Honduras Geology November, 1997

Number of Visitors since 12/12/97

CHAPTER 2 THE JURASSIC OF NORTHERN CENTRAL AMERICA (THE CHORTIS BLOCK) by Mark Buchanan Gordon
in STRIKE-SLIP FAULTING AND BASIN FORMATION AT THE GUAYAPE FAULT -- VALLE DE CATACAMAS INTERSECTION,

HONDURAS, CENTRAL AMERICA

Introduction Evolution of stratigraphic nomenclature Historical note regarding age Agua Fra Formation Distribution Lithology Paleontology and age Environment of deposition Other Jurassic strata on the Chorts block? Jurassic igneous rocks Conclusions Chapter 2 Figure Captions
INTRODUCTION

Dengo (1969) and Dengo and Bohnenberger (1969) defined the Chorts block as the part of Central America south of the Motagua fault of Guatemala and north of latitude 1230' N (in Nicaragua). Honduras, El Salvador, northern Nicaragua and southeastern Guatemala are included in the Chorts block. Donnelly (1989, p. 302) called the Chorts block the one certain "exotic terrane" of the Caribbean region. Since at least the Eocene the Chorts block has been sliding past the North American plate along a major system of strike-slip faults. Gose (1985a) proposed based on paleomagnetic data that the Chorts block experienced a complex rotation history during the Cretaceous. Its position in the Jurassic is uncertain, but its paleolatitude for the latest Jurassic suggests that it may have been close to southern Mexico (Gose, 1985a). Due to the unique geology of the Chorts block relative to the regions that are currently its neighbors, this chapter is limited to just the Chorts block instead of all of northern Central America. By studying the Jurassic rocks of the Chorts block, we can better constrain tectonic reconstructions and the paleogeography. Clastic formations underlie the Atima Limestone of Aptian-Albian age (Figure 2.1) which has been mapped throughout the Chorts block. In central Honduras, El Salvador, and southeastern Guatemala, the clastic rocks are dominantly fluvial deposits which are only a few hundred meters thick. However, in east-central Honduras and possibly in northern Nicaragua, marine strata with a terrigenous component crop out. Some of these clastic rocks have been dated as Jurassic on the basis of marine invertebrate fauna and plant fossils. The purpose of this paper is to summarize what is known about the Jurassic rocks of the Chorts block, and to clarify the existing literature on the subject. Much of the information regarding the Chorts block is in unpublished theses, reports on open-file with government agencies, and materials not readily available. Evolution of stratigraphic nomenclature Although Leggett (1889) briefly described the geology of the San Juancito area (central Honduras, Figure 2.2), he did not give names to any of the geologic units. Fritzgrtner (1891) introduced the name Tegucigalpa Formation for all of the sedimentary rocks exposed in Honduras. Lacking paleontological data, he considered the bulk of the strata to be Permian based on general lithologic similarity with the Permian of North America and Europe. His Tegucigalpa Formation is clearly all of the Mesozoic rock units which have subsequently been dated paleontologically in numerous localities and assigned new formation names (see Carpenter, 1954; Mills et al., 1967, and Finch, 1981). Having used erroneous criteria to date the rocks, Fritzgrtner included the strata with the plant fossils in the upper part of the Tegucigalpa Formation instead of the lower part. Sapper (1937) also included these beds in the Tegucigalpa Formation, but he recognized that they are stratigraphically low in the section. Carpenter (1954) showed that the name Tegucigalpa Formation is inappropriate because the beds with Triassic(?)-Jurassic plant fossils are dominantly black shales whereas the rocks in the vicinity of Tegucigalpa, Honduras are redbeds which overlie Lower Cretaceous limestone. Carpenter named the plant-bearing strata the El Plan Formation after a village near the fossil site. Carpenter, among others, noted that the El Plan Formation is highly deformed and that its thickness could not be measured in the San Juancito region due to this structural complexity. In spite of the problems with the San Juancito site, Mills et al. (1967), Gallo and Van Wagoner (1978), and Finch (1981) decided to continue the use of the name "El Plan Formation". Mills et al. (1967) and Gallo and Van Wagoner (1978) extended the formation beyond the San Juancito area. After much field work in eastern and southern Honduras, Ritchie and Finch (1985) introduced the name Agua Fra Formation for strata exposed at the Agua Fra Mine near Danl, Honduras (Figure 2.2). My field observations,
