Factors controlling selective abandonment and reactivation in thick-skin orogens: a case study in the Magdalena Valley, Colombia
Víctor Caballero
Mauricio Parra
Andrés Mora
Cristina López
Luis Ernesto Rojas
Isaid Quintero
10.6084/m9.figshare.3453278.v1
https://geolsoc.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Factors_controlling_selective_abandonment_and_reactivation_in_thick-skin_orogens_a_case_study_in_the_Magdalena_Valley_Colombia/3453278
<p>The initial stages of tectonic inversion and the mechanisms of selective reactivation and abandonment of pre-existing normal
faults during contractional orogenesis are explored in a partially buried Cenozoic thrust belt in the Andes of Colombia. A
multidisciplinary approach that includes subsurface structural mapping, multimethod thermochronometry and detrital zircon
U–Pb geochronology reveals the extent of a Palaeogene thrust belt buried underneath the Cenozoic strata of the Middle Magdalena
Valley Basin. A less oblique orientation with respect to compressive stress and shorter traces in faults of the Middle Magdalena
Valley Basin with respect to faults in the western part of the Eastern Cordillera, apparently acted as deformation inhibitors
of the Magdalena faults in advanced Neogene stages of inversion. Protracted Cenozoic eastwards tilting of the Central Cordillera
and the tectonic load from the uplifting Eastern Cordillera favoured the accumulation of a thick Cenozoic sedimentary sequence
in an, at least episodically, closed basin. All the above-mentioned conditions helped to block deformation in the Magdalena
Basin, favouring deformation to be taken up by structures in the western Eastern Cordillera. These relationships underscore
the importance of buried structural records in elevated hinterland basins, in which the low-relief stratigraphic cover overlies
a complex subsurface record, potentially including large magnitudes of deformation during early orogenesis.
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2016-06-21 11:16:43
Palaeogene thrust belt
deformation
Middle Magdalena Valley Basin
inversion
reactivation
Cenozoic thrust belt
orogenesi
fault
tectonic
abandonment
Protracted Cenozoic eastwards
Eastern Cordillera
Eastern Cordillera favoured
Geology