The Vaca Muerta Shale is a continuous tight oil and shale gas reservoir of Late Jurassic (Tithonian) and Early Cretaceous (Berriasian) age.
Although the name Vaca Muerta Formation was introduced to the geological literature in 1931 by American geologist Charles E. Weaver, the highly bituminous shales in the Salado River valley in southern Mendoza were described in 1892 by Dr. Guillermo Bodenbender.