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at Agua Fra in 1987 and at San Juancito in 1989, show that deformation is less intense in the vicinity of Agua Fra than in the San Juancito area. In his field area south of the Catacamas Valley, Kozuch (1989a) replaced the name El Plan Formation with Agua Fra Formation, because the strata at Agua Fra are thicker and more readily correlated with other localities in Honduras. Inasmuch as the El Plan Formation is poorly defined, and no measured section for it exists, current workers in Honduras have adopted the name "Agua Fra Formation" for similar beds found elsewhere in Honduras (Kozuch, 1989a,b; Gordon, in press). Finch (1985) and Ritchie and Finch (1985) introduced the name "Honduras Group" to include all clastic units that underlie the Lower Cretaceous Atima Limestone. Thus, strata formerly referred to as the El Plan Formation are now referred to as the Agua Fra Formation of the Honduras Group (Figure 2.1). The Honduras Group also includes a sandstone and conglomerate unit which is commonly found below the Atima Limestone, and is apparently above the Agua Fra (or El Plan) Formation. Honduran geologists (e.g. Jose Mara Gutierrez, Direccin General de Minas e Hidrocarburos) call this unit "the unnamed siliciclastic member of the Honduras Group" (Figure 2.1). This unit was formerly called the Todos Santos Formation, a name which should be abandoned (Gose and Finch, 1987). A good type locality for this unit has not yet been designated and no formal name has been proposed. Until a type locality is suggested, "unnamed siliciclastic member" is a temporarily appropriate term for the sandstones and conglomerates commonly found below the Atima limestone in central Honduras and in the Departamento de Olancho. These beds are lithologically very distinct from the Agua Fra Formation and are probably younger. Finally, the Honduras Group also includes local formations which are found below the Atima Limestone, but that cannot be correlated with the above units, e.g., the "Undefined Jurassic" of San Juancito (Carpenter, 1954). Historical note regarding age As a result of silver and gold mining activity in the San Juancito region, the strata which we now call Honduras Group were among the first beds to be studied paleontologically in Honduras. Nonetheless, the precise age of the beds has been the source of considerable revision and controversy over the past one hundred years. New data collected during the past ten years indicate that most of the strata exposed near San Juancito and equivalent beds elsewhere in Honduras are Middle Jurassic. However, the evolution of thought leading to this conclusion is of some interest. Furthermore, in the existing literature, there is considerable confusion as to how the Jurassic age has become accepted. In the following discussion I will attempt to make the record clear by using the original references. Newberry (1888a,b) studied plant fossils from the San Juancito vicinity. Newberry (1888a) identified several species of cycads and gave their age as "Rhaetic or Upper Trias". In a later, more detailed report, Newberry (1888b) firmly decided on a Rhaetic age for these fossils and described them systematically. Another specimen from the same collection studied by Newberry was described by Humphreys (1916). He reiterated that the age of all the fossils is Rhaetic and did not indicate that there was any doubt about the age at this time. The samples were brought to Newberry by C.M. Rolker and T.H. Leggett. Newberry never visited the locality himself. Information regarding the location where the plant fossils were collected is given by Leggett (1889) along with a description of the geology of the site. Fritzgrtner (1891) also described the geology of the site. From the reports of the Rosario Resources Corp., R.C. Finch inferred that the plant fossils came "not from El Plan but from weakly metamorphosed clastic strata that directly overlie the basement schists in patches . . ." (Finch, 1981, p. 1322-1323). Knowlton (1918), in a review of the floras of the Americas, published information which questioned the age of these fossils. I could not find any evidence in this paper that Knowlton had ever visited San Juancito, or