Journal of South American Earth Sciences 21 (2006) 383–411

www.elsevier.com/locate/jsames

Mesozoic transtensional basin history of the Eastern Cordillera,

Colombian Andes: Inferences from tectonic models
a,*
L.F. Sarmiento-Rojas , J.D. Van Wess b, S. Cloetingh c

a
Ecopetrol-Empresa Colombiana de Petroleos, P.O. Box 5938-6813-Bogota, Colombia
b
Netherlands Institute of Applied Geoscience TNO National Geological Survey, Prins Hendriklaan 105 P.O. Box 80015 3508 TA Utretch, The Netherlands
c
Tectonics Group, Faculty of Earth Sciences, Free University, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Received 1 October 2004; accepted 1 March 2006

Abstract

Backstripping analysis and forward modeling of 162 stratigraphic columns and wells of the Eastern Cordillera (EC), Llanos, and
Magdalena Valley shows the Mesozoic Colombian Basin is marked by five lithosphere stretching pulses. Three stretching events are
suggested during the Triassic–Jurassic, but additional biostratigraphical data are needed to identify them precisely. The spatial distri-
bution of lithosphere stretching values suggests that small, narrow (<150 km), asymmetric graben basins were located on opposite
sides of the paleo-Magdalena–La Salina fault system, which probably was active as a master transtensional or strike-slip fault system.
Paleomagnetic data suggesting a significant (at least 10) northward translation of terranes west of the Bucaramanga fault during the
Early Jurassic, and the similarity between the early Mesozoic stratigraphy and tectonic setting of the Payandé terrane with the Late
Permian transtensional rift of the Eastern Cordillera of Peru and Bolivia indicate that the areas were adjacent in early Mesozoic times.
New geochronological, petrological, stratigraphic, and structural research is necessary to test this hypothesis, including additional
paleomagnetic investigations to determine the paleolatitudinal position of the Central Cordillera and adjacent tectonic terranes during
the Triassic–Jurassic. Two stretching events are suggested for the Cretaceous: Berriasian–Hauterivian (144–127 Ma) and Aptian–
Albian (121–102 Ma). During the Early Cretaceous, marine facies accumulated on an extensional basin system. Shallow-marine sed-
imentation ended at the end of the Cretaceous due to the accretion of oceanic terranes of the Western Cordillera. In Berriasian–Hau-
terivian subsidence curves, isopach maps and paleomagnetic data imply a (>180 km) wide, asymmetrical, transtensional half-rift basin
existed, divided by the Santander Floresta horst or high. The location of small mafic intrusions coincides with areas of thin crust
(crustal stretching factors >1.4) and maximum stretching of the subcrustal lithosphere. During the Aptian–early Albian, the basin
extended toward the south in the Upper Magdalena Valley. Differences between crustal and subcrustal stretching values suggest some
lowermost crustal decoupling between the crust and subcrustal lithosphere or that increased thermal thinning affected the mantle lith-
osphere. Late Cretaceous subsidence was mainly driven by lithospheric cooling, water loading, and horizontal compressional stresses
generated by collision of oceanic terranes in western Colombia. Triassic transtensional basins were narrow and increased in width
during the Triassic and Jurassic. Cretaceous transtensional basins were wider than Triassic–Jurassic basins. During the Mesozoic,
the strike-slip component gradually decreased at the expense of the increase of the extensional component, as suggested by paleomag-
netic data and lithosphere stretching values. During the Berriasian–Hauterivian, the eastern side of the extensional basin may have
developed by reactivation of an older Paleozoic rift system associated with the Guaicáramo fault system. The western side probably
developed through reactivation of an earlier normal fault system developed during Triassic–Jurassic transtension. Alternatively, the
eastern and western margins of the graben may have developed along older strike-slip faults, which were the boundaries of the accre-
tion of terranes west of the Guaicáramo fault during the Late Triassic and Jurassic. The increasing width of the graben system likely
was the result of progressive tensional reactivation of preexisting upper crustal weakness zones. Lateral changes in Mesozoic sediment
thickness suggest the reverse or thrust faults that now define the eastern and western borders of the EC were originally normal faults
with a strike-slip component that inverted during the Cenozoic Andean orogeny. Thus, the Guaicáramo, La Salina, Bitúima,
Magdalena, and Boyacá originally were transtensional faults. Their oblique orientation relative to the Mesozoic magmatic arc of

*
Corresponding author. Tel: +2345657.
E-mail address: luis.sarmiento@ecopetrol.com.co (L.F. Sarmiento-Rojas).

0895-9811/$ - see front matter  2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2006.07.003
384 L.F. Sarmiento-Rojas et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 21 (2006) 383–411

the Central Cordillera may be the result of oblique slip extension during the Cretaceous or inherited from the pre-Mesozoic structural
grains. However, not all Mesozoic transtensional faults were inverted.
 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Rifting; Lithosphere stretching; Tectonic subsidence; Colombia; Mesozoic; Eastern Cordillera

1. Introduction extensional episodes, plate-tectonic events, magmatic

This article focuses on the tectonic basin-forming pro-
cesses of the Colombian Eastern Cordillera (EC, Fig. 1)
during Mesozoic times, in terms of the geodynamic pro-
cesses that govern deformation of the lithosphere. We com-
pile local data into a regional geological model, analyze
subsidence, and quantitatively model tectonic subsidence.
We have studied tectonic subsidence signals that give
important information about basin formation mechanisms.
For this purpose, we analyze temporal and spatial basin
subsidence patterns, quantitatively analyze tectonic subsi-
dence, and forward model it to explain these patterns from
within the framework of the geodynamic processes that
formed the Mesozoic EC basin. In doing so, we address
issues such as the relationship among basin development,
events, and basin geometry. Many features of these exten-
sional basins and their underlying mechanisms are practi-
cally unknown.
Fabre (1983a,b, 1987) and Hébrard (1985) study the
subsidence of the eastern flank of the EC during the Creta-
ceous, identify the basin as produced by lithosphere exten-
sion, calculate tectonic subsidence curves, and, following
the uniform instantaneous stretching model developed by
McKenzie (1978), calculate lithosphere stretching factors
close to 2. They distinguish an Early Cretaceous subsidence
phase produced by rifting and Late Cretaceous subsidence
produced by thermal decay after rifting. We assume several
events of lithosphere stretching of finite duration in our
study of tectonic subsidence and examine the possibility
of differentiating between crustal and subcrustal stretching

Fig. 1. Location map. SL, Serranı́a de San Lucas; MA, Serranı́a de La Macarena. Eastern Cordillera regions: SM, Santander Massif; SF, Santander-
Floresta high; MT, Magdalena Tablazo inverted subbasin; CO, Cocuy inverted subbasin; MF, Magdalena Valley foothills; LF, Llanos foothills; CU,
Cundinamarca inverted subbasin; SE, Southern Eastern Cordillera; QM, Quetame Massif; GM, Garzón Massif; Romeral paleosuture in this map is the
western boundary of the Central cordillera and the Lower Magdalena Valley.
 L.F. Sarmiento-Rojas et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 21 (2006) 383–411
Fig. 2. Location of stratigraphic columns and wells and stratigraphic regional sections listed in Table 2. Numbers along sections refer to stratigraphic
transect labels (for details, see Sarmiento, 2001).
that occurred in the Colombian Basin throughout the
Mesozoic. An extensive data set of 162 stratigraphic col-
umns and wells from the EC, Magdalena Valley (MV),
and Llanos Orientales (LLA) areas (Fig. 2, see references
in table 2.1 of Sarmiento, 2001) extracted from the litera-
ture, as well as data from Ecopetrol, are used.
2. Tectonic setting
The EC is the eastern branch of the Colombian Andes
(Fig. 1), which comprises three mountain ranges: the East-
ern, Central, and Western Cordilleras, which merge south-
ward into a single range. The MV separates the Eastern
and Central Cordilleras, and the Cauca Valley separates
the Central and Western Cordilleras. The EC and its
bounding basins, the LLA in the east and MV in the west,
define the area studied herein.
During the Mesozoic, the area of the EC was an exten-
sional basin. During the Paleogene, according to some
authors (e.g., Van der Hamen, 1961; Roeder and Chamber-
lain, 1995; Gómez et al., 1999; Sarmiento, 2001), upthru-
sted blocks and/or incipient inversion of the Mesozoic
extensional basin may have occurred in the area of the
EC. However, another view posits a unique simple foreland
385
basin existed, related to the topographic load of the Central
Cordillera (e.g., Cooper et al., 1995). General consensus
indicates that during the Neogene, the Mesozoic extension-
al basin became inverted, deformed, and uplifted to form
the EC (Cooper et al., 1995).
In the study area, during the Triassic and Jurassic, con-
tinental and volcanic facies were deposited in extensional
basins (Mojica et al., 1996). During the Triassic, these
basins seem related to Pangea rifting (Pindell and Dewey,
1982; Ross and Scotese, 1988; Cediel et al., 2003), and since
the Jurassic, they developed behind a magmatic arc related
to the subduction of the Pacific plates under the western
border of South America (McCourt et al., 1984; Fabre,
1987; Toussaint and Restrepo, 1989; Cooper et al., 1995;
Meschede and Frisch, 1998). During the Early Cretaceous,
marine facies accumulated on a wide extensional basin sys-
tem. Shallow-marine sedimentation ended at the end of the
Cretaceous, due to the accretion of the oceanic terranes of
the Western Cordillera.
2.1. Triassic and Jurassic plate tectonic interpretations
The tectonic settings discussed subsequently assume
that accretion of tectonic terranes east of the Romeral
386 L.F. Sarmiento-Rojas et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 21 (2006) 383–411
paleosuture and west of the Llanos Orientales Basin
(Fig. 1) occurred during the Paleozoic. Following this
assumption for evolution in Colombia, the plate tectonic
interpretations rely on two hypotheses. Although these
interpretations differ in plate tectonic setting, an alternative
hypothesis suggests these settings formed at different times.
1. Intracontinental rifting related to the breakup of Pangea
(Pindell and Dewey, 1982; Ross and Scotese, 1988; Ced-
iel et al., 2003) occurred during Triassic and Early Juras-
sic times. This hypothesis probably is more applicable to
the northern part of Colombia and Venezuela and their
separation from North America.
2. Backarc extension occurred behind a subduction-related
magmatic arc (Maze, 1984; McCourt et al., 1984; Pindell
and Erikson, 1993; Toussaint, 1995a,b; Pindell and Tab-
butt, 1995; Meschede and Frisch, 1998). According to
this hypothesis, the study area was located at the margin
of the continent when active subduction of oceanic
Pacific plates was occurring. This interpretation explains
the Triassic and Early Jurassic extensional basins in the
study area as backarc basins.
However, a recent paleomagnetic investigation sug-
gests that along-plate margin translations of terranes
might have taken place during the early Mesozoic (Bay-
ona et al., 2005), as inferred by Toussaint and Restrepo
(1994). Bayona et al. (2005), on the basis of paleomag-
netic data, suggest a significant northward translation
(at least 10) of terranes west of the Bucaramanga fault
(Bucaramanga area, Floresta Massif and Upper Magda-
lena Valley terranes) with respect to the craton during
the Early Jurassic and no significant paleolatitude anom-
alies since then. Additional paleomagnetic data are need-
ed to test and quantify the magnitude of translation of
tectonic terranes (Bayona, personal communication,
2005).
2.2. Cretaceous plate tectonic interpretations
For the Cretaceous, three alternative hypotheses suggest
the processes that might have operated at different times:
1. Backarc extension (McCourt et al., 1984; Fabre, 1987;
Toussaint and Restrepo, 1989; Cooper et al., 1995;
Meschede and Frisch, 1998). Key evidence for this
hypothesis is the existence of a subduction-related mag-
matic arc.
2. Passive margin (Pindell and Erikson, 1993; Pindell and
Tabbutt, 1995). The scarcity of magmatic rocks in the
basin seems to support this hypothesis, but a poorly
defined Cretaceous magmatic arc (i.e., San Diego, Alta-
vista, and Cambumbia stocks; Restrepo et al., 1991;
Toussaint and Restrepo, 1994) in the Central Cordillera
is difficult to explain. Alternatively, the Central Cordille-
ra may have been located farther south of its present
position during the Cretaceous.
3. Intracontinental rifting related to the opening of the
Caribbean. Some authors (e.g., Geotec, 1992; Cediel
et al., 2003) suggest a NW-SE graben developed in the
northern part of the Central Cordillera during the Early
Cretaceous. A poorly defined Cretaceous magmatic arc
in the Central Cordillera is difficult to explain with this
hypothesis.
During the latest Cretaceous (post-Santonian), all plate
tectonic interpretations propose a convergent margin west
of Colombia. The Caribbean plate was moving northeast-
ward relative to South America, while the Farallon plate
was subducting west of southern Colombia (Pindell and
Erikson, 1993; Pindell and Tabbutt, 1995).
3. Stratigraphy
3.1. Triassic and Jurassic synrift sedimentation
The Triassic and Jurassic sedimentary record is present
in several isolated outcrops (Fig. 3). Continental deposits
with redbeds and volcanic effusive and pyroclastic deposits
are dominant, though some marine facies appear locally.
Triassic and Jurassic rocks were deposited in extensional
basins mainly located in the Upper Magdalena Valley
(UMV), Serranı́a de San Lucas, and the western flank of
the EC (Mojica et al., 1996).
Fig. 4 shows a stratigraphic synthesis modified after
Mojica et al. (1996; Fig. 6). Triassic and Jurassic sedi-
mentary rocks formed a sequence bounded by unconfo-
rmities. The lower contact is marked by an
unconformity, which is dominantly angular. The upper
contact is dominantly unconformable but locally con-
formable. Jurassic deposits consisting of clastic facies
deposited in dominantly continental environments are
widely distributed. In those sections where there are
some marine facies, they are under- and overlain by con-
tinental clastic facies. The fine-grained muddy marine
facies record local marine incursions during the Late Tri-
assic–Early Jurassic. Volcaniclastic, pyroclastic, and vol-
canic lavas are mainly restricted to the upper part of
the Upper Triassic to the lower part of the Middle Juras-
sic (Mojica et al., 1996, Fig. 6).
Facies and thickness similarities related to geographic
positioning suggest that Triassic–Jurassic sedimentation
occurred in two separate basin compartments, each with
its own subsidence history and sedimentary fill (Figs. 3
and 4).
1. Upper Magdalena, Cienaga de Morrocoyal, and Sierra
Nevada terrane (region A, Fig. 3). This section corre-
sponds with the western part of the Chibcha terrane,
as defined by Toussaint (1995a,b), or the Payandé, San
Lucas, and Sierra Nevada terranes, as proposed by
Etayo-Serna et al. (1983). In this compartment, two
marine incursions are recognizable: in the Late Triassic
(Norian?–Rhetian, Chicalá member of the Saldaña
 L.F. Sarmiento-Rojas et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 21 (2006) 383–411 387

