From Facies Analysis, Stratigraphic Surfaces, and Depositional Sequences to Stratigraphic Traps in the Eocene – Oligocene Record of the Southern Llanos Basin and Northern Magdalena Basin   

Víctor M. CABALLERO, Guillermo RODRÍGUEZ, Julián F. NARANJO, Andrés MORA, and Felipe DE LA PARRA

https://doi.org/10.32685/pub.esp.37.2019.10

Citation is suggested as: 

Caballero, V.M., Rodríguez, G., Naranjo, J.F., Mora, A. & De La Parra, F. 2020. From facies analysis, stratigraphic surfaces, and depositional sequences to stratigraphic traps in the Eocene – Oligocene record of the southern Llanos and northern Magdalena Basin. In: Gómez, J. & Mateus–Zabala, D. (editors), The Geology of Colombia, Volume 3 Paleogene – Neogene. Servicio Geológico Colombiano, Publicaciones Geológicas Especiales 37, 48 p. Bogotá. https://doi.org/10.32685/pub.esp.37.2019.10​

Download chapter  ​

Download EndNote reference​​​​​

Abstract 

Available outcrop sections, rock cores, and well logs, as well as previous sedimentary geology and palynology studies, provide the opportunity to study shallow marine and continental rock records within the context of unconformity–bounded depositional sequences. This approach provides insight into the sedimentary evolution of reservoirs and their properties in the Middle Magdalena Basin and the southern Llanos Basin in Colombia.

This work illustrates and analyzes facies and facies successions of the Eocene – Oligocene stratigraphic units in the Nuevo Mundo Syncline in the northern Middle Magdalena Basin and the southern Llanos Basin. The facies analysis results support the identification of subaerial unconformities, transgressive ravinement surfaces, flooding surfaces, depositional environments, and depositional sequences. Stratigraphic correlation allows the identification of spatial and temporal distributions of the facies, the stratigraphic architecture of reservoirs and potential of several types of plays in these basins, in addition to the common stratigraphic histories.

Thirteen facies were combined into ten facies successions, which led to the identification of three depositional sequences in the southern Llanos Basin and two in the Nuevo Mundo Syncline. A strongly developed paleosol and an unconformity at the base of the Eocene units allowed a buried, preserved landscape from the end of the Paleocene to be identified in the southern Llanos Basin, and the same relief features were identified in the Middle Magdalena Basin and Eastern Cordillera. The first depositional sequence comprises the Lower Mirador, Upper Mirador, and lower part of the C8 Member of the Carbonera Formation in the southern Llanos Basin and the La Paz and Esmeraldas Formations in the Nuevo Mundo Syncline. The second depositional sequence is composed of Oligocene basal sandstones and the upper part of the C8 Member of the Carbonera Formation in the southern Llanos Basin and the Oligocene Mugrosa Formation in the Middle Magdalena Basin. The third sequence is composed of both the C7 and C6 Members of the Carbonera Formation in the southern Llanos Basin.

The porosities and permeabilities allowed the identification of the favorable reservoir units in these basins and the geometries and lithologies below and above the buried landscape explain several types of traps/plays that must be searched for in these basins, including paleogeomorphic traps, such as buried hills, fluvial and incised valleys, and erosional pinchouts, and previously identified stratigraphic traps, such as depositional pitchouts, onlap pinchouts, and facies changes.

Keywords: origin and depositional history of sedimentary basins, facies analysis, facies successions, sequence stratigraphy correlation, Llanos Basin, Middle Magdalena Basin, reservoir architecture, stratigraphic trap, reservoir properties.

Las secciones de afloramiento, núcleos y registros de pozo disponibles, así como estudios previos de sedimentología y palinología, son una oportunidad para estudiar los registros sedimentarios marinos someros y continentales en el contexto de la estratigrafía de secuencias. En la Cuenca del Valle Medio del Magdalena y sur de la Cuenca de los Llanos, este enfoque proporciona información sobre la evolución de los reservorios y sus propiedades.

En este trabajo se ilustran y analizan las facies y sucesiones de facies en las unidades estratigráficas del Eoceno–Oligoceno en el Sinclinal de Nuevo Mundo localizado en la parte norte de la Cuenca del Valle Medio del Magdalena y en el sector sur de la Cuenca de los Llanos. El análisis de facies contribuye en la identificación de discordancias subaéreas, superficies de ravinamiento transgresivo, superficies de inundación, ambientes de depósito y secuencias de depósito. La correlación estratigráfica permite identificar la distribución temporal y espacial de facies, la arquitectura estratigráfica de los reservorios y el potencial de varios tipos de trampas en estas cuencas, además de las historias estratigráficas comunes.

