The Lower Cretaceous Figuera Lava and Fajardo Formation in the Stratigraphy of Northeastern Puerto Rico

The Figuera Lava, the oldest stratigraphic unit now recognized in northeastern Puerto Rico, and the overlying Fajardo Formation are redescribed and the name Figuera redefined and reinstated for formal use. Previously, lower Tertiary strata some distance from the type areas of the Figuera and Fajardo were correlated with the units by reconnaissance. Recent detailed mapping and paleontology now place the Figuera and Fajardo in the upper part of the Lower Cretaceous Series. The Figuera Lava is correlated tentatively with an as-yetunnamed chemically similar volcaniclastic sequence in central Puerto Rico. Overlying this sequence is the Torrecilla Breccia, which is generally equivalent in time stratigraphy to the Fajardo Formation.