Org. Geochern. Vol. 20, No. 4, pp. 425--436, 1993 0146-6380/93 $6.00 + 0.

00
Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved Copyright 1993 Pergamon Press Ltd
Vertical variations of organic matter content in Guayuta Group
(upper Cretaceous), Interior Mountain Belt, Eastern Venezuela
M. ALBERDI 1 and E. LAFARGUE 2.
tlntevep S. A., Apdo 76343, Caracas 1070-A, Venezuela and 2IFP, 1-4 Avenue Bois Preau, BP 311, 92506
Rueil-Malmaison Cedex, France
(Received 31 August 1992: accepted in revised form 4 December 1992)
Abstraet--A geochemical study of the vertical variations of organic matter in the Guayuta Group
(Querecual and San Antonio Formations) has been conducted on a series of samples taken from a
sedimentary sequence outcropping in the Interior Mountain Belt. The results indicate that despite very
high thermal maturity, the organic matter content in the samples is still very high and shows geochemical
characteristics related to anoxic paleoenvironmental conditions of sedimentation. Based on micropaleon-
tological data, mineralogical data, and trace metal (V/Ni) ratio of kerogen, the analysis of the sequence
shows stronger anoxic depositional conditions toward the base of the section and an increase of clastic
sediments toward the top. The total organic carbon of the sediments increases toward the base of the
sequence. In addition, there are pseudocyclic patterns and heterogeneities of the organic carbon content
distribution at the meter-scale. The results indicate that the lower part of this sedimentary sequence
represents a major anoxic event, that can be correlated with other sequences of middle and upper
Cretaceous age.
Key words--Guayuta, Querecual, anoxia, fluctuations of organic content, mid-Cretaceous, Eastern
Venezuela
INTRODUCTION
The organic-rich Cenomanian-Maastrichtian Gua-
yuta Group contains amorphous marine type II
organic matter and is the main source rock in the
Maturin Sub-basin, Eastern Venezuela (Talukdar
et al., 1988). It is subdivided into two formations:
the Querecual Formation (Cenomanian-Turonian)
and the San Antonio Formation (Santonian-
Maastrichtian). The Querecual Formation consists of
finely laminated black pelagic mudstones, rich in
planktonic foraminifers, nearly devoid of any ben-
thonic foraminifers and has been described as de-
posited in a predominantly anoxic environment
(Hedberg, 1937). The San Antonio Formation can be
distinguished from the underlying Querecual for-
mation in certain areas of the Interior Mountain Belt
by the occurrence of sandstones and cherts. Never-
theless in many cases, the scarcity of sandstones
makes it difficult to establish the contact between the
two formations. This is the case of the Cerro Negro
area we describe herein.
The Guayuta Group represents the maximum of
the Cretaceous transgressive events in Eastern
Venezuela (Hedberg, 1937). It overlies the massive
biostromes of the E1 Cantil Formation (Aptian-
Albian) and underlies the massive sandstone bodies
of the San Juan Formation, which corresponds to
the recurrence of a regressive cycle during the
*To whom all correspondence should be addressed.
Maastrichtian. The lateral equivalent of the Guayuta
Group toward the Guayuta shield (South) is the Tigre
Formation which consists of glauconitic sandstones,
limestones and phosphatic mudstones.
The thickness of the Guayuta Group can reach
a maximum of 1200m in the Interior Mountain
Belt, and within this group, the Querecual Form-
ation presents an average thickness of 700m
(Hedberg, op cit, Lexico Estratigrafico de Venezuela,
1970; Gonzalez de Juana et al., 1980). The very large
thicknesses encountered illustrate the important
phase of deposition of organic-rich sediments
that took place in this area of South America during
the mid and late Cretaceous. In this regard, this
event is comparable to anoxic events reported
elsewhere in the world at the same period, as rep-
resented by the La Luna (Venezuela-Colombia),
Napo (Ecuador), or Agua Nueva (Mexico) for-
mations, among others.
