Structure and Tectonics of the Central Segment of the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
ARTICLE IN PRESS Journal of South American Earth Sciences xxx (2006) xxx–xxx www.elsevier.com/locate/jsames Structure and tectonics of the central segment of the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia Martı´n Corte´s a,*, Bernard Colletta b, Jacques Angelier a a Laboratoire de Tectonique, Universite´ P and M. Curie Case 129, T56-E2, 4 Place Jussieu, 75252 Paris Cedex 05, France b Institut Franc¸ais du Pe´trole, 1 et 4 Avenue de Bois-Pre´au 92852, Rueil-Malmaison, Cedex, France Received 1 October 2004; accepted 1 February 2006 Abstract In the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia, a new structural model constrained by field data, paleontologic determinations, and interpre- tations of seismic reflection profiles is proposed. The model implies 70 km of shortening, including reactivation of basement structures as inverse faults in both flanks of the chain. These faults propagated within the lower Cretaceous strata, inducing passively rooted and transported thrust sheets as the successive basement faults were reactivated. Two structural styles are identified in the western flank: (1) positive flower structures in a transpressive regime, which affected rocks older than upper Paleocene and were unconformably covered by post–late Paleocene sediments, and (2) compressive structures during the late Miocene–Recent Andean phase. Presently, WNW-ESE compression reactivates Late Paleocene structures, which locally affect Andean trends. In the western margin of the Eastern Cordillera, the Cambao thrust takes up most displacement, whereas the Bituima fault takes only a minor part. To the south, this relationship revers- es, suggesting complementary behavior by the Bituima and Cambao faults, as well as a transfer zone. This suggestion explains the south- ward termination of the Guaduas syncline as a structure related to the Cambao fault, whereas the Bituima fault increases its displacement southward, generating the Girardot foldbelt that takes over the structural position of the Guaduas syncline. Keywords: Northern Andes; Eastern Cordillera; Structure; Colombia Resumen En la Cordillera Oriental de Colombia, se propone un nuevo modelo estructural basado en datos de campo, dataciones paleontolo´gicas e interpretacio´ndelı´neas sı´smicas. El modelo implica 70 km de acortamiento, incluyendo estructuras del basamento reactivadas como fallas inversas en ambos flancos de la cadena. Estas fallas se propagaron dentro de la secuencia del Creta´cico Inferior, induciendo escamas de cabalgamiento que fueron pasivamente rotadas y transportadas cuando se reactivaban las fallas de basamento. En el flanco occidental de la Cordillera Oriental se identificaron dos estilos estructurales: (1) estructuras transpresivas en flor positiva afectaron rocas anteriores al Paleoceno Superior y esta´n cubiertas por sedimentos posteriores, y (2) estructuras compresivas de la fase Andina del Mioceno al Reciente. El re´gimen actual en compresio´n WNW-ESE reactivo´ las estructuras Paleocenas, las cuales cortan las estructuras de la fase Andina. En la margen oeste de la Cordillera Oriental, la falla de Cambao acomoda la mayor parte del desplazamiento mientras que la falla de Bituima solo una parte menor. Hacia el sur esta relacio´n se invierte, sugiriendo la presencia de una zona de transferencia. Esto explica porque el Sinclinal de Guaduas desaparece al sur, ya que es una estructura asociada a la falla de Cambao, mientras que la falla de Bituima aumenta su desp- lazamiento, generando el Cinturo´n plegado de Girardot, que toma la posicio´n estructural del Sinclinal de Guaduas. Ó 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Palabras claves: Andes del Norte; Cordillera Oriental; Estructura; Colombia * Corresponding author. Present address: Corporacio´n Geolo´gica Ares, Bogota´, Colombia. Fax: +571 3101736. E-mail address: [email protected] (M. Corte´s). 0895-9811/$ - see front matter Ó 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2006.07.004 Please cite this article as: Martı´n Corte´s et al., Structure and tectonics of the central segment of the Eastern ..., Journal of South American Earth Sciences (2006), doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2006.07.004. ARTICLE IN PRESS 2 M. Corte´s et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences xxx (2006) xxx–xxx 1. Introduction phologic units, the northern Andes are composed of oceanic and continental domains. Oceanic terrains in 1.1. Structural and tectonic setting Colombia include the Baudo Range, Western Cordillera, and the western flank of the Central Cordillera (Fig. 1). The northern Andes in Colombia resulted from a com- Gravimetric data, geochemical analyses, and stratigraphic plex interaction between the NW corner of the continental studies support this idea (Barrero, 1979; Case et al., 1971, plate of South America and the oceanic Caribbean and 1973; Duque-Caro, 1990; Etayo-Serna et al., 1982). The Nazca plates (Fig. 1). Presently, this plate configuration Romeral-Cauca fault zone (Figs. 1 and 2) separates this defines a triple junction that accommodates permanent oceanic complex from the continental deformed basement strain in the Panama-Choco