had seen the fossils. Instead, he cites the work of Sapper: "In a number of subsequent publications Carl [Karl] Sapper [Sapper, 1896] has intimated that Newberry's age determinations should be accepted only with doubt; they are possibly Jurassic" (Knowlton, 1918, p. 608). Sapper (1896) does not make a statement of this nature. However, Sapper apparently did doubt that the age of the floras was Rhaetic. Sapper (1937, p. 27) says "Newberry bestimmte diese als rhtisch, whrend sie nach Bse (briefl. Mitt., 1926) nach neueren in Oaxaca, Veracruz und Sonora gewonnenen Erkenntnissen eher dem Lias angehren drften." Thus, Sapper and Bse believed that San Juancito beds were likely Jurassic. Sapper (1937, p. 28) also reports the discovery by Fritzgrtner of a possible Jurassic ammonite, Amaltheus margaritatus, at Ojojona. Unfortunately, the fossil was lost during the revolution of 1894, so the identification could not be confirmed. As with Knowlton, I could not find any evidence that Sapper or Bse had visited San Juancito or that the plant fossils had been reexamined. Bse (1905) noted: "Las plantas son del Trisico Superior y la fauna [flora?] tiene gran semejanza la de las capas rheticas de Sonora y las de las capas limtrofes entre el Keuper y Lisico de Franconia, en Baviera" (Bse, 1905, p. 24). (Except for the comment between brackets, this quote is precise.) Because the beds in Germany lie between the Keuper and the Liassic, the plant fossils could be either latest Triassic or earliest Jurassic. It should be noted that papers which have recently cited Knowlton (1918) misquote him. For example, Mills et al. (1967, p.1718) state: "Knowlton (1918), was able to show that the black shale sequence near Rosario [San Juancito] was of Triassic or Jurassic age . . ."; Finch (1981, p. 1322) states: "Knowlton (1918) suggested that a Jurassic age is equally likely." Considering the above discussion, it is best to cite Sapper and Bse for recognizing the Jurassic age. No original, unambiguous data on the age appears to have been published between 1888 and 1952. Mllerried (1942) reviewed the early work on the plant fossils. He definitely visited numerous sites in Central America and collected new specimens. From this work and his survey of the literature, Mllerried (1942, p. 474) considered the plant fossils to be of "Lower and Middle Jurassic age, or Middle Lias to Lower Dogger". Some of Mllerried's discussion of new Jurassic finds is based on questionable logic which I discuss in more detail towards the end of this paper. Maldonado-Koerdell (1952) visited San Juancito and collected a previously unknown form in the flora, Yuccites cf. Y schimperianus Zigno. He . considered the age of the strata to be Rhaetic-Liassic. He also reported that Triassic cephalopods had been discovered at San Juancito, and cited a letter from Lang (1917) to Dr. Luis Landa. I have not yet obtained a copy of this letter to confirm this source. According to Maldonado-Koerdell (1952, p. 294), the cephalopod is Tropites Mojsisovics, 1875, which is, in fact, a Triassic cephalopod. However, no photograph of it has been published in a readily available source, nor has the fossil been studied recently. From the early literature, it is not clear whether the plant-bearing strata are entirely restricted to the Jurassic or not. However, there is an indication that several early workers (Sapper, Bse, and Mllerried) did not believe the original Triassic age assigned to the fossils by Newberry. I will argue below that most of these strata are probably restricted to the Jurassic based on the recent literature regarding plant fossils at a new locality, and based on new faunal discoveries in several other localities. However, the survey of the literature shows that the plant fossils studied by Newberry and Humphreys are more likely Lower Jurassic than Middle Jurassic. Furthermore, Newberry's study and the possible occurrence of the Tropites cephalopod favor a Rhaetic age. If Newberry's original date proves to be valid, it only applies to the limited, perhaps anomalous, strata sampled by Rolker and Leggett. Thus, it is possible that the specific beds sampled at San Juancito by Rolker and Leggett are significantly older than what has been sampled in the past twenty years. Recent data collected from other localities in the vicinity of San Juancito and localities throughout east-central Honduras indicates that most of the Agua Fra Formation is Middle Jurassic.
