# Llanos Basin

The Llanos Basin (Spanish: Cuenca Llanos) or Eastern Llanos Basin (Spanish: Cuenca de los Llanos Orientales) is a major sedimentary basin of 96,000 square kilometres (37,000 sq mi) in northeastern Colombia. The onshore foreland on Mesozoic rift basin covers the departments of Arauca, Casanare and Meta and parts of eastern Boyacá and Cundinamarca, western Guainía, northern Guaviare and southeasternmost Norte de Santander. The northern boundary is formed by the border with Venezuela, where the basin grades into the Barinas-Apure Basin.

## Description

The northeastern part of Colombia is characterized by its wavy plains, called Llanos Orientales, as part of the bigger Llanos that extend into Venezuela. The landscape is similar to a savanna and is poor in trees. It is located between the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes in the west, the Vaupés Arch in the south and the Guiana Shield in the east.
Geologically, the Llanos Basin underlies this typical landscape of the Llanos. An area where transport occurs mostly by small boats along the many rivers and the "buses of the Llanos", the Douglas DC-3 planes. The basin covers an area of 96,000 square kilometres (37,000 sq mi) and contains a stratigraphic column from the Paleozoic to recent. Several of the formations in the basins are source rocks (Gachetá, Los Cuervos, Carbonera C8), reservoir rocks (Mirador, Barco, Guadalupe and the uneven numbered members of Carbonera). Seals are formed by the shaly intervals (even numbered) of the Carbonera Formation, Los Cuervos, and León.
The basin is the main petroleum producing basin of Colombia, with four of the nations biggest oil fields located in the Llanos Basin. Major fields are Rubiales, Colombia's biggest and most recent giant discovery sealed by a complex of hydrodynamic processes, and Caño Limón, at the border with Venezuela.
Major concerns in the basin for the production of petroleum are biodegradation, hydrocarbon migration, fault seal capacity and water flow.

### Hydrography

The Llanos Basin is crossed by numerous rivers, all belonging to the Orinoco watershed. From north to south:
* Arauca River
** Bojabá
** Margua
* Orinoco River
** Capanaparo
** Cinaruco
** Tomo
*** Elvita
** Bita
* Meta River
** Casanare
*** Cravo Norte
*** Ele
*** Tame
** Ariporo
** La Fortaleza
** Guachiría
** Pauto
** Cravo Sur
** Cusiana
** Upía
*** Guavio
*** Lengupá
** Guatiquía
** Manacacías
** Metica
*** Guayuriba
* Guaviare River
** Ariarí
*** Güejar
** Guayabero
*** Duda
*** Losada
** Uvá
** Siare
* Vichada River
** Muco
** Tillava

## Flora and fauna
### Fauna

Among other species, Lynch's swamp frog (Pseudopaludicola llanera) is endemic to the Llanos, with the species epithet referring to the plains. Also the whip scorpion Mastigoproctus colombianus is reported from the Llanos Basin.

## Geodynamic situation

The country of Colombia spreads out over six tectonic plates, clockwise from north:
* Caribbean Plate
* North Andes Plate
* South American Plate
* Malpelo Plate
* Coiba Plate
* Panama Plate
The Llanos Basin is situated entirely on the South American Plate, bordering the North Andean Block or North Andean microplate in the west. The basin is one of three Colombian basins on the South American Plate, to the south the Caguán-Putumayo Basin and to the southeast the Vaupés-Amazonas Basin. The northern boundary of the Llanos Basin is formed by the Colombia-Venezuela border where the basin grades into the Barinas-Apure Basin on the Venezuelan side. The Catatumbo Basin, representing the Colombian portion of the larger Maracaibo Basin borders the Llanos Basin in the northwest and the western boundary is formed by the foothills (Piedemonte) of the Eastern Cordillera Basin, the sedimentary basin covering the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes.

