CURITOS, Formation

TERTIARY (middle and upper Eocene)

State of Barinas, Venezuela

Author of name: A. N. Mackenzie, 1937.

Original reference: A. N. Mackenzie, 1937, p. 262-263.

Original description: ibid.

The name "Corritos" formation was introduced by Mackenzie (1937, p. 262-263) as a misspelling of Curitos which is a locality in the district of Obispos of the State of Barinas (Ministerio de Fomento, 1944, p. 114). Mackenzie (ibid.) described the formation as consisting of a series of massive, thick-bedded quartzitic sandstone and coarse to fine (grained) conglomerates with traces of cross-bedding. The quartzite members show thin partings of shale. Mackenzie (ibid.) reported 135 meters of the Curitos formation on the Quebrada Bellaca, 160 meters on the Río Calderas and 140 meters on the Río Masparro.

A correlation was made by Mackenzie (ibid.) between the Curitos formation and the Mirador formation and between the Curitos ("Corritos") and Misoa formations by Sutton (1946, p. 1669). Sutton (ibid. p. 1666-1669) considered the Misoa and Mirador formations to be upper Eocene in age but Cizancourt (1951, p. 62) places the Cuicas and El Cumbe limestone members of the Misoa formation in the middle Eocene which would thus also be the ege of the Curitos formation.

H. Alberding