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AGUA FRIA FORMATION

Distribution The Agua Fra Formation was first described in the Danl region (Ritchie and Finch, 1985). It has been correlated with the El Plan Formation in the San Juancito district. Very similar beds have been mapped in a reconnaissance fashion between Danl and Catacamas. The region where Agua Fra Formation is the dominant exposed rock unit is shown on Figure 2.3. The absence of other rock units, the dips of the beds and the topographic relief suggest that the Agua Fra Formation is very thick (>1000 m) throughout this region. If the formation was thin, metamorphic basement would crop out extensively. Agua Fra Formation can be mapped along the east side of Ros Tinto, Guayape and Guayambre. These rivers follow the Guayape fault, a major strike-slip fault in eastern Honduras (Figure 2.3). I have examined a thick section of Agua Fra Formation along the Ro Patuca on the east side of the Guayape fault. Mills et al. (1967) recognized similar strata which they called "El Plan Formation" along the course of Ro Wamp northeast of Catacamas. West of the Guayape fault, the distribution of Agua Fra Formation is more limited. Its northward extent is abruptly terminated by a major thrust fault south of the Catacamas Valley (Kozuch, 1989b). South of this thrust fault, which places basement rocks on top of Agua Fra Formation, the formation crops out continuously on both sides of the Guayape fault until it is covered by Tertiary volcanic rocks south of Danl. The extent of the Agua Fra Formation is much better known now than even ten years ago because of quadrangle mapping in the Catacamas (Kozuch, 1989b; Gordon, in press) and Danl (Finch and Ritchie, 1990) regions. Kozuch and I have also done reconnaissance studies along the Guayape fault confirming the regional extent of the Agua Fra Formation. Similar strata have been reported in the literature from other locations. Strata at Jalteva (Figure 2.2) mapped by King (1973) contained plant fossils which were studied by Delevoryas and Srivastava (1981). These strata are probably equivalent to the Agua Fra Formation. King (1972) called the strata in which plant fossils were found Todos Santos Formation (which we now refer to as the unnamed siliciclastic member of the Honduras Group). However, he describes the strata as dark brown and gray-black siltstone and shale. This description is more reminiscent of Agua Fra Formation than of the unnamed siliciclastic member. King (1972) also recognized marine fossils at one locality establishing a marine origin for at least part of the beds in the Jalteva region. The presence of marine strata, King's description of the unit and the Middle Jurassic age strongly suggest that the plant-bearing strata at Jalteva are Agua Fra Formation. Atwood (1972) described plant fossils in similar beds in the Minas de Oro region (Figure 2.2). Unfortunately, these fossils have not been studied. Atwood (1972, p. 25) called these beds "Todos Santos black shales", and said that they are similar to the El Plan Formation. They are mapped as "Todos Santos Formation" (Atwood et al., 1976). These beds could also be called Agua Fra Formation, but the correlation is uncertain until the formation is dated. El Plan Formation was reported by Mills et al. (1967) for strata exposed south of Salam (Figure 2.2). The sub-Atima Limestone strata are complexly deformed in this area. Furthermore, no biostratigraphical data is available from this locality. Thus, it seems most appropriate to label these beds as Honduras Group until more data become available. Low-grade metamorphic rocks were reported in western Honduras at La Encarnacin (Figure 2.2; Anonymous, 1972). The authors tentatively correlated these beds with "El Plan Formation". However, they did not find any fossils with which to make the correlation more certain. The Agua Fra Formation and equivalent Jurassic formations, seem to be more common in east-central Honduras than other areas of the Chorts block. Similar strata have not been reported in the Comayagua region, most of west-central Honduras, or southeastern Guatemala. Apparently, the known extent of the main Middle Jurassic basin was limited to the Olancho, Francisco Morazn, and El Paraso Departments. Future studies are likely to expand our knowledge of the basin's extent because much of eastern Honduras and northern Nicaragua has not even been studied in a reconnaissance fashion. Lithology Carpenter (1954) described the El Plan Formation as mostly composed