Early‐subduction‐related orogeny in the northern Andes: Turonian to Eocene magmatic and provenance record in the Santa Marta Massif and Rancheria Basin, northern Colombia

Abstract

The timing of orogeny in the northern Andes and the mechanism driving it are still debated. We have studied the age, composition and provenance of granitoids and sandstones of the Santa Marta Massif and Rancheria Basin, northern Colombia, to relate deep-seated and surface tectonic processes attending the Late Cretaceous-Palaeogene history of the northern Andes. Our results indicate the development of five tectonic episodes: (1) collision of northwestern South America with a 92-80 Ma Caribbean arc (70 Ma); (2) late-collisional to early-subduction metamorphism and magmatism (65 Ma); (3) distal accumulation of a thick siliciclastic sequence (60-58 Ma); (4) renewed arc magmatism (58-50 Ma); and (5) magmatic quiescence and block uplift (post-50 Ma). The first episodes are related to the onset of subduction, and the last episode is related to shallow subduction and oblique convergence. Similar events in Colombia and Ecuador reveal that the Late Cretaceous-Eocene orogeny of the northern Andes was influenced by the collision and subduction of the Caribbean oceanic plate.

Linking Late Cretaceous to Eocene Tectonostratigraphy of the San Jacinto Fold Belt of NW Colombia With Caribbean Plateau Collision and Flat Subduction

“…Results of detrital zircon U‐Pb geochronology in samples of wells C‐1 and SamanEST‐1. Reference basement ages for possible source terranes were compiled using the data of Cordani et al (), Vinasco et al (), Ibañez‐Mejia et al (, , ), Cardona, Chew, et al (), Cardona, Valencia, et al (), Horton et al (), Montes et al (, ), Restrepo‐Pace and Cediel (), Weber et al (, ), Cardona et al (), Villagómez, Spikings, Mora et al (), Bayona et al (), Cardona et al (, ), Cochrane et al (), Spikings et al (), Van der Lelij et al (), and Mora et al ().…”

Comment (1) on “Formation of the Isthmus of Panama” by O’Dea et al .

“…These metamorphic rocks are intruded by plutonic rocks older than 50 Ma ( 18 ), therefore being older.…”

U-Pb LA-ICP-MS GEOCHRONOLOGY AND GEOCHEMISTRY OF JURASSIC VOLCANIC AND PLUTONIC ROCKS FROM THE PUTUMAYO REGION (SOUTHERN COLOMBIA): TECTONIC SETTING AND REGIONAL CORRELATIONS

“…Early-Middle Jurassic (180-200 Ma) magmatic rocks also have been found in other segments of the Colombian Andes (FIGURE 1), including the Santander and Santa Marta massifs (Altenberger and Concha, 2005;Cardona et al, 2011), and are also common along most of the Andean Chain (Mpodozis and Ramos, 2008;Vásquez et al, 2011) Although some of the Jurassic remnants in the Colombian Andes may have been displaced from southern latitudes (Bayona et al, 2006), the existence of a major Jurassic continental scale magmatic province and its apparent link with extensional basins (Mpodozis and Ramos, 2008;Sarmiento et al, 2006;Vásquez et al, 2011) reflect the plate convergence following Pangea break-up, and the subduction of an old Pacific plate that controlled the growth of a continental magmatic arc and the contemporaneous regional scale magmatic activity (Busby, 2012;Cawood and Buchan, 2007;Cawood et al, 2009).…”