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Soatá Formation

Soatá 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 Soatá Formation rather than just read about it. In short: The Soatá Formation (Spanish: Formación Soatá) is a geological formation of the northern Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes. The formation consists mainly of shales with conglomerates and dates to the Quaternary period; Late Pleistocene epoch.

Soatá Formation — main illustration
Soatá Formation — illustration

Key takeaways

  • Soatá Formation belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
  • Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
  • Connect Soatá Formation to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
  • Reproduce the core statement of Soatá Formation from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Soatá Formation (Spanish: Formación Soatá) is a geological formation of the northern Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes. The formation consists mainly of shales with conglomerates and dates to the Quaternary period; Late Pleistocene epoch. The heavily eroded formation has a maximum measured thickness of 30.8 metres (101 ft). It contains the lacustrine and fluvio-glacial sediments of elongated paleolake Soatá, that existed on the Altiplano in the valley of the Chicamocha River. Fossils of the gomphothere Haplomastodon waringi, the capibara Neochoerus sp. and the deer species Odocoileus cf. salinae have been found in the Soatá Formation. Knowledge about the formation has been provided by Colombian geologists Carlos Villarroel, Jorge Brieva and others.

Etymology The formation was first proposed and named after Soatá by Villarroel et al. in 2001. The type locality is defined near Portugalete, Soatá.

Regional setting

The Altiplano Cundiboyacense, in the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes, was formed late in the regional uplift of the Andean orogeny. It is estimated that the main stage of uplift happened during the Plio-Pleistocene. The Western and Central Ranges were submerged much earlier, leaving a corridor to the Caribbean in the Neogene. The compression in the Andean orogenic belt caused the formation of fold and thrust belts in the Eastern Ranges, where Cretaceous and Jurassic normal faults were inverted as thrust faults lifting up the Paleozoic (Floresta and Cuche Formations), Mesozoic and Paleogene strata. A hiatus existed on the Altiplano between the Late Eocene and Late Miocene, in several parts of the Altiplano continuing until the Pleistocene. During the glacials and interglacials of the Pleistocene ("ice ages"), several paleolakes formed on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, of which Lake Humboldt on the Bogotá savanna was the most extensive (approximately 4,500 square kilometres (1,700 sq mi)). Rivers were restricted during the drier glacial periods and the vegetation changed from páramo to Andean forest between the glacials and stadials and interglacials and interstadials.

Description

Lithologies The Soatá Formation consists of whitish calcareous claystones and sandy siltstones with plagioclase, hematite, zircon, green and reddish biotite, hornblende and crystalline calcite in its upper, older terrace. This unit also contains foraminifera and fragments of shells. The middle, younger unit is composed of basal greyish claystones with non-uniform matrix-supported conglomerates at the upper section. The uppermost layer contains siltstones, probably of volcaniclastic origin. The youngest sediments are found deepest in the basin and consist of claystones and greenish matrix-supported conglomerates. Rootlets and mammal fossils are more abundant in this layer.

Stratigraphy The Soatá Formation unconformably overlies the Cretaceous Capacho Formation, and is overlain by the Holocene infill sediments of the Chicamocha River, the course of which severely eroded and fragmented the Soatá formation. The formation is subdivided into three units of different lithological character and sedimentary dip in a terrace setting. The Soatá Formation is time-equivalent with the upper part of the Sabana Formation on the Bogotá savanna and the Chinauta deposits near Fusagasugá in the southwest of the Altiplano. Two samples were analysed for radiometric dating and provided ages of 45,900 ± 1,600 and 39,600 ± 800 years BP. This corresponds to the Chicagota interstadial and the Tagua stadial, when the glaciations were at their maximum extent.

Depositional environment The depositional environment has been interpreted as lacustrine (Lake Soatá) and fluvio-deltaic. Contrasting with the wide and shallow Lake Humboldt on the Bogotá savanna, Lake Soatá was probably close to 400 metres (1,300 ft) deep. The paleolake was approximately 30 kilometres (19 mi) long and widest between Soatá and Boavita at 7 kilometres (4.3 mi).

Fossil content In the Soatá Formation, fossils of Haplomastodon waringi, Neochoerus sp. and Odocoileus cf. salinae have been found. The fossil content is fragmentary.

Outcrops

The Soatá Formation is apart from its type locality Portugalete found around Soatá (Jútua), and stretches to the north near the border of Boyacá and Santander, northeast of Tipacoque. To the south, the formation may have reached until Socotá.

