earth science

Hondita Formation

Hondita Formation is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Hondita Formation rather than just read about it. In short: The Hondita Formation (Spanish: Formación Hondita, Ksh) is a fossiliferous geological formation of the Upper Magdalena Valley (VSM) and surrounding Central and Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes, extending from Cundinamarca in the north to Huila and easternmost Tolima in the south. The lowermost unit of the Güagüaquí Group, a sequence of sandy limestones and shales, dates to the Late Cretaceous period; Turonian e…

Key takeaways

Hondita Formation belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
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Connect Hondita Formation to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Hondita Formation from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Hondita Formation (Spanish: Formación Hondita, Ksh) is a fossiliferous geological formation of the Upper Magdalena Valley (VSM) and surrounding Central and Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes, extending from Cundinamarca in the north to Huila and easternmost Tolima in the south. The lowermost unit of the Güagüaquí Group, a sequence of sandy limestones and shales, dates to the Late Cretaceous period; Turonian epoch, and has a maximum thickness of 90 metres (300 ft). Fossils of Yaguarasaurus columbianus, said to be found in the time-equivalent La Frontera Formation (listed as "La Frontera Member"), were actually recovered from the Hondita Formation as the stratigraphic unit present in the Quebradas El Ocal and Itaibe, Huila.

Etymology The formation was named in 1966 by De Porta, named after Quebrada Hondita in Piedras, Tolima.

Description

Lithologies The Hondita Formation is characterised by a sequence of sandy limestones and shales with calcareous concretions up to 2 metres (6.6 ft) in diameter. The formation has provided fossils of Pachyrhizodus etayoi, Acanthoceras sp., Rhynchostreon sp. near Aipe, Huila.

Stratigraphy and depositional environment The Hondita Formation is the lowermost unit of the Güagüaquí Group. It is overlain by the Loma Gorda Formation and its base has not been observed. The age has been estimated on the basis of ammonites to be Turonian. Stratigraphically, the formation is time equivalent with the lower parts of the Chipaque, La Luna and La Frontera Formations. The formation was deposited in a relative highstand sequence with an oceanic oxygen depletion event, sharply marked in Colombia and characterised by the appearance of calcareous concretions with a thick pyrite rim.

Yaguarasaurus Fossils of Yaguarasaurus columbianus were described as coming from the "La Frontera Member", part of the "Villeta Formation", in the Quebrada El Ocal, 26 kilometres (16 mi) southwest of Neiva, Huila, and in the Quebrada Itaibe 78 kilometres (48 mi) southwest of Neiva, although in these areas the Hondita Formation is mapped.

Outcrops

The type locality of the Hondita Formation is located in Piedras, Tolima. Other outcrops of the Hondita Formation have been noted east of the Magdalena River northeast of Honda, west of Nariño, west across the Magdalena River in San Luis, Tolima, between the Tetuán and Saldaña Rivers west of Coyaima and east and west of Ataco, to the east of the Prado River reservoir, north and west of Aipe, surrounding Alpujarra, Tolima, south of Palermo, Huila, displaced by the Baché Fault, east of Iquira, north of Yaguará, south of La Plata where the formation is cut by the Itaibe Fault, a small patch east of Gigante, Huila, northwest and northeast of San Agustín, and north of Timaná surrounding the Magdalena River.

See also

Geology of the Eastern Hills Geology of the Ocetá Páramo Geology of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense Geology of the Middle Magdalena Valley

