Gondwana Research 90 (2021) 77–101

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Constraints on the ages of the crystalline basement and Palaeozoic cover

exposed in the Cordillera real, Ecuador: 40Ar/39Ar analyses and detrital
zircon U/Pb geochronology
R. Spikings a,⁎, A. Paul a, C. Vallejo b, P. Reyes b
a
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Geneva, Switzerland
b
Facultad de Geología, Minas y Petróleos, Escuela Politécnica Nacional, A.P. 17-01-2759, Quito, Ecuador

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Gabbros and ultramafic rocks of the Huarguallá Gabbro unit exposed in faulted slivers along the western Cordil-
Received 16 July 2020 lera Real of Ecuador crystallised between 623and531 Ma (40Ar/39Ar dates), were derived from asthenospheric
Received in revised form 4 September 2020 sources with minor crustal contamination, and form part of the Central Iapetus Magmatic Province. These
Accepted 31 October 2020
rocks formed in an early rift environment during the opening of the Iapetus Ocean, and represent the only igne-
Available online 06 November 2020
ous record of Iapetus rifting north of the Huancabamba deflection (5°S) in South America. The age and composi-
Keywords:
tion of the Huarguallá Gabbro unit is consistent with the reconstruction of Tegner et al. (2019), which juxtaposes
Pangaea Baltica and northwestern Gondwana within Panotia. 206Pb/238U dates of detrital zircons combined with fossil as-
Iapetus rift semblages shows that the Chiguinda unit of the Cordillera Real, and La Victoria Unit of the Amotape Complex
Palaeozoic were deposited during the Carboniferous. These new data, combined with previous studies of magmatism and
Detrital zircon dates sedimentation from southern Peru, Colombia and Venezuela, imply that the rocks of the Cordillera Real were
40
Ar/39Ar dating in the Ordovician and Carboniferous back-arcs, while the arcs occur in conjugate margins that separated during
the Triassic rifting of Pangaea. Faulted remnants of Ordovician arc rocks in the Cordillera Central of Colombia are
probably allochthonous, and have been displaced from an Ordovician margin that did not face the rifted crustal
sections.
© 2020 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of International Association for Gondwana Research.

1. Introduction Crystalline rocks of the Eastern Cordillera of Peru provide substantial

The Cordillera Real of Ecuador forms part of the Northern Andes
(north of the Huancabamba Deflection; ~5°S), and hosts metamor-
phosed sedimentary and igneous rocks that span from the Early Creta-
ceous to the Palaeozoic, and perhaps older. The Triassic – Late
Cretaceous history has been extensively studied (e.g. Litherland et al.,
1994; Cochrane et al., 2014a, 2014b; Spikings et al., 2015), and docu-
ments the disassembly of Pangaea and subsequent evolution of the Pa-
cific margin. However, a paucity of studies of the pre-Triassic units (e.g.
see Chew et al., 2008; Suhr et al., 2019) hinders geological models of the
Pacific margin along southwestern Pangaea, which are currently heavily
founded on the evolution of the Argentinian and Peruvian Andes (e.g.
Cawood, 2005; Chew et al., 2007; Mišković et al., 2009). Here we pro-
vide new geochronological constraints for the deposition of poorly stud-
ied, Palaeozoic metasedimentary units of the Cordillera Real of Ecuador,
and estimates of the crystallisation ages of metamorphosed ultramafic
and mafic slivers that are entrained in the anastomosing Peltetec Fault
Zone, which is located along the western flank of the Cordillera Real.
⁎ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: richard.spikings@unige.ch (R. Spikings).
evidence for continental arc magmatism between 474 and 442 Ma, and
metamorphism at ~478 Ma (Famatinian Arc; Chew et al., 2007;
Mišković et al., 2009) followed by a Devonian magmatic lull. Carbonifer-
ous continental arc magmatism occurred during 333–313 Ma and ter-
minated during high-grade regional metamorphism at 313–310 Ma
(Chew et al., 2007). Migmatitic granitoids have been dated between
285 and 223, while the Triassic igneous rocks of the Mitu Group have
been assigned to a continental rift setting during 245–220 Ma
(Spikings et al., 2016). Within Colombia and Venezuela, remnants of Or-
dovician continental arc magmatism are mainly preserved in the
Santande Cawood et al., 2001r Massif and the Merida Andes, respec-
tively, where zircon U\\Pb concordia ages of intrusions span between
500 and 415 Ma, and metamorphism is recorded at 477–472 Ma (Van
der Lelij et al., 2016). Ordovician orthogneisses have also been recorded
in the northern Central Cordillera of Colombia (La Miel Orthogneiss),
where they yield zircon U\\Pb concordia ages ranging between 485
and 440 Ma (Villagómez et al., 2011; Martens et al., 2014), and in the
Floresta and Quetame massifs, with ages of 520–420 Ma (Horton et al.,
2010). Similar to Peru, these intrusions predate a Devonian magmatic
hiatus, although in contrast to Peru there is no record of substantial Car-
boniferous arc magmatism. Permian intrusions (278–253 Ma; Vinasco

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2020.10.009
1342-937X/© 2020 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of International Association for Gondwana Research.
R. Spikings, A. Paul, C. Vallejo et al.
et al., 2006; Cardona et al., 2010; Cochrane et al., 2014b; Bustamante
et al., 2017; Paul et al., 2018; Spikings and Paul, 2019) are geographically
scattered and reveal a continental arc in a collisional setting, culminat-
ing in regional metamorphism that is best preserved in the Sierra Ne-
vada de Santa Marta of northern Colombia (Piraquive, 2017). Finally,
S-type anatectites of the Cajamarca Group were emplaced during the
evolution of the Palanda rift during 247–222 Ma, which was synchro-
nous with the Mitu Rift in Peru (Spikings et al., 2016). These events
have been previously used to construct a Palaeozoic history for the Pa-
cific margin of the Central and Northern Andes of South America during
the evolution of western Gondwana and the amalgamation of Pangaea
(e.g. Chew et al., 2007). However, along-strike discrepancies such as a
lack of Carboniferous arc magmatism north of Peru, have not been ad-
dressed, partly due to a lack of data from the Pre-Triassic rocks in
Ecuador.
We combine new U–Pb data from detrital zircons extracted from the
pre-Triassic Chiguinda, and La Victoria (Amotape Complex) units with
previous work to constrain their depositional ages and source regions.
The age of a newly defined basement to the Palaeozoic sedimentary
units is constrained by 40Ar/39Ar analyses of weakly metamorphosed
and foliated gabbros and ultramafic rocks that were exhumed along the
western flank of the Cordillera Real within the Peltetec Fault Zone. The
magmatic source regions and tectonic environment are investigated
using bulk rock chemical and Nd isotopic compositions. These informa-
tion are combined to constrain the Palaeozoic history of the Pre-Triassic
units in Ecuador, and refine previous models for the Iapetus and Rheic
margins of northwestern Gondwana.
2. Geological framework and previous work
Phanerozoic rocks north of the Huancabamba Deflection at 5°S
(Fig. 1) can be separated into an allochthonous, oceanic Late Cretaceous
sequence, which is faulted against older, differentiated crust via a Late
Cretaceous suture (Vallejo et al., 2006; Spikings et al., 2015). Exhuma-
tion of the continental crust during mainly compressive events in the
Late Cretaceous – Cenozoic exposed Palaeozoic sequences within the
Cordillera Real and the Amotape Block (e.g. Spikings et al., 2010;
Martin-Gombojav and Winkler, 2008; Gutierrez et al., 2019), which
were mapped and differentiated by the British Geological Survey during
1986–1993 (Litherland et al., 1994). The Cordillera Real is an approxi-
mate N-S trending topographic ridge, which is geographically and geo-
logically continuous with the Cordillera Central of Colombia (e.g.
Villagómez et al., 2011; Spikings et al., 2015), and is oblique to the East-
ern Cordillera of Peru across the Huancabamba Deflection.
Within Ecuador, evidence for Precambrian rocks is extremely cur-
sory, and includes a single Rb–Sr data point of ~1600 Ma, which is re-
ported as a personal communication in Litherland et al. (1994).
Equally as vague, rafts of migmatitic gneisses within the Jurassic Zamora
Batholith (Fig. 1; eastern flank of the Cordillera Real) are reported in
Litherland et al. (1994) as Precambrian, although they remain undated.
Stratigraphic relationships suggest that black slates of the Pumbuiza
Formation are pre-Upper Carboniferous and they were assigned to the
Devonian by Litherland et al. (1994). Limestones, shales and sandstones
of the Macuma Formation unconformably overly the Pumbuiza Fm., and
have been assigned to the Lower Pennsylvanian – Permian on the basis
of fossil assemblages (Tschopp, 1953; Litherland et al., 1994). The
Pumbuiza and Macuma formations are exposed in small inliers in the
Oriente retroforeland basin, and were not sampled in this study (they
are exposed to the east of the map shown in Fig. 1). Low grade phyllites,
marbles and metamorphosed tuffs of the Isimanchi unit are exposed in
the southern Cordillera Real (Fig. 1), where they are faulted against Tri-
assic anatectites to the west, and Jurassic continental arc intrusions to
the east (Fig. 1). Fossilised fish remains loosely assign deposition to
the Carboniferous to Late Triassic (British Geological Survey, 1989).
More recently, U–Pb concordia dates of detrital zircons from a black
phyllite (368 ± 14 Ma) of the Isimanchi unit constrain its maximum
78
Gondwana Research 90 (2021) 77–101
depositional age to the Late Devonian (Chew et al., 2008). No radiomet-
ric dates have been obtained from the metavolcanic strata. Traversing
westwards, the southern Cordillera Real is dominated by exposures of
quartzites, phyllites and semi-pelites (Fig. 1; e.g. Litherland et al.,
1994) of the Chiguinda Fm., which are fault bounded against Triassic
anatectites to the west, and Lower Cretaceous metasedimentary rocks
of the exhumed Salado Basin to the east. Depositional age constraints
for the Chiguinda Fm. are sparse and include i) pre-Triassic on the
basis of their correlation with metamorphic rocks in the Olmos Massif
in Peru (Kennerley, 1973), which yield Ordovician – Silurian fauna
(Mourier et al., 1988), and where they are overlain by the Triassic
Mitu Group (Spikings et al., 2016), ii) fossilised microspores, which con-
strain deposition to the post-Silurian (Owens, 1992), which collectively
lead Litherland et al. (1994) to propose a Devonian – Permian deposi-
tional age for the Chiguinda Formation. More recently, Chew et al.
(2008) report U–Pb ages of detrital zircons extracted from a quartzite,
which yield a youngest age of 367 ± 12 Ma (Fig. 1), consistent with
the interpretation of Litherland et al. (1994).
The Peltetec Fault Zone (Fig. 2) is exposed along the western flank of
the Cordillera Real, where it juxtaposes Early Cretaceous continental arc
rocks of the Alao Arc against parautochthonous Jurassic metasedimentary
rocks of the Chaucha Block (the Chaucha Block hosts the Guamote Se-
quence; Figs. 1 and 2). A majority of the fault zone is buried beneath Ter-
tiary volcanic units, although it is interpreted to be geographically
extensive (e.g. Litherland et al., 1994; Spikings et al., 2015), and may jux-
tapose Early Cretaceous continental crust against allochthonous oceanic
crust of the Pallatanga-Piñon terrane where the Chaucha Block is not
present. Therefore, the Peltetec Fault is considered to be equivalent to
the Cauca-Almaguer Fault along the western flank of the Cordillera Cen-
tral in Colombia (e.g. Villagómez et al., 2011). Anastomosed faulted blocks
host numerous different lithologies, which are interpreted via lithological
associations to include Palaeozoic metasedimentary units (Chiguinda
Unit) and Triassic anatectites (Tres Lagunas Granite). Early Cretaceous
metagabbros yield 40Ar/39Ar plateau (plagioclase; Fig. 2) plateau dates
of ~134 Ma, and are interpreted as transitional oceanic crust that formed
in an Early Cretaceous marginal basin (Spikings et al., 2015). We provide
new 40Ar/39Ar dates from fault-bounded, metamorphosed mafic and ul-
tramafic slivers within the Peltetec Fault Zone (Fig. 2) that reveal the pres-
ence of late Neoproterozoic basement (see section 4.2).
The E-W striking Amotape Complex is a large inlier of metamorphic
rocks located in southwestern Ecuador (Fig. 1), and is considered to be a
parautochthonous section of the Andean margin which decoupled from
rocks of the Cordillera Real and rotated into the Andean forearc (e.g.
Mourier et al., 1988; Mitouard et al., 1990) after ~115–110 Ma
(Jaillard et al., 1999; Spikings et al., 2005). Weakly metamorphosed ar-
koses, wackes and quartz arenites of the El Tigre Formation are consid-
ered to be turbiditic and are devoid of volcanic debris (Litherland et al.,
1994). These sedimentary rocks are unconformably overlain by late
Aptian sedimentary rocks of the Celica Lancones Basin along the south-
ern exposure of the Amotape Complex (Fig. 1; Jaillard et al., 1999;
Valarezo et al., 2019), and are intruded by the Marcabeli Pluton (U–Pb
zircon ages 227–238 Ma; Aspden et al., 1995; Cochrane et al., 2014b;
Paul et al., 2018) and host pre-Devonian acritarchs and spores
(Zamora and Pothe de Baldis, 1988). U–Pb concordia dates of the youn-
gest detrital zircons within a sandstone of the El Tigre Unit (sample
EO4) constrain its maximum depositional age to 512 ± 21 Ma (Suhr
et al., 2019). These constraints suggest a Cambrian – Silurian age for
the El Tigre unit. The El Tigre Unit is fault bounded against higher
grade paraschists and paragneisses of the La Victoria Unit along its
northern boundary (Fig. 1), which is considered by Litherland et al.
(1994) to be the metamorphosed equivalent of the El Tigre Unit, via el-
evated temperatures during the intrusion of the Moromoro granites
(228–237 Ma; Aspden et al., 1995; Cochrane et al., 2014b; Spikings
et al., 2015; Paul et al., 2018). Suhr et al. (2019) report overlapping U–
Pb concordia ages of detrital zircon cores from the La Victoria Unit of
365 ± 14 Ma and 357 ± 15 Ma, with typically magmatic Th/U ratios
R. Spikings, A. Paul, C. Vallejo et al. Gondwana Research 90 (2021) 77–101