Trece facies fueron combinadas en diez sucesiones de facies, lo que ayudó a identificar tres secuencias de depósito en el sur de la Cuenca de los Llanos y dos en el Sinclinal de Nuevo Mundo. Un paleosuelo fuertemente desarrollado y una discordancia en la base de las unidades del Eoceno permitieron identificar un paisaje enterrado y fosilizado desde el final del Paleoceno en el sur de la Cuenca de los Llanos, este mismo paisaje ya había sido identificado en la Cuenca del Valle Medio del Magdalena y en la cordillera Oriental. La primera secuencia de depósito incluye las formaciones Mirador Inferior y Mirador Superior y la parte baja del Miembro C8 de la Formación Carbonera en el sur de la Cuenca de los Llanos y las formaciones La Paz y Esmeraldas en el Sinclinal de Nuevo Mundo. La segunda secuencia de depósito está compuesta por las areniscas basales del Oligoceno y la parte superior del Miembro C8 de la Formación Carbonera en el sur de la Cuenca de los Llanos y la Formación Mugrosa del Oligoceno en la Cuenca del Valle Medio del Magdalena. La tercera secuencia está compuesta por los miembros C7 y C6 de la Formación Carbonera en el sur de la Cuenca de los Llanos.

Los valores de porosidad y permeabilidad permitieron identificar las mejores unidades reservorio en estas cuencas y las geometrías y litologías debajo y encima del paisaje fosilizado explican varios tipos de trampas que deberían buscarse en estas cuencas, incluyendo trampas paleogeomorfológicas, tales como colinas enterradas, valles fluviales y valles incisos y pinchamientos por erosión, y también trampas estratigráficas identificadas previamente, tales como pinchamientos por depósito, pinchamientos por onlap y cambios de facies.

Palabras clave: origen e historia de depósito de cuencas sedimentarias, análisis de facies, sucesiones de facies, correlación de secuencias estratigráficas, Cuenca de los Llanos, Cuenca del Valle Medio del Magdalena, trampa estratigráfica, propiedades de reservorio.

Abbreviations​

EC                                          Eastern Cordillera

ESLLB                             Eastern sector of the Southern Llanos Basin

FS                                           Facies successions

HAST                               High–accommodation systems tract

HST                                      Highstand systems tract

ICP                                        Instituto Colombiano del Petróleo

LCISP                               La Cira–Infantas–Sogamoso Paleohigh

LLB                                       Llanos Basin

LST                                       Lowstand systems tract

MFS                                     Maximum flooding surface

MMB                                  Middle Magdalena Basin

NMS                                   Nuevo Mundo Syncline

SLLB                                   Southern Llanos Basin

SU                                           Subaerial unconformity

T2                                              Amalgamated reservoirs sandstones of the Mirador, Barco, and Guadalupe Formations

TST                                          Transgressive systems tract

WSLLB                              Western sector of the Southern Llanos Basin

Aitken, J.F. & Flint, S.S. 1996. Variable expressions of interfluvial sequence boundaries in the Breathitt Group (Pennsylvanian), eastern Kentucky, USA. In: Howell, J.A. & Aitken, J.F. (editors), High resolution sequence stratigraphy: Innovations and applications. Geological Society of London, Special Publication 104, p. 193–206. London. https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.1996.104.01.12

Bayona, G., Reyes–Harker, A., Jaramillo, C., Rueda, M., Aristizabal, J., Cortés, M. & Gamba, N. 2006. Distinguishing tectonic versus eustatic flooding surfaces in the Llanos Basin of Colombia, and implications for stratigraphic correlations. IX Simposio Bolivariano de Exploración Petrolera en las Cuencas Subandinas. 13 p. Cartagena, Colombia.

Bayona, G., Cortés, M., Jaramillo, C., Ojeda, G., Aristizabal, J. J. & Reyes–Harker, A. 2008. An integrated analysis of an orogen–sedimentary basin pair: Latest Cretaceous – Cenozoic evolution of the linked Eastern Cordillera orogen and the Llanos Foreland Basin of Colombia. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 120(9–10): 1171–1197. https://doi.org/10.1130/B26187.1

Bayona, G., Montenegro, O.C., Cardona, A. Jaramillo, C. & Lamus, F. 2010. Estratigrafía, procedencia, subsidencia y exhumación de las unidades paleógenas en el Sinclinal de Usme, sur de la zona axial de la cordillera Oriental. Geología Colombiana, 35(1): 5–35.

