Pisco Basin

Pisco Basin
Pisco Basin
Cuenca de Pisco
	Location within Peru
Coordinates	14°15′S 76°0′W / 14.250°S 76.000°W
Etymology	City of Pisco, Peru
Location	Western South America
Country	Peru
State	Ica Region
Cities	Pisco
Characteristics
On/Offshore	Both
Part of	Circum-Pacific forearc basins
Area	300 km (190 mi)
Hydrology
Sea	Eastern Pacific Ocean
River	Pisco River
Geology
Basin type	Forearc basin
Orogeny	Andean
Age	Eocene–Pliocene
Stratigraphy	Stratigraphy

Pisco Basin (Spanish: Cuenca de Pisco) is a sedimentary basin extending over 300 kilometres (190 mi) in southwestern Peru. The basin has a 2-kilometre (1.25-mile) thick sedimentary fill, which is about half the thickness of more northern foreland basins in Peru.

The oldest known sediments are the Eocene sandstones of the Caballas Formation, while the youngest deposits, the fossiliferous Pisco Formation, date to the Early Pleistocene. In relation to present-day, topography the fill of Pisco Basin makes the upper part of the Coastal Cordillera of southern Peru, the coastal plains, the Ica-Nazca Depression and the Andean foothills.

The basin is renowned for hosting various highly fossiliferous stratigraphic units; the Pisco Formation has provided a wealth of marine mammals (including sloths), birds, fish and other groups, as have the Chilcatay, Otuma and Paracas Formations.

Stratigraphy

Stratigraphy of Pisco Basin
Age	SALMA	Units		Environment	Lithology
Pleistocene	Uquian	Pisco		Lagoonal to near-shore	Bioclastic conglomerate, sandstone
Middle Miocene	Colloncuran	Pisco		Lagoonal to near-shore	Bioclastic conglomerate, sandstone
Early Miocene	Colhuehuapian	Chilcatay		Marine	Siltstone, sandstone
Late Oligocene	Deseadan	Chilcatay		Marine	Siltstone, sandstone
Early Oligocene Late Eocene	Tinguirirican Divisaderan	Otuma		Marine embayment	Bioclastic sandstone, sandstone, silty sandstone, mudstone, dolomitic sediment
Late Eocene	Divisaderan	Paracas	Yumaque		Mudrock, phosphatic shale, diatomite, porcellanite, chert
Late Eocene	Mustersan	Paracas	Los Choros	Inner shelf, shoreface, intertidal	Bioclastic conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone, mudrock
Eocene	Casamayoran	Caballas		Fluvial	Sandstone, tuff, coal

Tectonic and sedimentary evolution

The basin developed in a setting of extensional tectonics from Eocene to the Late Miocene with short-lived episode of basin inversion in the Middle Miocene. Late Pliocene and Pleistocene uplift of the basin may be consequence of the subduction of Nazca Ridge.

Sedimentary strata of the basin shows evidence for a series of marine transgressions during the last 50 million years. These marine transgressions occurred in a sequence 41-34 Ma, 31-28 Ma, 25-16 Ma, 15-11 Ma, 10-5 Ma, and 4-2 Ma. The end of most of the marine transgressions is thought to be associated either with global sea level falls or compressional events in the Andes.

Oligo-Miocene transgression

The marine Oligo-Miocene (25–16 Ma) marine transgression is evidenced by a series of sedimentary strata containing fossils of marine diatoms, Peruchilus snails and Pitar and Cucullaea clams. Oligo-Miocene marine environments in the Pisco Basin range from littoral to shelf. Moquegua Basin southeast of Pisco Basin appear to have been unaffected by the transgression.

Within the Andean margin contemporary marine transgressions are also known from southern Chile, Patagonia and Colombia. As such the marine transgression is thought to represent a regional phenomenon with the steadily rising central Andes being an exception.

Paleontology

Pisco Formation

Chilcatay Formation

Group	Fossils	Notes
Mammals	Chilcacetus cavirhinus, Huaridelphis raimondii, Incacetus broggii, Inticetus vertizi, Macrosqualodelphis ukupachai, Notocetus vanbenedeni, cf. Kentriodon sp., Cetotheriidae indet., Eurhinodelphinidae indet., Mysticeti indet., Odontoceti indet., Pinnipedia indet., Physeteroidea indet., Squalodelphinidae indet.
Birds	Palaeospheniscus sp.
Reptiles	Testudines indet.
Fish	Carcharhinus cf. brachurus, Carcharodon hastalis, Carcharodon subauriculatus, Hemipristis cf. serra, Isurus desori

Otuma Formation

Group	Fossils	Notes
Mammals	Cynthiacetus peruvianus, Basilosauridae indet.
Birds	Icadyptes salasi, Inkayacu paracasensis, Spheniscidae indet.
Fish	Engraulis sp., Sardinops sp.

