Conodont biostratigraphy and depositional history of the Darriwilian (Middle Ordovician) Pygodus serra Zone, western Argentina

The stratigraphic record of the Pygodus serra conodont Zone in the Cuyania terrane of western Argentina is discussed in this contribution. Three well-known sections were sampled in Precordillera and the San Rafael Block. The studied successions are composed mainly by clastic rocks with variable amount of carbonate. The lower part of Ponon Trehue Formation of the San Rafael Block and the La Cantera Formation of the Eastern Precordillera are composed of conglomerate and represent the input of coarse clastic deposits to the Cuyania basin. The Los Azules Formation, in Los Amarillitos section of the Central Precordillera, has a massive sandstone bed with carbonate nodules in a section largely of black shale. Key conodonts recovered from these sections indicate a correlation to the E. robustus and E. lindstroemi subzones of the Pygodus serra Zone of the upper Darriwillian Stage (Middle Ordovician Series). The species in the Ponon Trehue Formation are almost all the same as those in the Precordillera sections. Correlation of the clastic sedimentary successions between the three sections indicates that vertical facies changes were not controlled by eustasy. More likely, they were controlled by differential tectonic subsidence.