 ° W
OUTCROP . , ~ ~___..~ PRE-LATE MID

[ii!i!i!i!iiiiii!iiiiiiiiii!i!iiiiiiii!~i~i!!~t SUBCROP ~
CAmmNWEROUSE,OSlON
DATA POINTS
EARLY TO MID
I i " i '." ~" i" i" i I OLDER WEDIMENTARY COVER
14kl ANOEAN FORELAND
(THICKNESS IN METERS) CARBONIFEROUS
Fig. 9. Early Subandean Cycle: Areal extent of Eady to mid-Carboniferous sedimentation. Formation of residual basins over Devo-
nian depocenters, with restricted access to the proto-Pacific Ocean. Continuation of glaciation in northern Argentina and Paraguay; gla-
eiogenic sedimentation in a periglacial, limnofluvial, and marine depoeenter. Cessation of rifting between the Guyana and Brazilian
Cratons. Pre-mid-Carboniferous erosion in the Amazon basins.

andean Belt of Bolivia (Rocha-Campos and Archangelsky, also been observed in the section (Rocha-Campos and
1985). Archangelsky, 1985; Dalmayrac, 1978: Newell et al.,
1953). The periglacial deposits are composed of conglom-
The limnofluvial and marine deposits are clastic-domi-
erates, diamictites, sandstones, siltstones, and claystones.
nated and were shed primarily from the eroding proto-
Cordillera (Fig. 3) (Benavides, 1991). Shales are admixed Pre-mid-Carboniferous erosion of the Lower Carbonif-
in small amounts and contain minor coal seams in south- erous section occurred only in the Solim0es and Middle
era Peru (Newell et al., 1953). Some volcaniclastics have Amazon Basins (Fig. 9).
 Western Gondwana margin as an environment for Paleozoic hydrocarbon accumulation 281

74eW 62eW

iN
+ " . .: +~" + + + ÷ + ~ + + + +
+: i ++++++++CARAUARI+
++++, ".,~*;"~-"~.+ + +, A R C H + + + '
• ~. ÷ + + + ' ~ + + + +
+ + +÷+++++++++++
+ + +

GRABEN

~ . 1 tgl~m.e
"AMAZOIN
++ t I
+l+++i+++++++'-:<.'+-'i~
. . . . . + + +
++ . + ++ + BASIN
+ + ~ . , ~ + 411+ + + + +'+ + + + + + + + + +
: + + + + +
e+ACRE~++++ JANOIATUBA+++++++++÷+++ + + ++++++++++
+ + +++++)+
+ + SUB-BASIN+ +.,,,-~.~ + + ++~++~J
+
+BAIU~ + + ÷ + + + ÷ + + + + + . + ÷ ++~ +
+ + + + + +
+ +~,<..;f;---4+
÷ ÷ + + 4,
+ + + + + + ~ + + +
+ + + + + + + + + + + + +
+ + + + + + + + ÷ + + +++ , +

:..'~'7..+ +1; O I O S B A S I N
:::i:i.:~.~ BRAZILIAN

400 MI. ~'::i:i:i:i:i:i:i:i:i:i:i:i:!:i:i:i:

. . . . . . . '7""'"i
400"KM" ::!~iiiiiiiiil
FLUVIAL
MARINE
•~.i" .i B.....
ASm.~
PROTO-PACIFIC
[" i.i-i, i. i.:'.'.i.i.i.i.i

,n----n--n::::: •
l FORMATIONOF A
MAGMATIC ARC ON THE "il:.!! i~:
iiiii:~i!t
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t': BASmJO~" :" : ": ": ":"

ACCReTeO CNI-eNI* ::i ~iii IN PART GLACIAL &

741 W
LACUSTRINE~ 62 e W
POST-PALEOZOIC /
OUTCROP ~i "------- PRE-CRETACEOUS

Iiiiiiiiiii!i!7!iiiiTii::!it SUBCROP I--]

EROSION
DATA POINTS
MID CARBONIFEROUS
[: 'LL.... '." i' 11 OLDER SEDIMENTARY COVER
IN ANOEAN FOIELANO
(THICKNESS IN METERS) TO EARLY PERMIAN
Fig. 10. Late Subandean Cycle: Areal extent of mid-Carboniferous to F.arly Permian sedimentation. Regional advance of the sea from
the proto-Pacific Ocean, forming a wide and shallow continental margin. Renewal and major rifting between the Guyana and Brazilian
Cratons and establishment of a re-entrant of the sea. Continuation of glaciation in central Argentina. Commencement of a new subduc-
tion and are-magmafism. Removal of some of the section by pre-Cretaceous erosion.