### Tectonics

The basin is bound to the west by the Eastern Frontal Fault System, a 921.4 kilometres (572.5 mi) long fault system connecting the North Andes and South American Plates and thus the Eastern Cordillera Basin and the Llanos Basin. The fault system has an average strike of 042.1±19, but this orientation varies greatly along its course. The 1827, 1834, 1917, 1967, 1995, and 2008 earthquakes were all caused by fault movement as part of the system. The faults formed because of the convergence of two plates, leading to compressional stresses that form thrust complexes. The thrust complexes and continued compression would cause uplift that developed the Andes and the associated basin. The foreland development of the basin is associated with the Eastern Cordillera caused by compressional forces forming inland subsidence. The uplift caused isostatic subsidence that would lead to the evolution of the Llanos Basin. Because of the desequilibrium caused by the uplift, the erosion and deposition rates are amplified within the near Andes and Llanos Basin. The watershed was also affected by tectonics because of different erosion rates and change in landscape.

## Basin history

The tectonic history of the Llanos Basin, a foreland basin formed on top of Mesozoic rift basins, Paleozoic metasediments and Precambrian basement underlain by continental crust, goes back to the Early Jurassic.
The Andean orogeny, represented by the tectonic uplift of the Colombian Eastern Ranges and its northern extension, the Serranía del Perijá, caused tilting and uplift in the Llanos Basin. During the Andean orogenic phase, the paleotemperatures in the basin dropped considerably; in the Baja Guajira area from 115 °C (239 °F) in the Early Miocene to 70 °C (158 °F) in the Late Miocene. In the Late Miocene to Pliocene, the major faults to the southwest of the Cocinetas Basin, the Oca and Bucaramanga-Santa Marta Faults were tectonically active.

### Basement

The stratigraphy of the Llanos Basin ranges, depending on the definition from either Jurassic or Paleozoic to recent. The basement is formed by the westernmost extensions of the Guiana Shield. Remnants of these Precambrian formations are found as inselbergs in the far east of Colombia (Cerros de Mavecure), in the Serranía de la Macarena to the southwest of the basin and in the tepuis of the Serranía de Chiribiquete to the southeast.
The Proterozoic crystalline rocks are overlain by metamorphosed sedimentary and igneous rocks ranging in age from Cambrian to Devonian. Younger and contemporaneous Paleozoic deposits are only found in the subsurface and in regional correlative units as the Floresta and Cuche Formations of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense to the direct northwest and the Río Cachirí Group of the Cesar-Ranchería Basin farther northwest of the Llanos Basin.
The units found in the Llanos Basin pertain to the Farallones Group and comprise the Valle del Guatiquía Red Beds, Pipiral Shale and the Gutiérrez Sandstone.