Fig. 3. Location of Triassic–Jurassic strata outcrops and stratigraphic sections. Labeling of stratigraphic sections according to Fig. 4. Stratigraphic section
E represents the Triassic–Jurassic sedimentary record of the eastern part of the Chibcha terrane according to Toussaint (1995b). Stratigraphic section W
represents the Triassic–Jurassic sedimentary record of the western part of the Chibcha terrane, equivalent to the Payandé, San Lucas, and Sierra Nevada
terranes of Etayo-Serna et al. (1983) (modified from Toussaint, 1995b). Inset: location of study area.

Formation, UMV) and in the Early Jurassic (Sinemurian,
Morrocoyal, and Los Indios formations; ages according
to Mojica et al., 1996). Continental sedimentation fol-
lowed shallow-marine deposition in this compartment.
Volcanic-related facies are volumetrically more impor-
tant here than in the compartment formed by outcrops
in the EC area (region B, Fig. 3). On the basis of paleo-
magnetic data from the UMV, Bayona et al. (2005) pro-
pose that the UMV and San Lucas (Payandé-San Lucas
terranes; Etayo-Serna et al., 1983) were located south of
the equator before the Middle Jurassic and north of it
during the late Jurassic–middle Cretaceous, with a
northward movement of at least 10 relative to the South
American craton.
2. Eastern Cordillera (region B, Fig. 3). This area corre-
sponds to the eastern side of the Chibcha terrane, as
defined by Toussaint (1995a,b). Marine influence on
deposition is located within the Lower Jurassic (Monte-
bel Formation; ages according to Mojica et al., 1996,
Fig. 4). This compartment is characterized by an absence
of Triassic-dated rocks and thick deposition of siliciclas-
tic deposits on continental extensional basins (e.g., Gir-
ón Formation). Bayona et al. (2005), on the basis of
paleomagnetic data from the Bucaramanga and Floresta
areas, suggest part of this terrane located west of the
Bucaramanga fault was located close to the equator dur-
ing the early Middle Jurassic and moved northward
about 4 relative to the stable craton. According to their
388 L.F. Sarmiento-Rojas et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 21 (2006) 383–411

Fig. 4. Triassic–Jurassic stratigraphic sections. Location of transects in Fig. 3. Vertical axis represents geological time, and horizontal axis represents
present-day horizontal distance (km) without palinspastic restoration (modified from Mojica et al., 1996). Geyer (1982), however, suggests poorly
fossiliferous facies (El Sudán Formation) in the Cienaga de Morrocoyal area (north of Serranı́a de San Lucas) are Triassic and correlate with the Luisa
Formation of the Payandé area.

reconstruction, during the Late Triassic–Middle Juras-
sic, the UMV and Ciénaga de Morrocoyal (Payandé-
San Lucas terranes) ‘‘basin compartment’’ was located
south of the EC compartment.
3.2. Cretaceous sedimentation
Most exposed rocks in the EC are Cretaceous in age.
Fig. 5 shows a traverse time-stratigraphic cross-section of
the basin.
Cretaceous rocks, including locally the uppermost
Jurassic and Paleocene deposits, form a megasequence
bounded by regional unconformities that are at least local-
ly angular. On a broad scale, Cretaceous rocks represent a
major transgressive–regressive cycle with a maximum
flooding surface close to the Cenomanian–Turonian
boundary, corresponding to the maximum Mesozoic
eustatic level (Fabre, 1985; Villamil, 1993; Fig. 5). Superim-
posed on this large-scale trend, several smaller transgres-
sive–regressive cycles are present, suggesting an
oscillating relative tectonoeustatic level. Subsidence was
rapid (Fabre, 1983a,b, 1987), but shallow-water sedimenta-
tion suggests deposition kept pace with it.
The basin was a wide graben system oriented approxi-
mately NNE-SSW, divided into two subbasins (Tablazo
and Cocuy, Fig. 6) by the Santander-Floresta paleo-Mas-
sif. To the north, these subbasins continued to the Machi-
ques trough in the Mérida Andes of Venezuela and
Uribante trough in Serranı́a de Perijá (Julivert, 1968; Fab-
re, 1985, 1987). To the south, these subbasins joined as the
Cundinamarca subbasin (Bürgl, 1961), where the thickness
of the Cretaceous sections reaches a maximum (Figs. 2 and
5). Fabre (1987) and Sarmiento (1989) suggest the Cundi-
namarca trough was limited to the south and north by
NW-SE transfer paleofaults (Fig. 6). The N-S lateral
changes of thickness and an extensional relay system south
of the Cundinamarca trough support the existence of NW-
SE-striking transfer faults.
On the basis of the presence of Lower Cretaceous sedi-
mentary rocks in the northern part of the Central Cordille-
ra, Geotec (1992) suggests the existence of a NW-SE
 L.F. Sarmiento-Rojas et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 21 (2006) 383–411 389

Fig. 5. Cretaceous and Tertiary stratigraphic section. Location in Fig. 2. Vertical axis represents geological time according to the scale of Gradstein and
Ogg (1996); horizontal axis represents present-day horizontal distance (km) without palinspastic restoration. This section has been constructed from
earlier versions by Fabre (1985, 1987) and Cooper et al. (1995), modified according to sequence stratigraphy interpretations (Pimpirev et al., 1992; Fajardo
et al., 1993; Villamil, 1993, 1994; Etayo-Serna, 1994; Ecopetrol, 1994; Rolón and Carrero, 1995; Villamil and Arango, 1998).

graben, connected with the Cundinamarca subbasin. Com-
piled available thicknesses of these sediments for similar
chronostratigraphic intervals, however, are significantly
thinner than those of the EC (Figs. 5, 7b, and 8a). If such
a graben existed, in terms of subsidence, it was a minor fea-
ture compared with the grabens in the EC. These Lower
Cretaceous marine sedimentary rocks in the Central Cor-
dillera are strongly deformed and associated with mafic
volcanic rocks of ocean affinity, which collectively have
been named the Quebradagrande Complex by Nivia et al.
(1996) and Nivia and Gómez (2005). These authors inter-
pret the rocks as originated within a marginal basin with
oceanic crust formation developed along an older suture
between different metamorphic terranes of the Central Cor-
dillera (between the eastern Cajamarca Complex and the
western Arquı́a Complex). Compiled thicknesses suggest
a current N-S basin in agreement with Nivia and Gómez’s
(2005) interpretation.
3.2.1. Early cretaceous synrift sedimentation
Sedimentation started in the Tablazo subbasin in Juras-
sic times and continued during the Early Cretaceous local-
ly, without a tectonic-related angular unconformity (e.g.,
Rio Lebrija section, Cediel, 1968). In other areas, Creta-
ceous sedimentary rocks rest with angular unconformity
on earlier Mesozoic, Paleozoic, or even pre-Cambrian
rocks. In the Tablazo subbasin, basal beds correspond to
sandstones (Los Santos, Tambor, and Arcabuco
formations) deposited in fluvial environments, usually with
detrital sediments derived from uplifted fault blocks
(Etayo-Serna and Laverde-Montaño, 1985). The amalgam-
ation of channel beds indicates that the sediment supply
exceeded the rate of basin subsidence at the Jurassic–Creta-
ceous boundary. Bürgl (1967) suggests that an initial mar-
ine incursion in the Cundinamarca subbasin flooded a
continental area with a desert climate, which provided con-
ditions for evaporite formation during the early stages of
marine transgression. McLaughlin (1972) cites paleonto-
logical evidence of a Berriasian–Valanginian age for some
evaporite occurrences. During the Berriasian, the sea flood-
ed the basin from the northern part of the Central Cordil-
lera toward the Cundinamarca subbasin (Etayo-Serna
et al., 1976). Then, the sea advanced from the Cundinamar-
ca subbasin to the north into two subbasins, while the
Santander-Floresta paleo-Massif remained emergent
(Etayo-Serna et al., 1976; Fabre, 1985, 1987; Sarmiento,
1989; Figs. 5, 7a, b, and 8a).
The Tablazo and Cocuy subbasins started to form a sin-
gle wide basin during the Hauterivian due to flooding of
the Santander-Floresta paleohigh (Fabre, 1985) and base
level rise. However, this intrabasinal high was a significant
barrier to sediment movement until the Aptian (Figs. 7a, b,
and 8a) .
To the south, both the Tablazo and Cocuy subbasins
show a gradual increase in dark shale deposited in poorly
oxygenated shallow-marine environments (Caqueza and
Villeta groups; Fabre, 1985; Sarmiento, 1989). In the Cun-
dinamarca subbasin, Cretaceous sedimentation started
during the Tithonian?–Berriasian–Valanginian with turbi-
dite deposits in both the eastern (lower Caqueza Group;
390 L.F. Sarmiento-Rojas et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 21 (2006) 383–411

Fig. 6. Cretaceous basin compartments (subbasins) and their tectonic subsidence in meters. (A) Tectonic subsidence of the Tablazo and Cocuy subbasins.
(B) Tectonic subsidence of the Cundinamarca subbasin. Cities: M, Medellı́n; Mz, Manizales; I, Ibagué; N, Neiva; C, Cúcuta; Bu, Bucaramanga; T, Tunja;
B, Bogotá; V, Villavicencio; Y, Yopal; A, Arauca.