The Guayuta Group outcrops in the Interior
Mountain Belt, which is part of the thrust fault belt
system marking the northern end of the Maturin
Sub-basin (Figs 1 and 2). The Eastern Venezuela
Basin contains the giant oil fields of El Furrial and
the Orinoco Oil belt.
The very good quality of the outcrops in this area
allows a detailed investigation of the variations of
organic matter quantity within the Guayuta Group.
This is the objective of the present work and, to our
knowledge, it is also the first detailed study conducted
on the Guayuta Group in Venezuela.
425
426 M. ALBERDI and E. LAFARGUE
METHODOLOGYANDSAMPLI NG
131 out cr op samples have been collected in the
Cerro Negro creek which cuts the Guayut a Gr oup in
the sout hern flank of Cerro Negr o anticline (Fig. 1).
The anal ysed section (Fig. 3) consists mainly of
l ami nat ed pelagic mudst ones with some beds of
homogeneous mudst ones and silicic mudst ones dis-
t ri but ed t hr oughout the sectiotL Towar d the top,
close to the San Juan For ma t i on- Gua yut a Gr oup
cont act , sandst one veins cut t i ng the parallel to the
stratification were observed. Towar d the bot t om, the
%
CA R I B B E A N SEA
S U C R E
CERRO NEeRO
STREAM
TYPE SECTION OF ~ " I L /
RUAYUTA 8ROUP
SAN
PARIA GULF
,R., 0E ;
I~MATURIR
M O N A G A ~ "
/
Ke c
" ' " Ke c
i:]:]:]: : : . - ' l ~ c z
. . . . . . . . . . . : ' : " : " : : " " ~ e ~ i ~ " . . . . . K ~ ~ , " ~ "
f :i:i::" Kg
:" T~
T ~ K v "! ~
I ~ VIDO~O Fm ~ ELCANTI L Fm
Km
[ - E I ~ . . dUAN Fm ~ A ' U V , O . .
Fig. 1. Location of the Cerro Negro anticline and geological setting.
Vertical variations of organic matter content in Guayuta Group 427
PASSIVE MAR61N- " ~ FORELAND BASIN N [
INTERIOR MOUNTAIN BELT
ARAOUA DE MATURIN GUMANA
. q .
Fig. 2. Schematic geological cross-section of the Maturin Sub-basin (Roure et al., 1993).
millimeter-scale laminations increase and calcareous
concretions are also present.
The Cerro Negro creek is a good sampling site in
the Interior Mountain Belt since it cuts a thick section
of the Guayuta Group and, there is no evidence of
faulting or folding (Creole, 1969) that might repeat
the sequence. Furthermore, the samples collected
show no physical sign of weathering. There are
several gaps in the sequence due to vegetation cover
(<60%), but we were able to study 10 sampling sites.
In order to study in detail the variations of organic
matter content in the section, samples were systemi-
cally collected each 3 m along the outcropping sec-
tion. The samples were dried and divided. The total
organic carbon (TOC) and Rock-Eval analyses were
done in duplicate at INTEVEP S.A. and I.F.P.
laboratories (Table 1).
Rock-Eval pyrolysis and determination of organic
carbon with a LECO instrument were conducted on
all the samples along with the determination of
carbonate content by acid treatment and retroactive
titration. Kerogens were isolated by consecutive HCI
and HF treatment and floated with ZnBr. Bitumen
was extracted with CH2CI 2. Optical analysis of or-
ganic matter, elemental analysis (C, H, O), and trace
element determinations were performed on kerogen.
Trace element analyses were conducted on 19 samples
by X-ray fluorescence with a Philips PW-1400-00
spectrometer, dispersive energy, Rh anode and em-
piric effect matrix correction. Accuracy of V/Ni ratios
was measured using appropriate standards, and falls
in the 4-6%range. Correction of the kerogen Ni or V
contents to a mineral-free basis is small: pyrite and
marcasite are in very low concentrations and the
samples were devoid of other Ni complexes such as
NiS or (Fe, Ni)gS 8. Determination of clay, calcite and
quartz contents by X-ray diffraction were conducted
on 28 samples with a Philips PW-1730-10 diffrac-
tometer; the content of these three minerals was
normalized to 100% (Table 2). In addition, bio-
stratigraphy and petrographic analyses were also
conducted on selected samples from the lower part of
the column. The thin sections were colored with
alizarin to show carbonate minerals.