## Stratigraphy

Stratigraphy of the Llanos Basin and surrounding provinces :
| Ma | Age | Regional events | Catatumbo | Cordillera | proximal Llanos | distal Llanos | Putumayo | VSM | Environments | Maximum thickness | Petroleum geology | Notes |
| 0.01 | Holocene | Holocene volcanism Seismic activity | alluvium | alluvium | alluvium | alluvium | alluvium | alluvium | alluvium | | Overburden | |
| 1 | Pleistocene | Pleistocene volcanism Andean orogeny 3 Glaciations | Guayabo | Soatá Sabana | Necesidad | Guayabo | Gigante Neiva | Gigante Neiva | Alluvial to fluvial (Guayabo) | 550 m (1,800 ft) (Guayabo) | Overburden | |
| 2.6 | Pliocene | Pliocene volcanism Andean orogeny 3 GABI | Guayabo | Subachoque | Necesidad | Guayabo | Gigante Neiva | Gigante Neiva | Alluvial to fluvial (Guayabo) | 550 m (1,800 ft) (Guayabo) | Overburden | |
| 5.3 | Messinian | Andean orogeny 3 Foreland | Guayabo | Marichuela | Necesidad | Guayabo | Caimán | Honda | Alluvial to fluvial (Guayabo) | 550 m (1,800 ft) (Guayabo) | Overburden | |
| 13.5 | Langhian | Regional flooding | León | hiatus | Caja | León | Caimán | Honda | Lacustrine (León) | 400 m (1,300 ft) (León) | Seal | |
| 16.2 | Burdigalian | Miocene inundations Andean orogeny 2 | C1 | hiatus | Carbonera C1 | Carbonera C1 | Ospina | Honda | Proximal fluvio-deltaic (C1) | 850 m (2,790 ft) (Carbonera) | Reservoir | |
| 17.3 | Burdigalian | Miocene inundations Andean orogeny 2 | C2 | hiatus | Carbonera C2 | Carbonera C2 | Ospina | Honda | Distal lacustrine-deltaic (C2) | 850 m (2,790 ft) (Carbonera) | Seal | |
| 19 | Burdigalian | Miocene inundations Andean orogeny 2 | C3 | hiatus | Carbonera C3 | Carbonera C3 | Ospina | Honda | Proximal fluvio-deltaic (C3) | 850 m (2,790 ft) (Carbonera) | Reservoir | |
| 21 | Early Miocene | Pebas wetlands | C4 | hiatus | Carbonera C4 | Carbonera C4 | Ospina | Barzalosa | Distal fluvio-deltaic (C4) | 850 m (2,790 ft) (Carbonera) | Seal | |
| 23 | Late Oligocene | Andean orogeny 1 Foredeep | C5 | hiatus | Carbonera C5 | Carbonera C5 | Orito | Orito | Proximal fluvio-deltaic (C5) | 850 m (2,790 ft) (Carbonera) | Reservoir | |
| 25 | Late Oligocene | Andean orogeny 1 Foredeep | C6 | hiatus | Carbonera C6 | Carbonera C6 | Orito | Orito | Distal fluvio-lacustrine (C6) | 850 m (2,790 ft) (Carbonera) | Seal | |
| 28 | Early Oligocene | Andean orogeny 1 Foredeep | C7 | hiatus | C7 | | Pepino | Gualanday | Proximal deltaic-marine (C7) | 850 m (2,790 ft) (Carbonera) | Reservoir | |
| 32 | Oligo-Eocene | Andean orogeny 1 Foredeep | C8 | Usme | C8 | onlap | Pepino | Gualanday | Marine-deltaic (C8) | 850 m (2,790 ft) (Carbonera) | Seal Source | |
| 35 | Late Eocene | Andean orogeny 1 Foredeep | Mirador | Usme | Mirador | Mirador | Pepino | Gualanday | Coastal (Mirador) | 240 m (790 ft) (Mirador) | Reservoir | |