Bayona, G., Cardona, A., Jaramillo, C., Mora, A., Montes, C., Valencia, V., Ayala, C., Montenegro, O. & Ibanez–Mejia, M. 2012. Early Paleogene magmatism in the northern Andes: Insights on the effects of oceanic plateau–continent convergence. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 331–332: 97–111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2012.03.015

Bayona, G., Cardona, A., Jaramillo, C., Mora, A., Montes, C., Caballero, V., Mahecha, H., Lamus, F., Montenegro, O., Jimenez, G., Mesa, A. & Valencia, V. 2013. Onset of fault reactivation in the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia and proximal Llanos Basin; response to Caribbean–South American convergence in early Palaeogene time. In: Nemčok, M., Mora, A. & Cosgrove, J.W. (editors), Thick–skin–dominated orogens: From initial inversion to full accretion, Geological Society of London, Special Publication 377, p. 285–314. London. https://doi.org/10.1144/SP377.5

Bayona, G., Cardona, A., Tellez, G., Garzon, A., Pinzon, D., Mendez, J., Ramirez, C. & Rueda, M. 2015. Magmatismo Paleoceno–Eoceno temprano? en la cuenca proximal de los Llanos. XV Congreso Colombiano de Geología. Memoirs, p. 560–564. Bucaramanga.

Blair, T.C. & McPherson, J.G. 2009. Processes and forms of alluvial fans. In: Parsons, A.D. & Abrahams, A.D. (editors), Geomorphology of desert environments, 2^nd edition. Springer, p. 413–467. Dordrecht, the Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978–1–4020–5719–9_14

Boggs, S.Jr. 1987. Principles of sedimentology and stratigraphy. Merriall Publishing Company. 784   p.

Boyd, R., Dalrymple, R.W. & Zaitlin, B.A. 2006. Estuarine and incised–valley facies models. SEPM Society for Sedimentary Geology, 84: 171–236. https://doi.org/10.2110/pec.06.84.0171

Caballero, V. 2010. Evolución tectono–sedimentaria del Sinclinal de Nuevo Mundo, cuenca sedimentaria Valle Medio del Magdalena Colombia, durante el Oligoceno–Mioceno. Master Thesis, Universidad Industrial de Santander, 149 p. Bucaramanga.

Caballero, V., Parra, M. & Mora, A. 2010. Levantamiento de la cordillera Oriental de Colombia durante el Eoceno tardío–Oligoceno temprano: Proveniencia sedimentaria en el Sinclinal de Nuevo Mundo, cuenca Valle Medio del Magdalena. Boletín de Geología, 32(1): 45–77.

Caballero, V., Mora, A., Quintero, I., Blanco, V., Parra, M., Rojas, L.E., Lopez, C., Sánchez, N., Horton, B.K., Stockli, D. & Duddy, I. 2013a. Tectonic controls on sedimentation in an intermontane hinterland basin adjacent to inversion structures: The Nuevo Mundo Syncline, Middle Magdalena Valley, Colombia. In: Nemčok, M., Mora, A. & Cosgrove, J.W. (editors), Thick–skin–dominated orogens: From initial inversion to full accretion. Geological Society of London, Special Publication 377, p. 315–342. London. https://doi.org/10.1144/SP377.12

Caballero, V., Parra, M., Mora, A., Lopez, C., Rojas, L.E. & Quintero, I. 2013b. Factors controlling selective abandonment and reactivation in thick–skin orogens: A case study in the Magdalena Valley, Colombia. In: Nemčok, M., Mora, A. & Cosgrove, J.W. (editors), Thick skin–dominated orogens: From initial inversion to full accretion. Geological Society of London, Special Publications 377, p. 343–367. London. https://doi.org/10.1144/SP377.4

Casero, P., Salel, J. F. & Rossato, A. 1997. Multidisciplinary correlative evidence for polyphase geological evolution of the foot–hills of the cordillera Oriental (Colombia). VI Simposio Bolivariano de Exploración Petrolera en la Cuencas Subandinas. Proceedings 1, 19 p. Cartagena.

Catuneanu, O. 2006. Principles of sequence stratigraphy. Developments in Sedimentology. Elsevier, 375 p. Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Caycedo, H.R. & Catuneanu, O. 2018. Stratigraphic architecture of incised valleys and unincised channel systems in the Carbonera Formation (C6–C1 Members: Upper Oligocene – Lower Miocene), Llanos Basin, Colombia. Journal of Geodynamics, 129: 202–218. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jog.2018.01.011

Cazier, E. C., Hayward, A.B., Espinosa, G., Velandia, J., Mugniot, J–F. & Leel Jr., W.G. 1995. Petroleum geology of the Cusiana Field, Llanos Basin Foothills, Colombia. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, 79(10): 1444–1462.