Fig. 1. Geological map of the southern Cordillera Real and Amotape Complex of Ecuador (after Litherland et al., 1994, Aspden et al., 1995). New and previous (Chew et al., 2008; Suhr et al.,
2019) U\ \Pb concordia dates of the youngest detrital zircons are shown, along with new 40Ar/39Ar dates of gabbros and ultramafic rocks of the Huarguallá Gabbro Unit, within the Peltetec
Fault Zone. The red box highlights the location of Fig. 2. F: Floresta Massif, M: Merida Andes, Q: Quetame Massif, PF: Peltetec Fault, S: Santander Massif. (For interpretation of the references
to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)
79
R. Spikings, A. Paul, C. Vallejo et al.
of 0.68 and 0.52, respectively. Therefore, it is likely that the La Victoria
Unit has a younger depositional age than the El Tigre Unit. The Bocana
Unit is defined by Aspden et al. (1995) as a series of anatectic
metasedimentary rocks that form part of the Triassic (see above)
Moromoro Granite Complex (Fig. 1). Suhr et al. (2019) constrain its
maximum depositional age to 367 ± 20 Ma (sample EO6) on the basis
of U–Pb concordia ages of detrital zircons. U–Pb monazite dates of gar-
net bearing migmatites constrain the timing of metamorphism of the
sedimentary protolith to 229–223 Ma (Riel et al., 2013). These
Palaeozoic sedimentary units, which underwent Triassic anatexis
(Spikings et al., 2015), are bound to the north by a highly sheared
zone that separates them from medium grade semi-pelites and schists
of the Palenque Mélange (Aspden et al., 1995; Fig. 1). Suhr et al.
(2019) report U–Pb concordia ages of detrital zircons extracted from a
sandstone within the Palenque Mélange, which yield a maximum depo-
sitional age of 391 ± 17 Ma.
This summary highlights the lack of currently exposed Precambrian
source regions within Ecuador. However, within South America, Pre-
cambrian rocks are exposed within Colombia (E.g. Cordani et al.,
2005), Peru (Mišković et al., 2009), and within the Amazonian craton
that is exposed to the east (e.g. Chew et al., 2011). Cambrian - Ordovi-
cian zircons may be derived from the Famatinian Arc, which is exposed
within Peru (e.g. Mišković et al., 2009), Colombia (e.g. Van der Lelij et al.,
2016) and Venezuela (e.g. Van der Lelij et al., 2016), while Carbonifer-
ous zircons may be derived from the Carboniferous arc of the Eastern
Cordillera of Peru (e.g. Mišković et al., 2009). The relict conjugate mar-
gins to South America within the Mixteca Terrane and the Maya Block
(Spikings and Paul, 2019) are also potential sediment source regions
for Gondwanan basins within Ecuador, and these are discussed in detail
in section 5.3.
3. Analytical methods
3.1. U–Pb analyses of zircons
The U–Pb isotopic composition of zircons was obtained using Laser
Ablation Inductively Coupled Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) at the
University of Lausanne. Polished zircons (in epoxy) were ablated with
an UP-193FX ArF 193 nm excimer ablation system (ESI) using the fol-
lowing parameters: 35 μm beam size, 5 Hz repetition rate, 30 s signal
and a beam energy density of 2.2–2.5 J/ cm2. Isotopic intensities were
measured using an Element XR single-collector sector-field ICP-MS
(Thermo Scientific). GEMOC GJ-1 zircon (CA-ID-TIMS 206Pb–238U age
of 600.5 ± 0.4 Ma; Boekhout et al., 2012; Ulianov et al., 2012) was
used as a primary standard. Secondary standards used to monitor con-
sistency in the measured U–Pb dates were either Harvard 91,500
(1065.4 ± 0.3 Ma; Wiedenbeck et al., 1995) zircon, or Plešovice
(337.13 ± 0.37 Ma; Sláma et al., 2008) zircon. Dates (Table 1) were cal-
culated using LAMTRACE (Jackson, 2008). More details regarding
the spectrometer setup and data reduction can be found in Ulianov
et al. (2012).
3.2. 40Ar/39Ar analyses
Two gabbros and an ultramafic rock were crushed and sieved to
≤300 μm, and plagioclase was extracted using conventional magnetic
and gravimetric methods. Translucent-transparent, inclusion free pla-
gioclase grains were hand-picked using a binocular microscope, and
washed using ultra-sound in di-ionized water for ten minutes. Plagio-
clase separates were irradiated at the shielded CLICIT position at the Or-
egon State University TRIGA reactor for 15 h, along with evenly spaced
aliquots of Fish Canyon Tuff sanidine (28.201 ± 0.046 Ma; Kuiper
et al., 2008) to track neutron fluences. The irradiated plagioclase sepa-
rates were degassed using a 50 W, CO2-IR laser (Photon Machines
Inc.), and the gas was cleaned via a cold finger held at −130 °C, and
hot GP50 (S101) and AP10 getters. Ar isotopes were measured on a
80
Gondwana Research 90 (2021) 77–101
multi-collector Argus V mass spectrometer, equipped with one Faraday
with a 1E11 ohm feedback resistor (40Ar), and four Faradays with 1E12
ohm feedback resistors (39-36Ar). Data were reduced using ArArCalc
(Koppers, 2002), and baseline and blank corrected data are presented
in Table 2.
3.3. Whole Rock Geochemistry
Representative whole rock powders were prepared using an agate
mill and major and trace elements were measured using a Philips
PW2400 X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) spectrometer at the University of
Lausanne, Switzerland. The NIMN, NIMG, BHVO and SY2 standards
were used for quality control. Glass fused disks prepared for XRF analy-
ses were fragmented and mounted for additional analyses of trace and
rare earth elements (REE). Measurements were made using a Perkin
Elmer ELAN 6100 DRC quadrupole ICP-MS, and depending on the ex-
pected enrichment within samples, either NIST SRM 610 or 612 fused
glasses were used as external standards. The laser settings used for anal-
yses were 10 Hz frequency, 140 mJ energy and 80–120 μm spot size.
Blanks were measured for ~90s, after which the laser was switched on
and the signal was measured for 45 s. The Sr or Al2O3 concentrations
(previously determined by XRF) were used as an internal standard.
Each sample was ablated 3 times, and average concentrations were cal-
culated offline using LAMTRACE (Jackson, 2008). The uncertainties of 3
spots per sample are ±10% for rare earth elements (REE), and ± 5% for
other trace elements. Whole rock compositions (Table 3) have been
normalised to an anhydrous state in the graphical representations.
3.4. Nd bulk rock isotopes
100 mg of whole rock powder was dissolved in 4 ml of concentrated
HF and 1 ml of 15 M HNO3 in closed Teflon vials at 140 °C for seven days.
The samples were dried down and re-dissolved in 3 ml of 15 M HNO3
before being dried down again. Sr–Nd chemical separation followed
the methods described in Pin and Zalduegui (1997) and Chiaradia
et al. (2011). Radiogenic isotopes of Sr and Nd were analysed at the Uni-
versity of Geneva using a Thermo Neptune PLUS Multi-Collector ICP-MS
following the methods described by Chiaradia et al. (2011).
Isotopic ratios were corrected for internal fractionation using
146
Nd/144Nd = 0.7219 for the 143Nd/144Nd ratio. JNdi-1 (143Nd/144Nd =
0.512115; Tanaka et al., 2000; long-term external reproducibility:
10 ppm) was used as an external standard. Due to a systematic difference
between measured and accepted standard ratios, Nd isotope ratios were
further corrected for external fractionation by a value of +0.047
and + 0.5 amu, respectively. The interference of 144Sm on 144Nd
was monitored on 147Sm and corrected with a value of 0.206700
(144Sm/147Sm). The data are presented in Table 4.
4. Results
In-situ (LA-ICPMS) U–Pb dates have been obtained from detrital zir-
cons extracted from nine, weakly metamorphosed sedimentary rocks
that were mapped as the Chiguinda (Cordillera Real) and La Victoria
(Amotape Complex) units by the British Geological Survey (Litherland
et al., 1994). These data have been combined with previous U–Pb anal-
yses of detrital zircons from the same, and other Palaeozoic sedimentary
sequences within Ecuador (Table 1; Chew et al., 2007; Suhr et al., 2019;
raw U and Pb isotopic data are presented in Supplementary Table 5).
Representative cathodoluminescence images of detrital zircons are pre-
sented as a supplementary figure. We also present new 40Ar/39Ar, step-
heating analyses of plagioclase extracted from exhumed mafic and ul-
tramafic rocks within the Peltetec Fault Zone (Table 2).
R. Spikings, A. Paul, C. Vallejo et al. Gondwana Research 90 (2021) 77–101

0770 78°34’ 78°33’ 0774 Jurassic - Lower Cretaceous

Yunguilla Unit
Bayo Pungu Unit
Alao Arc

Peltetec Unit
Metagabbro
R.
Al
ao

1°51’ Metasedimentary
rocks
04PR98, 566±35 Metabasalts

Peltetec Guamote Sequence

9794 Triassic
1°52’ Tres Lagunas Unit
Carboniferous
09PR48, 135±1 Pr
04PR116, 586±14 09PR47, 134±13 Chiguinda Unit

allá Late Neoproterozoic

Huargu
04PR68, 582±41

Huarguallá
Metagabbro

Unit
1°53’
Peridotite

Previous analyses
Pr (Spikings et al., 2015)
9790
2 km
Road and track

Fig. 2. Geological map of the Peltetec Fault Zone after Reyes (2006), showing the location of new 40Ar/39Ar dates (plagioclase) of the Huarguallá Gabbro Unit, and previous 40Ar/40Ar
analyses (Spikings et al., 2015). Outcrops are accessible along the River Huarguallá. Universal Transverse Mercator coordinates are provided (zone 17 M).

4.1. U–Pb analyses of detrital zircons
Prior palaeontological constraints on the depositional ages of the
sampled units are poor, and thus we rely heavily on the youngest zircon
ages to provide maximum depositional age constraints. However, the
low precision of LA-ICPMS dates can result in inaccuracies related to un-
identified discordance. We have attempted to mitigate low-precision
spot analyses by applying a similar approach to Dickinson and Gehrels
(2009), and derive temporal depositional constraints with several dif-
ferent statistical tolerances that trade-off precision and accuracy,
while only considering grains that are concordant within 2σ(Fig. 3).
These different dates are i) the youngest single grain (YSG), which is
particularly prone to inaccuracy as a result of unidentifiable lead loss
within the precision of LA-ICPMS analyses, and a potential lack of repre-
sentation, ii) weighted mean of the youngest three (Y3) grains, which
mitigates the effect of lead loss, but can group dates that clearly do not
define a single date population, iii) weighted mean of the youngest clus-
ter of 2 or more grains with overlapping dates at 1σ (YC2 + (1σ); e.g.
Jones et al., 2009), iv) weighted mean of the youngest cluster of 3 or
more grains with overlapping dates at 2σ(YC3 + (2σ)), and v) the
youngest detrital zircon (YDZ) calculation of Ludwig (2012), which is
determined by a Monte Carlo analysis of the youngest subset of detrital
zircon dates in a detrital zircon population. All dates are reported with
2σ uncertainties (Table 1).
The YSG, Y3 and YDZ dates overlap within uncertainty in all 9 newly
studied samples (Fig. 3; Table 1), and define the youngest possible detri-
tal zircon dates that mainly span the Devonian - Carboniferous. The
Mean Squared Weighted Deviate (MSWD; equivalence) vales for the
Y3 dates range from 8 to >300, suggesting they do not define a single
date population. The YC2 + (1σ) and YC3 + (2σ) dates are more con-
servative and statistically robust, and yield older dates that are consis-
tently older than the YSG. Dickinson and Gehrels (2009) showed that
the youngest single grain age was equivalent to the depositional age
in 90% of their sedimentary rocks from the Colorado Plateau, which
probably reflects the proximity of their sampling sites to contempora-
neous volcanic activity. Similarly, Carboniferous arc magmatism was
abundant in Peru, and crust that was outboard of Ecuador (see sec-
tion 5), and thus it is reasonable to suggest that there was a abundant
supply of Carboniferous zircons into the Chiguinda and La Victoria
units. Therefore, we consider the YSG dates to be the best estimates of
the minimum detrital zircon age of the sedimentary rocks, while we
also consider the YC2 + (1σ) dates to be the best conservative estimates
of the detrital zircon ages, given that the YC3 + (2σ) dates were typi-
cally >10 Ma older than the timing of deposition in the study of
Dickinson and Gehrels (2009).
Metasedimentary rocks 99RS38, 99RS39, 11RC20, 13AP53 and
13AP54 were all sampled from low grade, gently folded strata that are
mapped as the Chiguinda Unit (Litherland et al., 1994). The rocks

81
R. Spikings, A. Paul, C. Vallejo et al. Gondwana Research 90 (2021) 77–101

Table 1
Summary of new zircon (detrital) U-Pb dates obtained from the Chiguinda and La Victoria Fms., including previously published data from the Cordillera Real and the Amotape Complex.