Pimpirev et al., 1992) and western (lower part of Utica
sandstone, Murca Formation; Sarmiento, 1989; Moreno,
1990, 1991) flanks (Figs. 7a, b, and 8a). Turbidite deposi-
tion prevailed until the Hauterivian at the eastern border
of the basin (Caqueza Group, Pimpirev et al., 1992).
During the earliest Cretaceous, basin subsidence
exceeded sediment supply, resulting in retrogradation of
the turbidite fan system, so distal fan sediments covered
middle fan mouth channel deposits. Post-Berriasian, sed-
iment supply increased and overwhelmed basin subsi-
dence, resulting in progradation of the turbidite fan
system (Pimpirev et al., 1992) and locally in progradation
of deltaic sands during the Hauterivian (upper Utica
sandstone; Sarmiento, 1989; Moreno, 1990). Differential
subsidence related to syn-sedimentary normal faulting
caused unstable slopes on basin margins. These processes
favored turbidite deposition during the early Cretaceous–
Aptian (lower Utica sandstone, Murca Formation, Sar-
miento, 1989; Moreno, 1990, 1991; Socota Formation,
Polanı́a and Rodrı́guez, 1978; Caqueza Group, Pimpirev
et al., 1992; Figs. 7a, b, and 8a).
An important transgression followed a relative sea-level
rise during late Aptian time. The sea flooded all the area of
the present EC, even south of the Cundinamarca subbasin
(Etayo-Serna et al., 1976; Etayo-Serna, 1994). Southward
of the paleo-UVM, Cretaceous sedimentation started dur-
ing the Aptian (Vergara and Prössl, 1994) in an extensional
basin formed initially in Jurassic times.
In the whole EC basin, abrupt lateral thickness changes
and fault-related alluvial or turbidite deposition attest to
local tectonic/differential subsidence depositional condi-
tions in the Early Cretaceous. Regional correlation of Ear-
ly Cretaceous relative tectonoeustatic cycles is difficult to
establish because of local active extensional tectonics. Since
the Aptian, these relative tectonoeustatic cycles have
become more tractable than the pre-Aptian cycles (Fig. 5).
In the Central Cordillera, Lower Cretaceous sedimenta-
ry rocks (mudstones, chert, feldspathic sandstones, and
conglomerates) of the Quebradagrande Complex are asso-
ciated with an ophiolite suite of ultramafic rocks, gabbros,
basalts, breccias, and pyroclastic rocks usually affected by
dynamic metamorphism (Moreno and Pardo, 2003). Depo-
sitional environments vary among fluvial, coastal, deltaic,
and marine shelf (Rodrı́guez and Rojas, 1985). Evidence
indicates that during the middle Cretaceous, these rocks
began compressive deformation (Rodrı́guez and Rojas,
1985), possibly as a result of the closure of the Quebrada-
grande marginal basin (Nivia et al., 1996).
 L.F. Sarmiento-Rojas et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 21 (2006) 383–411 391

Fig. 7. (a) Berriasian–Valanginian and (b) Hauterivian–Barremian thickness (m) without palinspastic restoration. Thick lines represent paleofaults
believed to be active during Berriasian–Valanginian/Hauterivian–Barremian, respectively. (c) Contour map of crustal (d) lithosphere stretching factors
calculated through forward modeling for the Berriasian–Hauterivian (144–127 Ma, Cretaceous) stretching event without palinspastic restoration.
Distribution of main Early Cretaceous faults and mafic intrusions shown with circles: 1. Rio Nuevo diorite, 2. Rodrigoque micrograbbro, 3. Porfiritic
basaltic lava, 4. Rio Cravo Sur microgabbro, 5. Pajarito, 6. Q. La Esperanza, 7. Q. Las Palomas, 8. Q. La Culebra, 9. Marfil, 10. Q. Grande, 11. Q. La
Chorrera, 12. La Chunchalita, 13. Q. La Fiebre, 14. Caceres, 15. La Corona, 16. Pacho, and 17. Rio Guacavia diorite. (d) Contour map of subcrustal (b)
lithosphere stretching factors calculated through forward modeling for the Berriasian–Hauterivian (144–127 Ma, Cretaceous) stretching event without
palinspastic restoration. Distribution of main Early Cretaceous faults is shown. Cities: M, Medellı́n; Mz, Manizales; I, Ibagué; N, Neiva; C, Cúcuta; Bu,
Bucaramanga; T, Tunja; B, Bogotá; V, Villavicencio; Y, Yopal; A, Arauca.

3.2.2. Cretaceous postrift sedimentation
Several relative tectoeustatic level cycles have been pro-
posed during the Late Cretaceous (Fig. 5).
During the Albian, a relative base-level fall favored pro-
gradation of deltaic and littoral sands in the UMV (Cabal-
los Formation, Etayo-Serna, 1994) and the eastern border
of the basin (lower Une Formation, Fabre, 1985). During
the middle–late Albian, the transition from near-shore
marine facies (e.g., Caballos, San Gil Inferior, and Socotá
formations) to outer shelf facies (e.g., Villeta Group, San
Gil Superior, and Hiló formations) recorded a rise in
relative tectonoeustatic levels (Villamil, 1993; Etayo-Serna,
1994). During late Albian–early Cenomanian, a relative
tectonoeustatic level fall was recorded by progradation of
the upper part of Une Formation and a generalized shal-
lowing-upward facies trend (e.g., transition of San Gil
392 L.F. Sarmiento-Rojas et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 21 (2006) 383–411

Fig. 8. (a) Aptian thickness (m) without palinspastic restoration. Thick lines represent paleofaults believed to be active during Aptian time. (b) Contour
map of crustal (d) lithosphere stretching factors calculated through forward modeling for the Aptian (121–102.6 Ma, Cretaceous) stretching event without
palinspastic restoration. Distribution of main Early Cretaceous faults is also shown. (c) Contour map of subcrustal (b) lithosphere stretching factors
calculated through forward modeling for the Aptian (121–102.6 Ma, Cretaceous) stretching event without palinspastic restoration. Distribution of main
Early Cretaceous faults also shown. Cities: M, Medellı́n; Mz, Manizales; I, Ibagué; N, Neiva; C, Cúcuta; Bu, Bucaramanga; T, Tunja; B, Bogotá; V,
Villavicencio; Y, Yopal; A, Arauca.

Superior to Churuvita and Hiló to unnamed shale; Villa-
mil, 1993).
During the late Cenomanian, Turonian, and Coniacian,
the tectonoeustatic base level reached its maximum Meso-
zoic level. The sea flooded the entire northwestern corner
of South America, and dark gray shale was deposited from
Venezuela to northern Peru (Thery, 1982, in Fabre, 1985).
In contrast to the EC, where the Cretaceous maximum
flooding surface occurred at the Cenomanian–Turonian
boundary, maximum flooding in the LLA occurred during
the Campanian (CS at the top of Gachetá Formation; Faj-
ardo et al., 1993; Cooper et al., 1995, Fig. 4).
Villamil (1993) recognized smaller relative tectonoeustat-
ic level cycles during late Cenomanian, Turonian, and
Coniacian times. A relative tectonoeustatic base level rise
during the late Cenomanian (Villamil, 1993) induced a slight
deepening of the basin and a notorious decrease of detrital
supply to the basin (e.g., Frontera and lower part of San
Rafael formations; Villamil, 1993). During the Turonian–
Coniacian, the present-day LLA foothills flooded (Cooper
 L.F. Sarmiento-Rojas et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 21 (2006) 383–411
et al., 1995) but not the entire LLA (Fig. 5). From the Middle
Turonian to late Coniacian, a gradual progradation and
shallowing upward (e.g., upper San Rafael Formation and
Villeta Group in the upper MV) was related to a relative tec-
tonoeustatic level fall (Villamil, 1993).
In the UMV and during the late Coniacian–Santonian,
deepening of the basin and relative tectonoeustatic level
rise occurred (transition from inner shelf uppermost Villeta
Group to middle shelf lower chert unit of the Olini Group;
Etayo-Serna, 1994, Fig. 2).
During the Santonian, Campanian, Maastrichtian, and
Paleocene, a general regression and progradation was
recorded by littoral to transitional coastal plain facies
(e.g., Guadalupe Group, Guaduas Formation). Guadalupe
Group sands represent two cycles of westward shoreline
progradation, aggradation, and retrogradation, dominated
by high-energy, quartz-rich shoreface sandstones derived
from the Guyana Shield (Cooper et al., 1995; Fig. 5).
Regression did not occur continuously but with minor
transgressive events recorded by fine-grained siliceous and
phosphatic facies (Plaeners Formation, Olini Group, and
upper La Luna Formation, Föllmi et al., 1992; Fig. 5).
At the end of Cretaceous (Maastrichtian), the gradual
uplift of the western margin of the MV supplied clasts of
metamorphic rocks accumulated by fluvial systems close
to the sea in a braided delta (Cimarrona Formation,
Gómez and Pedraza, 1994).
In the Central Cordillera east of the Quebradagrande
Complex, no Late Cretaceous sedimentary record has been
found. This area may have been uplifted during the latest
Cretaceous and started to supply clastics to the east.
4. Methods
4.1. Subsidence analysis
The stratigraphic record provides information about
vertical crustal movements in a basin. Basin subsidence is
the result of both a thermomechanical component called
tectonic subsidence and a sediment and water loading com-
ponent. Tectonic subsidence is undistorted basin subsi-
dence in the absence of sedimentation and therefore is
related to the geodynamics of the basin.
To quantify the tectonic component of subsidence of the
studied basin, we used the one-dimensional (1D) backstrip-
ping technique (Steckler and Watts, 1978; Bond and
Kominz, 1984), as explained by Sclater and Christie (1980),
Bond and Kominz (1984), and Bessis (1986). For this pur-
pose, we calculate tectonic subsidence from the stratigraphic
record, adopting local Airy isostasy to correct for the effect of
sediment loading. The corrections for compaction follow
porosity–depth relationships on the basis of the observed
lithologies using standard mean exponential relations and
material parameters (cf. Sclater and Christie, 1980).
Most stratigraphic columns are from published litera-
ture (see Sarmiento, 2001); well data are from Ecopetrol.
We carefully checked the thickness of each stratigraphic
393
Table 1
Parameters used to calculate tectonic subsidence in the forward models
Model parameters Value
Initial lithospheric thickness 120 km
Initial crustal thickness 35 km
Asthenospheric temperature 1333 C
Thermal diffusivity 1 · 106 m2 s1
Surface crustal density 2800 kg m3
Surface mantle density 3400 kg m3
Seawater density 1030 kg m3
Thermal expansion coefficient 3.2 · 105 C
column with available geological maps to avoid structural
repetitions. We also verified the consistency of thickness
between neighboring sections. The effects of paleobathyme-
try have been taken into account, using sedimentary facies
and faunal content as interpreted in the literature. Ages are
based on data in the literature, mainly the regional strati-
graphic cross-sections presented by Cooper et al. (1995).
To express ages in Ma, we used the geological time scale
proposed by Gradstein and Ogg (1996). Unconformities
are also included with ages and durations in Ma. Addition-
al parameters for forward modeling are the initial crust and
lithosphere thickness and densities. Table 1 provides the
additional parameters we used in forward modeling, which
are the average accepted values for normal continental lith-
osphere (Table 2).
Pulses of fast tectonic subsidence of the basement have
been interpreted in terms of tectonic processes. Only those
pulses of fast tectonic subsidence correlatable to the nor-
mal movement component of fault activity are interpreted
as produced by lithosphere extension or transtension,
though normal faulting also may correspond to transte-
sional settings. Fast subsidence events related to crustal
or lithosphere thinning also is common in transtensional
basins or intra-arc basins (Ingersoll and Busby, 1995). In
these settings, the extensional component is a major con-
tributor to tectonic subsidence. The slower, generally later,
rate of subsidence has been interpreted as produced by
thermal reequilibration of the lithosphere following the
thermal anomaly created by stretching.
4.2. Forward modeling of basin evolution
To quantify the horizontal extensional movements
responsible for the observed subsidence and establish a
quantitative framework for the pulsating rift evolution of
the lithosphere during Mesozoic basin formation, we quan-
tify extension rates by forward modeling tectonic subsi-
dence. We use an ‘‘automated’’ forward modeling
technique (Van Wees et al., 1996b), which we explain brief-
ly next.
4.2.1. Numerical model
The forward modeling approach is based on lithospheric
stretching assumptions (McKenzie, 1978; Royden and
Keen, 1980). The extension factor d is used for crustal
stretching and b for subcrustal stretching. For thermal
394 L.F. Sarmiento-Rojas et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 21 (2006) 383–411