| 40 | Middle Eocene | Andean orogeny 1 Foredeep | Mirador | Regadera | Mirador | Mirador | Pepino | hiatus | Coastal (Mirador) | 240 m (790 ft) (Mirador) | Reservoir | |
| 45 | Middle Eocene | Andean orogeny 1 Foredeep | Mirador | Regadera | Mirador | Mirador | Pepino | hiatus | Coastal (Mirador) | 240 m (790 ft) (Mirador) | Reservoir | |
| 50 | Early Eocene | Andean orogeny 1 Foredeep | Socha | Regadera | Los Cuervos | Los Cuervos | Pepino | hiatus | Deltaic (Los Cuervos) | 260 m (850 ft) (Los Cuervos) | Seal Source | |
| 55 | Late Paleocene | PETM 2000 ppm CO$_2$ | Los Cuervos | Bogotá | Los Cuervos | Los Cuervos | Pepino | Gualanday | Deltaic (Los Cuervos) | 260 m (850 ft) (Los Cuervos) | Seal Source | |
| 60 | Early Paleocene | SALMA | Barco | Guaduas | Barco | Barco | Rumiyaco | Gualanday | Fluvial (Barco) | 225 m (738 ft) (Barco) | Reservoir | |
| 65 | Maastrichtian | KT extinction | Catatumbo | Guadalupe | Guadalupe | Guadalupe | Rumiyaco | Monserrate | Deltaic-fluvial (Guadalupe) | 750 m (2,460 ft) (Guadalupe) | Reservoir | |
| 72 | Campanian | End of rifting | Colón-Mito Juan | Guadalupe | Guadalupe | Guadalupe | Rumiyaco | Monserrate | Deltaic-fluvial (Guadalupe) | 750 m (2,460 ft) (Guadalupe) | Reservoir | |
| 83 | Santonian | End of rifting | Colón-Mito Juan | Guadalupe | Guadalupe | Guadalupe | Villeta/Güagüaquí | Villeta/Güagüaquí | Deltaic-fluvial (Guadalupe) | 750 m (2,460 ft) (Guadalupe) | Reservoir | |
| 86 | Coniacian | End of rifting | Colón-Mito Juan | Guadalupe | Guadalupe | Guadalupe | Villeta/Güagüaquí | Villeta/Güagüaquí | Deltaic-fluvial (Guadalupe) | 750 m (2,460 ft) (Guadalupe) | Reservoir | |
| 89 | Turonian | Cenomanian-Turonian anoxic event | La Luna | Chipaque | Gachetá | hiatus | Villeta/Güagüaquí | Villeta/Güagüaquí | Restricted marine (all) | 500 m (1,600 ft) (Gachetá) | Source | |
| 93 | Cenomanian | Rift 2 | La Luna | Chipaque | Gachetá | hiatus | Villeta/Güagüaquí | Villeta/Güagüaquí | Restricted marine (all) | 500 m (1,600 ft) (Gachetá) | Source | |
| 100 | Albian | Rift 2 | La Luna | Une | Une | hiatus | Caballos | Caballos | Deltaic (Une) | 500 m (1,600 ft) (Une) | Reservoir | |
| 113 | Aptian | Rift 2 | Capacho | Fómeque | Une | hiatus | Motema | Yaví | Open marine (Fómeque) | 800 m (2,600 ft) (Fómeque) | Source (Fóm) | |
| 125 | Barremian | High biodiversity | Aguardiente | Paja | Une | hiatus | Motema | Yaví | Shallow to open marine (Paja) | 940 m (3,080 ft) (Paja) | Reservoir | |
| 129 | Hauterivian | Rift 1 | Tibú- Mercedes | Las Juntas | hiatus | hiatus | Motema | Yaví | Deltaic (Las Juntas) | 910 m (2,990 ft) (Las Juntas) | Reservoir (LJun) | |
| 133 | Valanginian | Rift 1 | Río Negro | Cáqueza Macanal Rosablanca | hiatus | hiatus | Motema | Yaví | Restricted marine (Macanal) | 2,935 m (9,629 ft) (Macanal) | Source (Mac) | |