Cecil, C.B. 1990. Paleoclimate controls on stratigraphic repetition of chemical and siliciclastic rocks. Geology, 18(6): 533–536. https://doi.org/10.1130/0091–7613(1990)018<0533:PCOSRO>2.3.CO;2

Clifton, H.E. 2006. A Reexamination of facies models for clastic shorelines. In: Posamentier, H.W. & Walker, R.G. (editors), Facies models revisited. SEPM Society for Sedimentary Geology, Special Publication 84, p. 293–337. https://doi.org/10.2110/pec.06.84.0293

Coe, A. L., editor. 2003. The sedimentary record of sea–level change. Cambridge University Press, 288 p.

Colletta, B., Hebrard, F., Letouzey, J., Werner, P., & Rudkiweicz, J.L. 1990. Tectonic style and crustal structure of the Eastern Cordillera, Colombia from a balanced cross section. In: Letouzey, J. (editor), Petroleum and tectonics in mobile belts. Editions Technip, p. 81–100. Paris.

Collinson, J., Mountney, N. & Thompson, D. 2006. Sedimentary structures, 3^rd Edition. Terra Publishing, 302 p.

Cooper, M. A., Addison, F.T., Alvarez, R., Coral, M., Graham, R.H., Hayward, A.B., Howe, S., Martinez, J., Naar, J., Peñas, R., Pulham, A.J. & Taborda, A. 1995. Basin development and tectonic history of the Llanos Basin, Eastern Cordillera, and Middle Magdalena Valley, Colombia. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, 79(10): 1421–1443.

De La Parra, F., Paez, M., Cárdenas, O., Bedoya, O. & Pinzon, D. 2014. Informe palinológico de las secciones caño Sagú, caño Las Blancas y pozos Castilla–18 y Cristal–1. Ecopetrol–ICP, Informe interno 20–14. 31 p.

Dengo, C.A. & Covey, M.C. 1993. Structure of the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia: Implications for trap styles and regional tectonics. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, 77(8): 1315–1337.

Etayo–Serna, F., Renzoni, G. & Barrero, F. 1969. Contornos sucesivos del mar cretáceo en Colombia. I Congreso Colombiano de Geología. Memoirs, p. 217–252. Bogotá.

Etayo–Serna, F., Barrero, D., Lozano, H., Espinosa, A., González, H., Orrego, A., Ballesteros, I., Forero, H., Ramírez, C., Zambrano–Ortiz, F., Duque–Caro, H., Vargas, R., Núñez, A., Álvarez, J., Ropaín, C., Cardozo, E., Galvis, N., Sarmiento, L., Alberts, J.P., Case, J.E., Singer, D.A., Bowen, R.W., Berger, B.R., Cox, D.P. & Hodges, C.A. 1983. Mapa de terrenos geológicos de Colombia. Publicaciones Geológicas Especiales del Ingeominas 14(1), p. 1–235.  Bogotá.

Fabre, A. 1985. Dinámica de la sedimentación cretácica en la región de la Sierra Nevada del Cocuy (cordillera Oriental de Colombia). In: Etayo–Serna, F. & Laverde–Montaño, F. (editors), Proyecto cretácico: Contribuciones. Publicaciones Geológicas Especiales del Ingeominas 16, p. XIX-1–XIX-20. Bogotá.

Fabre, A. 1987. Tectonique et génération d'hydrocarbures: un modèle de l'évolution de la Cordillère Orientale de Colombie et du bassin des Llanos pendant le Crétacé et le Tertiaire. Archives des Sciences Genève, 40: 145–190.

Fajardo, A. 1995. 4–D stratigraphic architecture and 3–D reservoir fluid–flow model of the Mirador Formation, Cusiana Field, foothills area of the cordillera Oriental, Colombia. Master thesis, Colorado School of Mines, 186 p. Golden.

Farrell, K. M., Harris, W.B., Mallinson, D.J., Culvert, S.J., Riggs, S.R., Pierson, J., Self–Trail, J.M. & Lautier, J.C. 2012. Standardizing texture and facies codes for a process–based classification of clastic sediment and rock. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 82(6): 364–378. https://doi.org/10.2110/jsr.2012.30

Gerard, J. & Bromley, R.G. 2008. Ichnofabrics in clastic sediments: Applications to sedimentological core studies: A practical guide. Total Compagnie Française des Pétroles, Association des Sédimentologistes Français, Repsol. 100 p.