In the late phase of the Subandean Cycle. from mid- broad shelf from late mid-Carboniferous to Early Permian
Carboniferous to Early Permian time, subduction on the thne were fostered by disappearance of most of the proto-
proto-Pacific margin intensified (Fig. 10). Volcanic rocks Cordillera. The sea expanded from the proto-Pacific
were extruded on the shelf in northern Chile (Bahlburg Ocean far into the Amazon basins, past the Purus Arch,
and Breitkreuz, 1991). Widespread incursion of the sea due to renewed and intensive rifting, and was connected to
from the proto-Pacific Ocean onto the continental margin an interior seaway that spread on the continental margin to
and transformation of the margin of Gondwana into a Colombia and Venezuela. A strong marine incursion at the
282 K.H.A. GOHRBANDT
beginning of the late phase of the Subandean Cycle
expanded well into the glacial domain of the Tarija Basin
to the south (Fig. 10). where a marine wedge is interbed-
ded within glacial deposits (Ltpez Gamundi. 1989;
Rocha-Campos and Archangelsky, 1985). Glaciation
shifted to central Argentina when the South American por-
tion of Gondwana rotated closer to the equator (Scotese et
al., 1992). Glacial deposits accumulated from later mid-
Carboniferous time at the site of the previous glaciation
center in the Chaco Central, forming the Alhuampa Basin
(Fig. 10), while the previous glacial depocenter of the
Santa Cruz and Tarija Basins became land. The glacial
deposits are interbedded with lacustrine sediments in the
periglacial region of the Sierra del Famatina in northwest-
ern Argentina (Limarino and Gutierrez, 1990; Limarino
and C~sari, 1988) and grade into marine deposits in the
Brazilian Parami Basin (Rocha-Campos, 1967; Camargo
Mendez, 1967). Part of northern Chile formed a wide and
shallow shelf of the proto-Pacific Ocean. The sea retreated
from Gondwana's margin at the end of the Subandean
Cycle, when the Late Hercynian Orogeny occurred (Dal-
mayrac, 1978),
Deposition on the shelf was dominated by carbonates
(Fig. 3). Shales, however, were still being deposited on the
outer shelf. In the Peruvian Eastern Cordillera. the late
mid- to Late Carboniferous time interval is represented by
2000-m-thick shales and limestones, above basal sand-
stones (Benavides, 1991; Rocha-Campos and Archangel-
sky, 1985), and the younger part of the Early Permian
interval is made up locally by about 800 m of interbedded
shales and limestones (Newell et al., 1953). Both units are
coeval with massive limestones and sandstones on the
inner shell in the subsurface of the Andean foreland of
Peru and Ecuador (Rocha-Campos and Archangelsky,
1985). Sand influx occurred in the Andean region in Late
Carboniferous to Early Permian time but was generally
minor and largely limited to the margin of the proto-Cor-
dillera. In the Amazon basins, a regional sand of fluvial to
nearshore marine origin developed at the initial transgres-
sion in mid-Carboniferous time (Mosmann et al., 1986).
The overlying carbonate section in the Jandiataba and
Juru~i Subbasins and in the Middle Amazon Basin contains
a high percentage of dolomite, anhydrite, and salt. Minor
sands were shed from the flanks into the Amazon Graben
during Late Carboniferous time. Deposition of limestone
on the platform in northern Chile occurred in Early Per-
mian time, contemporaneous with volcanic activity (Bahl-
burg and Breitkreuz, 1991). Glacial debris in the Santa
Cruz, Tarija, and Alhuampa Basins consists of sandstones
and siltstones, with minor shale and conglomerate compo-
nents.
The fusulinid stratigraphy of the Permo-Carboniferous
section in the Peruvian and Bolivian Andes as established
