Bucaramanga-Santa Marta Fault | |
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Bucaramanga-Santa Marta Fault System (Sistema de) Falla(s) de Bucaramanga-Santa Marta | |
Etymology | Bucaramanga, Santa Marta |
Coordinates | 7°05′25″N73°05′15″W / 7.09028°N 73.08750°W |
Country | Colombia |
Region | Caribbean, Andean |
State | Magdalena, Cesar, Norte de Santander, Santander |
Cities | Santa Marta, El Paso, Bucaramanga, Floridablanca, Piedecuesta |
Characteristics | |
Elevation | 1–1,500 m (3.3–4,921.3 ft) |
Range | Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta Eastern Ranges Andes |
Part of | Andean faults |
Segments | Santa Marta, Algarrobo, Bucaramanga Faults |
Length | 674 km (419 mi) |
Strike | 341 ± 23 (NNW-SSE) |
Displacement | 110 km (68 mi) |
Tectonics | |
Plate | South American Plate |
Status | Active |
Earthquakes | Pre-Columbian era (~1020 AD) |
Type | Strike-slip fault |
Movement | Sinistral |
Rock units | Caribbean, La Guajira, Tahamí & Chibcha Terranes |
Age | Neogene-Holocene |
Orogeny | Andean |
The Bucaramanga-Santa Marta Fault (BSMF, BSF) or Bucaramanga-Santa Marta Fault System (Spanish : (Sistema de) Falla(s) de Bucaramanga-Santa Marta) is a major oblique transpressional sinistral strike-slip fault (wrench fault) in the departments of Magdalena, Cesar, Norte de Santander and Santander in northern Colombia. The fault system is composed of two main outcropping segments, named Santa Marta and Bucaramanga Faults, and an intermediate Algarrobo Fault segment in the subsurface. The system has a total length of 674 kilometres (419 mi) and runs along an average north-northwest to south-southeast strike of 341 ± 23 from the Caribbean coast west of Santa Marta to the northern area of the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes.
The fault system is a major bounding fault for various sedimentary basins and igneous and metamorphic complexes. The northern Santa Marta Fault segment separates the Sinú-San Jacinto Basin and Lower Magdalena Valley in the west from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta to the east. The buried Algarrobo Fault segment forms the boundary between the Lower Magdalena Valley and northern Middle Magdalena Valley to the west and the Cesar-Ranchería Basin in the east. The Bucaramanga Fault segment separates the middle part of the Middle Magdalena Valley in the west from the Santander Massif in the east.
The fault system bounds and cuts the four largest terranes of the North Andes Plate; the La Guajira, Caribbean and Tahamí Terranes along the Santa Marta section and intraterrane movement in the Andean Chibcha Terrane. Studies of the fault segments have shown the fault was active in the pre-Columbian era, around the year 1020, when the area around Bucaramanga was inhabited by the Guane. Various seismic events analysed to have occurred during the Holocene of the Bucaramanga Fault segment lead to the conclusion the fault is active.
The Bucaramanga-Santa Marta Fault is a major fault system which extends for a total distance of 674 kilometres (419 mi) from the Colombian Caribbean coast to the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes to as far as about 6.5° N, south of the capital of Santander, Bucaramanga. The fault system, with an average strike of 341 ± 23 degrees, is a major wrench fault with a sinistral (left-lateral) displacement ranging from 45 to 110 kilometres (28 to 68 mi) and a fault slip rate of 0.01 to 0.2 millimetres (0.00039 to 0.00787 in) per year. [1] The Santa Marta Fault forms the boundary between several distinct geological provinces: it is the western limit of the Santa Marta Massif with the Sinú-San Jacinto Basin, farther to the south the fault separates the Lower Magdalena Valley and northern Middle Magdalena Valley from the Cesar-Ranchería Basin. The Santander Massif is separated from the central part of the Middle Magdalena Valley along the southern Bucaramanga Fault segment of the fault system. [2]
The fault divides the northern part of the Eastern Ranges in two structurally distinct regions. The Andean uplifted eastern block mainly comprises crystalline igneous and metamorphic rocks of Paleozoic and pre-Cambrian age, with lesser amounts of Jurassic, Triassic and Tertiary sedimentary rocks. In the western downthrown block, predominately sedimentary rocks of Quaternary and Tertiary age are found, with lesser amounts of Cretaceous and Jurassic rocks. The northern half of the fault is partially covered by Quaternary deposits in the Cesar and Magdalena valleys. [2]