R E S U L T S A N D D I S C U S S I O N
Mat uri t y
The Tm,x values obtained with Rock-Eval are
greater than 540C for all (131) of the samples ($2
peaks were still big enough to ensure reliable Tin, x
measurement). When vitrinite was encountered,
which was very rare in this series (see later), and when
it was possible to measure reflectance values, Ro data
indicate values greater than 1.7% (from 1.7 to 2.2%).
This indicates very high maturity of the organic
matter in the section. The very high maturity of the
samples is confirmed by the position of the data
points on the HIqDI diagram and on the H/C versus
O/C diagram of isolated kerogens (Fig. 4). The high
maturity of the samples is also illustrated by the low
bitumen concentrations in the rocks (CN-102:
274 ppm; CN-114:327 ppm; CN-118:327 ppm, CN-
110:202 ppm with much too low concentrations o1"
biomarkers to allow proper analysis).
Kerogen optical observations
Precise determination of the maceral composition
of the samples was very difficult due to overmaturity
of the series. The observed texture is mainly amor-
phous and monospecific; the reflecting material looks
like the so-called bituminite type (Stach et al., 1982),
i.e. a primary amorphous material that has reached
a high maturity level. Vitrinite particles are very rare
and represent trace quantities in 15 samples.
Organic carbon and mineral carbon contents
TOC content of the series remains high (1-6%)
despite the overmaturity of the sedimentary column,
indicating very high initial organic matter content for
the Guayuta Group (Fig. 5). For instance, if we
consider a rate of transformation of 50% (which is a
fair rate for this kind of organic matter, Espitali~
et al., 1985), we calculate original TOC contents a~
high as 12% with an average of 5%, which is in
agreement with the values inferred from previous
work by Talukdar et al. (1988). These values are
similar to mean TOC values reported in organic-rich
428 M. ALBERDI and E. LAFARGUE
L i t h o l o g y 1 : 2 5 0 0 T o t a l O r g a n i c C a r b o n C a r b o n a t e s
o . . , : , o o o o , 2,
~1 Sample
S A N J U A N ~ n u m b e r
S a m p l i n g
CN1s i t e
|1 ~ CN18 ~ b ~
i ~ C~ SITE3
~C) ~ CN52 SITES ~ , \ S
~ ~ Cml
~ ~ = " ~ j CN77 ,--SITE8 (
~ ~ 1C,N 131
E L C A N T I L L I I I I I
x~[ [ ]
J , L a m i n a t e d l i m e s t o n e . - . ,;~==='=~ H o m o g e n e o u s l i m e s t o n e ~ S a n d s t o n e
Fig. 3. Lithology of the Cerro Negro section showing the sampling sites and the distribution of TOC and
carbonate contents along the series [( . . . . ) indicates a pseudocyclic trend of variation].