of thin-bedded dark-gray shale. It has alternating beds at least 100 ft. (30 m) thick which consist of 1) banded dark-gray shale and siltstone beds 1/4 - 2 in. (1/2 - 5 cm) thick with interbedded sandstone and 2) gray poorly bedded 1 - 3 ft. (.3 - 1 m) thick sandstone beds. Gallo and Van Wagoner (1978) described the El Plan Formation from two localities near San Juancito, and divided it into upper and lower El Plan Formation. Their lower El Plan Formation consists of 200 m of interbedded sandstone and shale which they believe directly overlie basement schists. Their upper El Plan Formation consists of sandstone and interbedded shale. It is more quartzose, has fossiliferous layers and includes oyster mounds. Roberts and Irving (1957) briefly described the geology of the Agua Fra gold mine. They called the rocks alternating thin-bedded shales and gray quartzites. They estimated a thickness of at least 4000 ft. (1200 m). Finch and Ritchie (1990) show a thick measured section of Honduras Group along Agua Fra Creek. They also show six fossil localities within the Honduras Group in the Danl region. Kozuch (1989a) suggests that the Agua Fra Formation could be as thick as 3000 m in the Catacamas Valley, but does not present a measured section because the geology of his area is complicated. Ritchie and Finch (1985) described the rocks of the Honduras Group as dark-colored shale, siltstone, immature sandstone, and quartzpebble conglomerate. In the course of my mapping, I have found that the Agua Fra Formation consists of thin-bedded, dominantly gray shale and sandstone (turbidites?) whereas the unnamed siliciclastic member is dominantly orange, coarse-grained sandstone and conglomerate. The Agua Fra has a much higher percentage of shale whereas the unnamed siliciclastic member has a much higher percentage of quartz pebble conglomerate. Bohnenberger and Dengo (1978) concluded that Honduran coal beds were part of the "El Plan Formation" based on gross lithologic character. Coal beds have been found at El Pataste and in the Azacualpa region (Figure 2.2) within the Agua Fra Formation, thus confirming the work of Bohnenberger and Dengo (1978). Kozuch (1989a) found plant fossils in the vicinity of some coal beds. Much of the Agua Fra Formation displays a metamorphic sheen as does the El Plan Formation at San Juancito (Carpenter, 1954). Metamorphosed Agua Fra is very common in the Catacamas Valley region (Kozuch,1989a, b; Gordon, in press). Carpenter (1954) suggested that the basement rocks could be metamorphosed El Plan Formation, but said that it was not likely based on the field
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relationships. Recent workers (e.g., Gordon and Kozuch) have noted that metamorphosed Agua Fra Formation is commonly difficult to distinguish from the low-grade metamorphic rocks of the basement. This similarity could be due to equivalent bulk composition and does not necessarily imply that they are the same age or metamorphic grade. Paleontology and Age In the past ten years, much new data has become available on the age of Honduras Group sedimentary rocks, including the Agua Fra Formation. These data indicate that the formation is Middle Jurassic, not Early Jurassic as Sapper, Bse, and Mllerried suggested for the original plant fossils studied by Newberry. Other strata which are included in the Honduras Group vary in age from Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous. Delevoryas and Srivastava (1981) studied plant fossils at a new locality near Jalteva, Honduras (Figure 2.2). They give a systematic description of four divisions of plants collected at this locality. They relied on plant impressions inasmuch as they were unable to recover any plant fragments or find any palynomorphs. No other paleontological data is available from this locality. They assigned the strata tentatively to the Middle Jurassic. Ritchie and Finch (1985) reported the discovery of a Bajocian ammonite, Stephanoceras, at San Juancito. The ammonite is from strata in the San Juancito region which are correlated with Carpenter's El Plan Formation, but not from the exact locality where plant fossils were collected by Rolker and Leggett. Ritchie and Finch (1985) also state that new plant fossils from San Juancito and El Pataste (see Figure 2.2) have been positively identified as Jurassic and that fragmentary plant remains from Pozo Bendito (just east of Danl) are thought to be Jurassic. The strata that yielded the ammonite are the oldest, positively dated strata within the