The fault is divided into three segments; the main Bucaramanga Fault segment in the south, the Algarrobo Fault in the central section, [3] and the main Santa Marta Fault segment in the northern part of the fault system. [4] [5] [6] Between the two main outcropping segments, the Algarrobo Fault is present in the subsurface, overlain by Quaternary sediments. [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] The urban centre of the major coal producing municipality El Paso, Cesar is located right above the fault. [9] The fault reappears at surface east of Tamalameque, Cesar, where it continues south-southeastward into the Eastern Ranges in the departments of Norte de Santander and Santander. [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] The fault can be traced until San Andrés, Santander. [18] The Bucaramanga Fault possibly continues as the compressional Boyacá and Soapaga Faults on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense. [19]
Municipality bold is capital | Department | Altitude of urban centre | Inhabitants 2015 | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Santa Marta | Magdalena | 0 m (0 ft) | 466,000 | |
Ciénaga | Magdalena | 10 m (33 ft) | 104,897 | |
Zona Bananera | Magdalena | 30 m (98 ft) | 60,524 | |
Aracataca | Magdalena | 40 m (130 ft) | 39,473 | |
Fundación | Magdalena | 10 m (33 ft) | 57,344 | |
Algarrobo | Magdalena | 24 m (79 ft) | 12,576 | |
El Copey | Cesar | 180 m (590 ft) | 27,212 | |
Bosconia | Cesar | 200 m (660 ft) | 37,248 | |
El Paso | Cesar | 36 m (118 ft) | 22,832 | |
Chiriguaná | Cesar | 40 m (130 ft) | 19,650 | |
Curumaní | Cesar | 112 m (367 ft) | 24,367 | |
Chimichagua | Cesar | 49 m (161 ft) | 30,658 | |
Pailitas | Cesar | 77 m (253 ft) | 17,166 | |
Pelaya | Cesar | 50 m (160 ft) | 17,910 | |
La Gloria | Cesar | 50 m (160 ft) | 12,938 | |
El Carmen | Norte de Santander | 761 m (2,497 ft) | 14,005 | |
Teorama | Norte de Santander | 72 m (236 ft) | 21,524 | |
González | Cesar | 1,240 m (4,070 ft) | 6990 | |
Ocaña | Norte de Santander | 1,202 m (3,944 ft) | 98,992 | |
San Martín | Cesar | 119 m (390 ft) | 18,548 | |
San Alberto | Cesar | 125 m (410 ft) | 24,653 | |
Ábrego | Norte de Santander | 1,398 m (4,587 ft) | 38,627 | |
La Esperanza | Norte de Santander | 1,566 m (5,138 ft) | 12,012 | |
Cáchira | Norte de Santander | 2,025 m (6,644 ft) | 10,970 | |
El Playón | Santander | 469 m (1,539 ft) | 11,776 | |
Rionegro | Santander | 590 m (1,940 ft) | 27,114 | |
Bucaramanga | Santander | 959 m (3,146 ft) | 528,575 | |
Floridablanca | Santander | 925 m (3,035 ft) | 266,669 | |
Piedecuesta | Santander | 1,005 m (3,297 ft) | 156,167 | |
Cepitá | Santander | 660 m (2,170 ft) | 1865 | |
San Andrés | Santander | 1,777 m (5,830 ft) | 8540 | |
The Bucaramanga-Santa Marta Fault system is located in northwestern South America, on the North Andes Plate, where the 20 ± 2 millimetres (0.787 ± 0.079 in)/yr east to southeastward moving Caribbean, [52] 60 mm (2.4 in)/yr eastward subducting Malpelo, [53] and South American Plates converge. Since Early Mesozoic times, the western portion of Colombia was subjected to different episodes of subduction, accretion and collision, at the boundaries of the South America continental and the oceanic Farallon, Nazca, and Caribbean Plates and various island arcs. [54] The interaction of the plate tectonic movements formed the Northern Andean Block, separated from the Maracaibo Block by the Bucaramanga-Santa Marta Fault. [55] The Northern Andean Block is subdivided into tectonic realms, with the Bucaramanga-Santa Marta Fault separating the Central Continental Sub-plate Realm in the west from the Maracaibo Sub-plate Realm in the east. [56] It has been suggested that these two realms are dominated by respectively Nazca and Caribbean Plate subduction. [57] The compressional stress regime caused the formation of the oblique sinistral Bucaramanga-Santa Marta Fault and dextral Oca and Boconó Faults. [58]
The interplay between the Santa Marta and Oca Faults produced offshore Caribbean platforms and valleys north of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta near Taganga. [59] Uplift along the western margin of the Santa Marta Fault probably commenced in the Pliocene. [60]
The Bucaramanga Fault intersects with the Boconó Fault at the Santander Massif. [61] In this area, the top of the subducting slab has been estimated at an initial depth of approximately 100 kilometres (62 mi), then a horizontal part for about 50 kilometres (31 mi), and a farther descending section to reach a depth of around 200 kilometres (120 mi). The slab section, called Bucaramanga slab, here has a dip that continues to the oceanic crust of the Caribbean seafloor. Towards the north of the Bucaramanga Nest or Swarm, in a north–south area approximately 200 kilometres (120 mi) in length, a well-defined Wadati-Benioff Zone extending to 175 kilometres (109 mi) depth has been identified. [62]
