Drainage reorganization and alluvial architecture of endorheic basins: The Lower Cretaceous record of the Chubut Group in the Golfo San Jorge Basin (Patagonia, Argentina)

Abstract

The size, shape, and organization of depositional systems in endorheic basins are controlled by the tectonic and climatic history of the sedimentary basin and its boundaries. We evaluate the changes in the alluvial architecture of the Matasiete (Aptian) and Castillo (Albian) formations of the Chubut Group (Cretaceous) in the endorheic Golfo San Jorge Basin (Patagonia, Argentina) analyzing a ∼150 km transect along the San Bernardo Fold Belt, subsurface data, and coeval fluvial successions of the Los Adobes Formation in the nearby Cañadón Asfalto Basin. The Aptian Matasiete Formation represents an externally-sourced, high-accommodation fluvial system with its headwaters in the current Cañadón Asfalto Basin, flowing toward the alkaline lake of the Pozo D-129 Formation through N–S oriented sedimentary corridors of tectonic origin. Low sinuosity, fixed channels with ribbon geometries (mean thickness 7.3 m, W/T ratio 14) are encased in red-colored floodplain fines, whereas stratigraphic intervals rich in resedimented tuffs contain braided rivers with W/T ratio up to 90. Deposition of the overlying Albian Castillo Formation occurred in a W-E elongated basin disconnected from the Cañadón Asfalto Basin, comprising aggradational, volcaniclastic floodplain deposits and smaller-scale fluvial channels of narrow-sheet geometries (mean thickness ∼ 3m, mean W/T ratio 45). The Castillo Formation shows spatial variation in fluvial styles and channel sizes, with intermittent to ephemeral rivers of small scale near the headwaters and seasonal, perennial rivers in downstream positions. Alluvial architecture changes between the Matasiete and Castillo formations reflect changes in the configuration of the basin boundaries, subsequent re-organization of the channel networks, and variable supply of volcaniclastic particles to drainage catchments of different hierarchy that evolved in areas with large variation of the preserved thickness. Comparable geomorphic scenarios in the Okavango Macrobasin show multiple base levels (lacustrine, ephemeral pans), several drainage catchments of variable orientation, scale, and behavior (perennial, intermittent to ephemeral), and exotic rivers adjacent to minorscale courses.