Sample Lithology Unit Latitude Longitude No. of YSG Y3 YDZ YC1σ YC2σ Prominant age peaks Chord
(2+) (3+) Intercepts

206
analysed Pb/238U 206
Pb/238U 206
Pb/238U 206
Pb/238U 206
Pb/238U 206
Pb/238U (Ma)* (Ma)ǂ
#
spots$ ±2σ (Ma) ±2σ (Ma) ±2σ (Ma) ±2σ ±2σ
(Ma)# (Ma)#

This study
Cordillera Real
99RS38 Quartzite Chiguinda 03° 59′ 79° 08′ 119 (90) 441.9 446 ± 32 423 506 ± 3 508 ± 6 480–620, 720–780, 195–700,
38.0” 21.9” ± 9.1 (8.3) + 10/−8 (1.2) (2.2) 1000–1080 1080.
555–1080
435–1080,
2130, 2800
99RS39 Quartzite Chiguinda 03° 59′ 79° 05′ 119 (91) 348.6 419 ± 87 349 484 ± 10 517 ± 6 520–680, 1040–1100 500–1210,
15.2” 37.9” ± 5.5 (279) + 6/−7 (1.8) (1.4) 2740
11RC20 Paraschist Chiguinda 03° 59′ 79° 06′ 109 (82) 358.1 401 ± 55 358.3 451 ± 7 449 ± 6 480–640, 700–720, 400–1010
15.2” 24.0” ± 4.9 (228) + 5/−6 (1.3) (3.8) 880–1020
13AP53 Metasandstone Chiguinda 03° 59′ 79° 06′ 100 (88) 313.7 336 ± 38 314 511 ± 3 510 ± 4 310–370, 480–580, 525–1010
26.2” 27.4” ± 2.6 (178) + 3/−3 (0.6) (1.3) 960–1040
13AP54 Metasandstone Chiguinda 03° 59′ 79° 06′ 88 (68) 317.8 373 ± 100 318 467 ± 5 501 ± 13 320–380, 460–560, 325–945,
32.4” 25.2” ± 7.8 (323) + 9/−9 (0.38) (3.3) 700. 720, 940–1080 1050
99RS53 Black quartzite Chiguinda 03° 00′ 78° 35′ 120 (92) 346.5 366 ± 28 347 394 ± 15 496 ± 20 560–640, 840–960, 515–1110,
45.4” 56.2” ± 10.6 (9.2) + 11/−12 (0.38) (3.2) 1040–1100, 2020–2100 2090
99RS55 Bt paraschist Chiguinda 03° 00′ 78° 39′ 108 (83) 324.7 339 ± 17 325 459 ± 3.3 489 ± 3 440–680, 960–1080, 270–600
09.4” 14.9” ± 4.7 (56) + 5/−5 (0.20) (0.79) 2660–2720
515–1100,
1890
11RC27 Hbl quartzite Chiguinda 02° 12′ 78° 21′ 118 (81) 334.9 391 336 498 ± 11 488 ± 26 480–620, 940–1060, 515–1090,
15.4” 57.4” ± 7.3 ± 100,263) + 8/−8 (0.01) (2.4) 1740–1860, 2500–2580 2130, 2750

Amotape Complex
13AP33 Bt paraschist La 03° 42′ 79° 51′ 120 (84) 327.5 372 ± 76 327 448 ± 13 456 ± 17 480–640, 760–780, 110–655
Victoria 52.6” 10.1” ± 10.5 (38) + 12/−12 (0.64) (1.3) 980–1040, 1700–1760
485–1140
Previous Work
Cordillera Real
Chew et al. (2008)
99RS28 Quartzite Chiguinda 04° 24′ 79° 09′ 49 (42) 367 ± 12 400 ± 80 377 365 ± 9 529 ± 26 500–800, 900–1100, N.D.
38.3” 32.4” (39) + 43/−45 (0.25) (3.6) 2500–2700
99RS65 Phyllite Isimanchi 04° 49′ 79° 06′ 50 (41) 368 ± 14 387 ± 40 409 448 ± 39 460 ± 9 480–620, 920–1180, N.D.
42.3” 59.9” (0.78) + 19/−20 (0.04) (2.0) 1800–2000
Amotape Complex N.D.
Suhr et al. (2019) N.D.
EO2 Sandstone Palenque 03° 37′ 80° 03′ 38 (31) 391 ± 17 474 ± 100 396 561 ± 10 568 ± 13 540–640, 880–1060, N.D.
7.50” 19.5” (69) + 18/−18 (0.53) (1.6) 2020–2040
EO4 Sandstone El Tigre 03° 51′ 80° 05′ 40 (37) 512 ± 21 516 ± 12 512 521 ± 9 528 ± 11 512–640, 680–720, N.D.
49.8” 56.7” (0.19) + 12/−16 (0.59) (1.5) 960–1100
EO5 Paragneiss La 03° 44′ 79° 50′ 38(36) 357 ± 15 390 ± 65 366 361 ± 10 539 ± 18 500–640, 778–971, N.D.
Victoria 01.7” 07.7” (33) + 15/−13 (0.61) (3.6) 1039–1149
EO6 Sandstone La Bocana 03° 45′ 79° 38′ 70 (63) 367 ± 20 390 ± 21 394 399 ± 7 399 ± 7 500–620, 900–1060 N.D.
25.0” 36.2” (4.3) + 9/−17 (0.07) (0.07)

$ Values in parentheses are the number of grains remaining after filtering with a discordance of ±5%
# Values in parentheses are the MSWD of equivalence
* Discordia ±5%
N.D.: Not Determined
ǂ Each row should be read as lower intercept - upper intercept1, upper intercept2 etc. (i.e. a common lower intercept). Multiple rows per sample indicate more than one lower intercept.

Table 2
Summary of 40Ar/39Ar (plagioclase) dates, and whole rock Nd and Sr compositions of the Huargualla Gabbro unit
40
Sample Lithology Unit Latitude Longitude Ar/39Ar 40
Ar/39Ar (40Ar/36Ar)i ENdi 87
Sr/86Sr

plateau date inverse isochron

±2σ (Ma) date ± 2σ (Ma)*

04PR68 Metagabbro Huarguallá Gabbro 01° 52′ 35.85” 78° 33′ 45.37” 581.8 ± 41.1 582.1 ± 497.1 (0.12) 298.4 ± 169.5 2.40 0.706097
04PR98 Metagabbro Huarguallá Gabbro 01° 51′ 19.39” 78° 33′ 30.27” 565.5 ± 34.4 230.2 ± 234.5 (1.22) 172.6 ± 238.4
04PR116 Peridotite Huarguallá Gabbro 01° 51′ 19.37” 78° 33′ 30.26” 585.5 ± 14.1 519.4 ± 135.8 (0.74) 321.3 ± 51.3 −0.57 0.704296

Plateau dates defined as three contiguous heating steps that account for 50% or more of the total 39Ar released
*Numbers in parentheses are the MSWD

82
R. Spikings, A. Paul, C. Vallejo et al. Gondwana Research 90 (2021) 77–101

Table 3 analysis yields numerous best-fit chords (Fig. 5a; Reimink et al., 2016).
Whole rock geochemistry of the Huargualla Gabbro unit A lower intercept of ~195 Ma is younger than all of the concordant
04PR68 04PR116 dates, and is common to upper intercepts at ~700 and ~ 1080 Ma. A
Gabbro Peridotite lower intercept at 435 Ma is common to upper intercepts at 1080,
wt% wt% 2130 and 2800 Ma, and a statistically likely chord has an older lower in-
SiO2 48.94 47.83
tercept at 555 Ma and an upper intercept at ~1080 (Table 1). Quartz
P2O5 0.19 0.17
TiO2 0.77 0.49 arenite 99RS39 yielded 91 concordia dates from zircon cores and rims
Al2O3 11.32 8.93 with dates ranging between 349 ± 6–2627 ± 77 Ma (Fig. 4b). The
CaO 8.49 14.91 youngest spot age, YDZ and Y3 are indistinguishable, and thus the youn-
Na2O 3.03 0.83
gest detrital zircon age is considered to be 349 ± 6 Ma, with a
K2O 0.26 0.00
MnO 0.16 0.17
YC2 + (1σ) age of 484 ± 10 Ma. Kernel Density Estimates of the
206
Fe2O3 11.19 9.11 Pb/238U dates with ±5% discordance yield prominent peaks at
Cr2O3 0.13 0.14 520–680 and 1040–1100 (Fig. 4b). Best fit analyses of the discordant
MgO 12.08 14.96 data yielded two chords with a common lower intercept at ~500 Ma,
ppm ppm and upper intercepts of ~1210 and ~ 2740 Ma (Fig. 5b). 109 spot analy-
Rb 3.53 0.31 ses of zircon cores and rims from paraschist 11RC20 yielded 82 concor-
Ba 85.72 11.02 dant analyses with 206Pb/238U concordia dates ranging between 358 ± 5
Th 1.07 0.47
and 2599 ± 16 Ma (Fig. 4c). The youngest spot age, YDZ and Y3 are in-
U 0.11 0.04
Nb 3.40 2.00 distinguishable, and thus the youngest detrital zircon age is considered
Ta 0.32 0.60 to be 358 ± 5 Ma, while the YC2 + (1σ) and YC3 + (2σ) dates overlap,
Pb 0.54 0.40 with a YC2 + (1σ) age of 451 ± 7 Ma. Kernel Density Estimates of the
Sr 75.00 30.00 206
Pb/238U dates with ±5% discordance yield prominent peaks at
Zr 41.78 16.33
Hf 1.27 0.57
480–640 Ma and 880–1020 Ma, and a weakly defined peak at
Ti 4634.07 2915.46 1980–2140 (Fig. 4c). Best fits to the discordant 206Pb/238U and 207/238U
Tb 0.43 0.30 dates yield a single chord with intercepts at ~400 and ~ 1010 Ma
Y 15.30 10.30 (Fig. 5c). 100 spot analyses of zircon rims and cores from quartzite
Tm 0.26 0.16
13AP53 yielded 88 206Pb/238U concordia dates ranging between
Yb 1.64 1.00
Co 57.86 60.44 314 ± 3–3128 ± 23 Ma (Fig. 4d). The youngest spot age, YDZ and Y3
La 5.60 2.16 are indistinguishable, and thus youngest detrital zircon age is consid-
Ce 12.13 5.20 ered to be 314 ± 3 Ma, while the YC2 + (1σ) and YC3 + (2σ) dates
Pr 1.80 0.84 overlap, with a YC2 + (1σ) age of 511 ± 3 Ma. Kernel density estimates
Nd 7.98 4.09
Sm 2.36 1.47
of the 206Pb/238U dates with ±5% discordance yield prominent peaks at
Eu 0.80 0.44 310–370 Ma, 480–450 Ma and 960–1040 Ma (Fig. 4d). Statistical analy-
Gd 2.67 1.70 sis of the discordant dates yielded a single chord with lower and upper
Tb 0.43 0.30 intercepts of 525 Ma and 1010 Ma, respectively (Fig. 5d). Finally, quartz-
Dy 2.78 1.85
ite 13AP54 yielded 68 206Pb/238U concordia dates from 88 spot analyses
Ho 0.60 0.38
Er 1.77 1.21 of rims and cores, which span between 318 ± 8 Ma and 3045 ± 20 Ma
Yb 1.64 1.00 (Fig. 4e). The youngest spot age, YDZ and Y3 are indistinguishable, and
Lu 0.24 0.16 thus the youngest detrital zircon age is considered to be 318 ± 8 Ma,
V 349.00 303.00 with a YC2 + (1σ) age of 467 ± 5 Ma. Kernel Density Estimates of the
206
Pb/238U dates with ±5% discordance yield prominent peaks at
320–380 Ma, 460–560 Ma and 940–1080 Ma (Fig. 4e). Best fits to the
discordant 206Pb/238U and 207/238U dates yield a chord with a lower in-
were sampled along the road between Loja and Zamora that transects tercept at ~325 Ma, with upper intercepts at ~945 Ma and ~ 1050 Ma
the southern Cordillera Real (Fig. 1) and are deformed by regional (Fig. 5e).
scale N-S fold axes. 119 spot analyses of zircon cores and rims from Farther north within the Cordillera Real (roads between Riobamba
quartz arenite 99RS38 yielded 90 concordant analyses with 206Pb/238U and Macas, and Cuenca and Indanza), metasedimentary rocks 99RS53,
concordia dates ranging between 442 ± 9 Ma and 1939 ± 25 Ma 99RS55 and 11RC27 were also sampled from low grade strata that pre-
(Fig. 4a). The youngest spot age, YDZ and Y3 are indistinguishable, serve original bedding and are deformed by low amplitude E-W fold
and thus the youngest detrital zircon age is considered to be 442 ± axes (Fig. 1). These strata were mapped as the Chiguinda Fm. by
9 Ma, while the YC2 + (1σ) and YC3 + (2σ) dates overlap, with a Litherland et al. (1994). Black quartzite 99RS53 yielded 92 206Pb/238U
YC2 + (1σ) age of 506 ± 3 Ma. Kernel Density Estimates of the concordia dates from 120 spot analyses of rims and cores, which span
206
Pb/238U dates with ±5% discordance yield prominent peaks at between 347 ± 11 Ma and 2656.8 ± 129.7 Ma (Fig. 6a). The youngest
480–620 Ma, 720–780 Ma and 1000–1080 Ma (Fig. 4a). Discordant spot age, YDZ and Y3 are indistinguishable, and thus the youngest detri-
206
Pb/238U and 207Pb/235U dates yield a complex array and statistical tal zircon age is considered to be 347 ± 11 Ma, with a YC2 + (1σ) age of