A study published in 2009 about the Bucaramanga segment of the fault system revealed that the fault had eight episodes of activity during the late Holocene. [63] The most recent activity has been inferred to have been around the year 1020. [64] During this pre-Columbian era, the area around Bucaramanga was inhabited by the indigenous Guane. The authors consider the Bucaramanga Fault therefore as active. [63]
Other faults in the seismically active zone, named Bucaramanga Nest, produced 27 earthquakes of magnitudes 4.0 to 5.3 between May 2012 and January 2013. [65]
Floridablanca is a municipality in the department of Santander situated at an altitude of 925 metres (3,035 ft) in the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes. It is part of the metropolitan area of the departmental capital Bucaramanga. Floridablanca is known for its parks and the Piedra del Sol, a large rock with spirals and circles carved by the Guane over 1,000 years ago. This city is home of the tallest statue of Jesus Christ in Colombia, "El Santisimo". The statue is 40 metres (130 ft) high and weighs 40 tonnes (88,000 lb). The city is situated along the Ruta Nacional 45A, a branch of the Pan American Highway, connecting the capital Bogotá with Santa Marta at the Caribbean coast and Cúcuta as a gateway to Venezuela. Together with other neighboring municipalities of Bucaramanga, Girón and Piedecuesta, Floridablanca is one of the growth areas for the capital of Santander with numerous constructions happening in recent years.
The North Andes Plate or North Andes Block is a small tectonic plate (microplate) located in the northern Andes. It is squeezed between the faster moving South American Plate and the Nazca Plate to the southwest. Due to the subduction of the Coiba and Malpelo plates, this area is very prone to volcanic and seismic activity, with many historical earthquakes.
The La Quinta Formation is a Jurassic geologic formation which crops out in the Cordillera de Mérida and Serranía del Perijá of western Venezuela and northeastern Colombia. The formation is also present in the subsurface of the Cesar-Ranchería and Maracaibo Basins. At its type locality near La Grita, Táchira, it consists of a basal dacitic tuff followed by interlayered sandstones, tuffs, siltstones and rare limestones. Dinosaur remains including Laquintasaura, Tachiraptor, and Perijasaurus are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.
The Paja Formation is an Early Cretaceous geologic formation of central Colombia. The formation extends across the northern part of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, the Western Colombian emerald belt and surrounding areas of the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes. In the subsurface, the formation is found in the Middle Magdalena Valley to the west. The Paja Formation stretches across four departments, from north to south the southernmost Bolívar Department, in Santander, Boyacá and the northern part of Cundinamarca. Well known fossiliferous outcrops of the formation occur near Villa de Leyva, also written as Villa de Leiva, and neighboring Sáchica.
The Chicamocha Canyon is a steep sided canyon carved by the Chicamocha River in Colombia. With a maximum depth of 2,000 metres (6,600 ft), an area of 108,000 hectares and a length of 227 kilometres (141 mi), the canyon is the second-largest worldwide. The canyon is situated in the departments of Boyacá and Santander, stretching from Soatá in the southeast to Girón and Betulia in the northwest.
The Middle Magdalena Valley, Middle Magdalena Basin or Middle Magdalena Valley Basin is an intermontane basin, located in north-central Colombia between the Central and Eastern Ranges of the Andes. The basin, covering an area of 34,000 square kilometres (13,000 sq mi), is situated in the departments of Santander, Boyacá, Cundinamarca and Tolima.
The Honda Group is a geological group of the Upper and Middle Magdalena Basins and the adjacent Central and Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes. The group, in older literature also defined as formation, is in its present-day type section in the Tatacoa Desert in the department of Huila subdivided into two main formations; La Victoria and Villavieja.
The Cesar-Ranchería Basin is a sedimentary basin in northeastern Colombia. It is located in the southern part of the department of La Guajira and northeastern portion of Cesar. The basin is bound by the Oca Fault in the northeast and the Bucaramanga-Santa Marta Fault in the west. The mountain ranges Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and the Serranía del Perijá enclose the narrow triangular intermontane basin, that covers an area of 11,668 square kilometres (4,505 sq mi). The Cesar and Ranchería Rivers flow through the basin, bearing their names.