Table 2
Cretaceous stretching events and stretching lithosphere factors from stratigraphic columns where the Cretaceous sedimentary record is present
Basin compartmenta Stratigraphic columnb Berriasian–Hauterivian Event Aptian–early Albian event
Start (Ma) End (Ma) Stretching Start (Ma) End (Ma) Stretching
factor factor
b d b d
2 72 Casabe-199 144 127.8 1.522 1.146 114 109.3 1.03 1.03
c
2 74 Cascajales-1 144 127.5 0.987 0.987 114 109.3 1.132 1.094
2 73 Infantas-1613 138 127.8 1.301 1.117 114 109.3 1.328 1.113
2 53 Lebrija-1 144 127 1.625 1.213 114 109.3 1 1
2 71 Llanito-1 138 127.8 1.313 1.098 114 109.3 1.478 1.131
2 70 Sabalo-1K 144 127.8 1.37 1.113 114 109.3 1.039 1.039
c
3 4 Arcabuco 140 127.5 1.099 1.099
c
3 8 Chima 144 127.5 1.47 1.261 114.8 112.2 1.063 1.019
3 10 Cimitarrra 143 127.5 1.354 1.31 114.8 112.2 1.329 1.111
c
3 24 Los Medios 142 127.5 1.043 1.043 114.8 112.2 1.096 1.043
3 25 Los Santos 136.5 127.5 1.131 1.088 114.8 112.2 1.009 1.009
3 47 Simacota 144 127.5 1.251 1.251 114.8 112.2 1.064 1.01
c
3 52 Tablazo 144 127.5 1.052 1.052 114.8 112.2 1 1
3 57 Vadorreal 134.5 127.5 1.585 1.179 114.8 112.2 1.374 1.08
3 58 Velez 142 127.5 1.151 1.245 114.8 112.2 1.219 1.072
3 59 Villa de Leiva 142 127.5 2.016 1.332 114.8 112.2 1.052 1.052
4 66 Chitasuga-1 142 130 1.196 1.196 121 112.2 1.536 1.187
4 22 La Calera 142 130 1.331 1.206 121 112.2 1.58 1.178
c
4 39 Quipile 141 130 1.511 1.147 121 112.2 1.301 1.115
4 48 Simijaca 142 130 1.247 1.247 121 112.2 3.238 1.318
c
4 75 Suba-2 142 130 1.085 1.085 121 112.2 1.221 1.142
4 76 Suesca-1 142 130 1.217 1.217 121 112.2 2.476 1.304
4 77 Suesca Norte-1 142 130 1.214 1.214 121 112.2 1.824 1.224
4 50 Sutamarchan 142 130 1.234 1.234 121 112.2 1.825 1.252
4 51 Tabio 142 130 1.227 1.227 121 112.2 1.587 1.206
c
4 60 Villeta 141 127.5 1.01 1.01 121 112.2 1.52 1.492
c
4 61 Yacop 134.2 127.5 1.449 1.449 121 112.2 1.77 1.299
5 3 Apulo 127.6 127 1.792 1.164 121 112.2 1.261 1.049
5 15 Fusagasuga 127.6 127 1.571 1.13 121 112.2 1.466 1.071
c
6 2 Alpujarra 115.1 102.6 1.411 1.222
c
6 12 Coello 121 102.6 1.11 1.066
6 16 Girardot 121 102.6 1.366 1.157
6 19 Guataqui 121 102.6 1.366 1.173
6 21 Itaibe 108.5 102.6 1.176 1.087
6 17 Melgar 121 102.6 1.18 1.121
c
6 29 Neiva 121 102.6 1.312 1.082
6 31 Ortega 121 102.6 1.658 1.284
c
6 35 Prado 121 102.6 1.422 1.115
6 36 Q Calambe 119.1 102.6 1.477 1.1
c
6 37 Q El Cobre 121 102.6 1.275 1.024
c
6 38 Q Olini 121 102.6 1.166 1.049
7 56 Chivata 132.8 127 3.144 1.215
7 64 Cormichoque-1 122.4 122.3 2.029 1.179
7 14 Floresta 132.6 127 1.024 1.037
7 18 Guaca 132 127 1.259 1.075
7 26 Matanza 128.8 127 1.716 1.13
7 54 Tibasosa 132.8 127 2.046 1.181
7 55 Tunja 133.5 127 2.204 1.185
7 78 Tunja-1 132 127 2.576 1.213
8 63 Bolivar-1 Corrales-1 132 127 2.071 1.186
c
8 6 Caqueza 144 127.5 1.215 1.204
8 28 Nazareth 131.5 127.5 1.493 1.155
8 34 Paz de Rio 144 127 1.385 1.154
8 44 Servita 132 127.5 1.565 1.138
9 33 Aguazul 142 127.5 1.205 1.309
9 9 Chita 139 127.5 2.525 1.482
9 7 Cocuy 139 127.5 3.489 1.657
9 20 Guateque 138 127.5 1.035 1.405
9 23 Labateca 132 127.5 1.478 1.285
9 69 Medina-1 144 127.5 3.605 1.118
 L.F. Sarmiento-Rojas et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 21 (2006) 383–411 395

Table 2 (continued)
Basin compartmenta Stratigraphic columnb Berriasian–Hauterivian Event Aptian–early Albian event
Start (Ma) End (Ma) Stretching Start (Ma) End (Ma) Stretching
factor factor
b d b d
9 27 Mojicones 139 127.5 1.36 1.23
9 32 Pajarito 142 127.5 1.169 1.303
9 40 R Cusay 136.5 127.5 1.643 1.35
c
9 46 San Luis de Gaceno 144 127.5 1.076 1.352
9 49 Sogamoso 136.5 127.5 1.459 1.354
10 67 Cusiana-1X-2 112.3 112.2 1.095 1.025
Basin compartment numbers as shown in Fig. 6. Location of each stratigraphic column identified by number shown in Fig. 2.
a
Numbers indicate Cretaceous subbasins shown in Fig. 6.
b
Stratigraphic column number shown in Fig. 2.
c
Modeled using Triassic and Jurassic actual or inferred stratigraphy.

Fig. 9. Outline of the forward modeling technique. Explanation in the text (from Van Wees et al., 1996b).

calculations, we use a 1D numerical finite difference model,
which allows us to incorporate finite and multiple stretch-
ing phases. To handle the large number of wells and stretch-
ing phases in the forward model, we apply a numerical
technique (Van Wees et al., 1996b), which automatically
finds the best fit stretching parameters for (part of) the sub-
sidence data. In this procedure, we must specify the timing
and duration of the rift phase, whereas the best fit stretch-
ing values emerge by searching for the minimum of the
mean square root F of the deviation in predicted and
observed subsidence (Fig. 9), as a function of d and b, as
follows:
vffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
uinum
1 u X
F ðd; bÞ ¼ t ðspp;i  so;i Þ ;
2
ð1Þ
num i1
two-layered stretching (d „ b) (e.g., Royden and Keen,
1980) can be used. For uniform stretching, the solution
to Eq. (1) requires that at least one observed subsidence
data point is given after the onset of rifting, whereas two-
layered stretching requires at least two data points. For
polyphase stretching, the fit is accomplished in sequential
order. Initially, using a steady state thermal and composi-
tional lithospheric configuration (cf. McKenzie, 1978),
stretching parameters of the first phase are determined by
fitting data points in the syn- and postrift time interval to
the onset of the following phase. Subsequently, using the
perturbed lithosphere configuration predicted at the onset
of the second rift phase, stretching parameters are deter-
mined using subsidence data from its syn- and postrift time
intervals to the next rifting phase.

where num is the number of subsidence data used in the fit- 4.2.2. Modeling procedure
ting procedure, and sp,i and so,i are predicted and observed In the fitting procedure, initial lithospheric configuration
subsidence values, respectively. For a rift phase, either uni- and thermal parameters are adopted as listed in Table 1.
form lithospheric stretching (d = b) (McKenzie, 1978) or To fit the data, we assume that each observed phase of
396 L.F. Sarmiento-Rojas et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 21 (2006) 383–411
rapid tectonic subsidence should correspond to a stretching
phase in the forward model. For these phases, we adopt a
two-layered stretching model of the lithosphere (d „ b) to
obtain the highest degree of freedom. However, we prefer
to use a uniform stretching model (d = b) when uncertainty
exists in estimating the stretching factors due to fewer data
points or for relatively large age uncertainties, as is the case
for the Triassic and Jurassic sedimentary record.
Using the starting and finishing times previously deter-
mined for the stretching events, we calculate the litho-
sphere stretching factors that would produce theoretical
subsidence curves similar to those observed. For the for-
ward modeling, we include for most of the modeled loca-
tions the complete Mesozoic sedimentary section since
the Triassic, even in those columns in which the pre-Me-
sozoic section is probably deep and does not crop out. In
these cases, we use thicknesses interpolated from isopach
maps.
5. Results
In Fig. 10, we show the tectonic subsidence curves. The
forward-modeled tectonic subsidence curves (Fig. 11) indi-
cate a remarkably good fit with the subsidence data. The
lithosphere, crustal, and subcrustal stretching factors calcu-
lated for each stretching phase also are plotted in map view
(Figs. 7, 8, and 12).
6. Tectonic subsidence and lithosphere stretching during
Triassic and Jurassic time
For the tectonic subsidence of the Triassic sedimenta-
ry record, we assume, following Geyer (1982), that the
poorly fossiliferous sediments (El Sudán Formation) of
the Cienaga de Morrocoyal – north of the Serranı́a de
San Lucas with lithology and relative stratigraphical
position similar to the Luisa Formation of the Payandé
region – are Triassic and time correlative and that Trias-
sic sediments accumulated in the western flank of the
EC. Using subsidence patterns, we attempt to differenti-
ate fast subsidence events. However, these attempts
should be considered preliminary, because the continental
Triassic and Jurassic poorly fossiliferous sedimentary
record has relatively scarce and low-quality biostrati-
graphic data that make it difficult to establish clear time
boundaries between the events.
6.1. Basin compartments
Differences in the shape of the subsidence curves in dif-
ferent areas confirm that Triassic–Jurassic sedimentation
occurred in two separate basin compartments, each with
its own subsidence history and sedimentary fill:
1. Payandé-San Lucas terranes (UMV and Ciénaga de
Morrocoyal, region A, Fig. 3).
2. Eastern Cordillera (region B, Fig. 3).
6.2. Triassic–Jurassic subsidence and lithosphere stretching
events
6.2.1. Early? Triassic event (variable in different columns,
248 to 235 Ma, time scale of Gradstein and Ogg, 1996)
This event is best represented in the UMV–Ciénaga de
Morrocoyal with uniform stretching factors; b = d reach
values of 1.23. Subsidence curves (Fig. 10), thickness
variations, and the spatial distribution of stretching val-
ues (Fig. 12a) and paleomagnetic data (Bayona et al.,
2005) suggest that small, narrow (150 km), transcurrent
rift basins formed. Abrupt lateral changes of sediment
thickness and facies in the UMV suggest differential sub-
sidence in different faulted blocks (Bayona et al., 1994;
Mojica et al., 1996), which is common in transcurrent
faults. Jurassic normal faults are described by Guillande
(1988).
The transtensional event correlates in time with mag-
matic arc activity in the Central Cordillera, interpreted
by Aspden et al. (1987) as related to oblique subduction.
The event also may have been related to intracontinental
rifting (breakup of Pangea), as proposed elsewhere, par-
ticularly the separation between South and North Amer-
ica (e.g., Pindell and Dewey, 1982; Ross and Scotese,
1988; Cediel et al., 2003). However, considering that rif-
ting and subsequent sea floor spreading, which originated
the Gulf of Mexico, occurred during the Late Jurassic
(Pessagno and Martin, 2003), this event probably relates
to local transtensional events along the continental
margin.
6.2.2. Latest Triassic–Middle Jurassic event (208 to
185 Ma)
Subsidence curves (Fig. 10), stratigraphic thickness, map
distribution of stretching values, paleomagnetic data (Bay-
ona et al., 2005), and fault distribution (Fig. 12b) suggest
two narrow (<150 km), transtensional basins located at
the current location of Serranı́a de San Lucas (Fig. 1)
and the UMV. Fast subsidence favored marine ingression
mainly in the south (Payandé terrane). Probably in a dom-
inant strike-slip setting, transtensional basins were separat-
ed by transpressional nodes, depending on the geometry of
the strike-slip faults.
The abundance of volcanic rocks in these transtensional
basins implies a positive thermal anomaly that probably
weakened the lithosphere. Lithosphere thermal doming
could have produced the observed unconformities at the
bottom of the synrift fill. Fast subsidence rates and a high
level of volcanic activity are features commonly associated
with oblique slip-rift zones (Ziegler, 1994). The width of
these basins increased compared with the early Triassic
(Mojica et al., 1996), suggesting the increasing width of
the thermal weakened lithosphere. A weak lithosphere
favored transtensional deformation.
This extensional event correlates with magmatic arc
activity in the Central Cordillera and may be interpreted
as a backarc extension (Aspden et al., 1987). Rifting
 L.F. Sarmiento-Rojas et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 21 (2006) 383–411 397