Paracas Formation

Group	Fossils	Notes
Mammals	Ocucajea picklingi, Supayacetus muizoni, Basilosauridae indet., Mystacodon selenensis, Peregocetus pacificus, Perucetus colossus
Birds	Perudyptes devriesi
Fish	Pristis sp., Myliobatis sp., Clupeiformes sp.

Notes and references

Notes

↑ later publications give a younger top date
↑ Based on "DeVries (1998) as presented by León et al. (2007)"
↑ See SALMA Bibliography for sources

References

↑ Solís Mundaca, 2018, p.1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Dunbar et al., 1990
↑ León et al. 2007, p. 7.
↑ León et al. 2007, p. 44.
1 2 3 4 DeVries et al., 2017
↑ León et al. 2007, p. 45.
↑ León et al. 2007, p. 146.
↑ León et al. 2007, p. 145.
1 2 3 4 DeVries, 1998
1 2 3 4 5 Macharé et al., 1988
1 2 Ullujaya at Fossilworks.org
↑ Ullujaya 2 at Fossilworks.org
1 2 Santa Rosa at Fossilworks.org
1 2 Zamaca at Fossilworks.org
↑ Cerro Buque M2 at Fossilworks.org
↑ Cerro Buque M8 at Fossilworks.org
↑ Paracas Bay at Fossilworks.org
↑ Archaeocete Valley, Otuma, AV-10 at Fossilworks.org
↑ Ullujaya Valley at Fossilworks.org
↑ Bajada del Diablo at Fossilworks.org
1 2 Paracas Reserve at Fossilworks.org
↑ Archaeocete Valley at Fossilworks.org
↑ Archaeocete Valley, Paracas, AV-17 at Fossilworks.org
↑ Archaeocete Valley, Paracas, AV-19 at Fossilworks.org
1 2 Lambert et al., 2017
↑ Lambert, Olivier; Bianucci, Giovanni; Salas-Gismondi, Rodolfo; Di Celma, Claudio; Steurbaut, Etienne; Urbina, Mario; de Muizon, Christian (2019). "An Amphibious Whale from the Middle Eocene of Peru Reveals Early South Pacific Dispersal of Quadrupedal Cetaceans". Current Biology. 29 (8): 1352–1359.e3. Bibcode:2019CBio...29E1352L. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2019.02.050. hdl:11581/425570. ISSN 0960-9822. PMID 30955933.
↑ Bianucci, Giovanni; Lambert, Olivier; Urbina, Mario; Merella, Marco; Collareta, Alberto; Bennion, Rebecca; Salas-Gismondi, Rodolfo; Benites-Palomino, Aldo; Post, Klaas; de Muizon, Christian; Bosio, Giulia; Di Celma, Claudio; Malinverno, Elisa; Pierantoni, Pietro Paolo; Villa, Igor Maria (2023-08-02). "A heavyweight early whale pushes the boundaries of vertebrate morphology". Nature. 620 (7975): 824–829. Bibcode:2023Natur.620..824B. doi:10.1038/s41586-023-06381-1. hdl:10281/434998. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 37532931.
↑ Quebrada Perdida at Fossilworks.org
↑ Collareta, Alberto; Tejada-Medina, Luz; Chacaltana-Budiel, César; Landini, Walter; Altamirano-Sierra, Alí; Urbina-Schmitt, Mario; Bianucci, Giovanni (2020-03-17). "A rhinopristiform sawfish (genus Pristis) from the middle Eocene (Lutetian) of southern Peru and its regional implications". Carnets Geol. 20 (5): 91. doi:10.4267/2042/70759. hdl:20.500.12544/2621. ISSN 1634-0744.