Gómez, E., Jordan, T.E., Allmendinger, R.W., Hegarty, K., Kelley, S. & Heizler, M. 2003. Controls on architecture of the Late Cretaceous to Cenozoic southern Middle Magdalena Valley Basin, Colombia. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 115(2): 131–147. https://doi.org/10.1130/0016–7606(2003)115<0131:COAOTL>2.0.CO;2

Gómez, E., Jordan, T.E., Allmendinger, R.W., Hegarty, K. & Kelley, S. 2005a. Syntectonic Cenozoic sedimentation in the northern Middle Magdalena Valley Basin of Colombia and implications for exhumation of the northern Andes. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 117(5–6): 547–569. https://doi.org/10.1130/B25454.1

Gómez, E., Jordan, T.E., Allmendinger, R.W. & Cardozo, N. 2005b. Development of the Colombian foreland–basin system as a consequence of diachronous exhumation of the northern Andes. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 117(9–10): 1272–1292. https://doi.org/10.1130/B25456.1

Horton, B.K., Parra, M., Saylor, J.E., Nie, J., Mora, A., Torres, V., Stockli, D.F. & Strecker, M.R. 2010a. Resolving uplift of the northern Andes using detrital zircon age signatures. Geological Society of America Today, 20(7): 4–9. https://doi.org/10.1130/GSATG76A.1

Horton, B.K., Saylor, J.E., Nie, J., Mora, A., Parra, M., Reyes–Harker, A. & Stockli, D.F. 2010b. Linking sedimentation in the northern Andes to basement configuration, Mesozoic extension, and Cenozoic shortening: Evidence from detrital zircon U–Pb ages, Eastern Cordillera, Colombia. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 122(9–10): 1423–1442. https://doi.org/10.1130/B30118.1

Jaramillo, C., Rueda, M., Bayona, G., Santos, C., Florez, P. & Parra, F. 2009. Biostratigraphy breaking paradigms: Dating the Mirador Formation in the Llanos Basin of Colombia. In: Demchuk, T.D. & Gary, C.A. (editors), Geologic problem solving with microfossils: A volume in honor of Garry D. Jones. SEPM, Society for Sedimentary Geology, Special Publication 93, p. 29–40. Tulsa. https://doi.org/10.2110/sepmsp.093.029

Jaramillo, C.A., Rueda, M. & Torres, V. 2011. A palynological zonation of the Cenozoic of the Llanos and Llanos Foothills of Colombia. Palynology, 35(1): 46–84. https://doi.org/10.1080/01916122.2010.515069

Kraus, M. J. 1999. Paleosols in clastic sedimentary rocks: Their geological applications. Earth–Science Reviews, 47(1–2): 41–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0012–8252(99)00026–4

Lamus, F., Bayona, G., Cardona, A. & Mora, A. 2013. Procedencia de las unidades cenozoicas del Sinclinal de Guaduas: Implicación en la evolución tectónica del sur del Valle Medio del Magdalena y orógenos adyacentes. Boletín de Geología, 35(1): 17–42.

Lunt, I.A., Bridge, J.S. & Tye, R.S. 2004. A quantitative, three–dimensional depositional model of gravelly braided rivers. Sedimentology, 51(3): 377–414. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3091.2004.00627.x

Malagón, C. 1997. Análisis facial, arquitectura estratigráfica y caracterización de las areniscas T1, Formación Carbonera, Campo Apiay, Colombia. VI Simposio Bolivariano de Exploración Petrolera en las Cuencas Subandinas. American Association of Petroleum Geologists/Datapages Combined Publications Database. 4 p. Bogotá.

Mondragón, J.C., Carrillo, G., Rueda, M., Medina, A., Becerra, I., Morales, M. & Rodriguez, G. 2016. House keeping time? The basal Tertiary sequence in the Llanos Foreland Basin. Simposio Bolivariano de Exploración Petrolera en Cuencas Subandinas. Bogotá.

Mora, A., Parra, M., Strecker, M.R., Kammer, A., Dimaté, C. & Rodriguez, F. 2006. Cenozoic contractional reactivation of Mesozoic extensional structures in the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia. Tectonics, 25(2): 19 p. https://doi.org/10.1029/2005TC001854

Mora, A., Parra, M., Strecker, M.R., Sobel, E.R., Hooghiemstra, H., Torres, V. & Vallejo–Jaramillo, J. 2008. Climatic forcing of asymmetric orogenic evolution in the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 120(7–8): 930–949. https://doi.org/10.1130/B26186.1

Mora, A., Gaona, T., Kley, J., Montoya, D., Parra, M., Quiroz, L.I., Reyes, G. & Strecker, M.R. 2009. The role of inherited extensional fault segmentation and linkage in contractional orogenesis: A reconstruction of Lower Cretaceous inverted rift basins in the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia. Basin Research, 21(1): 111–137. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365–2117.2008.00367.x