Table 4
Sm and Nd isotopic compositions of the Huargualla Gabbro Unit

Sample Age ± 2σ Sm Nd 147Sm/144Nd 143Nd/144Nd (143Nd/144Nd)i εNd εNdi 2σ

(Ma)# (ppm) (ppm) (±2σ)* (±2σ)

585 ± 14 2.36 7.98 0.182140 0.512692 (21) 0.511994 1.05 2.16 (0.4)
585 ± 14 1.47 4.09 0.217060 0.512686 (36) 0.511854 0.94 −0.57 (0.69)

# 40Ar/39Ar age of 04PR116, which is assumed to be valid for 04PR68.

*Numbers in parentheses are the 5th and 6th decimal place.

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R. Spikings, A. Paul, C. Vallejo et al. Gondwana Research 90 (2021) 77–101

600
Youngest Single Grain (YSG)
580 Youngest Detrital Zircon (YDZ)
Youngest 3 zircons (Y3)
560 Youngest ≥2 zircons (1V overlap; YC2+1V)
Youngest ≥3 zircons (2V overlap; YC3+2V)
540
Cambrian
520

500
±2V date (Ma)

480
Ordovician

460

440
Silurian
238U/206Pb

420

400
Devonian

380

360
Carboniferous

340

320

300

280

CORDILLERA REAL A M O TA P E C O M P L E X
260
99RS38 99RS39 11RS20 13AP53 13AP54 99RS53 99RS55 11RC27 99RS28 99RS65 13AP33 EO5 EO2 EO4 EO6

Chiguinda Fm. Isimanchi La Victoria Palenque El Tigre La Bocana

Fm. Fm. Fm. Fm. Fm.

Fig. 3. Summary of youngest detrital zircon U\ \Pb dates for Palaeozoic metasedimentary rocks of the Cordillera Real and Amotape Complex of Ecuador, including new and previous (Chew
et al., 2008; Suhr et al., 2019) work. Definitions of each date are provided in the text.

394 ± 15 Ma. Kernel Density Estimates of the 206Pb/238U dates with ±
5% discordance yield prominent peaks at 560–640 Ma, 840–960 Ma,
1040–1100 Ma and 2020–2100 Ma (Fig. 6a). Best fits to the discordant
206
Pb/238U and 207/238U dates yield two chords with a common lower
intercept of ~515 Ma, and upper intercepts of ~1110 Ma and ~ 2090 Ma
(Fig. 7a). 108 spot analyses of zircons within biotite bearing paraschists
99RS55 yielded 83 206Pb/238U concordia dates spanning between
325 ± 5 Ma and 2647 ± 21 Ma (Fig. 6b). The youngest spot age, YDZ
and Y3 are indistinguishable, and thus youngest detrital zircon age is
considered to be 325 ± 5 Ma, while the YC2 + (1σ) yields an of
459 ± 3 Ma. Kernel density estimates of the 206Pb/238U dates with ±
5% discordance yield prominent peaks at 440–680 Ma, 960–1080 Ma
and 2660–2720 Ma (Fig. 6b). Discordant 206Pb/238U and 207/238U dates
yield a complex array (Figs. 7b) and statistical analysis yields numerous
best-fit chords. The first chord has lower and upper intercepts at
~270 Ma and ~ 600 Ma. Two chords have a common lower intercept
at ~515 Ma, with upper intercepts at ~1100 Ma and ~ 1890 Ma. The
youngest chord intercepts are younger than all of the 206Pb/238U
concordia dates. Finally, hornblende bearing quartzite 11RC27 yielded
81 206Pb/238U concordia spot dates from zircon rims and cores, which
span between 335 ± 7 Ma and 2677 ± 58 Ma (Fig. 6c). The youngest
spot age, YDZ and Y3 are indistinguishable, and thus youngest detrital
zircon age is considered to be 335 ± 7 Ma, while the YC2 + (1σ) and
YC3 + (2σ) dates overlap, with a YC2 + (1σ) age of 498 ± 11 Ma. Ker-
nel Density Estimates of the 206Pb/238U dates with ±5% discordance
yield prominent peaks at 480–640 Ma, 940–1060 Ma, 1740–1860 Ma
and 2500–2580 Ma (Fig. 6c). Best fits to the discordant 206Pb/238U and
207
Pb/235U dates yield three chords with a common lower intercept at
~515 Ma, and upper intercepts of ~1090 Ma, ~2130 Ma and ~ 2750 Ma
(Fig. 7c).
Biotite bearing paraschist 13AP33 was sampled from the La Victoria
unit within the Amotape Complex, along the road between La Bocana
and Balsas (Fig. 1). 120 spot analyses of zircon rims and cores yielded
84 206Pb/238U concordia dates that span between 328 ± 11 and
2671 ± 63 Ma (Fig. 6d). The youngest spot age, YDZ and Y3 are indistin-
guishable, and thus youngest detrital zircon age is considered to be
328 ± 11 Ma, while the YC2 + (1σ) and YC3 + (2σ) dates overlap,
with a YC2 + (1σ) age of 448 ± 13 Ma. Kernel Density Estimates of
the 206Pb/238U dates with ±5% discordance yield numerous prominent
peaks at 480–640 Ma, 980–1040 Ma and 1700–1760 Ma (Fig. 6d).
Best-fit analysis of the discordant dates yields two chords, with lower
– upper intercept pairs at ~110 Ma and ~ 655 Ma, and ~ 485 Ma
and ~ 1140 Ma (Fig. 7d).
Chew et al. (2007) and Suhr et al. (2019) published U–Pb dates of
detrital zircon grains extracted from six rocks with the Eastern Cordil-
lera and the Amotape Complex, and they assumed the youngest single
grains were consistently the best estimates of the maximum time of de-
position. In all cases, the youngest spot age, YDZ and Y3 are indistin-
guishable, and thus the youngest grain ages (Table 1; Fig. 3) are also
considered here to represent the statistically youngest zircon detrital
ages. However, more conservative estimates provided by the
YC2 + (1σ;Table 1) statistic are 365 ± 9 Ma (99RS28, Chiguinda Fm.)
and 448 ± 39 Ma (99RS65, Isimanchi Fm.), for the Eastern Cordillera.
YC2 + (1σ;Table 1) dates for the Amotape Complex are 561 ± 10 Ma
(EO2, Palenque Fm.), 521 ± 9 Ma (EO4, El Tigre Fm.), 361 ± 10 Ma
(EO5, La Victoria Fm.) and 399 ± 7 Ma (EO6, La Bocana Fm.).

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R. Spikings, A. Paul, C. Vallejo et al. Gondwana Research 90 (2021) 77–101

A 99RS38, micaceous quartz arrenite, Chiguinda Unit N

540 12 n=90 (±5% discordance)
0.085 0.6 3000 Youngest zircon 441.9±9.1 Ma
10

206Pb/238U age (Ma)

500 2600
500
206Pb/238U

2200 8
0.075 460 0.4
1800 6
460
420 1400 C3

C2
0.2 4
0.065
1000 420
380
2

0.055 0.0 0
0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0 4 8 12 16 20 24 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000
B 99RS39, micaceous quartz arrenite, Chiguinda Unit
540 10
n=91 (±5% discordance)
0.5 2600 N
0.085 Youngest zircon 348.6±5.5 Ma
500
2200 8
0.4
0.075 460 480
206Pb/238U

1800 6
0.3 440
420
0.065 1400
A2
400
380 0.2 4
1000 360
0.055 340 320
0.1 2
300
0.045 0.0 0
0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000
C 11RC20, paraschist, Chiguinda Unit
6 n=82 (±5% discordance)
0.082
N Youngest zircon 358.1±4.9 Ma
0.6 3000
0.078 5
460 2600 440
0.074
4
2200
206Pb/238U

0.070 0.4
400
420 1800 3
0.066
1400 360
2
0.062 0.2
380
1000
1
0.058
340
0.054 0.0 0
0.38 0.42 0.46 0.50 0.54 0.58 0.62 0 4 8 12 16 20 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000
D 13AP53, metasandstone, Chiguinda Unit
540 n=88
0.085 15 Youngest zircon 313.7±2.6 Ma
0.6 3000
500
2600
N 380
0.075 460
206Pb/238U

2200 10 360
0.4
420 1800
0.065 340
380 1400
0.2 5 320
0.055 340 1000
300
300
0.045 0.0 0
0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0 4 8 12 16 20 24 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500
E 13AP54, metasandstone, Chiguinda Unit
540 7
n=68
0.085 3000 Youngest zircon 317.8±7.8 Ma
0.6 6
500 N
2600 5
0.075 460
2200
206Pb/238U

0.4 4
420
1800
0.065 3
380 1400
0.2 2
0.055 340
1000
1
300
0.045 0.0 0
0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0 4 8 12 16 20 24 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500
207Pb/235U 207Pb/235U 206Pb/238U age (Ma)

Fig. 4. Wetherill concordia and frequency histograms (only spots with ±5% discordance) showing the Kernel Density Distributions of spot U\ \Pb analyses of detrital zircons, acquired using
LA-ICPMS. The 206Pb/235U ages of the youngest three zircons are shown in the inset of the histograms. Labels in the concordia plots highlight best-fit chords that are also depicted in Fig. 5.

85
R. Spikings, A. Paul, C. Vallejo et al. Gondwana Research 90 (2021) 77–101

A 99RS38, Chiguinda Unit, n=119 B 99RS39, Chiguinda Unit, n=119

A B A2, B1, C1 A A1
350 C A1
50
300 C2 45
A2
40
250 C3
35
Likelihood

Likelihood
200 30
25 1000
150
1000 20
100 15 0
0 1000 2000 3000
0 10
50 0 1000 2000
5
0 0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500
Age (Ma) Age (Ma)

C 11RC20, Chiguinda Unit, n=109 D 99RS53, Chiguinda Unit, n=120

A A1 A A1
90
Lower Intercept (Ma)

1000
300 80
500
70
250 0
0 1000 2000 A2
Upper Intercept (Ma) 60
Likelihood

Likelihood

200
50

150 40 1000

30
100
Upper intercept 20 0
Lower intercept 0 1000 2000
50
10

0 0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500
Age (Ma) Age (Ma)
E 13AP54, Chiguinda Unit, n=88
250 A A2 B1
1000
A1

B
200 0
0 1000 2000
Likelihood

150

100

50

0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500
Age (Ma)

Fig. 5. Highest likelihood upper and lower intercepts of chords defined by discordant U\ \Pb data obtained from detrital zircons of the Chiguinda unit of Ecuador. Likelihoods were deter-
mined using the algorithm described in Reimink et al. (2016). Insets show the same data, with darker blue colours depicting the highest likelihood. Labels, A, B, C are intercept values of
distinct chords, where, for example, A depicts a lower intercept, while A1, A2 etc. depict different upper intercepts with the same lower intercept. (For interpretation of the references to
colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

4.2. Mafic and ultramafic rocks entrained within the Peltetec Fault Zone Cretaceous continental Alao Arc (Fig. 2). The 1–2 km wide fault zone
hosts a series of N-S oriented litho-tectonic slices ranging in thickness
The Peltetec Fault Zone separates parautochthonous continental from one to hundreds of meters (e.g. Litherland et al., 1994). We present
40
crust of the Chaucha Block (Guamote Sequence) from the Early Ar/39Ar, geochemical and isotopic data from metagabbros and an

86
R. Spikings, A. Paul, C. Vallejo et al. Gondwana Research 90 (2021) 77–101

A 99RS53, metasandstone, Chiguinda Unit N

346.5±10.6 Ma (1 grain) 540 2600
0.5 10 n=92 (±5% discordance)
0.085
Youngest zircon 346.5±10.6 Ma
500 2200
0.4 8 440
0.075 460 1800
206Pb/238U