Vertical variations of organic matter content in Guayuta Group
Table 1. Total Organic Carbon and carbonate contents
429
Sample % TOC % Carbonate Sampl e % TOC % Carbonate Sample % TOC % Carbonate
CN- I 0.97 27 CN-53 2.92 39
CN-2 I. I 1 40 CN-54 3.14 40
CN-3 0.2 31 CN-55 4.12 41
CN-4 1.22 39 CN-56 3.73 39
CN-5 0.99 36 CN-57 3.94 43
CN-6 1.07 57 CN-58 0.71 44
CN-7 1.12 36 CN-59 3.26 43
CN-8 1.6 41 CN-60.5 3.48 32
CN-9 1.01 42 CN-61 3.21 71
CN-10 1.73 26 CN-62 2.14 41
CN-I I 2.19 30 CN-63 2.18 32
CN-12 0.63 12 CN-64 3.43 71
CN-13 2.31 41 CN-65 2.97 65
CN- 14 2.35 26 CN-66 3.31 44
CN- 15 1.99 21 CN-67 3.32 30
CN-16 1.34 28 CN-68 4.72 33
CN-17 1.7 38 CN-69 3.5 30
CN- 18 2.73 42 CN-70 3.28 48
CN- 19 2.43 49 CN-71 2.39 20
CN-20 3.2 41 CN-72 2.36 37
CN-21 2.98 45 CN-73 2.91 31
CN-22 2.5 28 CN-74 1.84 30
CN-23 2.81 40 CN-75 1.4 23
CN-24 2.77 41 CN-76 2.58 36
CN25 2.26 42 CN-77 3.9 51
CN-26 3.04 41 CN-78 2.48 56
CN-27 2.53 42 CN-79 3.68 47
CN28 2.98 47 CN-80 3.52 50
CN-29 2.89 48 CN-81 3.6 51
CN-30 3.91 44 CN-82 3.82 43
CN-31 3.49 47 CN-83 3.28 44
CN-32 3 52 CN-84 1.21 5
CN-33 3.25 56 CN-85 1.16 16
CN-34 2.34 52 CN-86 1.99 49
CN-35 1.85 44 CN-87 3.13 51
CN-36 2.52 39 CN-88 1.63 18
CN-37 2.79 39 CN-89 1.97 60
CN-38 2.13 53 CN-90 1.6 49
CN-39 2.78 47 CN-91 3.32 64
CN-40 2.54 40 CN-92 2.89 62
CN-41 2.42 40 CN-93 1.34 51
CN-42 2.31 40 CN-94 0.68 26
CN-43 2.22 51 CN-95 0.57 77
CN-44 1.62 50 CN-96 1.06 50
CN-45 1.34 52 CN-97 1.72 75
CN-46 2.24 38 CN-98 0.67 62.
CN-47 2 54 CN-99 1.31 43
CN-48 1.93 35 CN-100 4.88 53
CN-49 1.86 28 CN-101 3.75 63
CN-50 2.43 25 CN- 102 4.79
CN-51 2.21 32 CN-103 4.04 59
CN-52 2.66 16 CN-104 4.72 20
CN-105 4.77 50
CN-106 4.52 19
CN-107 2.82 70
CN-108 5.84 51
CN- 109 4.4 62
CN-110 5.01 52
CN-l I I 5.42 48
CN-112 3.15 77
CN-I 13 2.73 80
CN-114 4.58 64
CN-l l 5 5.56 51
CN-116 3.08 86
CN-I17 3.52 75
CN-118 4.47 55
CN-II9 3.17 69
CN-120 3.82 62
CN-121 3.87 70
CN-122 3.4 71
CN-123 3.19 69
CN-124 2.96 62
CN-125 1.89 67
CN- 126 0.67 84
CN- 127 2.56 46
CN- 128 2 76
CN-129 0.89 68
CN- 130 0.42 89
CN- 131 0.46 65
s edi ment s f rom No r t h At l ant i c Ocean deposi t ed
during mi d and l ate Cret aceous ( De Graci ans ky et
aL , 1984).
For the whol e Guayut a Group, it is possi bl e t o
di sti ngui sh an i ncrease o f TOC cont ent f rom the t op
o f the seri es t o the bo t t o m, wi t h ma x i mum val ues at
sampl i ng si te number 9 ( 5- 6%) . On a smal l er scal e,
we t ent at i vel y represented on Fi g. 3 ps eudo- cycl i c
vari at i on o f the TOC cont ent in the Guayut a Group.
Nevert hel es s t aki ng i nt o account the l ack o f sampl es
f rom covered i nterval s, the i nterpretati on o f the
sect i on in t erms o f organi c mat t er ri chness cycl es
needs further cont rol s in ot her si mi l ar sites. On the
s ame figure, at a met er- scal e wi thi n the s ame
sampl i ng si te, the resul ts al so i ndi cate i mport ant
fl uctuati ons o f the TOC cont ent f rom one s ampl e t o
another.