and subsequent sea floor spreading, which originated the
Gulf of Mexico, occurred during the Late Jurassic
(Pessagno and Martin, 2003), so this event probably is
related to local transtensional events along the continen-
tal margin.
6.2.3. Middle Jurassic event (180 to 176 Ma)
Paleogeography and stratigraphic thickness distribu-
tions indicate continued widening of transtensional basins,
though they remained relatively narrow. Major depocen-
ters developed in the MV and western flank of EC within

Fig. 10. Tectonic subsidence curves from the Mesozoic sedimentary record. Horizontal axis represents age in Ma. Vertical axis represents tectonic
subsidence in meters obtained from backstripping analysis. Vertical shaded strips represent fast subsidence events. Numbers refer to basin compartments
in Fig. 6. Note vertical bars represent the fast tectonic subsidence events.
398 L.F. Sarmiento-Rojas et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 21 (2006) 383–411

Fig. 10 (continued)

elongated NNE transcurrent grabens on opposite sides of netic data (Bayona et al., 2005) indicate rift basins located
the Magdalena–La Salina fault system. The distribution along the present-day western flank of the EC, with b = d
of stretching b = d factor values (Fig. 12c) and paleomag- values up to 1.39, and the paleo-MV. Moreover, large
 L.F. Sarmiento-Rojas et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 21 (2006) 383–411
Fig. 11. Forward modeled tectonic subsidence (continuous line) and observed tectonic subsidence (dots) curves (in m).
postrift Cretaceous subsidence along the western flank of
the EC northwest of Bogotá can be explained only as ther-
mal subsidence after a Jurassic stretching event. Therefore,
these basins extended southward into the Cundinamarca
region, possibly limited by the paleo-La Salina, paleo-
Suarez, and paleo-Boyaca fault systems. Small, isolated
grabens developed in the Santander Massif (Geotec,
1992; Kammer, 1993), Perijá (Shagam, 1975; Maze,
1984), Mérida Andes (Ricardi et al., 1990, in Mojica
et al., 1996), LLA (Numpaque, 1986, in Cooper et al.,
1995; Geotec, 1992), and Maracaibo (Shubert and Ricardi,
1980, in Mojica et al., 1996) areas. Volcanic activity
decreased at this time, mainly occurring in the Mérida
Andes (basalts in La Quinta Formation, Maze, 1984).
These Triassic–Jurassic events correlate with magmatic
arc activity in the Central Cordillera and Santander Massif.
The calc-alkaline composition of these magmatic rocks sug-
gests a magmatic arc related to high-angle subduction (Asp-
den et al., 1987). The most developed calc-alkaline magmatic
plutonic bodies of the Payandé-San Lucas terranes (i.e.,
Ibagué and Segovia batholiths) tend to be adjacent to the
west of these transtensional basins, which indicates these
transtensional basins were located in a backarc setting close
to the arc or an intraarc setting. Alternatively, these events
may have been related to intracontinental rifting (breakup
of Pangea), as proposed elsewhere, particularly the separa-
tion between South and North America (e.g., Pindell and
Dewey, 1982; Ross and Scotese, 1988; Cediel et al., 2003).
399
However, considering that rifting and subsequent sea floor
spreading, which originated the Gulf of Mexico, occurred
during the Late Jurassic (Pessagno and Martin, 2003), these
events probably relate to local transtensional events along
the continental margin. Paleomagnetic data suggest that
during the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic, the Santa Marta,
Santander Massif, Floresta Massif, San Lucas, and Payandé
(UMV) magmatic arc segments aligned into a magmatic arc,
striking parallel to the subduction zone (Bayona et al., 2005).
This magmatic arc belt formed as a result of subduction
along western Pangea, which resulted in the southward con-
tinuation of the early Mesozoic continental magmatic arc
from the southwestern United States to Guatemala (Bayona
et al., 2005). In the eastern part of the Chibcha terrane (EC
east of the Bucaramanga fault), the main calc-alkaline plu-
tonic bodies developed on the Santander Massif are posi-
tioned between the transtensional basins, suggesting an
interarc setting.
7. Tectonic subsidence and lithosphere stretching during
latest Jurassic and Cretaceous
7.1. Basin compartments
Tectonic subsidence curves (Fig. 10) and restored thick-
ness maps (Figs. 7a, b, and 8a) indicate several basin com-
partments (Fig. 6). In the northern part of the EC (Fig. 6),
we recognize
400 L.F. Sarmiento-Rojas et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 21 (2006) 383–411

Fig. 12. (a) Contour map of lithosphere stretching factors (b = d) calculated through forward modeling for the Triassic (248.2–235 Ma) stretching event,
assuming there are Triassic sediments in the Cienaga de Morrocoyal area (Geyer, 1982) and that Triassic sediments accumulated in the western flank of the
EC, without palinspastic restoration. Distribution of main early Mesozoic faults also shown. (b) Contour map of lithosphere stretching factors (b = d)
calculated through forward modeling for the Early Jurassic (208–185 Ma) stretching event without palinspastic restoration. Distribution of main early
Mesozoic faults is shown. (c) Contour map of lithosphere stretching factors (b = d) calculated through forward modeling for the Jurassic (180.1–176 Ma)
stretching event without palinspastic restoration. Distribution of main Early Mesozoic faults also shown. (A) Payandé, San Lucas terranes (Etayo-Serna
et al., 1976), western part of Chibcha terrane (Toussaint, 1995a); (B) eastern part of Chibcha terrane (Toussaint, 1995a) and Guyana shield. Cities: M,
Medellı́n; Mz, Manizales; I, Ibagué; N, Neiva; C, Cúcuta; Bu, Bucaramanga; T, Tunja; B, Bogotá; V, Villavicencio; Y, Yopal; A, Arauca.

1. Two subbasins: the Cocuy (region 9) and
Tablazo (region 3) graben subbasins, separated
by the less subsiding Santander-Floresta block
(region 7), and
2. A regional westward decrease in tectonic subsidence
with a maximum in the Cocuy subbasin (region 9)
and a minimum in the Middle MV (region 2), which
suggests a regional half-graben geometry for the whole
basin.
In the southern part of the Cordillera at the latitude of
Bogotá, we recognize
1. A single extensional basin, the Cundinamarca subbasin
(region 4, Fig. 6), and
2. Berriasian–Hauterivian tectonic subsidence, maximal in
the eastern side of the Cundinamarca subbasin (region
8, Fig. 6), which indicates that a first stretching event
 L.F. Sarmiento-Rojas et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 21 (2006) 383–411
mainly affected the eastern Guaicáramo normal fault
system. During the Aptian, however, subsidence was
maximal in the western side (region 4, Fig. 6), so a sec-
ond stretching event mainly affected the western Bituima
fault system. The total tectonic subsidence during the
Cretaceous was slightly greater on the western side of
the basin (region 4).
In the western part on the Central Cordillera, a N-S
(present day geometry) depocenter represents the Quebra-
dagrande Complex marginal basin (Nivia et al., 1996;
Nivia and Gómez, 2005).
Tectonic subsidence in the UMV (region 6, Fig. 6),
where marine sedimentation started in Aptian times, is sig-
nificantly less than that of the EC and Middle MV (region
2). In the easternmost LLA (region 10, Fig. 6), sedimenta-
tion started during the Late Cretaceous, and total tectonic
subsidence during the Cretaceous was small compared with
the EC and MV. Subsidence probably occurred through
flexural thermal subsidence (Watts et al., 1982) and water
loading due to an increase in paleowater depth.
7.2. Latest Jurassic–Early Cretaceous fast subsidence and
lithosphere stretching events
7.2.1. Latest Jurassic–Hauterivian event (variable in
different stratigraphic columns, 144–127 Ma)
This event occurred in the area of the EC and is best rep-
resented in its eastern flank and west of the Bucaramanga
fault. Subsidence curves (Fig. 10), thickness maps (Figs.
7a, b, and 8a), paleomagnetic data (Bayona et al., 2005),
and the distribution of crustal d stretching factors
(Fig. 7c) evidence a wide (>180 km), asymmetrical, trans-
tensional half-graben basin divided by the Santander-Flor-
esta high. Maximum tectonic subsidence and crustal
stretching d up to 1.66 was associated with the pre-Guaicá-
ramo normal master fault system, the eastern boundary of
the graben (Figs. 7a and c). Strong changes in the thickness
of the Girón Formation from 0 to more than 4 km across
ENE-WSW- and NE-SW-striking normal faults and local
vertical axis rotations of fault-bounded blocks during this
time, as documented by paleomagnetism, suggest an impor-
tant control of normal faulting on deposition and basin
configuration during the deposition of continental beds of
the Girón Formation (Bayona et al., 2005; Fig. 10,
Tablazo-Lebrija). A second-order half-graben was located
at the current location of the western flank of the EC with
crustal stretching values up to 1.45 (Fig. 7c). This minor
half-graben probably was associated with a paleonormal
fault system, approximately following La Salina-Bituı́ma
fault system that was its western border. To the south, there
was only one depocenter, limited to the south by a NW-SE
vertical transfer fault. Early Cretaceous turbidites at both
flanks (Murca Formation, Cáqueza Group) of the exten-
sional basin can be taken as evidence of tectonic instability
associated with normal faulting movement. Branquet
(1999) presents outcrop and seismic evidence of Cretaceous
401
normal faulting. Normal faults imaged on seismic sections
(Fig. 13) confirm extensional tectonic movements that attest
that this rapid subsidence event was produced by litho-
sphere stretching. As suggested by paleomagnetic data
(Bayona et al., 2005), these faults may have had a dextral
strike-slip component. Unlike the Triassic–Jurassic trans-
tension, magmatic activity within the basin was reduced
during the Early Cretaceous. Evidence of Early Cretaceous
magmatism is limited to small, mafic, igneous intrusions
described by Fabre and Delaloye (1983) and Moreno and
Concha (1993) and some volcanic input within Cretaceous
shales (Rubiano, 1989; Villamil, 1994).
Small mafic intrusions described by Fabre and Delaloye
(1983) coincide with areas of thin crust (crustal stretching
factors >1.4) and places of maximum stretching of the sub-
crustal lithosphere (Fig. 7c). As a consequence of the
depth-dependent lithosphere rheology assumed by the mod-
el, the results suggest that more intense stretching affected the
subcrustal mantle lithosphere (Fig. 7d). Differences between
crustal and subcrustal stretching factors suggest some decou-
pling occurred between the crust and the subcrustal litho-
sphere or that increased thermal thinning affected the
mantle lithosphere. The latter interpretation implies a con-
siderable thermal anomaly produced by mantle lithosphere
thinning, which seems supported by the presence of magmat-
ic mafic intrusions. During rifting, stress-induced litho-
sphere thinning causes adiabatic decompression of the
lower lithosphere and asthenosphere, their partial melting,
and the diapiric rise of melts into the zone of thinned litho-
sphere (Wilson, 1993). Although the 1D model cannot pre-
dict regional isostatic effects, the Lower Cretaceous
unconformity on the rift margins (e.g., LLA) and locally
on horst blocks (e.g., Santander-Floresta paleo-Massif)
probably was produced by thermal uplift of rift shoulders,
as suggested by the subcrustal stretching values. In addition,
Jurassic magmatic activity in the Santander Massif contrib-
utes to relative thermal uplift and reduces tectonic subsi-
dence. According to Ziegler (1994), unconformities on rift
shoulders and intrabasinal fault blocks can be attributed to
a footwall uplift in response to extensional unloading of
the lithosphere. In general, the location of subcrustal and
crustal stretched zones coincides, as a consequence of the
1D model assumption of local isostasy. However, where
there is some offset, it indicates asymmetry in the basin, as
supported by the general geometry of the basin. On the basis
of subsidence analyses of Cretaceous stratigraphic columns
of the EC, Fabre (1987) and Hébrard (1985), using the
instantaneous stretching model of McKenzie (1978), calcu-
late uniform b = d stretching factors up to 2 for the whole
lithosphere. However, they lump the Cretaceous stretching
events into a single ‘‘instantaneous’’ stretching event with
an infinite extension rate. The higher stretching values they
obtain is a logical consequence of combining several stretch-
ing events with finite extension rates.
According to the Cretaceous passive margin interpreta-
tion (Pindell and Erikson, 1993), active opening of the
proto-Caribbean occurred north of Colombia and west of
402 L.F. Sarmiento-Rojas et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 21 (2006) 383–411

