EL MENE, Formation

TERTIARY (upper Eocene)

State of Barinas, Venezuela

Synonym of ALTAMIRA FORMATION

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

Original reference: A. N. Mackenziew, 1937, p. 264.

Original description: ibid.

Mackenzie (1937, p. 264) first used the name El Mene formation in the Barinas area for beds consistg of hard, fine, carbonaceous grey, ripple marked sandstones, interbedded with medium hard, carbonaceous, thin bedded, gray sandy shales.

Other formations described under the name El Mene are the El Mene formation of north central Zulia (middle - upper Eocene) and the El Mene formation of eastern Falcón (upper Oligocene), but the only apparent relation between them is the name, and, for the El Mene formation of Zulia, the age, although no direct correlation between the formations has been made. The name El Mene formation should be dropped from use in the Barinas section based on priority for its use in Zulia, and the term Altamira formation should be used for these sediments.

Ivan A. Koves