North Andes Plate

Last updated
North Andes Plate
NorthAndesPlate.png
North Andes Plate (note: outdated Nazca Plate)
Type Micro
Movement1North-west
Speed123mm/year
FeaturesFlag of Colombia.svg  Colombia
Flag of Ecuador.svg  Ecuador
Flag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela
1Relative to the African Plate

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.

Contents

Boundaries

The North Andes Plate is bound by (clockwise from north):

  1. Caribbean Plate
  2. South American Plate
  3. Malpelo Plate — considered a part of the Nazca Plate before 2017 [1]
  4. Coiba Plate — considered a part of the Nazca Plate before 2016 [2]
  5. Panama Plate

Terranes

* Chibcha Terrane is enclosed by the Bucaramanga-Santa Marta Fault (BSF, orange), northernmost Oca Fault (Oca, white), Eastern Frontal Fault System (EFFS, yellow) and Romeral Fault System (RFS, violet)
* Tahami Terrane is enclosed by BSF, OCA and RFS
* Anacona, Arquia and Quebradagrande Terranes are emplaced by RFS
* La Guajira Terrane is enclosed by BSF and northernmost by Oca
* Caribe Terrane is enclosed by BSF, RFS and plate boundaries with Coiba (red) and Malpelo plates (purple)
Geological Terranes Map of Colombia Coiba & Malpelo Plates and major seismic faults of Colombia.jpg
Chibcha Terrane is enclosed by the Bucaramanga-Santa Marta Fault (BSF, orange), northernmost Oca Fault (Oca, white), Eastern Frontal Fault System (EFFS, yellow) and Romeral Fault System (RFS, violet)
Tahamí Terrane is enclosed by BSF, OCA and RFS
• Anacona, Arqúia and Quebradagrande Terranes are emplaced by RFS
La Guajira Terrane is enclosed by BSF and northernmost by Oca
Caribe Terrane is enclosed by BSF, RFS and plate boundaries with Coiba (red) and Malpelo plates (purple)
Geological Terranes Map of Colombia Geological Map of Colombia.jpg
Geological Terranes Map of Colombia

The Colombian part of the North Andes Plate is subdivided into several terranes: [3]

Terranes belonging to the Colombian part of the North Andes Plate
AbbrNameAge rangePaleomap Basins Complexes Ranges Departments CommentsNotes
CHT Chibcha Mesoproterozoic
Paleoglobe NO 1260 mya.gif
Catatumbo
Cesar-Ranchería
Eastern Cordillera (Altiplano Cundiboyacense - Bogotá)
VMM
VSM
Ariarí, Garzón, Floresta, Quetame, Santander Central, Eastern, Perijá, SNSM, San Lucas, La Macarena Antioquia, Arauca, Bogotá, Bolívar, Boyacá, Caquetá, Casanare, Cesar, Cundinamarca, Huila, Magdalena, Meta, Putumayo, Norte de Santander, Santander, Tolima Largest terrane, named after Chibcha [4] [5] [6]
Neoproterozoic
TA Anacona Devonian
380 Ma plate tectonic reconstruction.png
none Anacona Central Antioquia Tiny terrane
Carboniferous
TT Tahamí Permian Amagá
Cocinetas
VIM
Antioquia Central, Macuira, SNSM Antioquia, Bolívar, Caldas, Cauca, La Guajira, Magdalena, Nariño, Risaralda, Sucre, Valle del Cauca Most extensive terrane
Triassic
TAR Arquía Early Cretaceous
Blakey 120Ma - COL.jpg
none Arquía Central Antioquia, Caldas, Cauca, Nariño, Quindío, Risaralda, Valle del Cauca Thinly banded terrane [7] [8] [9]
TQ Quebradagrande none Quebradagrande Central Antioquia, Caldas, Cauca, Nariño, Quindío, Risaralda, Valle del Cauca Thinly banded terrane [7] [9] [10]
[11] [12] [13]
TC Caribe Late Cretaceous
Blakey 065Ma - COL.jpg
Cauca-Patía
Chocó
Sinú-San Jacinto
Tumaco
Urabá
Santa Cecilia-La Equis Central, Western, Darién, Baudó, Montes de María Antioquia, Atlántico, Caldas, Cauca, Chocó, Córdoba, Nariño, Quindío, Risaralda, Sucre, Valle del Cauca El Totumo
TLG La Guajira La Guajira Etpana, Macuira Macuira, SNSM La Guajira, Magdalena Tayrona, Cabo de la Vela

Tectonics

Subduction of the Coiba Plate underneath the North Andes Plate causes frequent earthquakes in the Bucaramanga Nest, the most seismically active area in the world. The Bucaramanga-Santa Marta Fault stretches along the plate for more than 600 kilometers from north to south. The plate boundary with the South American Plate is most tectonically active along a more than 900 kilometer long megaregional fault system; the Eastern Frontal Fault System.

This fault system, extending into Ecuador and Venezuela all along the northern Andes, separates the terranes from the North Andes Plate from: [3]

South American Plate features bordering the Chibcha Terrane of the North Andes Plate
AbbrNameAge range Basins Complexes Ranges Departments CommentsNotes
PRNJ Río Negro-Juruena Province Paleoproterozoic Llanos
Putumayo
Amazonas
Mitú, Parguaza, Guaviare Chiribiquete, Mavecure Arauca, Caquetá, Casanare, Guainía, Guaviare, Meta, Putumayo, Vaupés, Vichada Part of Amazonian Craton [14] [15]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caribbean Terrane</span> Geological province of Colombia

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References

  1. Zhang et al., 2017
  2. Chiarabba et al., 2016, p.22
  3. 1 2 Gómez Tapias et al., 2015, p.209
  4. Manosalva Sánchez et al., 2017, p.84
  5. Mantilla Figueroa et al., 2015, p.42
  6. Toro Toro et al., 2014, p.22
  7. 1 2 Plancha 364
  8. Plancha 365
  9. 1 2 Plancha 387
  10. Plancha 410
  11. Plancha 411
  12. Plancha 429
  13. Plancha 430
  14. Bonilla et al., 2016, p.19
  15. Arango Mejía et al., 2012, p.25

Bibliography

Maps

Further reading