Bibliography

Stratigraphy

DeVries, Thomas J.; Urbina, Mario; Jud, Nathan A. (2017), "The Eocene-Oligocene Otuma Depositional Sequence (East Pisco Basin, Peru): Paleogeographic and Paleoceanographic Implications of New Data" (PDF), Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica del Perú, 112: 014–038, retrieved 2020-03-09
Dunbar, Robert B.; Marty, Richard C.; Baker, Paul A. (1990), "Cenozoic marine sedimentation in the Sechura and Pisco basins, Peru", Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 77 (3–4): 235–261, Bibcode:1990PPP....77..235D, doi:10.1016/0031-0182(90)90179-B

Geology publications

León, Walter; Aleman, Antenor; Rosell, Walter; Torres, Víctor; de la Cruz, Orlando (2007), Estratigrafía, sedimentología y evolucón tectónica de la cuenca Pisco Oriental (in Spanish), vol. 27, Estudios Regionales, Serie D, p. 1, retrieved 2020-03-09
Devries, T.J. (1998), "Oligocene deposition and Cenozoic sequence boundaries in the Pisco Basin (Peru)", Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 11 (3): 217–231, Bibcode:1998JSAES..11..217D, doi:10.1016/S0895-9811(98)00014-5
Macharé, José; Devries, Thomas; Barron, John; Fourtanier, Élisabeth (1988), "Oligo-Miocene transgression along the Pacifie margin of South America: new paleontological and geological evidence from the Pisco basin (Peru)" (PDF), Geódynamique, 3 (1–2): 25–37, retrieved 2020-03-09

Paleontology publications

Solís Mundaca, Flavio Alejandro (2018), Bioestratigrafía e implicancias paleoceanográficas de las diatomeas de la sección Cerro Caucato, Formación Pisco, Ica, Peru (MSc. thesis) (PDF), Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, pp. 1–158, retrieved 2018-09-10
Lambert, O.; Martínez Cáceres, M.; Bianucci, G.; Di Celma, C.; Salas Gismondi, R.; Steurbaut, E.; Urbina, Mario; de Muizon, C. (2017), "Earliest Mysticete from the Late Eocene of Peru Sheds New Light on the Origin of Baleen Whales", Current Biology, 27 (10): 1–7, Bibcode:2017CBio...27E1535L, doi:10.1016/j.cub.2017.04.026, hdl:11581/396095, PMID 28502655, retrieved 2019-02-04

Bianucci, Giovanni; Bosio, Giulia; Malinverno, Elisa; De Muizon, Christian; Villa, Igor M.; Urbina, Mario; Lambert, Olivier (2018), "A new large squalodelphinid (Cetacea, Odontoceti) from Peru sheds light on the Early Miocene platanistoid disparity and ecology", Royal Society Open Science, 5 (4) 172302, Bibcode:2018RSOS....572302B, doi:10.1098/rsos.172302, PMC 5936943, PMID 29765678
De la Cruz, Aldo Alván (2008), "Geología de Ocucaje: aportes en la sedimentología y paleontología de Lomas de Ullujaya (Ica, Perú)" (PDF), Revista del Instituto de Investigaciones FIGMMG, 11: 51–59, retrieved 2017-08-15
Lambert, Olivier; De Muizon, Christian; Malinverno, Elisa; Di Celma, Claudio; Urbina, Mario; Bianucci, Giovanni (2017), "A new odontocete (toothed cetacean) from the Early Miocene of Peru expands the morphological disparity of extinct heterodont dolphins", Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, 16 (12): 981–1016, doi:10.1080/14772019.2017.1359689, hdl:11568/891482, retrieved 2019-02-12
Lambert, Olivier; Bianucci, Giovanni; Urbina, Mario (2014), "Huaridelphis raimondii, a new early Miocene Squalodelphinidae (Cetacea, Odontoceti) from the Chilcatay Formation, Peru", Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 34 (5): 987–1004, Bibcode:2014JVPal..34..987L, doi:10.1080/02724634.2014.858050, retrieved 2019-02-12

Paracas Group

Clarke, Julia A.; Ksepka, Daniel T.; Stucchi, Marcelo; Urbina, Mario; Giannini, Norberto; Bertelli, Sara; Narváez, Yanina; Boyd, Clint A. (2007), "Paleogene equatorial penguins challenge the proposed relationship between penguin biogeography, body size evolution, and Cenozoic climate change", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104 (28): 11545–11550, doi:10.1073/pnas.0611099104, PMC 1913862, PMID 17601778, retrieved 2017-08-15