Fig. 13. Seismic sections in the Medina foothills area, along the eastern border of the Cundinamarca subbasin. Note normal fault evidence during the
Cretaceous (K) in the Guaicáramo paleofault system along the eastern border and contractional inversion of Cretaceous extensional faults during the
Paleogene evidenced by lateral changes of thickness of the Paleogene Carbonera and Mirador formations. Note thickness changes in the Cretaceous
sedimentary fill (Linares, 1996). Location of seismic line is shown in Fig. 2.

the paleo-Central Cordillera. Moreno and Pardo (2003) cor-
relate this latest Jurassic–Early Cretaceous extensional
phase, which originated the proto-Caribbean basin accord-
ing to Pindell and Erikson (1993) reconstruction, with the
Quebradagrande Complex marginal basin of Nivia et al.
(1996) and Nivia and Gómez (2005). According to Moreno
and Pardo (2003), subduction of the western Quebrada-
grande proto-Caribbean crust beneath the Farallon plate
originated a magmatic arc. To the east, a passive margin dis-
tant from the magmatic arc prevailed in the eastern side of
the Quebradagrande Basin and east of the paleo-Central
Cordillera (Moreno and Pardo, 2003, their Fig. 7). If such
 L.F. Sarmiento-Rojas et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 21 (2006) 383–411
an interpretation is valid for the Berriasian–Hauterivian, the
event may be the result of stretching in the study area, which
produced a failed-rifted arm related to a major opening of
the proto-Caribbean oceanic basin. However, the presence
of some Early Cretaceous plutonic rocks in the Central Cor-
dillera east of the Quebradagrande Complex (i.e., lower Cre-
taceous K/Ar ages of the Samaná and Mariquita stocks,
Vesga and Barrero, 1978) is difficult to explain with a passive
margin hypothesis. One possibility is that these ages are not
reliable. An alternative plate tectonic reconstruction attri-
butes Early Cretaceous extension of the paleo-EC to a back-
arc basin contemporaneous with reduced magmatic activity
in the Central Cordillera. The proto-Caribbean eastern part
of the Quebradagrande Complex basin crust may have sub-
ducted beneath the Central Cordillera to develop a magmat-
ic arc. Although these alternative interpretations are
controversial, the following evidence supports an EC basin
located behind a partially emerged, less subsiding paleo-
Central Cordillera (magmatic arc?):
1. Early Cretaceous igneous intrusions in the Central Cor-
dillera east and west of the Quebradagrande Complex
(e.g., San Diego, Cambumbia, and Mariquita stocks,
Restrepo et al., 1991) define one or two (?) magmatic
arcs (produced by subduction of the W and E borders
of the Queberadagrande basin crust?). However, such
magmatic arcs are not well defined.
2. The presence in the western part of the Cundinamarca
subbasin of Lower Cretaceous sandstones with abun-
dant volcanic lithic fragments and feldspar derived from
a western detrital source area, as indicated by paleocur-
rent data (Murca Formation and Útica sandstone; Sar-
miento, 1989; Moreno, 1990, 1991).
3. Volcanic lithic fragments in the mid-Cretaceous Cabal-
los Formation of the UMV (Guerrero et al., 2000).
4. Progressive westerly onlap terminations of Cretaceous
carbonates on the basement, observed in seismic lines
in the western border of the Cesar Valley, northern
Colombia (in Mesozoic times, part of the EC basinal
area, Fig. 1; Audemard, 1991).
5. Stratigraphical and petrographical evidence suggesting
that during the Berriasian (?)–Valanginian, clastic sedi-
ments near San Felix in the western flank of the Central
Cordillera (between Romeral and Palestina faults) came
from erosion of uplifted areas with metamorphic rocks
and small tectonic blocks with plutonic rocks (Rodrı́-
guez and Rojas, 1985).
6. Cretaceous volaniclastic rocks in the Central Cordillera
(Rodrı́guez and Rojas, 1985) consisting of mixtures of
pyroclastic and epiclastic fragments, probably derived
from a magmatic arc.
7. Relatively high concentration of volcanogenic clay min-
erals in Hauterivian–Barremian (0–30%), middle Albian
(0–21%), and Turonian (6–9%) shales of the Villeta
Group (Rubiano, 1989) and the Valanginian–Hauteri-
vian Rosablanca Formation (Moreno, 1989, in Rubiano,
1989) in the Cundinamarca subbasin. Thin beds of volca-
403
nogenic clays or bentonites in the Cenomanian–Turo-
nian stratigraphic interval (Villamil and Arango, 1998)
and Salada Member of the La Luna Formation (Patter-
son, 1970, in Rubiano, 1989), as well as subaqueous vol-
canic tuffs in La Frontera and La Luna formations in the
MV (Restrepo-Pace, personal communication).
8. Jurassic (185 Ma) and Cretaceous (P77 Ma) zircon fis-
sion-track ages from the Central Cordillera (Toro
et al., 1999; Gómez et al., 1999), evidence of uplift. In
the Ecuadorian Andes (Rivadeneira, 1996) and Central
Cordillera (Rodrı́guez and Rojas, 1985), uplift or defor-
mation have been suggested during the Late Cretaceous.
7.2.2. Aptian–early Albian event (121–102 Ma)
This fast subsidence event mainly occurred at the south-
ern part of the western flank of the EC and the UMV, indi-
cating asymmetry in the basin. In other localities, thermal
subsidence is due to lithospheric cooling after prior litho-
spheric stretching events. During the Barremian–Aptian,
the basin extended to the south in the UMV (Figs. 8a
and 10). Turbiditic deposits of Aptian age (Socotá Mem-
ber, Polanı́a and Rodrı́guez, 1978) indicate tectonic insta-
bility associated with the rapid subsidence event. The
isopach map (Fig. 8a) suggests a master normal fault sys-
tem, located approximately at the present-day Bituima
Magdalena fault system, was active. In the UMV, a normal
paleo-Chusma fault system probably also was active.
Crustal stretching factors up to 1.4 are associated with
the southern segment of the Bituima fault system and those
up to 1.2 with the UMV (Fig. 8b). Because of the depth-de-
pendent rheology assumed by the model, the results suggest
that stretching affected the subcrustal mantle lithosphere
more strongly. Subcrustal stretching values reach 3.24 at
the southwestern flank of the EC and 1.6 at the UMV
(Fig. 8c). Differences between crustal and subcrustal
stretching values suggest some decoupling between crust
and subcrustal lithosphere or that an increased thermal
thinning affected the mantle lithosphere. These results
imply a thermal anomaly that probably is responsible for
rift shoulder uplift, as evidenced from fission-track data
by Van der Wiel (1991) in the UMV and Garzón Massif
(Fig. 1). Van der Wiel (1991) interprets these ages as related
to an orogenic event that affected the northwestern corner
of South America between 100 and 80 Ma. However, this
interpretation contradicts strong stratigraphic evidence of
a subsiding basin at these localities. The zircon ages reflect
local uplift of faulted blocks located at rift margins, as
demonstrated by fission-track data from several rift basins
(Van der Beek, 1995). Van der Beek (1995) explains rift
margin uplift by mechanical support of rift flanks, resulting
from an upward state of flexure. Evidence of magmatic
activity in the basin is limited to some small mafic intru-
sions (Fabre and Delaloye, 1983) and minor volcanic input
(Rubiano, 1989; Villamil and Arango, 1998).
Plate tectonic interpretations by Meschede and Frisch
(1998) assume the beginning of subduction of the Faral-
lon/Pacific plate under the Panama-Costa Rica arc west of
404 L.F. Sarmiento-Rojas et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 21 (2006) 383–411
Colombia during the Aptian–early Albian. The alternative
hypothesis of Pindell and Erikson (1993) assumes that dur-
ing the Aptian, the proto-Caribbean lithosphere began to
subduct under the Amáime-Antilles arc, which was
approaching the western margin of northern South America.
7.2.3. Cenomanian subsidence event (98–93 Ma)
This event occurred in the eastern flank of the EC. The
Late Cenomanian–Turonian global sea level maximum cor-
relates with it, suggesting that an increase in subsidence was
driven by water load. However, the event affected only the
eastern flank of the Cordillera, where the maximum Creta-
ceous thickness appears. At other localities, thermal subsi-
dence resulted from lithospheric cooling after lithospheric
stretching events. Although the maximum flooding surface
for the Cretaceous sediments of the EC is the Cenoma-
nian–Turonian boundary (Villamil and Arango, 1998), it is
Campanian in the eastern LLA (Fajardo et al., 1993; Cooper
et al., 1995; Fig. 5). If subduction of the Caribbean’s thick
and buoyant lithosphere (Duncan and Hargraves, 1984;
Nivia, 1987; Hill, 1993; Meschede and Frisch, 1998) under
South America was inhibited, it initiated uplift of the Central
Cordillera, as evidenced by Late Cretaceous fission-track
ages from the Central Cordillera (Gómez et al., 1999; Toro
et al., 1999) and exerted horizontal stresses on the northwest-
ern margin of South America. Horizontal stresses can induce
local flexural lithosphere bending, which is maximal where
the lithosphere is weakest (Cloetingh, 1988; Cloetingh and
Kooi, 1992). This process probably enhanced the relative
sea level rise, creating a maximum Cenomanian–Turonian
marine flooding surface in the depocenter of the EC, charac-
terized by weak lithosphere due to earlier stretching. In con-
trast, horizontal stress produced a submarine shallow water
depth bulge in the LLA, which partially compensated for the
maximum eustatic signal.
7.2.4. Maastrichtian–Paleocene event (variable in different
columns, 68–54.8 Ma)
This fast subsidence event affected the axial part of the
EC, its eastern flank, and, locally, the westernmost part
of the LLA. This event correlates in time with deformation
and uplift in the Central Cordillera (Jaramillo, 1978, 1981;
Cooper et al., 1995).
All plate tectonic interpretations agree that during the
latest Cretaceous and probably Paleocene, accretion of
the Western Cordillera oceanic terranes along the Cau-
ca-Patia fault occurred, producing deformation and uplift
of the Central Cordillera. Increased subsidence in the
axis of the Cundinamarca subbasin (Sabana de Bogotá)
could result from increased horizontal compressional
stress (Cloetingh, 1988; Cloetingh and Kooi, 1992) asso-
ciated with the collision of the oceanic terranes of wes-
tern Colombia and deformation and uplift of the
Central Cordillera. Development of normal faults in
the LLA area, as suggested by Kluth et al. (1997), could
be the result of local tensional stresses in the developed
flexural bulge.
In conclusion, Jurassic (and probably post-Triassic)
fast tectonic subsidence events are related to backarc to
intra-arc transtensional lithospheric stretching, with a pre-
dominant dextral strike-slip component. Early–middle
Cretaceous fast tectonic subsidence events seem related
to backarc lithosphere stretching behind a poorly devel-
oped, subduction-related magmatic arc. An increase in
distance from the backarc basin to the magmatic arc from
the Jurassic to the Cretaceous has been observed else-
where in basins that evolved from an initial intra-arc stage
to a later backarc stage (Smith and Landis, 1995). Late
Cretaceous subsidence was mainly thermal subsidence
after the previous lithosphere stretching events, and local-
ized discrete subsidence events probably result from litho-
sphere flexural bending due to horizontal compressive
stresses related to accretion of the oceanic terranes in wes-
tern Colombia.
8. Discussion
8.1. Relationships between Mesozoic rifting and magmatism
In the study area, abundant Upper Triassic–Lower
Jurassic volcanic rocks are associated with moderate
stretching factors (b = d up to 1.12). In contrast, the
Cretaceous sedimentary record is almost devoid of volca-
nic rocks (only volcanic tuffs and minor mafic intrusions)
and associated with higher stretching factors (b up to 3,
d up to 1.66). Thermal processes were more important
than mechanical stretching during Late Triassic–Early
Jurassic rifting than during Cretaceous extension. During
the Late Triassic–Early Jurassic, abundant volcanic rocks
suggest a positive thermal anomaly in the lithosphere but
moderate lithosphere stretching. Triassic–Jurassic uncon-
formities could have been produced by thermal uplift
(‘‘active rifting’’?). Thermal doming results from progres-
sive thinning of the higher density mantle lithosphere
and its replacement by low-density asthenosphere (Bott,
1992). In contrast, during the Cretaceous, the less abun-
dant volcanic rocks, absence of tectonically controlled
unconformities, and large amount of tectonic subsidence
suggest an absence of thermal doming. Small mafic intru-
sions coincident with places of maximum crustal and
mantle subcrustal stretching also suggest modest magma-
tism as a consequence of the extension of the lithosphere
(‘‘passive rifting’’). The abundant Late Triassic–Early
Jurassic volcanic rocks vary in composition from felsic
to mafic. Chemical analyses of La Quinta Formation vol-
canic rocks indicate a calc-alkaline composition in the
AFM diagram and alkaline composition in the alkali-sil-
ica diagram (Toussaint, 1995b). Chemical analyses of the
Saldaña Formation indicate a calc-alkaline composition,
probably generated in a backarc environment (Bayona
et al., 1994). The predominance of calc-alkaline composi-
tions seems to suggest a convergent-related backarc
extension rather than intracontinental rifting (Toussaint,
1995b).
 L.F. Sarmiento-Rojas et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 21 (2006) 383–411 405