Agua Fra (or El Plan) Formation whereas the age of the plant fossils is less precise. In 1987, ammonites were collected from the Agua Fra Formation in the Danl region (location: UTM coordinates 34.6/50.5, Danl quadrangle, hoja 2858-II, near Jacaleapa, see Figure 2.2) and were sent to Keith Young (The University of Texas at Austin), for analysis. Young identified the following fauna: A Middle Jurassic macrocephalitid, undetermined, and a Middle Jurassic stephanocerid or pseudoperisphinctid, undetermined. Young will publish specific information on these fauna elsewhere. Although a broader range of ages may be discovered in the course of future work on the Agua Fra Formation, the data presently available suggest that most, if not all, of the dated Agua Fra strata are of Middle Jurassic age. Environment of deposition A successful depositional model for the Agua Fra Formation needs to take into account all of the observations which in this case are diverse. Specifically, the formation contains plant fossils, coal beds, marl beds, and marine invertebrates. Clearly part of the formation represents nonmarine deposits, but marine deposits probably dominate. Carpenter (1954) proposed that the El Plan Formation is a flood-plain to shallow marine deposit. Gallo and Van Wagoner (1978) called the lower El Plan Formation a deep marine, outer shelf deposit, and the upper El Plan Formation progradational shelfal sands. I believe that some of the beds are turbidites as was proposed by Gallo and Van Wagoner. However, the part of the section with coal beds must be nonmarine. Detailed sedimentological facies mapping has not yet been done in Honduras.
OTHER JURASSIC STRATA ON THE CHORTIS BLOCK?

A few dates have been obtained on Honduras Group strata which are not included in the Agua Fra (El Plan) Formation. Carpenter (1954) mapped some beds which he called "Undefined Jurassic". These beds contain numerous Trigonia cf. quadrangularis, Gervillia, and Meretrix? fossils of Jurassic age. Carpenter did not believe that he could correlate these beds with the El Plan Formation. By definition (Finch, 1985; Ritchie and Finch, 1985), these beds should just be included in the Honduras Group. Palynomorphs from the unnamed siliciclastic member are of Early Cretaceous (pre-Albian) age at Pito Solo near Lake Yojoa (Gose and Finch, 1987). Likewise, Emmet (1983) reports Early Cretaceous palynomorphs from the unnamed siliciclastic member in the Agalteca region. Though some of the unnamed siliciclastic member may, in fact, be Jurassic, it should not be called Jurassic until it can be dated. Three other sites with presumed Jurassic plant fossils have been reported in the literature. However, these Jurassic ages have not been confirmed. Mllerried (1939 and 1942) reported Jurassic plant remains at Jocotn, Guatemala, and Catacamas, Honduras (Figure 2.2). At Jocotn, Mllerried (1939, p. 42) reported coal, "vegetales fsiles", and cycads. However, Crane's (1965) mapping showed that Miocene Padre Miguel Group crops out in this area. Thus, concerning Mllerried's report Crane (1965, p. 44) said: "In view of the structural and stratigraphic relationships of the area and the poor preservation of plant remains in the lignite, Mllerried's fossils were probably not Jurassic cycads." In fact, the nearest exposure of what we now call Honduras Group is at Ermita (Figure 2.2) which is 30 km south of Jocotn (Burkart et al., 1973). At Catacamas, Mllerried (1939, p. 47) did not give any specific detail on the "madera fsil", thus the age of the strata with fossil wood remains unclear. I have not encountered fossil wood in sub-Atima strata while mapping the Catacamas region (Gordon, in press). From Mllerried's (1939) description, I believe that the strata to which he refers belong to the unnamed siliciclastic member of the Honduras Group. If so, these strata could be Jurassic or Lower Cretaceous, but they remain undated. C.H. Wegemann (in Schuchert, 1935, p. 362) found "cycads" in chert 10-15 miles (16-24 km) east of Santo Toms in Nicaragua. This town is described as being on the edge of the "great jungle", thus I suspect, but do not know, that Wegemann was referring to the Santo Toms at 12.04N 85.02W which is south of the Chorts block, sensu stricto. These "cycads" were lost. Wegemann assumed that they were of Jurassic age, but this age was never confirmed. Wegemann described shale, sandstones and volcanic ash at the same locality. McBirney and Williams (1965) mapped Tertiary volcanic rocks in this region, and did not report any