References

Bibliography Acosta, Jorge E.; Ulloa, Carlos E. (2002), Mapa geológico del Departamento de Cundinamarca 1:250,000 - Memoria Explicativa, INGEOMINAS, pp. 1–108 Páramo Fonseca, María Euridice (2001), "Los peces de la familia Pachyrhizodontidae (Teleostei) del Turoniano del Valle Superior del Magdalena", Boletín Geológico, 39 (1–3): 51–83, doi:10.32685/0120-1425/bolgeol39.1-3.2001.190 Páramo Fonseca, María Euridice (2000), "Yaguarasaurus columbianus (Reptilia, Mosasauridae), a primitive mosasaur from the Turonian (Upper Cretaceous) of Colombia", Historical Biology, 14 (1–2): 121–131, Bibcode:2000HBio...14..121P, doi:10.1080/10292380009380560, retrieved 2018-05-30 Patarroyo, Pedro (2011), "Sucesión de Amonitas del Cretácico Superior (Cenomaniano-Coniaciano) de la parte más alta de la Formación Hondita y de la Formación Loma Gorda en la Quebrada Bambucá, Aipe - Huila (Colombia)" (PDF), Boletín de Geología, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, 33: 69–92, retrieved 2017-03-31 Villamil, Tomas (2012), Chronology Relative Sea Level History and a New Sequence Stratigraphic Model for Basinal Cretaceous Facies of Colombia, Society for Sedimentary Geology (SEPM), pp. 161–216

Maps Barrero L., Darío; Vesga O, Carlos J. (2009), Plancha 188 - La Dorada - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-06 Barrero, Darío; Vesga, Carlos J. (2010), Plancha 207 - Honda - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-06 Acosta, Jorge E.; Guatame, Rafael; Torres, Oscar; Solano, Frank (1999), Plancha 245 - Girardot - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-06 Calcedo, Juan Carlos; Terraza, Roberto (2000), Plancha 264 - Espinal - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-06 Carvajal, Cesar; Fuquen, Jaime; Gómez, Luis (1993), Plancha 282 - Chaparral - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-06 Cossio, Ubaldo; Rodríguez, Gabriel; Rodríguez, Miguel (1995), Plancha 283 - Purificación - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-06 Fuquen, Jaime; Rodríguez, Gabriel; Cossio, Ubaldo; Núñez, Alberto (1993), Plancha 302 - Aipe - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-06 Acosta, Jorge; Caro, Pablo; Fuquen, Jaime; Osorno, José (2002), Plancha 303 - Colombia - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1 Ferreira, Paulina; Núñez, Alberto; Rodríguez, Miguel (1998), Plancha 323 - Neiva - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-06 Marquínez, Germán; Morales, C.; Núñez, Alberto (1999), Plancha 344 - Tesalia - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-06 Velandia, F.; Morales, C.J.; Caicedo, J.C.; Núñez, Alberto (1999), Plancha 345 - Campoalegre - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-06 Marquínez, Germán; Rodríguez, Yohana; Terraza, Roberto; Martínez, Mario (2003), Plancha 365 - Coconuco - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-06 Rodríguez, Gabriel; Ferreira, Paulina; Velandia, Francisco; Núñez, Alberto (1998), Plancha 366 - Garzón - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-06 Rodríguez, Gabriel; Zapata, Gilberto; Velázquez, M. (2003), Plancha 367 - Gigante - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-06 Cárdenas, Jorge; Fuquen, Jaime; Núñez, Alberto (2002), Plancha 388 - Pitalito - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-06 Rodríguez, Gabriel; Zapata, Gilberto; Velázquez, M. (2003), Plancha 389 - Timaná - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-06

External links Gómez, J.; Montes, N.E.; Nivia, Á.; Diederix, H. (2015), Plancha 5-09 del Atlas Geológico de Colombia 2015 – escala 1:500,000, Servicio Geológico Colombiano, p. 1, retrieved 2017-03-16

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Hondita Formation

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Hondita Formation claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Hondita Formation before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Hondita Formation ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Hondita Formation

In research: Hondita Formation appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Hondita Formation in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Hondita Formation is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Cretaceous Colombia, Fossiliferous stratigraphic units of South America, Geography of Cundinamarca Department, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Hondita Formation outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Hondita Formation in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Hondita Formation means in your own words.
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Frequently asked questions

What is Hondita Formation in simple terms?

Why does Hondita Formation matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Hondita Formation?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Hondita Formation.