Chapter 53 Las Ventanas and San Carlos formations, Maldonado Group, Uruguay

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Abstract Together with the Playa Hermosa Formation (Fm.), the Las Ventanas and San Carlos formations constitute the Maldonado Group, which is better developed in the southeastern part of Uruguay and covers an area of c. 200 km 2 . The total thickness of both units (i.e. Las Ventanas and San Carlos formations) reaches c. 1500 m, and comprises mafic and acidic volcanic rocks, pyroclastic rocks, diamictite, sandstone, conglomerate and pelite. Structurally, the Maldonado Group is extensively deformed, although variably, throughout the region. Strike–slip faults, westward-verging detachment faults, and folds with axis sub-parallel to the strike–slip planes are common features. The presence of pumpellyite, prehnite, chlorite and epidote in mafic rocks indicates very low- to low-grade metamorphic conditions. The Las Ventanas Fm. is characterized by basal conglomerate, diamictite, sandstone and siltstone that pass upwards into fine-grained rhythmites (pelite), and is the thickest unit of the Maldonado Group ( c. 1250 m). The San Carlos Formation ( c. 250 m) comprises fine-grained conglomerate, sandstone and mudstone towards the top. Both units lie on an angular unconformity above Palaeo- and Neoproterozoic basement and are overlain unconformably by late Ediacaran–lowermost Cambrian units. Reliable palaeomagnetic data indicate that the Maldonado Group accumulated at high palaeolatitudes; however, the palaeogeographical evolution of the Río de la Plata Craton during the Neoproterozoic remains conjectural. Radiometric data from intrusive bodies and cross-cutting strike–slip faults place the minimum age of the group at c. 565 Ma, whereas basement volcanic rocks dated at 590 ± 2 Ma interbedded with meta-sandstones hosting detrital zircons c. 600 million years old provide the best constraint on the maximum age of deposition. Given the absence of carbonate rocks, no chemostratigraphic studies (e.g. C, O, Sr) are available. The Las Ventanas and San Carlos formations are largely interpreted as units within a thick glacially influenced fan-delta sedimentary system formed during the early Ediacaran in a strike–slip basin. Based on stratigraphic and sedimentological characteristics it has been suggested that this succession, containing glacially influenced diamictite and dropstones, records a glacial period that occurred sometime between c. 570 and 590 million years ago. Ongoing research is focused on establishing the precise age of deposition of the Maldonado Group and on reconstructing the tectonic evolution of the basin. Further palaeomagnetic studies will be especially useful for determining the palaeogeography of the Río de la Plata Craton during the Ediacaran and establishing its relationships with neighbouring strata hosting similar successions.