Mesozoic strata. Thus, this location could also be Tertiary as the Jocotn site has proven to be. The Jurassic age at Santo Toms was never proved and has not been confirmed. Simonson (1977) reports carbonized plant remains in the basal siliciclastic beds of the El Porvenir region (Figure 2.2). He mapped these (Simonson, 1981) as Jurassic, but the beds have not been dated. This unit could be equivalent to the Agua Fra Formation, but his description is very unlike the Agua Fra Formation. Leaving the unit unnamed as Simonson did is certainly wise. Simonson was the first worker to abandon the usage of Todos Santos Formation in Honduras since its adoption by Mills et al. (1967). At present the only age constraint for the basal siliciclastic unit at El Porvenir is its stratigraphic position which Simonson claimed is beneath the Atima Limestone. In other words its age is pre-Aptian, not necessarily Jurassic. From his description (Simonson, 1977), some of his basal siliciclastic unit should
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be mapped separately because part of it contains limestone cobbles, implying that at least part of the mapped unit overlies the Atima Limestone. Clastic rocks have been mapped below the Atima Limestone in many localities on the Chorts block (Mills et al., 1967; Fakundiny and Everett, 1976; Atwood et al., 1976; Simonson, 1981). These rocks are commonly called Jurassic because the Atima Limestone is of Early Cretaceous age. However, the Atima Limestone is mostly restricted to the Aptian and the Albian. Thus, there is sufficient time to deposit the relatively thin siliciclastic member during the Early Cretaceous prior to the Aptian. These strata are appropriately dated as Jurassic to Aptian or Jurassic to Albian by some workers (Burkart, 1965; Weber, 1979; Curran, 1981; Emmet and Logan, 1983; Finch, 1985).
JURASSIC IGNEOUS ROCKS

In most places where it has been studied, the Agua Fra Formation has a very low (negligible) volcanogenic component. However, east of the Guayape fault, a thick volcanic accumulation has been found above the sandstones and shales of the Agua Fra Formation. Mills et al. (1967) were the first to report these volcanic rocks. Along the course of Ro Wamp (Figure 2.2), they measured 500 ft. (150 m) of dark red, andesitic volcanic flows above the dark, very fine-grained sandstones and shales of the Agua Fra Formation. Along the course of Ro Patuca, just east of the Guayape fault, I have found a similar thickness of volcanic rocks of intermediate composition above sandstones and shales of the Agua Fra Formation. The volcanic rocks are tuffs which rest conformably on top of the sedimentary rocks. Exposure along Ro Patuca is excellent and the relationship is unambiguous. I have also mapped (Gordon, in press) volcanic rocks within the Agua Fra Formation in the Catacamas Valley region (Figure 2.2). These volcanic rocks also crop out only on the east side of the Guayape fault. These volcanic rocks have experienced low-grade metamorphism. I have found both pyroclastic rocks and lava flows, but all of the volcanic rocks are either andesites or dacites. The Catacamas region is more complicated than the Patuca region. However, the volcanic rocks are certainly intercalated with the sedimentary rocks. These Agua Fra volcanic rocks are apparently limited to the east side of the Guayape fault. Much future work needs to be done on their distribution, composition and age. Although only a few intrusions have been well dated isotopically in Honduras, some of these are of Jurassic age. A small (5 km2) pluton is exposed near San Marcos, Honduras and intrudes the metamorphic basement (Horne et al., 1976). Its composition varies from quartz monzonite to granodiorite. With the Rb-Sr data of Horne et al. (1976) and the new IUGS decay constant (1.42 X 10-11/y-1) L.E. Long (pers. commun.) obtained an age of 149 7 Ma for the San Marcos pluton. The Dipilto Batholith crops out over several thousand square kilometers near the Honduras-Nicarargua border (Horne and Clark, 1978, unpublished). It also intrudes the basement rocks. Samples that Horne and Clark used for dating range in composition from quartz monzonite to biotite-rich tonalite. L.E. Long (pers. commun.) recalculated the Rb-Sr age of this pluton as 138 7 Ma (approximately on the Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary) using the new decay constant and the data of Horne and Clark. As more samples are isotopically dated, the number of known Jurassic intrusions will probably increase.
