GEOLOGY OF VENEZUELA: PERIODS, FORMATIONS, CHARACTERISTICS - GEOGRAPHY - 2025

The geology of Venezuela is very varied and has the oldest formations on the planet. You can find high mountains in the west, coasts in the north, plains in the center, jungles and savannas in the south, and huge massifs in the southeast.

Venezuela is located in the north of South America, just above the terrestrial Ecuador. To the west of the territory of Venezuela is the Sierra de Perijá, next to the Maracaibo basin (Lake Maracaibo and lowlands).

To the east of this basin is a semi-mountainous region, in the Falcón state, with an extremity that ends in a flat peninsula called Paraguaná. The Venezuelan Andes are located to the west and extend eastward to meet the Cordillera de la Costa, which borders the north of the country.

With the Andean mountain range as the beginning, great plains extend to the south, where the highlands of Guiana break out. It is believed that at this point Venezuela was joining the African continent. To the northeast is a low and swampy area, in the Delta Amacuro state.

The 4 geological eras that Venezuela has lived

1- Precambrian era

During the Lower Paleozoic, the development of a geosyncline began in what is now the lower basin of the Amazon River.

This led to the separation of the original massif into two parts: one that went to the south, the Brazilian shield; and another, facing north, the Guiana shield.

It is from the Guiana shield from which a fifth of Venezuela is born. The rock formations of this shield were under the sea more than 3.5 billion years ago.

At that time there were movements and underwater volcanic eruptions that altered the original rocks and gave rise to the sediments of Roraima. Since then, it is a formation that rises above sea level.

2- Paleozoic era

This era begins with the north of South America above sea level, but soon after the sea covered several areas that were eroded.

And it continued to do so in the following 250 million years, covering what are today the states of Táchira, Trujillo and part of Mérida, and what is now Lake Maracaibo. Merida was a kind of island.

This "maritime invasion" reached Perijá, where swamps were formed. This era ended the Hercynian orogenesis, which violently deformed western Venezuela.

3- Mesozoic era

The Mesozoic was the era in which the fracture of the Shield of Venezuelan Guiana occurred, which was outside the sea. This fracture did not reach the surface. Wide folds with gentle slopes were formed on its flanks.

Then a mountain range emerged that extends from south to north from the current state of Barinas, to Lake Maracaibo. Its depressions eroded during the 100 million years of the Triassic and Jurassic.

4- Cenozoic era

In the Cenozoic era, Venezuelan biodiversity is configured. The vast majority of plant and animal species that are known today appear.

It is known that some species such as rudists, belemnites, ammonites, flying and marine reptiles also disappeared.

The 10 main geological formations of Venezuela

1- Callao

It is a formation of about 3 thousand meters thick made up of volcanic lavas of coarse and fine grain. It is located on the Yuruari River, near Callao, in the south of the country.

It is an economically important formation for Venezuela because it shelters veins of gold and vein quartz.

2- Cicapra

It is located in the Cicapra stream, which is one of the tributaries of the Yuruari River. It has an estimated thickness of 2000 meters.

3- Caparo Formation

It is named after the Caparo river, located in the state of Mérida. It is a sequence of rocks with a thickness of approximately 200 meters.

It is made up of sandy and micaceous lithomites, fine and coarse-grained sandstones, calcareous sandstones and fossil shales.

4- Yuruari

It is located in the Yuruari River near the Pastora town, and it is a sedimentary sequence formed in shallow waters with a thickness of approximately 5,000 meters.

Its rocks are made up of volcanic fragments, grauvacas, schists and tobaceous gaps.

5- Mackerel

This formation constitutes a discordant sequence located in the Dividual stream, a tributary of the Caballape River.

It is made up of conglomerate sediments, volcanic fragments and tuffs. Its thickness ranges between 5000 and 8000 meters.

6- Bella Vista

It is a Precambrian lithological sequence located in the Andean zone of Venezuela, without fossils. It is composed of sericitic, chloritic and graphylous shales.

7- Roraima

It is an almost horizontal sedimentation sequence, located in the Cerro de Roraima and other regions of the Bolívar and Amazonas states.

It is approximately 2,600 meters thick and is made up of shales, quartz feldspathic conglomerates, sandstones, jaspers and ascosics.

8- Mucuchachí

It is a stratigraphic sequence located in the current state of Mérida that contains fossils. It is mainly made up of silty slates.

9- Sabaneta

It is another of the formations located in the state of Mérida. It has coarse and fine-grained sandstones, with plant fossils. It also contains limestone and shale.

10- The Fifth

A formation located near La Grita, Táchira state, which formed between the Upper Triassic and the Lower Jurassic.

Its thickness is estimated at 2400 meters and it was formed with conglomerate and clayey sandstones, shales and red conglomerates.

Venezuelan geology and landscapes

The geological history of Venezuela produced markedly different landscapes on a relatively small area of ​​land.

For example, the following landscapes can be mentioned:

- Tepuis of Canaima.

- Dunas de los Médanos de Coro.

- Cave of sedimentary rocks of El Guácharo.

- The Sierra Nevada.

- Archipelago, islets, keys and islands.

Economic importance

The geological formations that occurred in this South American country have had consequences on the national economy as they have made possible a tourist development and the exploitation of oil.

Although the tourism industry does not represent a very important contribution to Venezuela's GDP (-4.7% in 2016), it does constitute an important potential for attracting foreign capital and promoting national development.

The territory that remained between Guayana in the south east and the Sierra de Perijá and the Cordillera de los Andes in the west, became one of the most important oil deposits in the world.

This oil is currently the main export product of Venezuelans.

References

1. Digital Caraota (2017). Venezuela is the country with the lowest contribution of tourism to GDP in the world. Recovered from: caraotadigital.net
2. Venezuelan Geology (2011). The 7 geological wonders of Venezuela. Recovered from: geologiavenezolana.blogspot.com
3. Venezuelan Geology (2012) The Cenozoic in Venezuela. Recovered from: geologiavenezolana.blogspot.com
4. Oil of America (2010). Geology of Venezuela and terms. Recovered from: petroleoamerica.com
5. Urbani, Franco (2011). An outline of the geology of Venezuela. BioLlania Special Edition.
6. Venaventours (s / f). Relief and geology of Venezuela. Recovered from: venaventours.com