The mai n val ues for carbonat e cont ent o f the
sampl es (cal ci te) are in the 40- 60% range wi t h a
mi ni mum o f 5% and a ma x i mum o f 89% (Tabl e 2
and Fi g. 3). Carbonat e cont ent s hows i mport ant
vari ati ons wi thi n the sect i on, but there is a t endency
o f i ncreasi ng carbonat e t oward the bo t t o m o f the
sect i on. Cal ci te is di stri buted in the sampl es as mi cri te
wi thi n the matri x, as late vei ns cut t i ng the l ami -
nat i ons and pri nci pal l y, filling up the forami ni feral
wal l s. Pal eont ol ogi cal obs ervat i ons s how that the
forami ni feral cont ent o f the s ampl es i ncreases t oward
the bo t t o m (i ncrease bi oproducti vi ty?), possi bl y ex-
pl ai ni ng the general t endency for i ncreasi ng carbon-
ate concent rat i on in the s ame di recti on.
The rel ati onshi p bet ween organi c carbon and mi n-
eral carbon is not very cl ear but, in s o me sampl i ng
sites, at a met er- scal e, there is a cl ear i nverse relation
430 M. ALBERDI and E. LAFARGUE
Table 2. Mineralogical contents
Sample % Qz % Clays % Calcite
CN 1 44 9 45
CN3 61 5 34
CN7 30 12 58
CN20 26 9 65
CN27 24 8 64
CN34 22 5 73
CN44 31 7 61
CN53 26 I I 63
CN60,5 36 6 58
CN66 24 9 67
CN80 20 6 74
CN88 61 3 36
CN92 11 7 82
CN94 46 3 5 I
CN95 8 2 90
CN99 23 7 67
CNI00 17 6 77
CNI01 11 7 82
CNI03 13 5 82
CNI05 19 5 76
CNI08 20 6 73
CNII3 4 2 94
CNII5 18 4 78
CNI20 8 3 87
CN 123 8 6 87
CN 128 9 2 89
CN131 81 0 10
% Error in Clays determinations > 15%
% Error in Qz and calcite determinations = 15%
bet ween t he a mo u n t s of or gani c a n d mi ne r a l c a r b o n s
as i l l ust r at ed, f or exampl e, i n s ampl e si t es 5, 10 a nd
s ome s ampl es of 9. Thi s i nver se t r e nd is mo r e cl ear l y
s hown on a c a r b o n a t e ver sus TOC d i a g r a m (Fi g. 6).
Such t r e nd ha s been r e por t e d by Br osse e t a l . (1988,
1990) i n c a r b o n a t e seri es f r om I t al y a n d i ndi cat es a
pr ef er ent i al a s s oc i a t i on of t he or ga ni c ma t t e r wi t h t he
cl ays r a t he r t h a n c a r b o n a t e s i n t he r ock. Pe t r ogr a phi c
obs e r va t i ons on t hi n s ect i ons s u p p o r t t hi s hypot hes i s .
I n par t i cul ar , we obs e r ve d i n var i ous t hi n sect i ons,
t he mul t i pl e l a mi na e c ont a i ni ng cal car eous pl ank-
t oni c f or a mi ni f e r s wi t hi n t he mi ne r a l ma t r i x r i ch i n
cl ays a n d or gani c ma t t e r ( Pl at e I). Thes e r egul ar
be ddi ng f eat ur es can be r el at ed t o de pos i t i ona l en-
v i r o n me n t ( Ke nne dy, 1976, cit. Schol l e, 1977), but
t hei r or i gi n is not ent i r el y cl ear. It ha s been pr opos e d
t h a t t he smal l cycles refl ect f l uct uat i ons i n t he " p r o -
duct i vi t y of pl a nkt oni c or ga ni s ms a n d / o r r hyt hmi c
f l uct uat i ons i n t he i nt ens i t y o f c a r b o n a t e di s s ol ut i on
coupl ed wi t h per i odi c va r i a t i ons i n t e r r i ge nous
i nf l ux" ( Ar t h u r a n d Rogge nt he n, 1976). However ,
t he f r e que nt oc c ur r e nc e o f r ecr ys t al l i zat i on we ob-
ser ved b o t h i n t he field a n d i n t hi n sect i ons, a nd smal l
c a r b o n a t e di s s ol ut i ons ( l eachi ng) ma y obs c ur e a cl ear
r el at i on bet ween or gani c c a r b o n a nd mi ne r a l c a r b o n
t h a t c oul d ha ve exi st ed or i gi nal l y.