CONCLUSIONS

Jurassic strata crop out in a broad region of the Chorts block. Some of the strata is well-dated biostratigraphically, but much of this information is the result of reconnaissance work. The Agua Fra Formation of the Honduras Group is the most widespread unit. Recent dates of the Agua Fra Formation are restricted to the Middle Jurassic. Older dates are reported in the literature, but they are probably Early Jurassic, not Late Triassic as was originally reported. These early dates have not been reproduced during recent, better documented work. Other Jurassic strata are included in the Honduras Group. These are local units which have not been correlated with the Agua Fra Formation. The Honduras Group extends into the Lower Cretaceous. The unnamed siliciclastic member of the Honduras Group may not be much older than the Aptian-Albian Atima Limestone. Bringing the rich flora of Honduras to the attention of geologists was the object of Newberry's (1888b) paper. Unfortunately, a ninety-three year gap followed before the next systematic study of plant fossils in Honduras (Delevoryas and Srivastava, 1981). Let us hope that much more data will shortly become available on the subject of these strata, and that the time gap between major publications is much less in the future than it has been in the past.

CHAPTER 2 FIGURE CAPTIONS

Figure 2.1. Finch (1985) and Ritchie and Finch (1985) defined the Honduras Group as siliciclastic units which underlie the Aptian-Albian Atima Limestone and overlie the metamorphic basement. The Honduras Group is divided into two principal units. The lower unit is the Agua Fra Formation which has been dated as Middle Jurassic. Older strata may also exist but are not represented on the stratigraphic column. The other unit is the unnamed siliciclastic member which has not been dated as well as the Agua Fra Formation. Palynological data indicates that some of the strata are Early Cretaceous (Emmet, 1983; Gose and Finch, 1987). The Cantarranas Formation forms the basal part of the Yojoa Group. It is commonly relatively thin. Thus, it is not shown on many geologic maps of Honduras, even if it occurs in the area (e.g., King, 1973). However, it is a distinct unit and has been included in the recent stratigraphic columns for Honduras (Mills et al., 1967; Finch, 1981). The Atima Limestone is a well-known, prominent formation in Honduras. Mills et al. (1967) called it the "fundamental datum". Detailed studies of the Atima Limestone and overlying formations are reported by Mills et al. (1967) and Finch (1981). Figure 2.2. Location map showing locations cited in this report. Locations where Honduras group strata described or mapped are also shown. Locations are geologic sites which are not necessarily in the exact location as the towns that they are named after. Figure 2.3. Region of Honduras dominated by Agua Fra Formation. The stippled pattern shows the region where Agua Fra Formation is virtually the only Mesozoic or older formation which is found. The Agua Fra Formation has a broader distribution (see text and Figure 2.2), but it is not as thick at San Juancito, Minas de Oro, Jalteva, etc., as it is within the stippled area. Continue to Chapter 3: Neogene tectonics of the Chorts block: A wide zone of deformation responding to interaction between the North America and Caribbean plates Return to Contents of this document
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