Multi-proxy analysis of the Cuyo and Lotena groups in the Picún Leufú sub-basin Patagonia, Argentina

Abstract

The environmental conditions of the Cuyo and Lotena groups during the Middle Jurassic period in the southern of the Huincul Arch have been reconstructed using outcrop samples recovered from the Destacamento I section. A multi-proxy study was carried out using pollen/spores, algae, fungal remains, palynofacies, molluscs, ichnology, X-ray diffraction, petrographic analysis, and lithology. An Early Bathonian age is proposed for the Lajas Formation in the Picún Leufú sub-basin, based on biostratigraphically useful taxa. Based on the multi-proxy data, a lacustrine environment (Challacó Formation) and shallow marine conditions influenced by strong fluvial discharges (Lajas, Bosque Petrificado and Lotena formations) could be interpreted