At t he t op o f t he sect i on (especi al l y at s a mpl i ng si t e
n u mb e r 1), t he l ower c ont e nt of or gani c c a r b o n c a n
be as cr i bed t o a di l ut i on effect caus ed by hi gher
cl ast i c i nput at t he t r a ns i t i on zone bet ween t he
Gu a y u t a Gr o u p a n d t he San J u a n Fo r ma t i o n , whi ch
is k n o wn t o c o r r e s p o n d t o a ma j o r r egr essi ve event i n
t hi s ar ea. Thi s is s uppor t e d by t he gener al i ncr eas e of
t ot al cl ay c o n t e n t a nd a sl i ght t e nde nc y of i ncr eas i ng
qua r t z c ont e nt , except f or s ampl es CN- 88, CN- 94
a nd CN- 131.
In s a mpl i ng si t e n u mb e r 9, at t he b o t t o m of t he
sect i on, pe t r ogr a phi c obs e r va t i ons s how t he exi st ence
2
Z
uJ
900-
800-
700-
600-
500-
400 -
300-
200-
100-
0
/
5 0 100 150 2 0 0
W H O L E ROCK
t ~ o 3 ~ o 3 ~ o
OXYGEN INDEX (mg.CO21gTOC)
1, 5-
1-
,-r
~2
~E
0, 5-
/ , " I , , ,
I "
| ..~"
I / ~
I . . . . ~" T I T
] ; . . - - . . . .
I , " " " "
/
I I
/ oo o
o KEROGEN SAMPLE
0
i ! ! ! i
0 O,1 Or2 0,:3 0, 4 0, 5
ATOMIC O/ C
Fig. 4. HI vs OI diagram on whole rock and H/C vs O/C diagram on selected kerogens.
Vertical variations of organic mat t er cont ent in Guayut a Gr oup 431
25
20
> -
15
- j p
I , = J
I J J
' " 1 0
I , & .
= =
r "
1
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6
TOC ( %)
Fig. 5. Histogram of the Total Organic Carbon cont ent for the samples studied.
-e
30
2O
10
0
i
"2"
t I t I I I
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
% TOC
6
5
4
3
2
1
0 I t
0 10 20
I I I I I I I
30 40 50 60 70 80 90
%Quartz
Fig. 6. Relations between TOC and carbonat e contents (top) and quartz contents (bottom).
432 M. ALBERDI and E. LAFARGUE
of det ri t al quar t z and authigenic quar t z of several
sizes. Small quar t z grai ns ( < 0.01 mm) are mi xed with
clays and kerogen in t he mat ri x of the samples.
Samples CN-88, 94 and 131 show r adi ol ar i a and
foraminifera filled with chal cedony, which is in agree-
ment with Marcucci ' s observat i ons (1979) t hat em-
phasi zed t he bi ol ogi cal origin of this mi neral in the
San Ant oni o For mat i on cherts. On the ot her hand,
onl y the sampl e CN-122 which Inoceramus shells,
presents det ri t al , angul ar quartz. The quar t z cont ent
of these samples and its rel at i on with TOC is shown
in Fig. 6 where two groups of samples can be
differentiated. The first gr oup shows high quart z and
low TOC (CN-88, 94, 131), and the second group
shows a direct rel at i onshi p between quart z (mainly
less to 0.01 mm) and TOC. These results must be
st udi ed with mor e detail to emphasize the rel at i on-
ship t hat coul d exist between the origin of quart z
grai ns and TOC. However, positive rel at i ons between
aut hi geni c quar t z from bi ol ogi cal sources (Marcucci,
1979) and TOC coul d suppor t bi ol ogi cal product i vi t y
as a cont r ol over the TOC di st ri but i on. I f the quart z
is a secondary pr oduct of cl ay react i ons this rel at i on-
ship coul d suppor t the associ at i on between clays and
organi c mat t er. Al so of interest woul d be the use of
stable car bon i sot ope analyses to shed light on the
quest i on of pr oduct i vi t y as a cont rol over the TOC
di st ri but i on. Unf or t unat el y in the series studied,
t he frequent occurrence of recryst al l i zat i on men-
t i oned earl i er makes it difficult to obt ai n adequat e
car bonat e.