Pisco Formation

Altamirano Sierra, Alí J (2013), "Primer registro de pelicano (Aves: Pelecanidae) para el Mioceno tardio de la formacion Pisco, Peru" (PDF), Bulletin de l'Institut français d'études andines, 42: 1–12, retrieved 2017-09-04
Báez Gómez, Diego A (2006), "Estudio paleoambiental de la formación Pisco:: Localidad Ocucaje" (PDF), Revista del Instituto de Investigaciones FIGMMG, 9: 64–69, retrieved 2017-09-04
Bianucci, Giovanni; Di Celma, Claudio; Urbina, Mario; Lambert, Olivier (2016), "New beaked whales from the late Miocene of Peru and evidence for convergent evolution in stem and crown Ziphiidae (Cetacea, Odontoceti)" (PDF), PeerJ, 4 e2479, doi:10.7717/peerj.2479, PMC 5036081, PMID 27688973, retrieved 2019-02-12
Brand, Leonard; Urbina, Mario; Chadwick, Arthur; DeVries, Thomas J.; Esperante, Raul (2011), "A high resolution stratigraphic framework for the remarkable fossil cetacean assemblage of the Miocene/Pliocene Pisco Formation, Peru", Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 31 (4): 414–425, Bibcode:2011JSAES..31..414B, doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2011.02.015
Collareta, Alberto; Lambert, Olivier; De Muizon, Christian; Urbina, Mario; Bianucci, Giovanni (2017), "Koristocetus pescei gen. et sp. nov., a diminutive sperm whale (Cetacea: Odontoceti: Kogiidae) from the late Miocene of Peru", Fossil Record, 20 (2): 259–278, Bibcode:2017FossR..20..259C, doi:10.5194/fr-20-259-2017, hdl:11568/891486, retrieved 2019-02-12
Lambert, Olivier; Bianucci, Giovanni; Urbina, Mario; Geisler, Jonathan H. (2017), "A new inioid (Cetacea, Odontoceti, Delphinida) from the Miocene of Peru and the origin of modern dolphin and porpoise families", Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 179 (4): 919–946
Marx, Felix G.; Lambert, Olivier; De Muizon, Christian (2017), "A new Miocene baleen whale from Peru deciphers the dawn of cetotheriids", Royal Society Open Science, 4 (9) 170560, Bibcode:2017RSOS....470560M, doi:10.1098/rsos.170560, PMC 5627101, PMID 28989761, retrieved 2019-02-12
Marx, Felix G.; Kohno, Naoki (2016), "A new Miocene baleen whale from the Peruvian desert", Royal Society Open Science, 3 (10) 160542, Bibcode:2016RSOS....360542M, doi:10.1098/rsos.160542, PMC 5098998, PMID 27853573, retrieved 2019-02-12
Poma Porras, Orlando; Horna Santillán, Edgard; Esperante, Raúl (2009), "Baleen Fósil (Cetacea: mysticeti) en Sedimentos de la Cuenca Marina del Neógeno en la Formación Pisco, al Sur del Perú" (PDF), Revista de Investigación Universitaria, 1: 84–97, retrieved 2017-09-04
Ramassamy, Benjamin; Lambert, Olivier; Collareta, Alberto; Urbina, Mario; Bianucci, Giovanni (2018), "Description of the skeleton of the fossil beaked whale Messapicetus gregarius: searching potential proxies for deep-diving abilities" (PDF), Fossil Record, 21 (1): 11–32, Bibcode:2018FossR..21...11R, doi:10.5194/fr-21-11-2018, retrieved 2019-02-11
Solís Mundaca, Flavio Alejandro (2018), Bioestratigrafía e implicancias paleoceanográficas de las diatomeas de la sección Cerro Caucato, Formación Pisco, Ica, Peru (MSc. thesis) (PDF), Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, pp. 1–158, retrieved 2018-09-10
Stucchi, Marcelo; Emslie, Steven D.; Varas Malca, Rafael M.; Urbina Schmitt, Mario (2015a), "A new late Miocene condor (Aves, Cathartidae) from Peru and the origin of South American condors", Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 35 (5) e972507, Bibcode:2015JVPal..35E2507S, doi:10.1080/02724634.2015.972507, retrieved 2019-02-13
Stucchi, Marcelo; Varas Malca, Rafael M.; Urbina Schmitt, Mario (2015b), "New Miocene sulid birds from Peru and considerations on their Neogene fossil record in the Eastern Pacific Ocean" (PDF), Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 61 (2): 417–427, retrieved 2019-02-13
Stucchi, M (2007), "Los pingüinos de la Formación Pisco (Neógeno), Perú" (PDF), 4th European Meeting on the Palaeontology and Stratigraphy of Latin America, Cuadernos del Museo Geominero, 8: 367–373, retrieved 2017-09-04