0.3 6 400
420 1400
0.065

A2
380 0.2 1000 4 360

0.055 340 0.1 2 320

300
0.045 0.0 0
0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000

B 99RS55, biotite paraschist, Chiguinda Unit

N
540
2600
n=83 (±5% discordance)
0.085 324.7±4.7 Ma (1 grain) 0.5 8 Youngest zircon 324.7±4.7 Ma
500
2200
0.4 355
0.075 6
206Pb/238U

460
1800 345
420 0.3
0.065 1400 4 335
380 0.2
1000 325
B2

0.055 340 2
0.1 315

0.045 0.0 0
0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000

C 11RC27, hornblende quartz arrenite, Chiguinda Unit

0.085 10 n=81 (±5% discordance)
334.9±7.3 Ma (1 grain) 500 0.5 2600
N Youngest zircon 334.9±7.3 Ma
8
0.075 460 2200
0.4
206Pb/238U

1800 6
460
420
0.3
0.065 A3
1400
380 4
380
A2

0.2
1000
0.055 340 300
0.1 2

0.045 0.0 0
0.34 0.38 0.42 0.46 0.50 0.54 0.58 0.62 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000

D 13AP33, biotite paraschist, La Victoria Unit

10 n=84
540
0.5 2600 Youngest zircon 327.5±10.5 Ma
0.085 N
500
2200 8
0.4
206Pb/238U age (Ma)

460
206Pb/238U

0.075 460
1800
6
420 0.3
1400
0.065 380
380 0.2 1000 4

0.055 340
0.1 2 300
300
0.045 0.0 0
0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000
207Pb/235U 207Pb/235U 206Pb/238U age (Ma)

Fig. 6. Wetherill concordia and frequency histograms (only spots with ±5% discordance) showing the Kernel Density Distributions of spot U\ \Pb analyses of detrital zircons, acquired using
LA-ICPMS. The 206Pb/235U ages of the youngest three zircons are shown in the inset of the histograms. Labels in the concordia plots highlight best-fit chords that are also depicted in Fig. 7.

87
R. Spikings, A. Paul, C. Vallejo et al. Gondwana Research 90 (2021) 77–101

A 13AP53, Chiguinda Unit, n=120 B 99RS55, Chiguinda Unit, n=108

350 A A1
A A1 1000 1000
B B1
300 500
0 450 0
0 1000 2000 0 1000 2000
250 400 B2

Likelihood
350
200

Likelihood
300

150 250
200
100 150
100
50
50
0 0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500
Age (Ma) Age (Ma)

C 11RC27, Chiguinda Unit, n=118 D 13AP33, La Victoria Unit, n=120

Lower Intercept (Ma)

A A1 1000
B B1
150 A A1
A3
A2 150 0
125 0 1000 2000
Upper Intercept (Ma)
125
100 B2
Likelihood

Likelihood 100 B3
1000
75
75
Upper intercept
50 0 Lower intercept
0 1000 2000 3000
50
25
25
0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 0
Age (Ma)
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500
Age (Ma)

Fig. 7. Highest likelihood upper and lower intercepts of chords defined by discordant U\ \Pb data obtained from detrital zircons of the Chiguinda and La Victoria units of Ecuador. Likeli-
hoods were determined using the algorithm described in Reimink et al. (2016). Insets show the same data, with darker blue colours depicting the highest likelihood. Labels, A, B, C are
intercept values of distinct chords, where, for example, A depicts a lower intercept, while A1, A2 etc. depict different upper intercepts with the same lower intercept. (For interpretation
of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

ultramafic rock, which were sampled from two mapped fault slices
(Fig. 2; Tables 2–4; raw Ar isotopic data are presented in Supplementary
Table 6).
4.2.1. 40Ar/39Ar data
Step heating of plagioclase extracted from metagabbro 04PR68
yielded an imprecise plateau 40Ar/39Ar date of 581.8 ± 41.1 Ma
(Fig. 8a) obtained from three contiguous heating steps that span 78.4%
of 39Ar released. The elevated dates of the initial heating steps are diag-
nostic of the presence of excess 40Ar in these steps. The clustering of
data within inverse isochron space yields an extremely imprecise date
of 582.1 ± 497.1 Ma (MSWD 0.12), which nevertheless overlaps with
the plateau date. The initial 40Ar/36Ar intercept of 298.4 ± 169.5 is
also extremely imprecise due to clustering of the data in isotope corre-
lation space, although it overlaps with an atmospheric composition of
298.6 ± 0.3 (Lee et al., 2006), and thus does not prove the presence
of excess 40Ar. The age spectrum for plagioclase obtained from
metagabbro 04PR98 (Fig. 8b) shows evidence for 40Ar loss, which is
probably due to observable alteration to chlorite, although temperature
driven diffusive loss during low temperature Mesozoic events may also
contribute to the date gradient in the age spectrum. The three steps
degassed at the highest temperatures yield indistinguishable dates
with a weighted average of 565.5 ± 34.4 Ma, and we interpret these
to be the best estimate of the 40Ar/39Ar age of the plagioclase, although
they only span 29.7% of the total 39Ar released. These three steps also
yield an imprecise inverse isochron date of 230.2 ± 234.5 Ma (MSWD =
1.22), and an extremely imprecise initial 40Ar/36Ar value of 172.6 ±
238.4, which does not unequivocally reveal the presence of excess
40
Ar. Finally, plagioclase from peridotite 04PR116 yields a plateau date
of 585.5 ± 14.1 Ma (Fig. 8c), while the topology of the age spectrum
suggests the lowest temperature steps include excess 40Ar. The steps
that define the plateau yield an imprecise, albeit overlapping inverse
isochron date of 519.4 ± 135.8 Ma (MSWD = 0.74), with an
atmospheric initial 40Ar/36Ar value of 321.3 ± 51.3, which overlaps
with the atmospheric 40Ar/36Ar composition. Previous studies of
metagabbros from a juxtaposed faulted slice that hosts metagabbros
04PR68 and 98 yielded Early Cretaceous plateau ages (Fig. 2; Spikings
et al., 2015), and thus the three samples in this study were irradiated
for a duration anticipating Early Cretaceous plagioclase dates, ultimately
yielding poor precision for late Neoproterozoic, low K/Ca minerals. Re-
gardless of the poor precision, all three plagioclase plateau dates,
which span from 531 to 623 Ma (including the 2σ uncertainties;
566–586 Ma ignoring the uncertainties), are considered to be accurate
estimates of the time of crystallisation. These late Neoproterozoic
gabbros are assigned the name Huarguallá Gabbro unit, after the river
valley where they crop out.
4.2.2. Whole rock major oxide, trace, rare earth element and Nd isotopic
compositions
Whole rock cationic compositions of medium grained, greenschist
grade mafic rocks 04PR68 and 04PR116 (Huarguallá Gabbro unit)
places them within the olivine gabbro and ultramafic fields of

88
R. Spikings, A. Paul, C. Vallejo et al. Gondwana Research 90 (2021) 77–101

A. 04PR68 plagioclase B. 04PR98 plagioclase

800
3100 700

40Ar/39Ar date (Ma)

40Ar/39Ar date (Ma)

2500 600

1900 500
400
1300
581.8±41.1 Ma 300 565.5±34.4 Ma
700
200
100 100
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
39Ar released (%) 39Ar released (%)
8 0.10

6 0.08
K/Ca

K/Ca
4 0.06
0.001±0.001 Ma

2 0.04

0 0.02 0.043±0.006 Ma
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
39Ar released (%) 39Ar released (%)

4 4
36Ar/40Ar (10-3)

36Ar/40Ar (10-3)
3 3

2 2

1 1

0 0
0 2 4 6 8 10 0 2 4 6 8 10 12
39Ar/40Ar (10-3) 39Ar/40Ar (10-3)

C. 04PR116 plagioclase
2200
2000 4
40Ar/39Ar date (Ma)

1800
36Ar/40Ar (10-3)

1600 3
1400
1200 585.5±14.1 Ma 2
1000
800 1
600
400 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0 2 4 6 8 10
39Ar released (%) 39Ar/40Ar (10-3)
0.30

0.20
0.041±0.020 Ma
K/Ca

0.10

0.00
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
39Ar released (%)

Fig. 8. 40Ar/39Ar age spectra, K/Ca plots and inverse isochrons for the Huarguallá Gabbro unit.

Batchelor and Bowden (1985); Fig. 9a), respectively, which is consistent
with their mineralogical assemblages that are dominated by plagioclase,
pyroxene and olivine. Gabbro 04PR98 was not analysed, although its
mineralogical composition is extremely similar to coarse grained gabbro
04PR68, and is dominated by plagioclase (35% modal; bytownite - lab-
radorite) and pyroxene (15% augite and 45% enstatite, modal). The cat-
ionic composition of gabbro 04PR68 overlaps with fields defined by
gabbros, dolerites and basalts of the Egersund (~616 Ma; Bingen et al.,
1998) and Scandinavian Dyke (615–590 Ma; Tegner et al., 2019) com-
plexes of Baltica. Gabbro 04PR68 also has a similar cationic composition
to younger, Triassic rift-basalts of the Cordilleras Real and Central of
Ecuador and Colombia, respectively (Spikings et al., 2015, 2016).
A comparison of SiO2 and Zr/TiO2 places rocks 04PR68 and 04PR116
of the Huarguallá Gabbro unit in the sub-alkali basaltic field (Fig. 9b),
and thus they are similar to late Neoproterozoic rift-basalts of the Scan-
dinavian Dyke Complex in Baltica, and younger Triassic rift-basalts in
Ecuador and Colombia. However, they are less alkaline than rift-
related basalts of the Egersund Dyke Complex (Bingen and Demaiffe,
1999). N-MORB normalised trace element abundances of the
Huarguallá Gabbro unit (Fig. 9c) reveal slight enrichments in Light Ion
Lithophile Elements, and a lack of significant Nb, Ta and Ti anomalies as-
sociated with dehydration of a subducted slab, or significant contamina-
tion with a metasomatised continental lithospheric mantle, supporting
an origin within the asthenosphere. Similarly, N-MORB normalised

89
R. Spikings, A. Paul, C. Vallejo et al. Gondwana Research 90 (2021) 77–101

A B
SiO2 wt%
2600
60

6Ca+2Mg+Al (millications)
2400 Ecuador
Ultramafic rock Early Cretaceous
2200 Andesite continental arc (Alao)
2000 Triassic continental
55 rift (gabbros)

o
Gabbronorite Phonolite

br
1800 li

ab
ka ro Huarguallá
Al abb 04PR68

.G
Sub-alkali
1600 Gabbro

Ol

alt
G basalt
04PR116 Unit

li bas
1400 Gabbro 50 Baltica

Alka
1200 Syeno- Diorite Scandinavian Dyke
diorite Bas/Trach/ Complex (615-590 Ma)
1000 Neph
1000 1500 2000 2500 Late Neoproterozoic
3000 Egersund Dyke Complex
45
4Si - 11(Na+K)-2(Fe+Ti) (millications) 0.001 0.01 0.1 (~616 Ma)
Zr/TiO2

C D

100
04PR68
04PR116 10
04PR68
10 04PR116

1
1

N-MORB N-MORB
0.1 0.1
Rb Ba Th U Nb Ta La Ce Pb Pr Sr Nd Zr Hf Sm Eu Ti Tb Y Tm Yb La Ce Pr Nd Sm Eu Gd Tb Dy Ho Er Yb Lu

E Nb/La F Th/Yb
1.6 10
1.4 E-MORB seamounts Connental
1.2 crust
1.0 25% OIB
1 crust
0.8
MORB
0.6
connental arc E-MORB
0.4
0.2 oceanic
arc 0.1
0
0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 N-MORB
(La/Sm)n

0.01
0.1 1 10 100
Nb/Yb
G TiO2/Yb H
10
12

10
HNd
8
OIB array
(deep melng) OIB
6
1
MORB array 4
(shallow melng)
B
N-MORB E-MOR 2

0
5 10 15 20 25
0.1 -2
0.1 1 10 100 (La/Yb)n
Nb/Yb

Fig. 9. Chemical composition of gabbro 04PR68 and peridotite 04PR116 of the Huarguallá Gabbro unit. Multi-element plots are normalised to N-MORB (Sun and McDonough, 1989). Data
are also shown from Triassic rift gabbros (Spikings et al., 2015), Early Cretaceous continental (Alao) Arc (Spikings et al., 2015), Egersund Dyke Complex (Bingen and Demaiffe, 1999) and
the Scandinavian Dyke Complex (Tegner et al., 2019). Lithological discriminatory field in (A) are from Batchelor and Bowden (1985). The ocean-mantle array in (F) and (G) is from Pearce
(2008), and the compositions of N-MORB, E-MORB and OIB are from Sun and McDonough (1989). Average continental crust is from Taylor and McLennan (1995). Mixing line between
continental crust and N-MORB is taken from Tegner et al. (2019).