by Roberts (in Newell et al., 1953) and Sakagami et al.
(1984, 1986) was reviewed by C. A. Ross (pers. commun..
1991). who concluded that the oldest fusulinids, from the
early sandstone-shale-limestone complex on the outer
shelf, are of mid-Carboniferous (late Atokan to early/mid-
Desmoinesian -- i.e., Westphalian) age. Deposition of the
massive limestone facies in the Andes commenced at the
end of Carboniferous time (Bursum, possibly also V'ngil-
ian -- i.e., late Stephanian) and lasted until the middle of
Early Permian time (late Wolfcampian - - i.e., late Sak-
marian), like the coeval upper shale-limestone complex.
At the southernmost occurrence of these carbonates in the
Bolivian Andes, south of Zudanez, their first appearance
was dated as early Wolfcampian (Asselian to early Sak-
marian) on the basis of fusulinids (determination by J.
Ross). Fusulinids of latest Early Permian (mid to late
Leonardiau-Artinskian) age are represented in limestones
in only one section near coastal central Peru.
As reported from outcrops in the Andes. the thickness
of the mid-Carboniferous to Early Permian sequence var-
ies greatly. At one locality, 2776 m was measured (Fig.
10), while at a nearby locality the section was reported to
be only 720 m thick. This suggests that thrusting and/or
erosion affected the outcrop section. The maximum
Permo-Carboniferous thickness penetrated in the Madre
de Dios Basin is 1210 m. Greater thicknesses occur in the
Middle Amazon Basin (> 2500 m) and in the Jurmt Subba-
sin (> 2000 m). The thickness decreases further from the
Jandiatuba Subbasin to the Maraflon Basin. The transgres-
sive sandstone in the Amazou Graben is up to 50 m thick.
In the glacial region, thicknesses of the coeval interval in
the Tarija and Santa Cruz Basins are small but reach more
than 1500 m in the Alhuampa Basin.
Gondwanian Cycle
The new subduction zone on the proto-Pacific margin
expanded in Late Permian time to offshore Peru and
caused intensive arc magmatism on the margin of Gond-
wana. At the same time, the Late Hercynian Orogeny pro-
duced regional uplift and retreat of the sea from the
continental margin. Primarily continental deposition con-
tinued in previously existing depocenters and lasted into
the early Mesozoic (Fig. 11) (Sempere, 1989; Miller,
1981). Back-arc basins formed behind a re-established
proto-Cordillera, and interior basins formed within Gond-
wana. The Mitu Basin was the site of accumulation of
molasse deposits (sandstones and shales) and stacked
extrusives (Fig. 3), with a thickness of up to 3700 m. In
areas where the section consists primarily of red beds. the
thickness is considerably less. The marine fauna reported
by Dunbar and Newell (1946) and by Fricke (1960: see
Marocco, 1978) could represent a brief incursion of the
sea into the Mitu Basin. Lacustrine (to ?marine) deposits
formed in the Pular Basin (Fig. 11) during a time of extru-
sive volcanic activity (Limarino and Spalletti, 1986).
Basal sandstones, about 250 m thick, and subsequent car-
bonates with some anhydrite interbeds, about 180 m thick,
were laid down in the Cangapi-Vitiacu~i Basin (Fig. 11).
The lower portion of the carbonates was dated as Late Per-
mian by fossil fish and palynology (Sempere et al.. 1992;
Sempere. 1990). The upper portion is considered to be of
Late Triassic age on the basis of a marine fauna (Beltan et
a l , 1987). The paleogeographic setting of the basin sug-
gests that the carbonates are basically of lacustrine origin,
but the basin could have been temporarily invaded by the
sea. In the Amazon Graben. mainly shales and minor
 Western Gondwana margin as an environment for Paleozoic hydrocarbon accumulation 283