Tr ac e e l e me n t s de t e r mi nat i ons in k e r oge n s ampl es ,
a n o x i c condi t i ons and t hei r r el at i ons hi ps wi t h T OC
cont ent .
Qual i t at i ve trace element analysis of 19 kerogens
al ong the sequence show a great diversity of elements
associ at ed with organi c mat t er (Zn, V, Ni, Cu, Pb,
Fe, among others). Quant i t at i ve det er mi nat i on of V
and Ni on kerogens was conduct ed in order to find
possi bl e geochemical i ndi cat ors of anoxi a in this
over mat ur e sequence, where ot her geochemical
par amet er s failed.
It is possi bl e to observe an increase in V/ Ni
rat i o from t op to bot t om with rapi d change of this
rat i o from sampl es CN-66 (V/Ni = 1.79) to CN-79
and CN-80 with V/ Ni rat i os of 3.7 and 42. respect-
ively (Fig. 7). These results indicate more reducing
condi t i ons (anoxic) t owar d the bot t om, which
allows the preferent i al fixation of vanadi um over
nickel (Lewan, 1984; Baker and Louda, 1983; Fi l by
and Van Berkel, 1987). Pal eont ol ogi cal observat i ons
cor r obor at e this result in sampl i ng sites 9-10-11,
from CN~-84 to CN-131, where basically only
pl ankt oni c forami ni fers are present. Less reducing
condi t i ons can be inferred for the upper par t of
the sedi ment ary section, where kerogen shows a
V/ Ni rat i o of 1.7 (Fig. 7) and the pal eont ol ogi cal
observat i ons show great er quant i t i es of bent honi c
foraminifers.
Small i nt errupt i ons in these general anoxic
condi t i ons (sampl i ng site 9) are shown by the pres-
ence of Inoceramus t anat hocenose level (CN-122;
TOC = 3. 2%) between beddi ng planes. This mode of
occurrence is charact eri st i c of oppor t uni st i c species
t ransi ent l y occupyi ng a high "stress envi ronment "
but with t empor ar y al l evi at i on of bot t om wat er
anoxi a (Hal l am, 1987). V/ Ni rat i os in sampl i ng site 9
(CN-99 and CN- I 13) cor r obor at e this observat i on
and suppor t the bri ef i nt errupt i ons of anoxic
condi t i ons, pr obabl y associ at ed with oxygenat ed
currents.
The frequent appear ance of Ephr ol i t us f l o r a l i s
and Mi c u r a St aur opor a in sampl i ng site 9, allows us
to assign this par t of the sequence to the Lower
Tur oni an age (Muller, personal communi cat i on,
1991) and this dat e coul d be related to the existence
of a worl dwi de anoxic event in this part of the
studied sequence. The Cenomani an- Tur oni an strati-
graphi c boundar y has been report ed by different
aut hors as the peri od of occurrence of maj or world-
wide anoxic events (Schlanger and Jenkyns, 1976;
Demai son and Moor e, 1980; Parish and Curtis, 1982;
Ar t hur e t al . , 1987; De Gr aci ansky et al . , 1987;
Schlanger et al . , 1987) and could be related to
our observat i ons. The general increase of TOC con-
tent from t op to bot t om can be correl at ed with a
general increase of anoxic condi t i ons in this same
direction.
Al t hough the sediments were deposi t ed under
anoxic condi t i ons, there is an i mpor t ant reduct i on of
TOC cont ent at the t op of sampl i ng site 9 (CN-
88/CN-99), 10 and 11. This "pseudocycl i c" t rend is
i ndependent of anoxic condi t i ons and coul d be ex-
pl ai ned by changes in rat e of sedi ment at i on and/ or
changes in pal eoproduct i vi t y.