| 140 | Berriasian | Rift 1 | Girón | Cáqueza Macanal Rosablanca | hiatus | hiatus | Motema | Yaví | Restricted marine (Macanal) | 2,935 m (9,629 ft) (Macanal) | Source (Mac) | |
| 145 | Tithonian | Break-up of Pangea | Jordán | Arcabuco | Buenavista Batá | hiatus | Saldaña | Saldaña | Alluvial, fluvial (Buenavista) | 110 m (360 ft) (Buenavista) | "Jurassic" | |
| 150 | Early-Mid Jurassic | Passive margin 2 | La Quinta | Montebel Noreán | hiatus | hiatus | Saldaña | Saldaña | Coastal tuff (La Quinta) | 100 m (330 ft) (La Quinta) | "Jurassic" | |
| 201 | Late Triassic | Passive margin 2 | Mucuchachi | Montebel Noreán | hiatus | hiatus | Payandé | Payandé | | | "Jurassic" | |
| 235 | Early Triassic | Pangea | | hiatus | hiatus | hiatus | | | | | "Paleozoic" | |
| 250 | Permian | Pangea | | hiatus | hiatus | hiatus | | | | | "Paleozoic" | |
| 300 | Late Carboniferous | Famatinian orogeny | | hiatus | hiatus | hiatus | | Cerro Neiva | | | "Paleozoic" | |
| 340 | Early Carboniferous | Fossil fish Romer's gap | | Cuche (355-385) | Farallones | hiatus | | Cerro Neiva | | Deltaic, estuarine (Cuche) | "Paleozoic" | 900 m (3,000 ft) (Cuche) |
| 360 | Late Devonian | Passive margin 1 | Río Cachirí (360-419) | Cuche (355-385) | Farallones | | | Ambicá | Alluvial-fluvial-reef (Farallones) | 2,400 m (7,900 ft) (Farallones) | "Paleozoic" | |
| 390 | Early Devonian | High biodiversity | Floresta (387-400) El Tíbet | Floresta (387-400) El Tíbet | | | | Ambicá | Shallow marine (Floresta) | 600 m (2,000 ft) (Floresta) | "Paleozoic" | |
| 410 | Late Silurian | Silurian mystery | Floresta (387-400) El Tíbet | Floresta (387-400) El Tíbet | | | | | | | "Paleozoic" | |
| 425 | Early Silurian | Silurian mystery | hiatus | hiatus | hiatus | hiatus | hiatus | hiatus | | | "Paleozoic" | |
| 440 | Late Ordovician | Rich fauna in Bolivia | San Pedro (450-490) | | Duda | | | | | | "Paleozoic" | |
| 470 | Early Ordovician | First fossils | San Pedro (450-490) | Busbanzá (>470±22) ChuscalesOtengá | Guape | | Río Nevado | HígadoAgua Blanca Venado (470-475) | | | "Paleozoic" | |
| 488 | Late Cambrian | Regional intrusions | Chicamocha (490-515) | Quetame | Ariarí | | SJ del Guaviare (490-590) | San Isidro | | | "Paleozoic" | |
| 515 | Early Cambrian | Cambrian explosion | | Quetame | | | SJ del Guaviare (490-590) | San Isidro | | | "Paleozoic" | |
| 542 | Ediacaran | Break-up of Rodinia | | pre-Quetame | | post-Parguaza | SJ del Guaviare (490-590) | El Barro | Yellow: allochthonous basement (Chibcha terrane) Green: autochthonous basement (Río Negro-Juruena Province) | | Basement | |