74"W 62*W
• .~,-'='%.'.,,.~"-~÷ 4 ' . ' . ' . ". " . 1 d ~ ' . ' . ". 7/~¢~1-I, ~ ' +.~.,* + + + .~ + + J + '
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. . + + + ".'.'.'." ÷ + + +
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:/+ + : : ~ : : : ~ :+ +.4 + + ." . .'.'
v~:. i ; ~ . + : . > ~ . ~ G U Y A N A + + + + + + + + +
÷+ C R A T O N
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• . . + ~. + + + . . . . - + + + + + + + + + + + + ÷ + ÷ . . . . .
..... + + + + .. . + + + + + + ÷ ~. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 4- . • • ..... •
. . . + + + ÷ + . + + + + + + + + + + + + ~ . . . + + + + . . ...-." • .........

: ~' ".:":~+++*+÷÷+++÷+++÷÷+
: 1 +(.(.(.(.(.t'.t~J~'~ + + + + + + -, +
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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . < - : : " l~= lal " ~0_$. . ' I~ O
L . ~N
d ' ."'
' " • t+ ~¢./-'l'J± + + + + + + + + + + +, + + + ÷ ~/'.'.'.','," , - - ~ d ~ L ~ . ~ : ~ , : ~ , ' . ' . ' . ' . ' , ' . ' . ' . ' . " ~ ~
". ". . ' + + + + + + + + + ~/ + I+ + + • " . . . . ~:+~':':':':':':'::':'::':':':':':':':':':+::' " ". ". '. '. "." • " . .......
• ." .' ' + + ÷ + + + + +" + 4 + . . . . . . . ===========================================================================.=====.====.= . . . . .......:.:.:.:..........v...::.v.v...v...:::::::::::
. . . . . . ...............................................................
. '. . ' . ". ". \ ~ . .. -. " ~ + + + + + + .......... ~ : : : ~ .
. . . . . . . . . ~+ + + + + +~,,~ ",~ . . . . . . . . ,:.:.:.:............... ===========================. . . . . . . 1 ~ ~ : . '
: : :~i::~::~::~:~!~:~:~:~:::::!:!:i::~ii~i~. :. :. :. :. : . : : : . : - ~ l . - o . ~ : . : . ; ~
:: ~!i:#~::!~::~i~i~i~::~::~::~i~!~::~::~::~:~::::: : : : : : : ~ ~ + +

h: : : : : ~: ~ + + +~+ MIDDLE AMAZON

•: : : : : ~ + + ÷ - , ¢ . ~ ~ +++÷. BASIN
" - ~ : ;: :: :: ."~':.: : M I T U B A C K - A R C . . . . . . .
i~:':eASIN + +
+. + +. + +.+ + .+ + +. + +. + +.1 ÷ ".
+ + + + ÷ ++ ÷
~ +
' . " + F + + + + + + + + + + +
• .', + + + + + + + + + •

. ' . ' . +' .+ +' . . ¢-.-;"?'

. ' . ~. "~"-~i
. ". '~..~+++++++++++++++"
~". .' ' " " ++.

BRAZILIAN

CRATON
~o + +++ ::.1÷
\ ++++÷+

+ + + + + +
%

~ N ÷÷+(
++++++.

EXTENSION O F " : + ~'-'-'"---~.

EARLIER GENER
SUBDUCTION Z(

40(

4oo
i!i!!iF;i;
ii i!ii ii !iii ii i: ii~
77ii?i%
PROTC \ "'!i:i :CON.T-INENI:t
':CANGAPI-VITIA
:::::::::BASIN i
~:: " : i : ~ : ' " ." . ' . ' • " ' . . ; . " .' • • : ' . ' ." ." . • '-~". •

R BACK-ARC i i :: :: BA=N~ii:ii i i: '

iil BAS,N

Fig. 11. Early Gondwanian Cycle: Areal extent of Late Permian sedimentation. Extension of subduction and increase in intensity. For-
marion of residual basins over earlier marine depocenters.

amounts of sand were deposited. A maximum thickness of hag the Paleozoic section exposed t o erosion in the Andean
720 m was reported from the Middle Amazon Basin (Mos- foreland and in part of the Andes. Several uplifts formed
mann et al., 1986). prior to the Cretaceous Period on the craton margin: an
anticlinorium developed in northwestern Bolivia from the
EFFECTS OF POST-PALEOZOIC EVENTS Brazilian Craton into the Subandean Belt, with a lateral
extension into Peru (Madidi Arch); another anticlinorium
Two processes si~,nificantly affected the Paleozoic sec- extended from the Brazilian Craton far across the foreland
tion after its deposition: erosion and thrust-folding. towards central Peru. Arches emerged in northwestern
The Triassic and Jurassic seas advanced no further onto Paraguay and adjacent Bolivia (Izozog Arch) and in north-
the craton than today's eastern Andean thrust front, leav- ern Peru and adjacent Brazil (Contaya and Iquitos Arches)
284 K . H . A . GOHRBANDT

:. ,
74eW , IL [+ , + + ~ f
62"W + I
J • '- + + + + + +

CONTAYA ~lt/1 IQUITOS

\ ARCH , "~ ARCH

\
"L[ .f/
lz

i
÷
ARCH/
! BODOQUEI~A
"~___..._~UR _

I. I.I .I l t I I I "; ~ ' ~ ~/~

400 KM

\ T /
,zozoo
- ~1

j, . ....