Fig. 14. Event correlation between lithosphere stretching in the area of the EC and magmatic activity in the Central Cordillera. (1) Triassic, (2) Late
Triassic–Early Jurassic, (3) Middle Jurassic, (4) Early Cretaceous Berriasian–Hauterivian, and (5) Aptian events. This correlation should be considered
preliminary because original data are heterogeneous; 94% are K-Ar (biotite, hornblende, muscovite, or whole-rock), and 6% are Rb-Sr (hornblende/biotite
or whole-rock). (a) Left panel: principal structural/plutonic zones of western Colombia. Right panel: age distribution of Mesozoic and Cenozoic plutonic
activity in western Colombia (modified after Aspden et al., 1987). (b) Cumulative histogram of radiometric ages of plutonic bodies in Colombia (modified
after Guillande, 1988). Periods of intense magmatic activity are characterized by rapid increase in the cumulative number of radiometric age
determinations for a time interval (low slope).

8.2. Correlation between fast subsidence events and
subduction-related magmatic arcs
The inferred Mesozoic stretching events seem to corre-
late in time with reduced magmatic activity in the Central
Cordillera (Fig. 14, modified from Aspden et al., 1987;
Guillande, 1988). However, this preliminarily correlation
should be tested with more and better data. If the calc-
alkaline (Alvarez, 1983) plutonic belts of the Central
Cordillera and Santander Massif developed as subduc-
tion-related magmatic arcs during Mesozoic times, as sug-
gested by Aspden et al. (1987), the extensional or
transtensional basins behind them or close to them may
be interpreted as backarc or intra-arc basins. Extensional
backarc basins develop when the velocity rollback, due to
fast subduction, exceeds the oceanward convergence
velocity of the overriding plate (Royden, 1993a,b). If
magmatic arc activity decreases with the oceanward con-
vergence velocity of the overriding plate, during times of
reduced magmatic arc activity, a constant rollback veloc-
ity exceeds that velocity, increasing extension and subsi-
dence in the backarc region. According to Aspden et al.
(1987), the Triassic magmatic belt was controlled along
strike-slip faults, as also supported by Restrepo-Pace
(1995). The Jurassic magmatic arc may have been con-
trolled by strike-slip faults, as suggested by paleomagnetic
data (Bayona et al., 2005) and its elongated shape in
map view, parallel to major strike-slip faults of major
406 L.F. Sarmiento-Rojas et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 21 (2006) 383–411
calc-alkaline plutonic bodies (i.e., Ibagué and Segovia
batholiths). Along these faults, part of the magmatic belt
might have moved northward, as suggested by paleomag-
netic data (Bayona et al., 2005). Jurassic calc-alkaline plu-
tonism and volcanism along the Central Cordillera and
UMV is interpreted by Aspden et al. (1987) and Bayona
et al. (1994) as a subduction-related magmatic arc, but
Cretaceous plutonism developed sporadically only in the
northern part of the Central Cordillera (Restrepo et al.,
1991), whereas it is very extensive in Peru (Cobbing,
1982, in Aspden et al., 1987). Aspden et al. (1987) suggest
oblique convergence and an offset in the subduction zone
along a major NE-SW transform fault to account for the
notable absence of Cretaceous plutonism in southern
Colombia and Ecuador.
8.3. Geometry of transtensional basins
8.3.1. Triassic and Jurassic
On the basis of paleomagnetic data, Bayona et al. (2005)
suggest that the Payandé terrane (UMV) was located south
of equator (close to 10 S) before the Middle Jurassic; Sem-
pere et al. (2002) recognize Late Permian–Middle Jurassic
transtensional rifting in the EC of Peru and Bolivia (8–
22 S). The early Mesozoic stratigraphy of the Peruvian–
Bolivian rift basin is very similar to that of the UMV
(Payandé terrane, sensu Etayo-Serna et al., 1983). In Peru
and Bolivia, Late Permian–Triassic, red to purple, coarse-
grained, continental, synrift deposits (Mitu Group) resem-
ble those of the Luisa Formation of the UMV; Late
Triassic–Early Jurassic (Norian-Liassic), marine carbon-
ate-dominated postrift deposits (Pucara Group) resemble
those of the Payandé Formation of the UMV; and Jurassic,
brown-red mudstones and coarse-grained alluvial deposits
(Sarayaquillo Formation) resemble the sedimentary com-
ponent of the Saldaña Formation of the UMV. The simi-
larity of the early Mesozoic stratigraphy in these areas
initially was recognized by Geyer (1982). Synrift deposits
of Peru and Bolivia commonly are interbedded with locally
dominant volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks and/or intrud-
ed by subvolcanic to plutonic rocks (Sempere et al., 2002).
A similar association with volcanic, volcaniclastic, and plu-
tonic rocks is observed in the UMV. Paleomagnetic data
(Bayona et al., 2005) and the similarity of the early Meso-
zoic stratigraphy and basin tectonic setting of the Payandé
terrane and Peru–Bolivia rift probably indicate that both
areas were adjacent before the Middle Jurassic. In Peru
and Bolivia, rifting events occurred during the Late Perm-
ian–Middle Jurassic interval (Sempere et al., 2002) and sep-
arated during the Late Triassic–Early Jurassic, thermal sag,
postrift event during deposition of the Pucara Group (Sem-
pere et al., 2002). Similar punctuated rift and lithosphere
stretching events occurred in the UMV (Payandé terrane).
Geographically, however, between these Colombian and
Peruvian/Bolivian transtensional basins in Ecuador during
Jurassic, the accretion of terranes preserved as highly
deformed metamorphic rocks has been proposed by Lither-
land et al. (1994). These Ecuadorian terranes were affected
by intense ductile deformation and transcurrent faulting
(Litherland et al., 1994). The early Mesozoic rift systems
of the Payandé-San Lucas terranes in Colombia and the
Peruvian/Bolivian EC represent transtensional segments
separated by a transpresional ‘‘node’’ in Ecuador, in line
with the map view geometry of a major dextral strike-slip
fault system. In Colombia, the calc-alkaline magmas likely
intruded along active strike-slip faults and shear zones,
developing a magmatic arc that may have resulted from a
highly oblique subduction zone.
Unlike the calc-alkaline magmatism of the Colombian
Triassic–Jurassic magmatic arc segments, the Late Perm-
ian–Middle Jurassic rift system of the EC of Peru and
Bolivia is characterized by intense magmatism, predomi-
nantly alkaline to tholeiitic, probably related to intraplate
magmatism and lithospheric thinning (Sempere et al.,
2002). In southern Peru and Bolivia, the Late Permian–
Middle Jurassic rift system is located behind the Jurassic
magmatic arc (Sempere et al., 2002, Fig. 3). In central Peru,
plutons probably were emplaced in the rift roots (Sempere
et al., 2002). The Colombian Payandé-San Lucas terranes
may have originated as fragments of thinned lithosphere
separated from the Peru–Bolivia rift system by intraplate
rifting, which later moved north along strike-slip faults.
The Late Permian–Middle Jurassic rift system of the EC
of Peru and Bolivia is interpreted by Sempere et al.
(2002) as a transcurrent rift system in which transtensional
segments were separated by transpressional nodes. This
transcurrent setting also could explain Triassic plutons in
Peru and Bolivia with deformation contemporaneous to
their emplacement (Sempere et al., 2002), as well as then-
foliated Triassic plutons described in Colombia (Aspden
et al., 1987). However, new paleomagnetic, geochronolog-
ical, isotopic, petrological, structural, and stratigraphic
research in necessary to test this hypothesis.
8.3.2. Cretaceous
During the Cretaceous, the Colombian transtensional
basins increased in width. During the Mesozoic, the
strike-slip component gradually decreased at the expense
of increases in the extensional component, as preliminarily
suggested by paleomagnetic data (Bayona et al., 2005) and
lithosphere stretching values. As in other areas (e.g., East
African rift), probably during the initial Cretaceous exten-
sional stages, reactivation of crustal discontinuities led to
the subsidence of isolated grabens linked by shear zones.
The increase in width probably was the result of increasing
strain, with grabens propagating toward one another, coa-
lescing, and evolving into a generally continuous rift sys-
tem (Ziegler, 1994). Whether the Colombian Mesozoic
extensional basins were pure shear or simple shear exten-
sional basins is difficult to demonstrate. Probably both
mechanisms operated; these extensional basin models
should be viewed as end-member cases. If the orientation
of preexisting crustal discontinuities is such that they could
not be reactivated by the stress system governing the
 L.F. Sarmiento-Rojas et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 21 (2006) 383–411
evolution of the transtensional basin, new faults would
develop, and pure shear deformation will likely prevail
(Ziegler, 1994). This mechanism may be applicable to the
Triassic–Jurassic extensional basin system in Colombia.
However, if the upper crust is weakened by the presence
of preexisting crustal discontinuities and is oriented to favor
reactivation under the prevailing tensional stress field, they
will present zones of preferential strain concentration,
which can result in simple shear deformation (Ziegler,
1994). This mechanism may explain the development of
the paleo-EC rift system during the Early Cretaceous: The
eastern side of the extensional basin developed during the
Berriasian–Hauterivian by reactivation of an older Paleozo-
ic rift system along the Guaicáramo paleofault (Hossack
et al., 1999), and the western side developed by reactivation
of earlier transtensional fault systems from the Triassic–
Jurassic. Another alternative is that the eastern and western
margins of the graben developed along older strike-slip
fault systems, which bounded the accretion of tectonic terr-
anes west of the Guaicáramo paleofault system during the
Late Triassic and Jurassic (Bayona et al., 2005).
The rheological properties of the lithosphere control the
depth at which tensional necking occurs and whether a rift
zone is flexed up- or downward (Ziegler, 1994). A deep lith-
osphere necking level causes upward flexure of the rift
zone, whereas necking at shallow crustal levels causes
downward flexure and the absence of shoulder uplifts
(Kooi et al., 1992; Ziegler, 1994). Similar deep levels of
necking in the eastern side of the Early Cretaceous exten-
sional basin system may have generated shoulder uplift in
the LLA area during the Early Cretaceous. Coarse detrital
fragments in the Lower Cretaceous Brechas de Buenavista
(Pimpirev et al., 1992) and Calizas del Guavio (Conglome-
rado de Miralindo, Ulloa and Rodrı́guez, 1976) formations
could be derived from this graben shoulder. In contrast, in
the western margin of the Early Cretaceous extensional
basin, sedimentation was more continuous from Jurassic
to Early Cretaceous times, which implies the downward