Regional correlations

Legend group important formation fossiliferous formation minor formation (age in Ma) proximal Llanos (Medina) distal Llanos (Saltarin 1A well)

See also

Geology of the Eastern Hills Geology of the Ocetá Páramo Geology of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense

Notes

References

Bibliography Van der Hammen, Thomas (1986), "Cambios medioambientales y la extinción del mastodonte en el norte de los Andes", Revista de Antropología, Universidad de los Andes, II: 27–34 Hoyos, Natalia; Monsalve, O.; Berger, G.W.; Antinao, J.L.; Giraldo, H.; Silva, C.; Ojeda, G.; Bayona, G.; Escobar and C. Montes, J. (2015), "A climatic trigger for catastrophic Pleistocene–Holocene debris flows in the Eastern Andean Cordillera of Colombia", Journal of Quaternary Science, 30 (3), John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.: 258–270, Bibcode:2015JQS....30..258H, doi:10.1002/jqs.2779, hdl:10533/238798 Rutter, N.; Coronato, A.; Helmens, K.; Rabassa, J.; Zárate, M. (2012), Glaciations in North and South America from the Miocene to the Last Glacial Maximum, Springer, pp. 1–67 Urrego, Dunia H.; Hooghiemstra, Henry; Rama Corredor, Oscar; Martrat, Belén; Grimalt, Joan O.; Thompson, Lonnie; Bush, Mark B.; González Carranza, Zaire; Hanselman, Bryan Valencia and César Velásquez Ruiz, Jennifer (2016), "Millennial-scale vegetation changes in the tropical Andes using ecological grouping and ordination methods", Climate of the Past, 12 (3): 697–711, Bibcode:2016CliPa..12..697U, doi:10.5194/cp-12-697-2016, hdl:10871/20575 Villarroel, Carlos; Concha, Ana Elena; Macía, Carlos (2001), "El Lago Pleistoceno de Soatá (Boyacá, Colombia): Consideraciones estratigráficas, paleontológicas y paleoecológicas", Geología Colombiana, 26, Universidad Nacional de Colombia: 79–93 Villarroel, Carlos; Brieva B., Jorge; Cadena, Alberto (1996), "La Fauna de Mamíferos Fósiles del Pleistoceno de Jútua, Municipio de Soatá (Boyacá, Colombia)", Geología Colombiana, 21: 81–87 Various, Authors (2005), Estudio General de Suelos y Zonificación de Tierras del Departamento de Boyacá, IGAC, pp. 1–256

Illustrations

Soatá Formation illustration
Soatá Formation: The Chicamocha River, seen here farther downstream at the Chicamocha Canyon, heavily eroded the former Pleistocene terraces of the Soatá Formation
The Chicamocha River, seen here farther downstream at the Chicamocha Canyon, heavily eroded the former Pleistocene terraces of the Soatá Formation
Soatá Formation: The Soatá Formation was deposited in a glacial lacustrine environment, in a narrow elongated deep paleolake
The Soatá Formation was deposited in a glacial lacustrine environment, in a narrow elongated deep paleolake
Soatá Formation: Fossils of the gomphothere Haplomastodon waringi were found in the Soatá Formation
Fossils of the gomphothere Haplomastodon waringi were found in the Soatá Formation
Soatá Formation illustration

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Soatá Formation

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Soatá 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 Soatá 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 Soatá 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 Soatá Formation

In research
Soatá 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 Soatá 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
Soatá Formation is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Fossiliferous stratigraphic units of South America, Geography of Boyacá Department, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life
Look for Soatá 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 Soatá Formation in 20 minutes

  1. Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
  2. Close the page and write down what Soatá Formation means in your own words.
  3. Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
  4. Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
  5. Explain Soatá Formation out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Soatá Formation in simple terms?

The Soatá Formation (Spanish: Formación Soatá) is a geological formation of the northern Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes. The formation consists mainly of shales with conglomerates and dates to the Quaternary period; Late Pleistocene epoch.

Why does Soatá 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 Soatá 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 Soatá Formation.

Tags

  • Altiplano Cundiboyacense
  • Fossiliferous stratigraphic units of South America
  • Geography of Boyacá Department
  • Geologic formations of Colombia
  • Lacustrine deposits
  • Paleontology in Colombia
  • Pleistocene Colombia
  • Shale formations

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