L I L
74° W 62* W

POST-PALEOZOIC UPLIFT AND EROSION

Fig. 12. Post-Paleozoic uplifts and erosion. Removal of part of the deposits by pre-Cretaceous erosion, in particular on the principal
areas of uplift as shown, and limits of the Cretaceous transgression as indicated by its present extent.

(Fig. 12). A great volume of Paleozoic sediments was
removed from these uplifts and the rest of the exposed
land surface. The Cretaceous sea invaded the Andean fore-
land, from the northwest and south, at the onset of the
Andean tectono-sedimentary cycle and briefly covered
Paleozoic sediments and their continental equivalents over
a wide area (Fig. 12). Emergence of the Andes in Tertiary
time led to widespread erosion of the Paleozoic section.
More of the Paleozoic sequence was removed from the
cratonic margin during Tertiary time - - as, for example,
on the Bodoquefta Spur and the Paraguay Arch (Fig. 12).
In the course of the Andean Orogeny, the Subandean
Belt was created by low-angle thrusting of the Eastern
Cordillera onto its foreland. The Paleozoic section was
detached and displaced. Four boundaries between regional
sandstones and shales at Paleozoic level served as pre-
ferred detachment planes. Such planes occur at the transi-
tion from Middle Ordovician shales to Upper Ordovician
sandstones, from Silurian shales to Lower Devonian sand-
 Western Gondwana margin as an environment for Paleozoic hydrocarbon accumulation
stones, from those sandstones to overlying Devonian
shales and, finally, at the boundary between Upper Devo-
nian shales and Carboniferous sandstones (Fig. 3).
STRATIGRAPHY OF THE
H Y D R O C A R B O N HABITAT
The stratigraphic position of discovered oil and gas
accumulations and of potential source rocks is displayed
inFig. 3.
The Upper Cambrian section is not of interest in hydro-
carbon exploration because it neither contains any beds
that qualify as a hydrocarbon source nor yields reservoirs.
The Ordovician section has not been a hydrocarbon
exploration target because the source potential of its shale
complex has not been established. Shales occur in the sub-
surface of the Andean foreland but were buried there to a
depth of probably more than 5000 m under a Silurian to
Carboniferous depocenter and most likely are thermally
overmature today. Sandstones, which are the lateral equiv-
alents of these shales, and the overlying regional Upper
Ordovician elastics could be potential reservoirs in the
Andean foreland, outside the depocenter, if an Ordovician
hydrocarbon-generating source can be established. Shales
that could provide the cap rock are possibly absent over a
large portion of the proximal foreland where the section
occurs at shallower depth.
Some of the Silurian shale section in northwestern
Argentina was described as being bituminous (Amos,
1972). The same shales are developed in the subsurface
near the Andean thrust front, from central Bolivia to north-
ern Argentina, and can form a potential hydrocarbon
source there. They were buried to considerable depth,
however, and are possibly overmature. The transition in
the foreland between shales and coeval, craton-derived
sandstones is of exploratory interest when favorable
hydrocarbon generation and retention parameters are
established. Oil and gas have been discovered in such
sands in the foreland of the "Elbow" area of Bolivia. Sand-
stone reservoirs which originated by erosion of the proto-
Cordillera and the Puna Arch are of no commercial inter-
est as they do not extend far enough into the subsurface. A
secondary oil reservoir in the "Elbow" area is the Lower
Silurian carbonate. Silurian shales are considered a ther-
mally mature gas source in the Middle Amazon Basin
(Mosmann et al., 1986).
Lower Devonian sandstones can be important as a res-
ervoir where their pore space was not cemented by silica
(Padula et al., 1967). They yield oil and gas at two loca-
tions in Bolivia.
Lower to Upper Devonian shales are the principal
hydrocarbon source for oil accumulations in the Amazon
basins (Mosmann et al., 1986) and in the Subandean Belt
and its foreland (Illich et al., 1981: Salinas et al., 1978;
Padula et al., 1967). In the Middle Amazon Basin, lower
Upper Devonian (Frasnian) shales, up to 100 m thick,
have been identified as high quality, mature oil source
rocks. Those source rocks probably originated when
anoxic conditions prevailed in the embayment formed by
the Middle Amazon Basin. The conditions may have been
285
similar in the SolimOes Basin and in the interior sea of the
Subandean region and its foreland. Information published
o~l the hydrocarbon source potential of the Solim0es Basin
(Mosm~nn et al., 1986) suggests that the shales have a