Mora, A., Horton, B.K., Mesa, A., Rubiano, J., Ketcham, R.A., Parra, M., Blanco, V., Garcia, D. & Stockli, D.F. 2010. Migration of Cenozoic deformation in the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia interpreted from fission track results and structural relationships: Implications for petroleum systems. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, 94(10): 1543–1580. https://doi.org/10.1306/01051009111

Mora, A., Reyes–Harker, S., Rodriguez, G., Tesón, E., Ramirez–Arias, J.C., Parra, M., Caballero, V., Mora, J.P., Quintero, I., Valencia, V., Ibanez–Mejia, M., Horton, B.K. & Stockli, D.F. 2013. Inversion tectonics under increasing rates of shortening and sedimentation: Cenozoic example from the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia. In: Nemčok, M., Mora, A. & Cosgrove, J.W. (editors), Thick–skin–dominated orogens: From initial inversion to full accretion. Geological Society of London, Special Publication 377, p. 411–442. London. https://doi.org/10.1144/SP377.6

Mora, A., Parra, M., Rodríguez–Forero, G., Blanco, V., Moreno, N., Caballero, V., Stockli, D., Duddy, I. & Ghorbal, B. 2015. What drives orogenic asymmetry in the northern Andes?: A case study from the apex of the northern Andean orocline. In: Bartolini, C. & Mann, P. (editors), Petroleum geology and potential of the Colombian Caribbean margin. American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Memoir 108, p. 547–586. https://doi.org/10.1306/13531949M1083652

Mora, A., Villamizar, C., Cardozo, E., Caballero, V., Gelvez, J., Gomez, R., Lozada, S., Valencia, A., Beltrán R., Franco, M. & Tejada, M. L. 2018. Geological processes controlling stratigraphic traps in the southern Llanos Basin. Conference: Cumbre del Petróleo y Gas 2018. 6 p. Bogotá.

Morales, L. 1958. General geology and oil occurrences of Middle Magdalena Valley, Colombia. In: Weeks, L.G. (editor), Habitat of oil. American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Special Publication SP18, p. 641–695. Tulsa, USA.

Moreno, C.J., Horton, B.K., Caballero, V., Mora, A., Parra, M. & Sierra, J. 2011. Depositional and provenance record of the Paleogene transition from foreland to hinterland basin evolution during Andean orogenesis, northern Middle Magdalena Valley Basin, Colombia. Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 32(3): 246–263. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsames.2011.03.018

Nie, J., Horton, B.K., Mora, A., Saylor, J.E., Housh, T.B., Rubiano, J. & Naranjo, J. 2010. Tracking exhumation of Andean ranges bounding the Middle Magdalena Valley Basin, Colombia. Geology, 38(5): 451–454. https://doi.org/10.1130/G30775.1

Nie, J., Horton, B.K., Saylor, J.E., Mora, A., Mange, M., Garzione, C.N., Basu, A., Moreno, C.J., Caballero, V. & Parra, M. 2012. Integrated provenance analysis of a convergent retroarc foreland system: U–Pb ages, heavy minerals, Nd isotopes, and sandstone compositions of the Magdalena Valley Basin, northern Andes, Colombia. Earth–Science Reviews, 110(1–4):  111–126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2011.11.002

Nio, S.D. & Yang, C.S. 1991. Diagnostic attributes of clastic tidal deposits: A review. In: Smith, D.G., Reinson G.E., Zaitlin, B.A. & Rahmani, R.A. (editors), Clastic tidal sedimentology. Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists, Memoir 16, p. 3–27. Calgary.

O'Byrne, C.J. & Flint, S. 1996. Interfluve sequence boundaries in the Grassy Member, Book Cliffs, Utah: Criteria for recognition and implications for subsurface correlation. In: Howell, J.A. & Aitken, J.F. (editors), High resolution sequence stratigraphy: Innovations and applications. Geological Society of London, Special Publication 104, p. 207–220. London. https://doi.org/10.1144/GSL.SP.1996.104.01.13

Pardo–Trujillo, A. 2004. Paleocene – Eocene palynology and palynofacies from northeastern Colombia and western Venezuela. Doctorade thesis, Université de Liège, 103 p. Liège.