CONCLUSI ONS
The det ai l ed geochemical st udy conduct ed here in
the Int eri or Mount ai n Belt gives insights into the
vertical vari at i ons of organi c mat t er cont ent within
the Guayut a Gr oup. Despite the lack of avai l abl e
i mmat ure Guayut a Gr oup samples, it was possible to
obt ai n val uabl e dat a from a series of mat ur e samples.
Tot al organi c carbon, trace element det ermi nat i ons
on kerogen, al ong with the mineralogical and pal eon-
tological dat a can be good tools to assess overmat ure
sequences where more t radi t i onal geochemical tools
cannot be applied.
The residual TOC di st ri but i on shows vari at i ons
t hat can be related to the pal eoenvi ronment al con-
di t i ons of sedi ment at i on. This st udy confirms the very
good source rock qual i t y of the Guayut a Gr oup and
its i mport ance in the generat i on of hydr ocar bons in
the Mat ur i n Sub-basin. The very high organi c car bon
cont ent , t oget her with the significant thickness of this
group, make it very interesting with regard to its
possible correl at i on to similar organic-rich deposi t s at
a worl d scale duri ng the Cretaceous.
Plate. 1. Petrographic characteristics of sample CN-131 (parallel to the bedding).
433
Vertical variations of organic mat t er cont ent in Guayut a Gr oup 435
0 1
CN-61
CN-66
CN-79
CN-,.16
CN-40
CN-43
CN-51
CN-57
CN-60.5
~,~ C N - 9 2
CN-103
CN-IO0
CN-113
CN-121
CN-123
CN-127
V/Ni
2 3 4 5 6
I - : : I
Fig. 7. V/Ni profile in the Guayut a Gr oup of the Cerro
Negro section.
Thi s p a p e r r epr es ent s t he fi rst d a t a of t hi s n a t u r e
on t he Gu a y u t a Gr o u p i n Venezuel a a nd c a n be
hel pf ul f or o u r u n d e r s t a n d i n g of t he de pos i t i on of
or ga ni c - r i c h s e di me nt s i n t he No r t h e r n pa r t of t he
Sout h Ame r i c a ma r gi n. It is al so cl ear t h a t a ddi t i ona l
wor k is neces s ar y t o r el at e t he pr e s e nt r esul t s wi t h
ot he r st udi es of Gu a y u t a Gr o u p s equences out c r op-
pi ng i n t he I nt e r i or Mo u n t a i n Belt. I n par t i cul ar , it
is i mp o r t a n t t o u n d e r s t a n d t he f act or s c ont r ol l i ng
TOC a c c u mu l a t i o n s i n or de r t o di s c r i mi na t e t he
pr i nci pal c ont r ol s on t he oc c ur r e nc e of t hi s good
Cr e t a c e ous s our ce r ock. I n f ut ur e wor k, t hi s i nf or -
ma t i o n mu s t be a dde d t o t he s t udy of ot he r anoxi c
epi s odes s uch as La Lu n a ( Venezuel a a n d Co l o mb i a )
a nd Na p a r i ma Hi l l / Ga u t i e r ( Tr i ni da d) F o r ma t i o n s t o
devel op a c ohe r e nt bl a c k- s ha l e mode l of s edi men-
t a t i on whi ch coul d expl ai n t he si mi l ar i t i es a nd
di f f er ences bet ween or ga ni c ma t t e r geochemi cal
char act er i s t i cs .
Acknowledgements--Special t hanks are due to J. Di Croce
for his help duri ng the field trip and to N. Jordan, I. Berrios,
F. Le Bihan, C Muller, M. Furrer, G. Pichaud, B. Aguado,
I. Trukowski, P. Diaz and C. Schwartz for technical assist-
ance. We are also grateful to E. Brosse, G, Deroo,
O. Gallango, J. P. Herbin, A. Huc, L. ten Haven and
W. Scherer for the careful review of the manuscript. Critical
reviews by R. Jaffe and K. Peters were also very useful to
improve the first version of this paper.
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