Palaeogeographical implications of the Miocene Quendeque Formation (Bolivia) and tidally-influenced strata in southwestern Amazonia

The Miocene palaeogeography of the western Amazonian Foreland Basin (Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and western Brazil) and the Paraná Basin (mainly Argentina) are contentious. Several studies have hypothesized for and against a possible connection of these epicontinental depositional systems during Miocene. However, the lack of well defined palaeoenvironmental data, especially from the Bolivian lowlands, has hindered the delineation of the Miocene palaeogeography in these areas. The objective of this study is to provide new data concerning this problem.This paper presents sedimentological and ichnological data from the Quendeque Formation in the northern Subandean zone of Bolivia (lat. 15°S). This virtually unstudied formation relates the marine-influenced Paranan (northernmost reported occurrence lat. 18°S) and western Amazonian (southernmost reported occurrence lat. 13°S) depositional systems and is contemporaneous with them. The palaeogeographical significance of the new data and recently discovered tidal deposits from southern Peru (Madre de Dios) and western Brazil (Acre) is discussed. New palaeocurrent and rhythmite data from the Madre de Dios and Acre Sub-basins are presented.The studied deposits are interpreted as alluvial, deltaic and estuarine coastal plain. These data coupled with recently published data from south and central Bolivia indicate that thin Miocene tidally/marine influenced levels are present throughout the Bolivian forelands. The distal–proximal facies relations between the Late Miocene Chaco and Madre de Dios strata, and the south–southwest oriented palaeocurrent directions collected from the Madre de Dios Sub-basin suggest at least South Atlantic source for the marine influence in these areas. The episodically open hydrodynamic connection between the southwestern Amazonia and Paranan Sea may have provided a dispersal route, especially for fresh-water and euryhaline aquatic taxa. Thus, the results may explain the reported fossil faunal similarities between these areas and the modern biogeography of certain aquatic species.