| 600 | Neoproterozoic | Cariri Velhos orogeny | Bucaramanga (600-1400) | pre-Quetame | | post-Parguaza | pre-Guaviare | El Barro | Yellow: allochthonous basement (Chibcha terrane) Green: autochthonous basement (Río Negro-Juruena Province) | | Basement | |
| 800 | Neoproterozoic | Snowball Earth | Bucaramanga (600-1400) | pre-Quetame | | post-Parguaza | pre-Guaviare | El Barro | Yellow: allochthonous basement (Chibcha terrane) Green: autochthonous basement (Río Negro-Juruena Province) | | Basement | |
| 1000 | Mesoproterozoic | Sunsás orogeny | Bucaramanga (600-1400) | pre-Quetame | Ariarí (1000) | post-Parguaza | pre-Guaviare | La Urraca (1030-1100) | Yellow: allochthonous basement (Chibcha terrane) Green: autochthonous basement (Río Negro-Juruena Province) | | Basement | |
| 1300 | Mesoproterozoic | Rondônia-Juruá orogeny | Bucaramanga (600-1400) | pre-Quetame | pre-Ariarí | Parguaza (1300-1400) | pre-Guaviare | Garzón (1180-1550) | Yellow: allochthonous basement (Chibcha terrane) Green: autochthonous basement (Río Negro-Juruena Province) | | Basement | |
| 1400 | Mesoproterozoic | Rondônia-Juruá orogeny | pre-Bucaramanga | pre-Quetame | pre-Ariarí | | pre-Guaviare | Garzón (1180-1550) | Yellow: allochthonous basement (Chibcha terrane) Green: autochthonous basement (Río Negro-Juruena Province) | | Basement | |
| 1600 | Paleoproterozoic | Rondônia-Juruá orogeny | pre-Bucaramanga | pre-Quetame | pre-Ariarí | Maimachi (1500-1700) | pre-Guaviare | pre-Garzón | Yellow: allochthonous basement (Chibcha terrane) Green: autochthonous basement (Río Negro-Juruena Province) | | Basement | |
| 1800 | Paleoproterozoic | Tapajós orogeny | pre-Bucaramanga | pre-Quetame | pre-Ariarí | Mitú (1800) | pre-Guaviare | pre-Garzón | Yellow: allochthonous basement (Chibcha terrane) Green: autochthonous basement (Río Negro-Juruena Province) | | Basement | |
| 1950 | Paleoproterozoic | Transamazonic orogeny | pre-Bucaramanga | pre-Quetame | pre-Ariarí | pre-Mitú | pre-Guaviare | pre-Garzón | Yellow: allochthonous basement (Chibcha terrane) Green: autochthonous basement (Río Negro-Juruena Province) | | Basement | |
| 2200 | Paleoproterozoic | Columbia | pre-Bucaramanga | pre-Quetame | pre-Ariarí | pre-Mitú | pre-Guaviare | pre-Garzón | Yellow: allochthonous basement (Chibcha terrane) Green: autochthonous basement (Río Negro-Juruena Province) | | Basement | |
| 2530 | Archean | Carajas-Imataca orogeny | pre-Bucaramanga | pre-Quetame | pre-Ariarí | pre-Mitú | pre-Guaviare | pre-Garzón | Yellow: allochthonous basement (Chibcha terrane) Green: autochthonous basement (Río Negro-Juruena Province) | | Basement | |
| 3100 | Archean | Kenorland | pre-Bucaramanga | pre-Quetame | pre-Ariarí | pre-Mitú | pre-Guaviare | pre-Garzón | Yellow: allochthonous basement (Chibcha terrane) Green: autochthonous basement (Río Negro-Juruena Province) | | Basement | |
| Sources ||||||||||||||