good organic matter content and reached high thermal
maturity by Permian time, generating only gas. Significant
commercial gas accumulations derived from those source
rocks were discovered in the Solimtes Basin (Caputo,
1991). In Argentina, Devonian shales are frequently
de~ribed as being bituminous (Padula et al., 1967). Sand-
stones which were sourced from the proto-Cordillera are
oil- and gas-producing reservoirs in several fields of the
Bolivian-Argentine hydrocarbon belt. Massive Upper
Devonian sandstones were largely preserved from erosion
in the Subandean region of southern Bolivia. where they
form a principal producing reservoir. Those sandstones are
not well developed in the central portion of the Devonian
basin. In that paleogeographic position, only sandstone
stringers remain. Devonian sandstones often contain live
oil, as in outcrops in the Subandean Belt of northern
Bolivia and in the subsurface of the Andean foreland from
southern Peru to western Paraguay. Such manifestations in
the subsurface of the foreland are not yet of commercial
magnitude.
The Lower to mid-Carboniferous section is of explor-
atory interest in the Madre de Dios, Santa Cruz, and Tarija
Basin. Some of the shales developed in the shallow
marine-llmnotluvial domain are potential source rocks in
the Madre de Dios Basin. The shales are primarily wet
gas-prone (Mohler, 1989) because they contain abundant
plant debris. Such beds were deeply buried in the Madre
de Dios Basin and reached thermal maturity there. Some
non-commercial oil accumulations were discovered in
Lower to mid-Carboniferous sandstones in the Andean
foreland of southern Peru. Sandstones of the glacial
&~main commonly exhibit favorable reservoir properties
and are important oil- and gas-producing reservoirs at sev-
eral stratigraphic levels in the fields of southern Bolivia
and northwestern Argentina. The formation of accumula-
tions is controlled by the presence and favorable sealing
capability of interbedded shales.
In the Amazon Graben, shale interbeds in mid-Carbon-
iferous to Lower Permian carbonates are considered to be
subordinate source rocks (Mosmann et al., 1986). Distal
shales, which formed early and late during the second
phase of the Subandean Cycle, can be potential source
rocks, but they occur only to a limited degree in the sub-
smface. The primary reservoir for the gas and condensate
fields in the Solimtes Basin and non-commercial oil accu-
mulations in the Middle Amazon Basin is constituted by
the mid-Carboniferous transgressive sandstone. The accu-
mulations are sealed by overlying evaporites (Mosmann et
al.. 1986). Oil shows were logged in several wells in the
Andean foreland of southern Peru in sandstones which are
correlative to the lower sand complex in the Eastern Cor-
dillera. Major gas discoveries were made in southern Peru
partly in local regressive sandstones at the top of the car-
bonate sequence (Mohler. 1989). The massive carbonates
do not contain accumulations. Any existing porosity was
p~obably largely destroyed by silica cementation (silicified
286 K.H.A. GOHRBANDT
fossils). Some gas and a few commercial oil accumula-
tions were discovered in glacial sandstone reservoirs in the
producing belt of Bolivia and Argentina.
A potential for hydrocarbon source rocks may exist in
Upper Permian strata where lacustrine deposition devel-
oped. as in the Pular Basin. Such source rocks are of possi-
ble exploratory interest in the Altiplano grabens where the
Upper Cretaceous to Tertiary section may be underlain by
those beds. The continental sandstones are of importance
as a reservoir where they were brought in structural con-
tact with older Paleozoic source rocks. Condensates accu-
mulated in such reservoirs in several fields in Bolivia.
Acknowledgments--This paper results from a compilation of data on
Paleozoic regional stratigraphy and hydrocarbon habitat in part of South
America for the Latin America Business Unit of Chevron Overseas
Petroleum Inc. R. A. Lagaay, Managing Director of the business unit, ini-
tiated preparation of that study for publication and freely permitted
access to Chevron's resources. Critical reviews by N. Schneidermann, R.
W. Koch, L H. Kopel, and K. W. Stauffer were helpful in the preparation
of the paper. The manuscript was improved upon by the professional staff
of Chevron International Limited (Bolivia). Thanks are due to A. Ayaviri,
L. Barrios, G. Beccar, L. L. Dekker, and K, H. Hartshorn. Published by
permission of Chevron Corporation. P. E. Potter and an anonymous
reviewer suggested valuable improvements to the manuscript.
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