REE abundances (Fig. 9d) reveal a slight enrichment in LREE relative to rifting (Spikings et al., 2015, 2016), and basalts of the Scandinavian
HREE. REE abundances of peridotite 04PR116 are depleted relative to N- Dyke Complex (Tegner et al., 2019), while the REE content of peridotite
MORB. Gabbro 04PR68 yields similar trace and rare earth element com- 04PR116 is generally more depleted. A comparison of Nb/La and (La/
positions to meta-gabbros that formed during Triassic continental Sm)n places the Huarguallá Gabbro Unit within the E-MORB and

90
R. Spikings, A. Paul, C. Vallejo et al.
transitionary fields (Fig. 9e), which is consistent with an asthenospheric
source, and a lack of evidence for subduction of oceanic lithosphere.
These overlap with the field for the rift-related, Neoproterozoic Scandi-
navian Dyke Complex, and Triassic meta-gabbros in Ecuador. The sub-
alkali compositions of the Huarguallá Gabbro unit are depleted in (La/
Sm)n relative to basaltic andesites of the Early Cretaceous Alao Arc
within Ecuador (Spikings et al., 2015), further supporting an intra-
plate/rift origin. The Egersund Dyke Complex yields higher (La/Sm)n
values at similar Nb/La values than the Huarguallá Gabbro, and plots
within the seamount field, suggesting the magmas were derived from
a more fertile source. Nb/Yb ratios of ~2 reveal a more enriched source
region for the Huarguallá Gabbro Unit relative to N-MORB (Fig. 9f),
and are more typical of E-MORB compositions. Furthermore, these
rocks are slightly enriched in Th relative to Yb, compared to typical
values that define the MORB-OIB array, suggesting these asthenospheric
derived magmas have been contamination with ~25% continental crust
(Fig. 9f). Similarly, the enrichment in Th/Yb in some Triassic rift basalts
in Ecuador and Colombia was interpreted to be a result of crustal con-
tamination (Spikings et al., 2015, 2016). Basalts of the Egersund Dyke
Complex yield higher Nb/La and Th/Yb values compared to the
Huarguallá Gabbro and Scandinavian Dyke Complex, suggesting they
are derived from a deeper, less depleted mantle source, which has
stronger affinities towards a mantle plume setting (Tegner et al.,
2019) that slightly predates the onset of rifting (Fig. 9g).
Peridotite 04PR116 and gabbro 04PR68 yield whole rock εNd values
of −0.57 ± 0.6 and 2.4 ± 0.4 (Fig. 9h), respectively, when corrected for
their 40Ar/39Ar age estimates (Table 2), which are less radiogenic than
Triassic metagabbros that formed during Triassic continental rifting
(εNd 3.4–10.2; Spikings et al., 2015). The paucity of data renders any in-
terpretation tentative, although we suggest these reflect larger amounts
of assimilation of continental crust by mantle derived melts, which also
gave rise to slightly higher Th/Yb ratios in the Huarguallá Gabbro. This
would be consistent with mafic magmatism during a pre- or early con-
tinental rift phase, where asthenosphere derived melts percolate
through thicker crustal sections (Spikings et al., 2016).
5. Interpretation
5.1. Depositional Ages of the Sedimentary Rocks
Given the consistent overlap between the youngest single concor-
dant spot age, weighted mean age of the youngest three spots (Y3;
with very large uncertainties) and the youngest detrital zircon (YDZ)
age of Ludwig (2012), we assign the youngest single date as the maxi-
mum stratigraphic age of the sedimentary units (e.g. Dickinson and
Gehrels, 2009; Fig. 3). Our approach does not discount the possibility
that the youngest single spot dates have been affected by lead loss,
and thus we also consider the YC2 + (1σ) dates given that they are
more conservative estimates.
With the exception of a single quartz arenite (99RS38) that was
sampled close to the town of Loja, all of the sampled sedimentary
rocks of the Chiguinda Fm. yield youngest dates spanning between
318 and 358 Ma, and thus are considered to be Carboniferous (using
the timescale of Walker et al., 2013; Fig. 10). These dates are consistent
with fossilised microspores, which constrain deposition to the post-
Silurian (Owens, 1992). Similarly, paraschist of the La Victoria Unit of
the Amotape Complex yielded a Carboniferous youngest detrital zircon
age of 328 ± 11 Ma, which is significantly younger than the previous
zircon U/Pb estimate of deposition of 357 ± 15 Ma (Suhr et al., 2019).
More conservative (YC2 + (1σ) dates) estimates of the maximum age
of deposition of the Chiguinda Fm. range between 511 and 394 Ma
(Fig. 3). However, 6 out of 7 of these dates are older than 451 ± 7 Ma,
which is inconsistent with the presence of fossilised Silurian micro-
spores, assuming that they were accurately identified (Owens, 1992).
Therefore, we consider the Carboniferous dates to be the best estimates
of the maximum timing of deposition of the Chiguinda Fm., and
91
Gondwana Research 90 (2021) 77–101
tentatively assign the sampled rocks to the Carboniferous, and perhaps
younger. This conclusion is consistent with Chew et al. (2008) who ob-
tained a youngest detrital zircon age of 367 ± 12 Ma from a quartzite of
the Chiguinda Unit, which was sampled ~50 km south of our analysed
rocks, close to the Peruvian border (Fig. 1). Our new dates, combined
with those of Suhr et al. (2019), also assign the La Victoria Unit to the
Carboniferous. Therefore, we suggest that the La Victoria and Chiguinda
units formed in the same Carboniferous basin, given that i) the Amotape
Complex is considered to be a detached and rotated fault block that was
originally strike-parallel to the rocks exposed in the Cordillera Real (e.g.
Spikings et al., 2005), and ii) the Chiguinda and La Victoria units are lith-
ologically equivalent.
Quartz arenite 99RS38 is generally lithologically indistinguishable in
hand specimen from other rocks of the Chiguinda Fm. within the Cordil-
lera Real, although it yields a Silurian youngest detrital zircon age of
442 ± 9 Ma, and a Cambrian YC2 + (1σ) age of 506 ± 3 Ma. Given
that this is a single sedimentary rock, is lithologically similar to other
rocks of the Chiguinda Unit, and has extremely similar detrital zircon
age population to rocks of the Chiguinda Unit (Fig. 4), we suggest that
this rock also forms part of the Chiguinda Unit, although its minimum
detrital zircon age is not an accurate representation of the time of
deposition.
5.2. Correlations with Colombia and Peru
Devonian - Carboniferous sedimentary rocks in Colombia are mainly
preserved within structurally distinct inliers within the Eastern Cordil-
lera that also expose crystalline basement (inset of Fig. 1). These include
the shallow marine Cuche Fm. of the Floresta Massif (Fig. 10), which
yields maximum stratigraphic ages of ~409–384 Ma (U–Pb dates of de-
trital zircons; Horton et al., 2010; Cardona et al., 2016) that are consis-
tent with Late Devonian fossil assemblages (e.g. Janvier and Villarroel,
2000; Burrow et al., 2003). Detrital zircons from siliclastic rocks of the
Floresta Fm. of the Floresta Massif yield a maximum stratigraphic date
of ~362 Ma (Cardona et al., 2016). Horton et al. (2010) present U–Pb
dates of detrital zircons from sandstones of the overlying Capas Rojas
del Valle del Guataquia Fm. of the Floresta Massif, which yields a youn-
gest detrital zircon spot date of 347.1 ± 27.4 Ma, suggesting it extends
into the Carboniferous. Brachiopod assemblages were used to assign
the El Imam Fm. of the Cordillera Central to the Pennsylvanian
(Angiolini et al., 2003; Fig. 10). The Floresta Fm. of the Santander Massif
was initially considered to be Middle Devonian (Ward et al., 1974;
Boinet et al., 1986), although Moreno-Sanchez et al. (2007) suggest it
may be Carboniferous based on lithofacies correlations. Ward et al.
(1974) and Patarroyo and Senff (2001) assign a Late Carboniferous –
Permian depositional age to fossils found within sandstones and
carbonates of the Diamante Fm. of the Santander Massif. Further east,
shallow marine sedimentary rocks of the Llanos Orientales Basin yield
Early Carboniferous fossil assemblages (Duenas and Cesari, 2006).
Slates and shales of the Muchuchachi Fm. of the Merida Andes host
upper Carboniferous fossil assemblages (Odreman and Useche, 1997),
and is unconformably overlain by the Sabanetta Fm. (Fig. 10), which is
temporally constrained by conformably overlying Permian limestones
of the Palmarito Fm. (Laya and Tucker, 2012). The Devonian – Carbonif-
erous tectonic setting of the Floresta Massif is generally undetermined,
while Laya and Tucker (2012) suggest the Palmarito Fm. (Merida
Andes) was deposited in a foreland basin setting.
Carboniferous sedimentary rocks within Peru include lower sections
of the siliciclastic Yamayo Group, which is exposed along coastal Are-
quipa and was deposited within alluvial fans (detrital zircon U–Pb
concordia ages 337–320 Ma; Boekhout et al., 2013). These rocks host
the same brachiopod genus as those of the El Imam Fm. of the Cordillera
Central of Colombia (Angiolini et al., 2003), although these have not
been documented in the Chiguinda and La Victoria Fms. in Ecuador.
U–Pb concordia dates of detrital zircons extracted from siliclastic rocks
of the Ambo, Tarma-Copacabana and Oqoruro groups of the Eastern
R. Spikings, A. Paul, C. Vallejo et al. Gondwana Research 90 (2021) 77–101

Peru Ecuador Colombia Venezuela

Time Eastern Cordillera Cordillera Central, Eastern Cordillera, Santander Massif, Merida Andes
Amotape Cordillera Foreland
(Ma) Centre- North Sierra Nevada de Quetame, Floresta, Guajira Peninsula
Complex Real
South Santa Marta Garzon
225
Mitu * Moromoro* Tres Lagunas* Cajamarca Complex * Mucubaji Unit *
Las Palmas Paragneiss
Unit Unit Sabanilla La Secreta Mylonites
250 Huancayo,* m m m m Bocas Fm. *
Permian Parihuanca Rovira Complex *
m m El Encanto Orthogneiss
Oqoruro- * Malacatos Gaira Amphibolite
275 granites Complex m ? m ? Tiburon Fm. Palmarito Fm.
Ene
Tarma- * * Macuma
300 Huachón* Copacabana Unit Diamante Fm. Sabanea Fm.
Carboniferous

granite *
m m Tingo *
Machu P’ * Progresso * El Imam Fm.
325 Pataz Guaquia Fm. Mucuchachi Fm.
Ambo/Yamayo granites *
La Victoria & Chiguinda Unit
La Bocana Isimanchi Unit
350 units
Las Palmas Protolith *
Devonian

375 Tibet, Cuche and

*
Palenque Floresta Fms.
Unit Pumbuiza
Cabanillas Floresta Fm.
400 Unit
Gp.
*
425 Sitabamba
Sil.

E.g. La Soledad,
* Othogneiss * Bucaramanga Gneiss * Timotes
East Cusco * granites
Ordovician

450 Granite Berlin Orthogneiss

La Miel Orthogneiss
m m m m m m
475 m m m Rio Humea Granite
m E.g. Cerro Azul,
* * Otenga Granite La Raya
Marañon granites
500 Complex *
Cambrian

Leucosomes El Tigre
Unit Silgara Fm. * *
525 Sierra Nevada
Suite
40Ar/39Ar
550
Proterozoic

Pungal
575 Gabbro
Unit

600
Sierra Nevada
Protolith
1000 *
Pariah’ * * Las Margaritas *
M-J Granite* Los Mangos Paragneiss
1100 Paragneiss
*
Querobamba- *
1200 Sucre Guapotón *
Granite Fossil assemblage Orthogneiss
Zircon U/Pb (primary Jojoncito Paragneiss
1300 * protolith
or detrital) Dibulla Gneiss protolith
m m Regional *
1400 Metamorphism
M-J: Mariposa-Junin

Fig. 10. Stratigraphy of igneous and sedimentary units of the Cordillera Real and Amotape Complex of Ecuador, along with various structural elements within Peru, Colombia and
Venezuela. Regional metamorphic events are also shown. Data sources are, Ecuador: British Geological Survey (1989), Chew et al. (2008), Kennerley (1973), Litherland et al. (1994),
Owens (1992), Spikings et al. (2015), Suhr et al. (2019), Tschopp (1953), Peru: Boekhout et al. (2013, 2018), Chew et al. (2007, 2008), Miskovic et al. (2009), Colombia: Angiolini et al.
(2003), Boinet et al. (1986), Cardona et al. (2016), Cordani et al. (2005), Horton et al. (2010), Janvier and Villarroel (2000), Mantilla-Figueroa et al. (2012), Patarroyo and Senff (2001),
Piraquive (2017), Spikings et al. (2015, 2016), Villagomez et al. (2011), Vinasco et al. (2006), Ward et al. (1974), Venezuela: Aleman and Ramos (2000), Laya and Tucker (2012), Odremán
and Useche (1997), Van der Lelij et al. (2016).

