| Canto del Agua Formation | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: Triassic | |
| Type | Geological formation |
| Overlies | Llano de Chocolate Beds |
| Thickness | c. 2,100 m (6,900 ft) |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | Muddy sandstone, mudstone, conglomeratic sandstone, lapilli tuff, conglomerate, limestone |
| Other | Grainstone |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 28°12′18″S 70°56′31″W / 28.205043°S 70.941828°W |
| Region | Atacama Region |
| Country |  Chile |
  Canto del Agua Formation (Chile) | |
Canto del Agua Formation (Spanish: Formación Canto del Agua) is a geological formation in the Atacama Region of northern Chile. Its stratigraphy from top to bottom is as follows: mudstone, limestone, sandstone, mudstone, conglomerate, lapilli tuff, conglomeratic sandstone, muddy sandstone.[1] The environment where the sediments of the formation deposited is thought to have been the "submarine section of a coarse-grained fan delta" with other authors adding that the sedimentary basin where the sediments deposited was "bounded by two normal faults of WNW strike, active during deposition".[1] The exact relationship with the underlying Llano de Chocolate Beds is not clear.[1] In some locations the formation overlaps directly on the Punta de Choros Metamorphic Complex.[1]
The type locality of the formation lies next to the Plomiza mine.[1]
- ^ a b c d e Salazar, Esteban; Vásquez, Paulina; Vallejos, Daniela; Creixell, Christian; Oliveros, Verónica; Ducea, Mihai M. (2020). "Stratigraphic and provenance analysis of Triassic rock units between 28-29° S, northern Chile: implications on the tectonic and paleogeographic evolution of the southwestern margin of Gondwana". Andean Geology. 47 (2). National Geology and Mining Service. doi:10.5027/andgeoV47n2-3131.