A Prodeltaic System Controlled By Hyperpycnal Flows And Storm Waves: Reinterpretation Of The Punta Negra Formation (lower-middle Devonian, Argentine Precordillera)

The Punta Negra Formation (FPN) constitutes a Lower-Middle Devonian sandstone unit located in the Argentine Precordillera. Based on detailed facies and ichnological analyses, this unit, which had been previously interpreted as a deep-water system, has been reinterpreted in this study as a prodelta system, in which the distribution and sedimentation of the clastic deposits were controlled by hyperpycnal flows associated with storms. Five lithofacies attest the deposition by unidirectional hyperpycnal flows combined with storm-generated oscillatory flows. Fossil traces testify variable energetic conditions of the depositional system with the colonization of opportunistic organisms immediately after the deposition of high energy combined flows and the colonization of more specialized organisms during the long low-energy periods. Three architectural elements, deposited from coastline to offshore, have been recognized: 1) Channelized sandstone, composed of the thickest and coarsest sandstone beds and interpreted as the proximal portion deposited close to the mouth of the distributaries of the delta system; 2) Tabular sandstone, which are composed of combined and oscillatory flow deposits with lesser thickness, grain size and spacing of the undulated bed forms; 3) Tabular sandstone interbedded to mudstone, which represents the most distal architectural element and is composed of thin sandstone and thicker mudstone strata, deposited by low-energy combined flows.434673694Allen, J.R.L., (1984) Sedimentary Structures: Their Character and Physical Basis, p. 663. , Amsterdam, ElsevierArnott, R.W.C., Quasi-planar-laminated sandstone beds of the Lower Cretaceous Bootlegger Member, north-central Montana: Evidence of combined-flow sedimentation (1993) Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, 63 (3), pp. 488-494Arnott, R.W.C., Southard, J.B., Exploratory flow-duct experiments on combined flow bed configurations, and some implications for interpreting storm-event stratification (1990) Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, 60, pp. 211-219Basilici, G., De Luca, P.H.V., Oliveira, E.P., A depositional model for a wave-dominated open-coast tidal flat, based on analyses of the Cambrian-Ordovician Lagarto and Palmares formations, northeastern Brazil (2012) Sedimentology, 59, pp. 1613-1639Basilici, G., De Luca, P.H.V., Poiré, D.G., (2012) Hummocky Crossstratification-Like Structures and Combined-flow Ripples in the Punta Negra Formation (Lower-Middle Devonian, Argentine Precordillera): A Turbiditic Deep-water or Storm-dominated Prodelta Inner-shelf System?, pp. 73-92. , Sedimentary Geology 267-268Baucon, A., Neto De Carvalho, C., From the river to the sea: Pramollo a new ichnolagerstätte from the Carnic Alps (Carboniferous, Italy-Austria) (2008) Studi Trentini di Scienze Naturali Acta Geologica, 83, pp. 87-114Bhattacharya, H.N., Bhattacharya, B., Storm event beds in a Paleoproterozoic Rift Basin, Aravalli Supergroup, Rajasthan, India (2005) Gondwana Research, 8 (2), pp. 231-239. , DOI 10.1016/S1342-937X(05)71121-7Bhattacharya, H.N., Bhattacharya, B., Chakraborty, I., Chakraborty, A., Sole marks in storm event beds in the Permo-Carboniferous Talchir Formation, Raniganj Basin, India (2004) Sedimentary Geology, 166 (3-4), pp. 209-222. , DOI 10.1016/j.sedgeo.2003.12.003, PII S0037073803003713Brenchley, P.J., Newall, G., Storm-influenced inner-shelf sand lobes in the Caradoc (Ordovician) of Shropshire, England (1982) Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, 52, pp. 1257-1269Bridge, J.S., Description and interpretation of fluvial deposits: A critical perspective (1993) Sedimentology, 40 (4), pp. 801-810Buatois, L., Mángano, M.G., (2011) Ichnology: Organism-Substrate Interactions in Space and Time, p. 358. , Cambridge, Cambridge. 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