Cordillera of Peru and coastal Arequipa suggest they were deposited proportion of detrital zircons with dates spanning 420–700 Ma,
during 335–270 Ma (Boekhout et al., 2018) within a back-basin setting. showing that Carboniferous basins in far northwestern South
A comparison of the Kernel Density Estimates of 206Pb/238U ages of America were clearly starved of Late Neoproterozoic – Early
detrital zircons in Carboniferous sedimentary rocks in Colombia Palaeozoic zircons relative to regions further south, perhaps
(Guatiquia Fm.), Ecuador (Chiguinda and La Victoria Fms.) and Peru supporting an interpretation that zircons with dates spanning
(Ambo Fm.) yields distinct differences (Fig. 11b, c), highlighting differ- 530–680 Ma may be far travelled and derived from arcs associated
ences in their bulk source regions. The proportion of Ordovician and with the closure of Pampia (E.g. Ramos, 1988; see section 5.3). Car-
Carboniferous zircons is significantly higher in the Ambo Fm. (Eastern boniferous basins in Colombia received a far greater proportion of
Cordillera of Peru), which is consistent with current abundant exposure Sunsas-aged zircons than regions within Ecuador and Peru, suggest-
of Ordovician and Carboniferous arc plutons along the Eastern Cordil- ing that Precambrian highlands were probably a prominent feature
lera, combined with their paucity in Ecuador and Colombia. The of the Palaeogeography of Carboniferous Colombia.
Guatiquia Fm. of Colombia (Eastern Cordillera) hosts the lowest

92
R. Spikings, A. Paul, C. Vallejo et al. Gondwana Research 90 (2021) 77–101

A Pampean Orogeny
Famatinian Arc
Continental Pan-African Orogeny Sunsas Amazonian Craton
Arc (Guayana Shield)

13AP53
13AP54

99RS55
Chiguinda and La Victoria

13AP33
La Victoria
11RC27
99RS53
99RS39
11RC20

99RS38 ?

0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500

All samples
60 Chiguinda,
La Victoria
N units
40 n=764

20

0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500
206Pb/238U age (Ma)
B C

60 60
Carboniferous sedimentary units
Guatiquia Fm., Colombia, N=78
Ambo Group, Peru, N=131
Chiguinda and La Victoria Fms., Ecuador, N=633
40 40
N

20 20

0 0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 500 1000
206Pb/238U age (Ma) 206Pb/238U age (Ma)

Fig. 11. A, B) A summary of the detrital zircon age populations (defined by Kernel Density distributions) for the Chiguinda and La Victoria units (not including previous work). Grey rect-
angles highlight the main age populations of the samples, collectively, while red bars indicate the main populations of individual rocks. The rocks are arranged in order according to the
maximum stratigraphic age of the rock as determined by the zircon U\ \Pb ages (shown by the dashed line). Blue, green and purple squares indicate concordia intercepts of best-fit chords,
where each colour indicates a different lower intercept, while squares of the same colour share the same lower intercept, with various upper intercepts. C) Kernel Density Estimates (KDE)
of detrital zircon ages determined with an adaptive KDE (Vermeesch, 2012) for Carboniferous sedimentary rocks in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, showing the true frequencies (Guatiquia
Fm., 1 rock, Horten et al., 2010; Chiguinda and La Victoria Fms., 9 rocks, this study; Ambo Group, 2 rocks, Boekhout et al., 2018). D) The same plot as C, where the KDE's of the Ambo Group
and the Guatiquia Fm. are normalised to the same quantity of spot analyses of the Chiguinda and La Victoria Fms. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the
reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

