TAPARITO, Formation

TERTIARY (upper Miocene)

State of Falcón, Venezuela

Author of name: C. Wiedenmayer, 1929 (private report).

Original reference: Mencher et al., 1951, correlation chart.

Original description: none published.

Mencher et al. (1951, correlation chart) showed the Taparito formation in the upper Miocene of western Falcón, resting conformably on the Urumaco formation and overlain conformably by the Chiguaje formation.

Information taken from private reports indicates that the type section of the formation crops out along the Río Codore, in north-central Falcón, beginning at the top of the uppermost fossiliferous bed of the Urumaco formation at El Jebe, 3.5 kilometers north of El Mamón and extending northward along the river for a distance of 1.8 kilometers, to the base of the first fossiliferous horizon of the Chiguaje formation. The formation consists of a series of interbedded lenticular clays, silts and sandstones. These are usually soft and poorly consolidated. Colors range from yellow to brown, gray, red and white. No lignites, carbonaceous shales or fossils were found in this formation. Clays and silts form an estimated 90 percent of the formation. The formation is 460 meters thick at its type locality. Its outcrops extend through north-central and northwestern Falc6n. Both the upper and the lower contacts of the formation are conformable with the Chiguaje and the Urumaco formation, respectively. A number of geologists regard the "Taparito formation" as the lowermost of three formations which they place in the "Codore group", while another group of geologists consider the "Taparito" to be the lowermost member of the Codore formation.

The "Taparito formation" described in the above lines represents a homonym of the Taparito member of the Mostrencos formation of Hedberg and Sass (1937, p. 92) and a new name will have to be proposed for the "Taparito formation" which was first published by Mencher et al. (1951, correlation chart).

Leo Weingeist