Parra, M., Mora, A., Jaramillo, C., Strecker, M.R., Sobel, E.R., Quiroz, L.I., Rueda, M. & Torres, V. 2009a. Orogenic wedge advance in the northern Andes: Evidence from the Oligocene – Miocene sedimentary record of the Medina Basin, Eastern Cordillera, Colombia. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 121(5–6): 780–800. https://doi.org/10.1130/B26257.1

Parra, M., Mora, A., Sobel, E.R., Strecker, M.R. & González, R. 2009b. Episodic orogenic front migration in the northern Andes: Constraints from low–temperature thermochronology in the Eastern Cordillera, Colombia. Tectonics, 28(4): p. 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1029/2008TC002423

Parra, M., Mora, A., Jaramillo, C., Torres, V., Zeilinger, G. & Strecker, M.R. 2010. Tectonic controls on Cenozoic foreland basin development in the north–eastern Andes, Colombia. Basin Research, 22(6): 874–903. 10.1111/j.1365-2117.2009.00459.x

Parra, M., Mora, A., López, C., Rojas, L.E. & Horton, B.K. 2012. Detecting earliest shortening and deformation advance in thrust–belt hinterlands: Example from the Colombian Andes. Geology, 40(2): 175–178. https://doi.org/10.1130/G32519.1

Posamentier, H.W. & Allen, G.P. 1999. Siliciclastic sequence stratigraphy–Concepts and applications. SEPM Concepts in Sedimentology and Paleontology. Society for Sedimentary Geology, 7, 210 p. https://doi.org/10.2110/csp.99.07

Pulham, A.J. 1994. The Cusiana Field, Llanos Basin, Eastern Colombia: High resolution sequence stratigraphy applied to late Palaeocene – early Oligocene estuarine, coastal plain and alluvial clastic reservoirs. In: Johnson, S.D. (editor), High resolution sequence stratigraphy: Innovation and applications. University of Liverpool, Abstract Volume, p. 63–68.

Pulham, A.J., Mitchell, A., MacDonald, D. & Daly, C. 1997. Reservoir modeling in the Cusiana Field, Llanos Foothills, Eastern Cordillera: Characterization of a deeply–buried, low–porosity reservoir. VI Simposio Bolivariano de Exploración Petrolera en las Cuencas Subandinas. Proceedings I, p 198–216.

Ramirez–Arias, J.C., Mora, A., Rubiano, J., Duddy, I., Parra, M., Moreno, N., Stockli, D. & Casallas, W. 2012. The asymmetric evolution of the Colombian Eastern Cordillera. Tectonic inheritance or climatic forcing? New evidence from thermochronology and sedimentology. Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 39: 112–137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsames.2012.04.008

Ramon, J.C. & Fajardo, A. 2006. Sedimentology, sequence stratigraphy, and reservoir architecture of the Eocene Mirador Formation, Cupiagua Field, Llanos Foothills, Colombia. In: Harris, P.M. & Weber, L.J. (editors), Giant hydrocarbon reservoirs of the world: From rocks to reservoir characterization and modeling. American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Memoir 88/SEPM Special Publication, p. 433–469. https://doi.org/10.1306/1215884M883276

Reineck, H. E. & Singh, I.B. 1973. Depositional sedimentary environments with reference to terrigenous clastics. Springer–Verlag, 551 p. Berlin.

Reyes–Harker, A., Ruiz–Valdivieso, C.F., Mora, A., Ramírez–Arias, J.C., Rodriguez, G., De La Parra, F., Caballero, V., Parra, M., Moreno, N., Horton, B.K., Saylor, J.E., Silva, A., Valencia, V., Stockli, D. & Blanco, V. 2015. Cenozoic paleogeography of the Andean foreland and retroarc hinterland of Colombia. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, 99(8): 1407–1453. https://doi.org/10.1306/06181411110

Rodríguez–Forero, G., Oboh–Ikuenobe, F.E., Jaramillo–Munoz, Rueda–Serrano, M.J. & Cadena–Rueda, E. 2012. Palynology of the Eocene Esmeraldas Formation, Middle Magdalena Valley Basin, Colombia. Palynology, 36(Supplement 1): 96–111. https://doi.org/10.1080/01916122.2012.650548

Rust, B.R. 1977. Depositional models for braided alluvium. Fluvial Sedimentology, Memoir 5, p. 605–625.

Sandoval, J. R. 2016. Correlaciones y paleogeografía del Cretácico Superior a Oligoceno entre la subcuenca Yarí–Caguán y las cuencas Llanos y Putumayo, Colombia. Master Thesis, Universidad Industrial de Santander, 97 p. Bucaramanga.

