Paleopalynology in Colombia: a review

Abstract

Palynology is an important tool for establishing age and interpreting paleoenvironments in both continental and marine deposits. This paper provides a summarized overview of the palynological information published for deposits in Colombia ranging from the Paleozoic to the Miocene-Pliocene. We found 111 publications in indexed journals contain palynological data from 511 sections or wells. Palynology of the Paleozoic in Colombia has been mainly studied in the Eastern Llanos; the Triassic-Jurassic is virtually unknown; there are studies on the Cretaceous in the Eastern Cordillera, the Upper Magdalena Valley, and Catatumbo; the Paleogene has been studied in sedimentary rocks of the Llanos foothills, the Eastern Cordillera, the Middle Magdalena Valley, Catatumbo, and in some isolated spots in La Guajira and the Caribbean while the Neogene has been studied in the Amazon, the Eastern Cordillera, and the Llanos foothills. Recent publications for the Caribbean and Pacific regions and a palynological zonation for the Llanos and its basins have been successfully used in other basins in the country. In recent years, the interest of the Colombian government in exploring new areas for hydrocarbon exploration in the Caribbean facilitated a partnership between the National Hydrocarbons Agency and the University of Caldas to conduct palynological studies in deposits ranging from the Late Cretaceous to the Quaternary. Here we present a summary of the main advances in Caribbean palynology.