block and northern Andes under the eastern flank of the Central and Eastern cordill- (Ego et al., 1996; Corte´s, 2004). eras (Fig. 2). The present Andean system in Colombia thus resulted The Eastern Cordillera of Colombia (EC) is a double- from a continuous process of subduction, obduction, and verging mountain system bounded by major inverse faults accretion of oceanic terranes in the western and northwest- that locally involve crystalline and metamorphic basement ern margins of Colombia since the Paleozoic (Barrero, rocks, Precambrian–Lower Paleozoic in age, as well as 1979; Bourgois et al., 1982, 1987; Etayo-Serna et al., Upper Paleozoic–Cenozoic sedimentary and volcanic 1982; Alvarez, 1983; Duque-Caro, 1984, 1990; McCourt sequences. et al., 1984; Resprepo-Pace, 1995). As a result, the northern Andes are composed of three main mountain belts: the 1.2. General evolution of the EC and northern Andes Western, Central, and Eastern cordilleras. Other isolated topographic elevations in the northern Andes include the The Mesozoic to present tectonic evolution of the north- Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and the Baudo and Maca- ern Andes, particularly of the EC, may be summarized as rena ranges (Fig. 1). Considering the origin of these mor- follows: Continuous subduction of the Farallon plate Fig. 1. Major tectonic and structural features around the northern Andes. PCB, Panama-Choco block; CC, Central Cordillera; WC, Western Cordillera; EC, Eastern Cordillera; RF, Romeral fault; BR, Baudo range; SN, Santa Marta range; PR, Perija range; SM, Santander, MA, Merida Andes; BF, Bocono´ fault; GF, Guaicaramo fault; SMF, Santa Maria fault; AG, Algeciras fault; MR, Macarena range. Plate velocity vectors in mm/yr with respect to South America after Trenkamp et al. (2002). Please cite this article as: Martı´n Corte´s et al., Structure and tectonics of the central segment of the Eastern ..., Journal of South American Earth Sciences (2006), doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2006.07.004. ARTICLE IN PRESS M. Corte´s et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences xxx (2006) xxx–xxx 3 Fig. 2. Study area in the central segment of the EC of Colombia. Modified after Cediel and Ca´ceres (1988), Raasveldt (1956), and Raasveldt and Carvajal (1957). GS, Guaduas syncline; SB, Sabana de Bogota; GFB, Giradot foldbelt. beneath the NW border of South America during the Late phase attained 2b for the Late Cretaceous (He´brard, 1985; Paleozoic–Early Cretaceous was accompanied by large, Fabre, 1987; Sarmiento, 2001) and allowed deposition of a granite-type intrusions in the modern Central Cordillera, 6 km thick shallow marine sequence in the EC basin (Coo- Magdalena Valley, and EC (Resprepo-Pace, 1995). During per et al., 1995; Sarmiento, 2001). the Early Cretaceous, a backarc tectonic setting dominated During the Maastrichtian–Early Paleocene, a new tec- the area of the EC, accounting for crustal thinning of tonic pulse related to accretion of oceanic terranes of the approximately 1.3b and subcrustal thinning of 2b, mainly Western Cordillera along the Romeral fault system (Barre- related to tectonic subsidence (He´brard, 1985; Fabre, ro, 1979). As a consequence, uplifting in the Central Cor- 1987; Sarmiento, 2001). This phase of extension probably dillera (Gomez et al., 2003) and generation of positive was enhanced by the opening of the Atlantic and Paleo- flower structures in the Magdalena Valley occurred, due Caribbean oceans during the Early Cretaceous (Pindell to the reactivation of basement structures in a transpressive and Dewey, 1982; Pindell, 1985; Jaillard et al., 1990). A setting (Montes, 2001; Corte´s, 2004). This phase induced a first period of accretion occurred in the Early Aptian when change in the settings and basin mechanisms of the EC, the Amaime terrain was accreted, inducing deformation in which became mainly of continental affinity and related the area of the Central Cordillera (Alvarez, 1983). This tec- to the flexural response of the lithosphere, as well as rem- tonic pulse preceded a period of thermal subsidence in the nant thermal subsidence (Sarmiento, 2001). From the Early EC during the Late Cretaceous and was concomitant with Eocene to the present, a change in the regional tectonic set- continuous subduction of the Farallon plate in the western ting of the South Caribbean region also occurred, related margin of Colombia. The total crustal stretching after this to a shifting from relative divergence to convergence Please cite this article as: Martı´n Corte´s et al., Structure and tectonics of the central segment of the Eastern ..., Journal of South American Earth Sciences (2006), doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2006.07.004. ARTICLE IN PRESS 4 M. Corte´s et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences xxx (2006) xxx–xxx between the Americas, which induced a compressive regime mechanisms of the chain in terms of the geodynamics of in the EC (Corte´s et al., 2005). This new tectonic regime the northern Andes. As a result, two kinds of models have allowed inversion of ancient basement faults in both flanks been proposed to explain the present-day structure and of the EC during the Andean tectonic phase, producing geodynamic setting of the EC.