Santos, C., Jaramillo, C., Bayona, G., Rueda, M. & Torres, V. 2008. Late Eocene marine incursion in north–western South America. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 264(1–2): 140–146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2008.04.010

Sarmiento–Rojas, L.F., van Wess, J.D. & Cloetingh, S. 2006. Mesozoic transtensional basin history of the Eastern Cordillera, Colombian Andes: Inferences from tectonic models. Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 21(4): 383–411. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsames.2006.07.003

Saylor, J.E., Horton, B.K., Nie, J., Corredor–Herrera, J.A. & Mora, A. 2011. Evaluating foreland basin partitioning in the northern Andes using Cenozoic fill of the Floresta Basin, Eastern Cordillera, Colombia. Basin Research, 23(4): 377–402.  https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2117.2010.00493.x

Saylor, J.E., Horton, B.K., Stockli, D.F., Mora, A. & Corredor, J. 2012a. Structural and thermochronological evidence for Paleogene basement–involved shortening in the axial Eastern Cordillera, Colombia. Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 39: 202–215. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsames.2012.04.009

Saylor, J.E., Stockli, D.F., Horton, B. H., Nie, J. & Mora, A. 2012b. Discriminating rapid exhumation from syndepositional volcanism using detrital zircon double dating: Implications for the tectonic history of the Eastern Cordillera, Colombia. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 124(5–6): 762–779. https://doi.org/10.1130/B30534.1

Shanley, K.W. & McCabe, P.J. 1994. Perspectives on the sequence stratigraphy of continental strata. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, 78(4): 544–568. https://doi.org/10.1306/BDFF9258-1718-11D7-8645000102C1865D

Silva, A., Mora, A., Caballero, V., Rodríguez, G., Ruiz, C., Moreno, N., Parra, M., Ramírez–Arias, J.C., Ibañez, M. & Quintero, I. 2013. Basin compartmentalization and drainage evolution during rift inversion: Evidence from the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia. In: Nemčok, M., Mora, A. & Cosgrove, J.W. (editors), Thick–skin–dominated orogens: From initial inversion to full accretion. Geological Society of London, Special Publication 377: p. 369–409. London. https://doi.org/10.1144/SP377.15

Suárez, M.A. 1997. Facies analysis of the upper Eocene La Paz Formation, and regional evaluation of the post–middle Eocene stratigraphy, northern Middle Magdalena Valley Basin. Master thesis, University of Colorado, 88 p. Boulder.

Tandon, S.K. & Gibling, M.R. 1994. Calcrete and coal in late Carboniferous cyclothems of Nova Scotia, Canada: Climate and sea–level changes linked. Geology, 22(8): 755–758. https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1994)022<0755:CACILC>2.3.CO;2

Tesón, E., Mora, A., Silva, A., Namsom, J., Teixell, A., Castellanos, J., Cassallas, W., Julivert, M., Taylor, M., Ibanez–Mejia, M. & Valencia, V.A. 2013. Relationship of Mesozoic graben development, stress, shortening magnitude, and structural style in the Eastern Cordillera of the Colombian Andes. In: Nemčok, M., Mora, A. & Cosgrove, J. W. (editors), Thick–skin–dominated orogens: From initial inversion to full accretion. Geological Society of London, Special Publication 377: 257–283. London. http://dx.doi.org/10.1144/SP377.10

van Wagoner, J.C., Mitchum, R.M., Campion, K.M. & Rahmanian, V.D. 1990. Siliciclastic sequence stratigraphy in well logs, cores, and outcrops: Concepts for high–resolution correlation of time and facies. American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Methods in Exploration Series 7, 55 p. Tulsa, USA. https://doi.org/10.1306/Mth7510

van Wagoner, J.C. & Bertram, G. T., editors. 1995. Sequence stratigraphy of foreland basin deposits: Outcrop and surface examples from the Cretaceous of North America. American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Memoir 64, 487   p.

Villagómez, D.R., Spikings, R., Magna, T., Kammer, A., Winkler, W. & Beltrán, A. 2011. Geochronology, geochemistry and tectonic evolution of the Western and Central Cordilleras of Colombia. Lithos, 125 (3–4): 875–896. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lithos.2011.05.003

Villamil, T. 1999. Campanian – Miocene tectonostratigraphy, depocenter evolution and basin development of Colombia and western Venezuela. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 153(1–4​): 239–275. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-0182(99)00075-9

Walker, R.G. 1984. Facies models, 2^nd edition. Geoscience Canada Reprint Series 1. Geological Association of Canada 211, 317p. Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

Walker, R. G. & James, N. P., editors. 1992. Facies models: Response to sea level change. Geological Association of Canada, GeoText 1, 454   p.

Weimer, R.J. 1975. Deltaic and shallow marine sandstones: Sedimentation, tectonics and petroleum occurrences. Education Course Note Series #2. Colorado School of Mines. American Association of Petroleum Geologists, 2, 164 p.

Zhai, G. & Zha, Q. 1982. Buried–hill oil and gas pools in the North China Basin. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Memoir 32, p. 317–335.