[3] ter publications give a younger top date

[6] Based on "DeVries (1998) as presented by León et al. (2007)"

[8] See SALMA Bibliography for sources

[Solis2018_p1-1] Solís Mundaca, 2018, p.1

[Dunbaretal1990-2] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Dunbar et al., 1990

[4] León et al. 2007, p. 7.

[5] León et al. 2007, p. 44.

[DeVries2017-7] 1 2 3 4 DeVries et al., 2017

[9] León et al. 2007, p. 45.

[10] León et al. 2007, p. 146.

[11] León et al. 2007, p. 145.

[Devries1998-12] 1 2 3 4 DeVries, 1998

[Machareetal1988-13] 1 2 3 4 5 Macharé et al., 1988

[FWUllujaya1-14] 1 2 Ullujaya at Fossilworks.org

[FWUllujaya2-15] Ullujaya 2 at Fossilworks.org

[FWChilcataySantaRosa-16] 1 2 Santa Rosa at Fossilworks.org

[FWChilcatayZamaca-17] 1 2 Zamaca at Fossilworks.org

[FWChilcatayCerroBuqueM2-18] Cerro Buque M2 at Fossilworks.org

[FWChilcatayCerroBuqueM8-19] Cerro Buque M8 at Fossilworks.org

[FWParacasBay-20] Paracas Bay at Fossilworks.org

[FWOtumaAV10-21] Archaeocete Valley, Otuma, AV-10 at Fossilworks.org

[FWUllujayaValley-22] Ullujaya Valley at Fossilworks.org

[FWBajadaDelDiablo-23] Bajada del Diablo at Fossilworks.org

[FWParacasReserve-24] 1 2 Paracas Reserve at Fossilworks.org

[FWArchaeoceteValley-25] Archaeocete Valley at Fossilworks.org

[FWAV17-26] Archaeocete Valley, Paracas, AV-17 at Fossilworks.org

[FWAV19-27] Archaeocete Valley, Paracas, AV-19 at Fossilworks.org

[Lambert2017-28] 1 2 Lambert et al., 2017

[29] Lambert, Olivier; Bianucci, Giovanni; Salas-Gismondi, Rodolfo; Di Celma, Claudio; Steurbaut, Etienne; Urbina, Mario; de Muizon, Christian (2019). "An Amphibious Whale from the Middle Eocene of Peru Reveals Early South Pacific Dispersal of Quadrupedal Cetaceans". Current Biology. 29 (8): 1352–1359.e3. Bibcode:2019CBio...29E1352L. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2019.02.050. hdl:11581/425570. ISSN 0960-9822. PMID 30955933.

[30] Bianucci, Giovanni; Lambert, Olivier; Urbina, Mario; Merella, Marco; Collareta, Alberto; Bennion, Rebecca; Salas-Gismondi, Rodolfo; Benites-Palomino, Aldo; Post, Klaas; de Muizon, Christian; Bosio, Giulia; Di Celma, Claudio; Malinverno, Elisa; Pierantoni, Pietro Paolo; Villa, Igor Maria (2023-08-02). "A heavyweight early whale pushes the boundaries of vertebrate morphology". Nature. 620 (7975): 824–829. Bibcode:2023Natur.620..824B. doi:10.1038/s41586-023-06381-1. hdl:10281/434998. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 37532931.

[FWQuebradaPerdida-31] Quebrada Perdida at Fossilworks.org

[32] Collareta, Alberto; Tejada-Medina, Luz; Chacaltana-Budiel, César; Landini, Walter; Altamirano-Sierra, Alí; Urbina-Schmitt, Mario; Bianucci, Giovanni (2020-03-17). "A rhinopristiform sawfish (genus Pristis) from the middle Eocene (Lutetian) of southern Peru and its regional implications". Carnets Geol. 20 (5): 91. doi:10.4267/2042/70759. hdl:20.500.12544/2621. ISSN 1634-0744.