flexure of the rift shoulders and thus a shallower level of
necking during Early Cretaceous times.
On a lithospheric scale, the location of rift systems is con-
trolled by the location of weakness zones in the lithosphere,
which in turn depends on its thermal state and crustal thick-
ness. At crustal scales, the composition, thickness of its
mechanically strong upper layer, and availability of internal
discontinuities (which can tensionally be reactivated) are
also important controls for rift location (Ziegler, 1994).
The overall present-day pattern of these transtensional
basins for the Cretaceous indicates several grabens oriented
NNE-SSW in an en échelon pattern, in contrast with the
more N-S–oriented Central Cordillera (e.g., Mojica et al.,
1996). Some authors (Fabre, 1987; Sarmiento, 1989; Geotec,
1992; Mojica et al., 1996) suggest that some NW-SE faults
probably represented transfer faults. Features such as the
Nazareth NW-SE fault (Fig. 7c), which limits the Early Cre-
taceous basin to the south (Fabre, 1987), or the NW-SE
alignment connecting the two emerald districts of the EC
407
(Fig. 7c, Sarmiento, 1989) probably represent Cretaceous
transfer faults. If a subduction-related magmatic arc existed
at the current location of the Central Cordillera during the
Cretaceous, as has been proposed (Aspden et al., 1987; Tous-
saint and Restrepo, 1989, 1994; Toussaint, 1995b), and the
orientation of that magmatic arc and the extensional basins
has been preserved, their oblique orientation and en échelon
pattern would suggest oblique slip extension with a right-lat-
eral strike-slip component. However, the available data can-
not rule out the hypothesis that some rift arms form acute
angles to the dominant NNE-SSW trend in a pattern similar
to aborted aulacogen rifts.
If the inverse or thrust faults that now define the eastern
and western borders of the EC originally were Cretaceous
normal faults with a strike-slip component, inverted during
the Cenozoic, their geometry in map view would provide
some information about Mesozoic extensional faults. Lat-
eral changes of Mesozoic thickness suggest this is the case,
at least for the master faults, which probably defined the
regional extensional basin geometry. Adopting this hypoth-
esis, we posit that the Guaicáramo, La Salina, Bitúima, Mag-
dalena, and Boyacá faults represent original extensional or
transtensional faults. Analog model experiments of oblique
extension produce a similar map view fault pattern (e.g.,
Tron and Brun, 1991). NW-SE transfer faults and possible
normal faults with this orientation, as interpreted by Ecope-
trol (1994) in the middle MV, were not inverted during the
Cenozoic. Some normal faults were passively transported
with short-cut basement blocks during the Cenozoic inver-
sion (e.g., Esmeraldas fault; Cooper et al., 1995).
9. Conclusions
High-resolution backstripping analysis and forward
modeling show that the Mesozoic Colombian Basin is
marked by five lithosphere stretching pulses. Periods of
extension seem to correlate in time with gaps of subduc-
tion-related magmatic arc activity, as suggested by Aspden
et al. (1987), especially during the Jurassic, which supports
a hypothesis of backarc extension. However, this prelimi-
narily correlation must be tested with more and better geo-
chronological and biostratigraphical data. If backarc
extension continued during the Early Cretaceous through
oblique plate convergence, it probably has a strong
strike-slip component. Evidence of a backarc basin located
behind a partially emerged, less subsiding paleo-Central
Cordillera (magmatic arc?) during the Late Jurassic–Early
Cretaceous includes the following: (1) Cretaceous plutonic
bodies in the Central Cordillera; (2) Lower Cretaceous
sandstones in the western part of the Cundinamarca subba-
sin with abundant volcanic lithic fragments and feldspar
derived from a western detrital source area, indicated by
paleocurrent data (Murca Formation and Útica sand-
stone); (3) progressive westerly onlap terminations of the
Cretaceous carbonates on the basement, observed in seis-
mic lines, in the western border of the Cesar Valley in
northern Colombia; (4) petrographical evidence suggesting
408 L.F. Sarmiento-Rojas et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 21 (2006) 383–411
that Berriasian (?)–Valanginian clastic sediments near San
Felix in the western flank of the Central Cordillera came
from the erosion of nearly uplifted areas containing frag-
ments of metamorphic rocks and small tectonic blocks with
plutonic rocks; (5) Cretaceous volaniclastic rocks that
probably also derived from a magmatic arc; and (6) Late
Cretaceous zircon fission-track ages in the Central Cordil-
lera. However, a passive margin hypothesis (Pindell and
Erikson, 1993) or aborted rift arms related to the Caribbe-
an opening cannot be completely ruled out because of the
absence of a well-defined Cretaceous magmatic arc.
Preliminarily, three stretching events are suggested dur-
ing Triassic–Jurassic times. These events must be consid-
ered preliminary because the poor continental Triassic
and Jurassic fossiliferous sedimentary record offers rela-
tively scarce, low-quality biostratigraphic data that make
defining clear time boundaries between events difficult.
The spatial distribution of the lithosphere stretching values
suggests that small, narrow (<150 km), asymmetric graben
basins were located on opposite sides of the paleo-Magda-
lena–La Salina fault system, which probably was active as
a master transtensional or strike-slip fault system. Paleo-
magnetic data suggesting a significant (at least 10) north-
ward translation of terranes west of the Bucaramanga fault
during the Early Jurassic (Bayona et al., 2005) and the sim-
ilarity of early Mesozoic stratigraphy and the tectonic set-
ting of the Payandé terrane with the Late Permian
transtensional rift of the EC of Peru and Bolivia (Sempere
et al., 2002) suggest that the areas may have been adjacent
in early Mesozoic times. Additional geochronological, pet-
rological, stratigraphic, and structural research should ver-
ify this hypothesis. In particular, additional paleomagnetic
investigations should determine the paleolatitudinal posi-
tion of the Central Cordillera and adjacent tectonic terr-
anes during the Triassic–Jurassic. Subsidence curves,
isopach maps, and paleomagnetic data (Bayona et al.,
2005) suggest that during the Berriasian–Hauterivian, a
(>180 km) wide, asymmetrical, transtensional half-rift
basin existed, divided by the Santander Floresta high. A
single depocenter in the south was limited at its southern
reach by a vertical transfer fault. Small mafic intrusions
coincide with areas of thin crust (crustal stretching factors
>1.4) and places of maximum stretching of the subcrustal
lithosphere. During the Aptian–early Albian, the basin
extended south in the UMV. Different crustal and sub-
crustal stretching values suggest either some lowermost
crustal decoupling between crustal and subcrustal litho-
sphere or increased thermal thinning that affected the man-
tle lithosphere. Late Cretaceous subsidence was mainly
driven by lithospheric cooling, water loading, and horizon-
tal compressional stresses generated by collision of oceanic
terranes in western Colombia.
Triassic transtensional basins were narrow and
increased in width during Triassic and Jurassic times.
Cretaceous transtensional basins were wider than Trias-
sic–Jurassic basins. During the Mesozoic, the strike-slip
component gradually decreased at the expense of the
increase of the extensional component, according to
paleomagnetic data (Bayona et al., 2005) and lithosphere
stretching values. During the Berriasian–Hauterivian, the
eastern side of the extensional basin may have developed
by reactivation of an older Paleozoic rift system associat-
ed with the Guaicáramo fault system (Hossack et al.,
1999). The western side probably developed through
reactivation of an earlier normal fault system developed
during Triassic–Jurassic transtension. Alternatively, the
eastern and western margins of the graben may have
developed along older strike-slip faults, the boundaries
of the accretion of terranes west of the Guaicáramo fault
during the Late Triassic and Jurassic (Bayona et al.,
2005). During the first stages of Cretaceous lithosphere
extension, lithosphere necking started at a deep level,
then evolved to shallower levels in latter extensional stag-
es. The increasing width of the graben system likely was
the result of progressive tensional reactivation of preex-
isting upper crustal weakness zones. Lateral changes of
Mesozoic sediment thickness suggest that the reverse or
thrust faults that now define the eastern and western
borders of the EC originally were normal faults with a
strike-slip component that inverted during the Cenozoic
Andean orogeny. Thus, the Guaicáramo, La Salina,
Bitúima, Magdalena, and Boyacá were originally trans-
tensional faults. The oblique orientation of most relative
to the Mesozoic magmatic arc of the Central Cordillera
may result from oblique slip extension during the Creta-
ceous or was inherited from the pre-Mesozoic structural
grain. However, not all Mesozoic transtensional faults
were inverted; some normal faults were passively trans-
ported with short-cut basement blocks during Cenozoic
inversion.
Thermal processes were more dominant than mechani-
cal stretching during Late Triassic–Early Jurassic phases
than the Cretaceous extensional phase. During the Late
Triassic–Early Jurassic, abundant volcaniclastic rocks sug-
gest a positive thermal anomaly in the lithosphere but mod-
erate lithosphere stretching. Triassic–Jurassic age
unconformities could have been produced by thermal uplift
(active rifting?). In contrast, during the Cretaceous, less
abundant volcanic rocks, the absence of tectonically con-
trolled unconformities, and significant tectonic subsidence
indicates the absence of thermal doming. Minor mafic
intrusions coincident with places of maximum crustal and
mantle subcrustal stretching suggest modest magmatism
took place as a result of the extension of the lithosphere
(passive rifting).
Acknowledgments
This research was part of the doctoral thesis of L.F. Sar-
miento, supported in Colombia by the Icetex-Ecopetrol
Fund, the Petroleum Colombian Company ECOPETROL,
and the Instituto Colombiano del Petróleo ICP and in the
Netherlands by the Netherlands Research School of Sedi-
mentary Geology and the Tectonics Group of the Vrije
 L.F. Sarmiento-Rojas et al. / Journal of South American Earth Sciences 21 (2006) 383–411
Universiteit at Amsterdam. L.F. Sarmiento publishes with
the permission of Ecopetrol-ICP. We acknowledge German
Bayona, who shared his paleomagnetic results that comple-
mented a previous version of this article and suggested
improvements to the manuscript. This article also benefited
from reviews by François Roure, Reini Zoetemeijer, Harry
Doust, and Pedro Restrepo-Pace.
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