 Early hypotheses on the depositional environment proposed that the sediments formed in an alluvial fan or braided river system, while a newer proposal outlines how four different facies within the formation can be used to reconstruct a meandering semiarid floodplain deposited by mudflows and discharging in heterolithic terminal splays.The fauna of Quebrada del Barro is similar to that of the neighboring Los Colorados Formation which is considered to be from the Norian stage of the Late Triassic.Both formations preserve fossils from groups such as sauropodomorph dinosaurs, cynodonts, and testudinatans.