Geology and Tectonics of Northwestern South America, 1st ed. 2019 The Pacific-Caribbean-Andean Junction Frontiers in Earth Sciences Series

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the geological evolution of the Northern Andes and contiguous shield areas, with a focus upon Colombia. Updated geological interpretations are supported by modern lithogeochemical, seismic, gravity and magnetic data and radiogenic isotope and radiometric age determinations. The composite data permits a detailed interpretation of the tectono-magmatic history of the Northern Andean Block, including the Andes of Colombia, northern Ecuador, western Venezuela and eastern Panamá.

Tectonic reconstructions based upon characterization of more than thirty litho-tectonic and morpho-structural units, terrane assemblages and tectonic realms, and their bounding suture and fault systems, highlight the intimate and complementary Mesozoic-Cenozoic history of the Northern Andean Block and the Pacific and Caribbean Plates.

The complex nature of Northern Andean assembly contrasts with ??classical?? Central Andean ??Cordilleran-type?? orogenic models. Differences render the application of typical Cordilleran-type models inappropriate for the Colombian Andes.

The importance of underlying Proterozoic through mid-Mesozoic elements, in the development of Meso-Cenozoic Northern Andean orogeny-phase tectonic configurations is analyzed in the light of spatial-temporal studies and reconstructions related to basin formation, sedimentation, deformation, uplift mechanisms, structural style and magmatic evolution. The pre-Andean architecture of north western South America has played a pre-determinative role in the development of the Northern Andean orogenic system.

16 contributions analyze key stratigraphic, structural, metamorphic, magmatic and tectonic questions, and provide solutions as far as the most recent published field-based studies permit. The volume provides geological interpretations and tectonic models which contrast with repetitive theoretical proposals frequently found in the available literature.

Chapter 1 - Regional Overview

1.1. Phanerozoic Orogens of NW South America: Cordilleran Type, Taphrogenic Mountain Building and the Cenozoic Orogenic Float

1.2. Paleocontinental Reconstructions of The Americas

Chapter 2 - The Guiana Shield and the Andean Belt

2.1. The Proterozoic Basement of the Western Guiana Shield and the Northern Andes

2.2. Basement of the Cretaceous Basin in North-Central Colombia: Lesson from the Santander Massif

Chapter 3 - Early and Late Paleozoic Tectono-Sedimentary History

3.1. Contrasting Lower to Upper Paleozoic Orogenic Styles and Depositional Sequences in NW South America

3.1.1. Early Paleozoic (Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian)

3.1.2. Late Paleozoic (Devonian, Carboniferous, Permian)

Chapter 4 - Major Tectono-Magmatic Events

4.1. Phanerozoic Granitoid Magmatism in Colombia and Tectono-Magmatic Evolution of the Colombian Andes

4.2. Cenozoic Magmatism of the Maracaibo Block and its Tectonic Significance

4.3. Cenozoic Northern Andean Volcanism: A Petrographical, Geochemical and Geocronological Review

Chapter 5 - The Northern Andean Orogen

5.1. Structural Map of Colombia, NW South America. Field Structural Cross-Sections

5.2. Cretaceous Basin Development. Facies and Paleogeography

5.3. Tectonic and Climate Controls on the Patterns of Topography in a Double-Sided Critical Wedge. Tectonic Inversion in the Eastern Cordillera

5.4. Morphotectonics and Orogenic Development of the Northern Andes of Colombia: Geodynamic and Paleogeographic Implications

5.5. The Romeral Shear Zone

Chapter 6 - Continental Uplift-Drift

6.1. Thermochronology and Tectonics of the Mérida Andes, Santander Massif - Perijá and Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, North-Western South America

6.2. Paleomagnetic Analysis of Mesozoic Rock Units and Its Bearing on Tectonic Reconstructions of NW South America

Chapter 7 - Active Oceanic-Continental Collision

7.1. The Geology of the Panama-Choco Arc

7.2. Continental – Oceanic Interaction in the South Caribbean, Colombian Margin

7.3. Two Distinct Cenozoic Orogenic Ranges: Serranía del Baudó (Pacific Realm) and  Sierra Nevada De Santa Marta (Caribbean Realm). Geophysical Analysis Based on Potential Field Data

Chapter 8 - Caribbean Oceanic Archipielago

Chapter 9 - Holocene – Anthropocene

9.1. Sediment Transfers from The Andes of Colombia During the Anthropocene

9.2. The Historical, Geomorphological Evolution of The Colombian Littoral Zones (XVIII Century to Present)

·   Dr. Fabio Cediel: Studied engineering and chemistry at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, the University of Maryland (USA), the Ecole Polytechnique (Paris, France) and the Technische Hochschule Karlsruhe, (Karlsruhe, Germany) from 1953 to 1957. He was awarded a DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) scholarship, and between 1960 and 1967 completed investigations at the Universität Stuttgart, Institut für Geologie (Germany) where he was obtained his Dipl.-Geol. and Doctor rerum natura (Dr. rer. nat.) for studies completed on Jurassic stratigraphy in the Murcia Province, Spain and the Eastern Cordillera, Colombia. Returning to Colombia, Cediel implemented regional studies of Paleozoic and Mesozoic stratigraphy, pioneering the application of paleo-geographic and tectonic analysis in the understanding of the geological evolution of the Colombian Andes.

In 1969, as co-founder of the geological consultancy GEOTEC, Cediel et al. published the first edition of the GEOTEC Geological Map of Colombia, and initiated a longstanding technical relationship with the petroleum and mineral resource exploration sectors. Field-based studies related to hydrocarbon and mineral exploration led to extensive mapping in the onshore Caribbean, and detailed surveys throughout the Guajira Peninsula. As well, they permitted the undertaking of key field transects beyond Colombia, in the Andes of Ecuador, Bolivia and Chile, as well as participation in the formulation of exploration projects in Venezuela and NE Brasíl.

Fabio Cediel most recently served as Senior Editor and co-author for the 15 volume set Petroleum Geology of Colombia, published by EAFIT University. Important works in which he has served as principle author include; Facies Distribution and Tectonic Setting through the Phanerozoic of Colombia (INGEOMINAS, 1994), Seismic Atlas of Colombia: Seismic Expression of Structural Styles in the Basins of Colombia (GEOTEC 1998), Geologi

occurrences at the regional through district and deposit scales

Offers a new data-supported definition of the Northern Andean Orogeny and its relationship with the Pacific Plate, Caribbean Plateau and the Panamá-Chocó Arc

Provides the first comprehensive overview of the geology of the NW corner of South America, i.e. the Northern Andean Block

Depicts key Proterozoic – Phanerozoic tectonic events documented by field stratigraphic and structural surveys, as well as geophysical studies

Presents for the first time a complete picture of the magmatic (lithogeochemical, radiogenic isotope, U-Pb radiometric age) evolution of the region, spanning the entire Phanerozoic.

Includes complete supporting age, lithogeochemical and isotope data (including XYZ sample coordinates), and new structural field transects, in composite digital appendices, within spreadsheets and detailed geological cross sections

Includes a detailed tectono-metallogenic analysis of the Colombian Andes in time and space, including precise age determinations, alteration and paragenetic studies, metallotect reconstructions and detailed descriptions of many important, previously undocumented precious- and base-metal