### Legend

* group
* important formation
* fossiliferous formation
* minor formation
* (age in Ma)
* proximal Llanos (Medina)
* distal Llanos (Saltarin 1A well)

### Paleozoic
#### Cambro-Ordovician

* Guape Formation
* Duda Formation
* Ariarí Formation
* Ariarí Metagabbro

#### Pre-Devonian

* Quetame Group
** Río Guamal Metasiltstones
** Guayabetal Phyllites and Quartzites
** San Cristóbal Quartzites and Phyllites
** Susumuco Metaconglomerates and Phyllites

#### Devonian

* Farallones Group
** Valle del Guatiquía Red Beds
** Pipiral Shale
** Gutiérrez Sandstone

#### Jurassic

* Buenavista Breccia

## Petroleum geology

The Llanos Basin is the most prolific hydrocarbon basin of Colombia, hosting well-known petroleum deposits as Caño Limón, Rubiales and other fields. Nine of the twenty most producing oil fields of Colombia are situated in the Llanos Basin.

### Fields

Based on data released in March 2018, Colombia is the 21st oil producer in the world. Daily production dropped in 2017 to 854.121 thousand barrels per day (135.7944×10^$^3$ m$^3$/d). In 2016, twenty oilfields produced 66% of all oil of Colombia, listed below in bold. The total proven reserves of Colombia were 1,665.489 million barrels (264.7916×10^$^6$ m$^3$) in 2016.
Major oil fields in the Llanos Basin are:
Major oil and gas fields of the Llanos Basin :
| Name | Location | Operator | Reservoirs | Reserves Production (2016) |
| Rubiales | Puerto Gaitán Meta | Ecopetrol | Carbonera 7 | 4,380 million bbl (696 million m$^3$) 132.000 kbbl/d (20.9863×10^$^3$ m$^3$/d) |
| Castilla | Castilla la Nueva Meta | Ecopetrol | Mirador Gachetá Une | 452 million bbl (71.9 million m$^3$) 121.363 kbbl/d (19.2952×10^$^3$ m$^3$/d) |
| Chichimene | Acacias Meta | Ecopetrol | Mirador Guadalupe Gachetá Une | 74.052 kbbl/d (11.7733×10^$^3$ m$^3$/d) |
| Quifa | Puerto Gaitán Meta | Meta Petroleum | Carbonera | 613 million bbl (97.5 million m$^3$) 46.557 kbbl/d (7.4020×10^$^3$ m$^3$/d) |
| Caño Limón | Puerto Rondón Arauca | Ecopetrol | | 20.930 kbbl/d (3.3276×10^$^3$ m$^3$/d) |
| Avispa | Cabuyaro Meta | Pacific Rubiales | | 11.625 kbbl/d (1.8482×10^$^3$ m$^3$/d) |
| Ocelote | Puerto Gaitán Meta | Hocol | | 11.228 kbbl/d (1.7851×10^$^3$ m$^3$/d) |
| Chipirón | Puerto Rondón Arauca | OXY | | 10.459 kbbl/d (1.6628×10^$^3$ m$^3$/d) |
| Jacana | Villanueva Casanare | Geopark | | 7.477 kbbl/d (1.1887×10^$^3$ m$^3$/d) |
| Cupiagua | Aguazul Casanare | Ecopetrol | | 5.358 kbbl/d (851.9 m$^3$/d) |
| Apiay | Villavicencio Meta | Ecopetrol | Gachetá Une | |
| Arauca | Arauca Arauca | Ecopetrol | | |
| Cusiana | Tauramena Casanare | Ecopetrol | Mirador Barco Guadalupe | |
* Other fields
** Caño Verde
** Chaparrito
** Concesión
** Corcel
** Cravo Sur
** La Gloria
** Santiago
** Trinidad
** Valdivia

## Mining

Mining activities in the Llanos Basin are restricted to certain areas, resulting in less conflicts, more common with indigenous peoples in the Amazonian part of Colombia.
* gold
* halite
* coal
In San José del Guaviare platinum is mined.
Mining in the Llanos Basin and surrounding areas :
| Resources | Department | Municipality | Mine |
| halite | Meta | Restrepo | Upín |
| gold | Meta | Puerto Rico | |
| gold | Arauca | Arauca | |
| gold | Guaviare | San José del Guaviare | |
| platinum, iron, albite, andradite (var: melanite), 'apatite', arfvedsonite, 'biotite', calcite, cancrinite, epidote, fluorite, 'garnet', microcline, 'monazite', nepheline, siderite, titanite, zircon | Guaviare | San José del Guaviare | |
| coal | Casanare | Recetor | |

## Paleontology

Compared to many fossiliferous formations in Colombia, the Llanos Basin has been lean in fossil content. Most of the basin stratigraphy is only known from wells.
Paleozoic outcrops surrounding and perforating the planar geography have provided fossils dating back to the Cambrian; the Duda and Ariarí Formations.
Several fossiliferous formations of contemporaneous depositional environments have provided many unique fossils indicative of paleoclimatic conditions; turtle fossils were described from Los Cuervos in the Cesar-Ranchería Basin, and the Mirador Formation in the Catatumbo Basin direct northwest of the Llanos Basin has provided many fossil flora.

### Other correlative units with surrounding basins

* Guayabo - Sabana and Soatá, Ware, Honda
* León - Honda
* Carbonera - Barzalosa, Castilletes, Jimol
* Mirador - Bogotá - Etayoa
* Los Cuervos - Cerrejón - Titanoboa, crocodylians, turtles, flora
* Los Cuervos - Guaduas - fossil flora
* Gachetá - Chipaque - oysters
* Gachetá - La Luna - many
* Une - Hiló - ammonites
* Farallones Group - Floresta and Cuche