The Ibagué Fault is a major dextral slightly oblique strike-slip fault in the department of Tolima in central Colombia. The fault has a total length of 123.9 kilometres (77.0 mi) and runs along an average east-northeast to west-southwest strike of 067.9 ± 11 cross-cutting the Central Ranges of the Colombian Andes.
The Suárez Fault is a sinistral oblique thrust fault in the department of Santander in northeastern Colombia. The fault has a total length of 98.3 kilometres (61.1 mi) and runs along an average north-northeast to south-southwest strike of 021.1 ± 8 in the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes from Barbosa in the south to Bucaramanga in the north, where it connects with the regional Bucaramanga-Santa Marta Fault.
The Tarra Fault is a thrust fault in the department of Norte de Santander in Colombia. The fault has a total length of 26.8 kilometres (16.7 mi) and runs along an average north-northeast to south-southwest strike of 007.6 ± 8 in the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes.
The Oliní Group (Spanish: Grupo Oliní, K3k5o, K2ol, Kso) is a fossiliferous geological group of the VMM, VSM and the eastern flanks of the Central and western flanks of the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes. The regional group stretches from north to south across approximately 700 kilometres (430 mi) and dates to the Late Cretaceous period; Coniacian, Santonian and Campanian epochs, and has a maximum thickness of 287 metres (942 ft). Fossils of Eonatator coellensis have been found in the unit, near Coello, Tolima.
The Chitagá-Pamplona Fault is an inactive sinistral oblique thrust fault in the departments of Norte de Santander and Boyacá in northeastern Colombia. The fault has a total length of 192.5 kilometres (119.6 mi) and runs along an average north to south strike of 355.2 ± 30, but varies in orientation from northwest–southeast in the south to northeast–southwest in the north. The fault cross-cuts the northern part of the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes and the Catatumbo Basin.
La Guajira Terrane is one of the geological provinces (terranes) of Colombia. The terrane, dating to the Late Cretaceous, is situated on the North Andes Plate and borders the Caribbean, Tahamí and Chibcha Terranes along the Bucaramanga-Santa Marta Fault. The southern boundary is formed by the Oca Fault with the Chibcha Terrane.
The Caribbean Terrane is a geological province (terrane) of Colombia. The terrane, dating to the Late Cretaceous, is situated on the North Andes Plate and borders the La Guajira, Chibcha and underlying Tahamí Terrane along the regional Bucaramanga-Santa Marta Fault. The terrane overlies the Tahamí, Arquía and Quebradagrande Terranes along the Romeral Fault System.
The Chibcha Terrane, named after Chibcha, is the largest of the geological provinces (terranes) of Colombia. The terrane, the oldest explored domains of which date to the Meso- to Neoproterozoic, is situated on the North Andes Plate. The megaregional Romeral Fault System forms the contact of the terrane with the Tahamí Terrane. The contact with the Caribbean and La Guajira Terranes is formed by the regional Bucaramanga-Santa Marta Fault. The northeastern boundary is formed by the regional Oca Fault, bounding the La Guajira Terrane. The terrane is emplaced over the Río Negro-Juruena Province of the Amazonian Craton along the megaregional Eastern Frontal Fault System.
The Tahamí or Tahamí-Panzenú Terrane is one of the geological provinces (terranes) of Colombia. The terrane, dating to the Permo-Triassic, is situated on the North Andes Plate. The contact with the Chibcha, Arquía and Quebradagrande Terranes is formed by the megaregional Romeral Fault System. A tiny terrane is located at the contact with the Quebradagrande Terrane; Anacona Terrane.
The Llanos Basin or Eastern Llanos Basin is a major sedimentary basin of 96,000 square kilometres (37,000 sq mi) in northeastern Colombia. The onshore foreland on Mesozoic rift basin covers the departments of Arauca, Casanare and Meta and parts of eastern Boyacá and Cundinamarca, western Guainía, northern Guaviare and southeasternmost Norte de Santander. The northern boundary is formed by the border with Venezuela, where the basin grades into the Barinas-Apure Basin.
The Girón Formation is an extensive geological formation stretching across 325 kilometres (202 mi) from the north in Teorama, Norte de Santander, across the Mesa de Los Santos and Chicamocha Canyon towards west of Nobsa, Boyacá in the northern part of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the south. The formation extends across the northern and central part of the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes.
The Noreán Formation is a geological formation of the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes, the Serranía de San Lucas and as basement underlying the southernmost Lower and northern Middle Magdalena Valleys. The formation consists of volcanic and pyroclastic lavas that range from andesites to rhyolites. Vitric, lithic and crystal tuffs and andesitic dikes and hypabyssal bodies are also present in the formation.
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