93
R. Spikings, A. Paul, C. Vallejo et al.
5.3. Origin of prominent peaks in detrital zircon spot ages
Kernel density distributions of zircon dates obtained from the
Chiguinda and La Victoria units reveal prominent peaks at
310–380 Ma, 440–680 Ma and 840–1100 Ma, with minor peaks at
1700–1860 Ma, 2010–2100 Ma, 2500–2580 Ma and 2660–2720 Ma
(Fig. 11). These sedimentary rocks also contain a small percentage of
zircons with dates that span between 700 and 800 Ma, although they
are more abundant in quartz arenites 99RS38 and 99RS53 of the Car-
boniferous Chiguinda unit (Figs. 4, 6).
5.3.1. >1700 Ma
A minor proportion of detrital zircons within the Carboniferous ba-
sins within Ecuador were derived from old primary sources with ages
of 1700–1860 Ma, 2010–2100 Ma, 2500–2580 Ma and 2660–2720 Ma
(Fig. 11). These age groups overlap with the timing of formation of mo-
bile belts that now form the Amazonian craton, including the Rio Negro-
Jurena Belt and Ventuari-Tapajós belts (1.55–1.98 Ga), the Maroni-
Itacaiunas belt (2.25–2.05 Ga) and the Central Amazon belt (>2.6 Ga;
See Chew et al., 2011 for a review of these dates). Detrital zircons with
similar ages also occur within craton-derived sedimentary rocks in the
Oriente Basin (e.g. Hollin and Napo Fms.; Martin-Gombojav and
Winkler, 2008; Gutierrez et al., 2019) of Ecuador. The Amazonian Craton
is the most likely candidate for the original source of Mesoproterozoic
detritus within the Carboniferous basins in Ecuador. Similarly, Horton
et al. (2010) proposed the same source regions for Palaeozoic
depocenters that are now exposed in the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia.
5.3.2. 840–1100 Ma
U–Pb zircon concordia dates clearly define a Kernel density peak
spanning between 840 and 1100 Ma in the Carboniferous Chiguinda
and La Victoria units (Fig. 11). Within Ecuador, this age population is
also prominent within Cambrian and Devonian – Carboniferous sedi-
mentary units of the Amotape Complex (Suhr et al., 2019), craton-
derived sedimentary rocks at the base of the Cretaceous Oriente Basin
(Martin-Gombojav and Winkler, 2008; Gutierrez et al., 2019), and Trias-
sic rift granitoids and Jurassic intra-arc basins of the Cordillera Real
(Spikings et al., 2015). The same-aged zircons are ubiquitous within
Cretaceous-Devonian sedimentary rocks (Horton et al., 2010; Cardona
et al., 2016) and Ordovician orthogneisses (Villagomez et al., 2011) of
the Eastern and Central cordilleras of Colombia, respectively, and
occur as xenocrysts in Cenozoic intrusions in the Sierra Nevada de
Santa Marta (Piraquive, 2017). Elsewhere within western Gondwana,
this age peak is also common within Ordovician igneous and sedimen-
tary units of the Eastern Cordillera of Peru (Chew et al., 2007, 2008;
Cardona et al., 2009; George et al., 2019). This Proterozoic peak is
most likely derived from a dissected belt of Sunsas-aged rocks that are
exposed in basement inliers along the Amazonian margin (Chew et al.,
2008). Basement inliers within northern Colombia (Fig. 10) are
interpreted to be late Mesoproterozoic arcs that were metamorphosed
during collision events at ~1 Ga (e.g. Restrepo-Pace et al., 1997;
Cordani et al., 2005). These include the Guapotón Gneiss (Garzón Mas-
sif, 1158 ± 22 Ma with overgrowths at 1000 ± 25 Ma; Cordani et al.,
2005), Las Margaritas paragneiss (Garzón Massif, 1015 ± 8 Ma;
Cordani et al., 2005), and the Dibulla Gneiss (~1140 and ~ 1000 Ma
metamorphic ages; Cordani et al., 2005), Muchachitos Gneiss
(~1000 Ma metamorphic age; Piraquive, 2017 Ma) and Buritaca Gneiss
(~900 Ma; Piraquive, 2017 Ma) of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.
Miskovic et al. (2009) report U–Pb crystallisation ages ranging between
1123 and 985 Ma from granitoids within the Eastern Cordillera of Peru
(Fig. 10), which are considered to be an extension of the collisional
Sunsás province in eastern Bolivia. Gneisses within the Arequipa-
Antofalla basement yield metamorphic zircon U–Pb ages of 1.2–1.0 Ma
(Martignole and Martelat, 2003), and granulites within the western Si-
erras Pampeanas give U–Pb zircon ages of ~1.2 Ma (e.g. Casquet et al.,
2006).
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Gondwana Research 90 (2021) 77–101
5.3.3. 700–800 Ma
A relatively minor quantity of detrital zircons yield concordia dates
that span between 700 and 800 Ma (Fig. 11), although an origin within
northwest Gondwana is enigmatic because no contemporaneous mag-
matic events are recorded within Venezuela, Colombia or Ecuador.
A-type plutons with U–Pb zircon concordia ages of 752–691 Ma are re-
corded in the Eastern Cordillera of Peru (Miskovic et al., 2009), and
these may have shed detritus into Palaeozoic basins of western Gond-
wana. Baldo et al. (2006) report A-type orthogneisses in the Laurentian
Precordillera Terrane in northwestern Argentina, which yield a zircon
U–Pb concordia age of 774 ± 6 Ma. A-type granites and bimodal volca-
nic rocks in the Appalachian mountains yield crystallisation ages of
765–680 Ma (Tollo et al., 2004). Baldo et al. (2006) and Miskovic et al.
(2009) suggest these rocks formed during an early and perhaps failed
rifting phase along eastern Laurentia within Rodinia. Finally, the Brasília
belt hosts syn-collisional granitoids with dates spanning between 0.8
and 0.7 Ma (Pimentel et al., 1999), although these are distal to western
Gondwana, and a paucity of detritus from the intervening Amazonian
craton renders this as an unlikely dominant source region (e.g. Chew
et al., 2007).
5.3.4. Ordovician – Ediacaran 440–680 Ma
The most prominent Kernel density peak in all of the analysed sedi-
mentary rocks of the Chiguinda and La Victoria units spans 440–680 Ma
(Fig. 11), with the highest frequencies at ~540–600 Ma. Zircons with
206
Pb–238U dates of 440–680 Ma are frequently found in Ecuador, in-
cluding within Triassic S-type anatectites (Spikings et al., 2015) and
the Isimanchi Unit (Chew et al., 2008) of the Cordillera Real, the Palen-
que Mélange Division, El Tigre, Limón Playa and La Bocana units of the
Amotape Complex (Suhr et al., 2019), and the dominantly craton de-
rived Early Cretaceous Hollin Fm. of the Oriente Basin (Martin-
Gombojav and Winkler, 2008; Gutierrez et al., 2019).
The Pampean Orogeny and the Famatinian arc (~530–415 Ma; e.g.
see zircon U–Pb ages in Pankhurst et al., 2000; Chew et al., 2007;
Bahlburg et al., 2009; Mišković et al., 2009; Villagómez et al., 2011;
Van der Lelij et al., 2016) formed during subduction of Pacific litho-
sphere beneath South America subsequent to the opening of the Iapetus
Ocean, and arc magmatic rocks are recorded in Venezuela, Colombia,
Peru and Argentina, although they are not exposed in Ecuador
(Fig. 10). Ordovician magmatism has also been recognised in the
Chiapas Massif and Maya Mountains (Maya Block; 482–405 Ma;
Steiner and Walker, 1996; Weber et al., 2008; Estrada-Carmona et al.,
2012), the Rabinal Complex and Altos Cuchumatanes (Guatemala;
~462–453 Ma; Ortega-Obregón et al., 2008; Solari et al., 2010) and the
Acatlán Complex (478–442 Ma; Keppie et al., 2008). A paucity of high
quality geochemical data from these regions within North America has
led to contrasting tectonic interpretations. For example, Estrada-
Carmona et al. (2012) and Keppie et al. (2012) suggest that Early Ordo-
vician magmatism formed during rifting in a transtensional regime,
followed by arc magmatism in the Late Ordovician. Alternatively,
Solari et al. (2013) and Van der Lelij et al. (2016)) suggest the Ordovi-
cian rocks formed within a continental arc setting. Regardless, Ordovi-
cian magmatic units have not been recorded in Ecuador, and within
Colombia they are only found within the northern Cordillera Central
(440–470 Ma, La Miel orthogneiss; Villagómez et al., 2011; Martens
et al., 2014), and the Quetame, Floresta and Santander Massifs
(Horton et al., 2010; Mantilla-Figueroa et al., 2012; Van der Lelij et al.,
2016). Similarly, Ordovician arc plutons are extensively exposed
throughout the Merida Andes of Venezuela (Van der Lelij et al., 2016;
Fig. 10). Thus, it is likely that zircons with crystallisation ages younger
than ~515 Ma within Carboniferous sedimentary rocks in Ecuador
were derived from Famatinian-aged units that surrounded Ecuadorian
crust to the south, north, and west.
Detrital zircons with dates of 530–680 Ma are also frequently found
in autochthonous sedimentary rocks from the northern and central
western Amazonian margin in Peru (Chew et al., 2008; George et al.,
R. Spikings, A. Paul, C. Vallejo et al.
2019), although their magmatic source regions are cryptic given that
few magmatic source regions with late Neoproterozoic crystallisation
ages are found along western Gondwana. Alternatively, mobile belts
that formed during the protracted Brasiliano/Pan African orogeny,
which are mainly exposed in eastern South America may represent via-
ble sources. We interpret new 40Ar/39Ar dates from the rift-related
Huarguallá Gabbro unit exposed along the Peltetec Fault Zone in
Ecuador to yield crystallisation ages of ~585 Ma, although these are
dominantly mafic rocks, and it is unlikely they represent a source of
abundant zircons. Similarly, Omarini et al. (1999) report undated
mafic rocks intercalated within the Puncoviscana fold belt in northwest-
ern Argentina that is stratigraphically constrained to ~600–540 Ma, al-
though these mafic units are also unlikely to be an abundant source of
zircons. Ramos (1988) propose that a late Neoproterozoic magmatic
arc may exist within the eastern Sierras Pampeanas, while Escayola
et al. (2007) record ophiolitic remnants of a Neoproterozoic back-arc
basin in the same region. Chew et al. (2008) postulated the existence
of a buried late Neoproterozoic magmatic arc, which may be contiguous
with the Brasiliano-aged Tucavaca Belt in Bolivia (Litherland et al.,
1994), to account for a significant detrital age peak at 550–650 Ma in
Palaeozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary rocks of the Eastern Cordillera
of Peru. However, the same authors base this interpretation on the exis-
tence and continuation of late Neoproterozoic granitoids in Venezuela,
which have since been shown to be Ordovician (Van der Lelij et al.,
2016). Assuming that the Huarguallá Gabbro unit represents rift-
related magmatism at ~585 Ma, then arc magmatism at >600 Ma
along the boundaries of the Iapetus Ocean is unlikely to exist in the pres-
ent subsurface of the foreland in Ecuador. This is consistent with evi-
dence for rifting along the Laurentian margin during 620–550 Ma (e.g.
Cawood et al., 2001), which is generally regarded to have separated
Laurentia and west Gondwana (e.g. Li et al., 2007). Rather, we propose
that a significant quantity of zircons older than ~530 Ma within autoch-
thonous sedimentary rocks of Ecuador may be either far travelled from
arcs associated with the closure of Pampia, or are derived from contem-
poraneous orogenic belts that are now exposed within eastern South
America.
5.3.5. Carboniferous – Devonian (310–380 Ma)
No igneous units have been recorded in Ecuador or Colombia with
crystallisation ages that span 310–380 Ma (Fig. 10), and thus they
were either never present or formed and are either buried or not pre-
served. Alternatively, the Carboniferous – Permian Arc of the Eastern
Cordillera of Peru (360–285 Ma, Mišković et al., 2009; Fig. 10) may
have shed Carboniferous zircons into the Chiguinda and La Victoria
Fms. For example, the Balsas-Callangate and Pataz plutons (~7–8°S) of
the Eastern Cordillera (Peru) are currently located ~350 km to the
southeast of the Chiguinda Unit in Ecuador. Carboniferous zircons may
have also been derived from continental crust that rifted from north-
western South America during the Triassic (Spikings et al., 2016;
Spikings and Paul, 2019). Carboniferous magmatism is currently discon-
tinuously exposed between California and Guatemala (e.g. Dickinson
and Lawton, 2001), within the present North American Plate. Carbonif-
erous units include a tholeiitic to calc-alkaline arc in the Acatlán Com-
plex (Mixteca Terrane; Kirsch et al., 2012; zircon U–Pb 306–289 Ma),
continental arc plutons that intrude the microcontinent of Oaxaquia
(e.g. see references in Ortega-Obregón et al., 2014, U–Pb zircon
310–287 Ma), granitic intrusions of the Altos Cuchumatanes (Maya
Block) in Guatemala (Solari et al., 2009; zircon U–Pb 313–318 Ma),
the Aserradero Rhyolite of the Sierra Madre terrane (Stewart et al.,
1999; zircon U–Pb 334 ± 39 Ma), and the La Pezuña Rhyolite of the Coa-
huila Terrane (López, 1997; zircon U–Pb 331 ± 4 Ma). Kirsch et al.
(2012) and Ortega-Obregón et al. (2014) utilised a limited geochemical
dataset to suggest these rocks formed within a continental arc setting
that commenced as early as ~330 Ma. Several reconstructions (e.g.
Elías-Herrera and Ortega-Gutiérrez, 2002) place the Acatlán and Oaxa-
can complexes, and the Maya Block outboard of northwestern South
95
Gondwana Research 90 (2021) 77–101
America during the Carboniferous – Permian, accounting for the lack
of Carboniferous, and the paucity of Permian arc rocks with present-
day Colombia and Ecuador (e.g. see Spikings et al., 2016). Therefore,
we suggest that the Chiguinda and La Victoria units formed in the Car-
boniferous back-arc. Prior to ~330 Ma, Carboniferous zircons may have
drained northwards from arc magmatism that is currently preserved
in Peru, whereas after ~330 Ma Carboniferous zircons may have also
been sourced from regions that now form southwestern North
America, and were located to the west. The contemporaneity of proxi-
mal arc magmatism and the age of the youngest single detrital zircons
support the conclusion that these youngest dates are reasonable esti-
mates of the time of deposition of the Chiguinda and La Victoria
units. The Tarma-Copacabana and Ambo groups of the southern Eastern
Cordillera and Arequipa regions of Peru are also considered to have
formed in a Carboniferous back-arc (Fig. 10; Boekhout et al., 2013), al-
though it is likely that this southern region of the Peruvian arc was re-
moved by subduction erosion (Boekhout et al., 2018), as opposed to
rifting.
5.4. Concordia Intercepts
Approximately 15–30% of the spot U–Pb dates obtained from all of
the analysed samples are more than 5% discordant with respect to
206
Pb/238U and 207Pb/235U dates. The discordant dates yield complex ar-
rays in Wetherill Concordia space (Figs. 4 and 6), and statistical analysis
(Reimink et al., 2016) has been used to seek best-fit chords to investi-
gate the possibility that lower and upper intercept dates (Figs. 5
and 7) can facilitate an interpretation of the pre-Triassic geological his-
tory of Ecuador. Fig. 11 presents a comparison of the best-fit upper and
lower intercept dates with maximum stratigraphic ages and detrital zir-
con age (Kernel density) groups. The algorithm of Reimink et al. (2016)
generates a discrete set of chords with pre-defined upper and lower
Wetherill concordia intercepts, which are evenly spaced in time. The
likelihood of each chord is assessed by generating a summed probability
density contributed by zircon U–Pb analyses.
A majority of samples yield upper and lower intercept dates for best-
fit chords that are older than the youngest detrital zircon age constraints
on the maximum depositional ages of the rocks (Fig. 11). These results
reflect distinct periods when the U–Pb isotopic system of primary mag-
matic zircons was disturbed to varying degrees. The discordant data in
some sedimentary units can be fit with a single common lower intercept
(11RC27), whereas others require two (13AP33, 99RS55) or more
(99RS38) lower intercepts. A set of chords span between a lower inter-
cept ranging between 435 and 555 Ma and an upper intercept that
spans between 1010 and 1210 Ma, in all rock samples. These chords re-
flect an isotopic disturbance of zircons that were derived from Sunsas-
aged belts (see above) during Ordovician – Cambrian orogenesis and
Famatinian arc magmatism. Other chords with lower intercepts at
435–515 Ma have upper intercepts at ~1900, ~2090, ~2130, ~2740
and ~ 2800 Ma, reflecting a Palaeoproterozoic and Archaean origin,
and subsequent partially to fully isotopic resetting during Ordovician –
Cambrian orogenesis and Famatinian arc magmatism. With the excep-
tion of quartz arenite 99RS38 the lack of potential chord intercepts be-
tween 600 and 800 Ma suggests a general absence of disturbance of
Proterozoic and Archaean zircon populations during 600–800 Ma. This
observation supports the premise that arc magmatism may have been
absent north of the present day Huancabamba Deflection during
~600–800 Ma, and thus zircons with concordia dates spanning between
~800–600 Ma are far travelled. Metasandstone 13AP54 (Chiguinda
Unit) yields two chords with a common lower intercept at ~325 Ma,
and upper intercepts of ~945 Ma and 1050 Ma. The lower intercept
overlaps with the youngest single concordia age of 318 ± 8 Ma, suggest-
ing the Carboniferous arc reset the isotopic composition of Sunsas-aged
zircons to various degrees, during their incorporation into Carbonifer-
ous magmas, highlighting the Sunsas-age of the basement rocks that
host the arc (Eastern Cordillera of Peru, Mišković et al., 2009; Oaxaquia;
R. Spikings, A. Paul, C. Vallejo et al.
Keppie et al., 2003). Finally, rocks 99RS55 (Chiguinda Unit), 99RS38
(Chiguinda Unit) and 13AP33 (La Victoria Unit) yield lower intercept
ages of ~270 Ma, ~195 Ma and ~ 110 Ma, respectively, reflecting
post-depositional disturbance to the U–Pb system (Fig. 11). These
time periods coincide with spatially sporadic Permian, Jurassic and
Early Cretaceous continental arc magmatism in the Northern Andes, in-
cluding compressional events at 120–110 Ma (Spikings et al., 2016,
Spikings and Paul, 2019).
5.5. Tectonic Synthesis (Late Neoproterozoic – Carboniferous)
Several studies have correlated magmatic and metamorphic events
along western Gondwana from prior to the Iapetus Wilson Cycle to
the evolution of western South America within the Pacific realm. How-
ever, a lack of data from Palaeozoic sequences in Ecuador forced geo-
graphic interpolations, which we can now improve.
Gabbros of the newly named Huarguallá Gabbro unit, which is ex-
posed along slivers within the anastomosing Peltetec Fault Zone
crystallised during 565.5 ± 34.3–581.8 ± 41.1 Ma, yield E-MORB type
signatures with evidence for crustal contamination and formed in a
rift environment. These rocks are coeval with syn-rift alkaline lava
flows that are intercalated within the intra-continental, Puncoviscana
Fold Belt in northwestern Argentina, which formed during rift-drift tec-
tonics during ≥600–535 Ma (Omarini et al., 1999). Consequently, the
simplest explanation for the Huarguallá Gabbro unit is it also formed
during attenuation of Gondwanan crust, that ultimately lead to the for-
mation of Iapetus oceanic lithosphere by ~550 Ma. In this sense, the
Huarguallá Gabbro unit is the only documented direct record of Iapetan
rift-related igneous rocks north of Argentina, and thus provides a crucial
temporal record of the rifting phase that heralded the opening of the
Central Iapetus
Magmatic
Province
Laurentia
Future
Iapetus
GD 531-586 Ma
Puncoviscana
° S
30 600 - 540 Ma
Amazonia
623 - 531 Ma
Huarguallá
Gabbro
Fig. 12. Tectonic setting of Laurentia, Baltica and Amazonia at the end of the Neoproterozoic, according to Tegner et al. (2019), showing the Central Iapetus Magmatic Province, and
associated mafic and kimberlite assemblages (white dashed line; modified from Tegner et al., 2019). ED: Egersund Dyke Complex (Bingen et al., 1998), GD: Grenville Dyke Complex,
LR: Long Range Dyke Complex, SD; Scandinavian Dyke Complex (Tegner et al., 2019).
96
Gondwana Research 90 (2021) 77–101
Iapetus Ocean. A-type plutons in the Eastern Cordillera of Peru
(Miskovic et al., 2009), Precordillera Terrane (Baldo et al., 2006) and
the Appalachian mountains (Tollo et al., 2004) that formed during
774–691 Ma may reveal an early albeit failed rifting phase along eastern
Laurentia within Rodinia. Coeval rocks are not exposed north of Peru,
although they were minor source regions for sediments that were
ultimately deposited within Carboniferous basins in northwestern
Gondwana.
Intrusion of the Huarguallá Gabbro unit temporally overlaps with
mafic intrusions, carbonatites and kimberlites that collectively form
the Central Iapetus Magmatic Province (CIMP; Ernst and Bell, 2010;
Tegner et al., 2019; Fig. 12). According to Tegner et al. (2019), the
CIMP includes the Grenville and Adirondack dyke swarms in Laurentia
with ages of ~590 Ma (Kamo et al., 1995), which yield compositions
consistent with a flood-basalt origin, and a younger group at ~565 Ma
(Hodych and Cox, 2007; Chew and Van Staal, 2014) that yields an
ocean island basalt affinity. Within Europe, the CIMP is represented by
older dyke swarms in Egersund, Norway (616 ± 3 Ma; Bingen et al.,
1998), Dalradian, Scotland (601 ± 4 Ma; Fettes et al., 2011) and the
Scandinavian Dyke Complex (610–590 Ma; Tegner et al., 2019). Youn-
ger ultramafic and mafic plutons are exposed in the Seiland Igneous
Complex, Norway (580–560 Ma; Roberts et al., 2006), which are consid-
ered to have Ocean Island Basalt affinities. Our new dates are consistent
with the continental reconstruction of Tegner et al. (2019) at 615 Ma,
which juxtaposes the basement of the northern Andes with mafic
dyke complexes in Baltica (as part of Panotia; Fig. 12). The 40Ar/39Ar
dates of gabbro 04PR98 (565.5 ± 34.4 Ma) and peridotite 04PR116
(585.5 ± 14.1 Ma) of the Huarguallá Gabbro unit post-date the
crystallisation age (616 ± 3 Ma; U–Pb Baddeleyite; Bingen et al.,
1998) of basaltic, tholeiitic dykes at Egersund by 30–50 Ma, although
615 Ma
Kimberlites
613-535 Ma
Dykes, lavas
616-550 Ma
LR 615 Ma
SD 615-590 Ma
ED 616 Ma
Baltica
R. Spikings, A. Paul, C. Vallejo et al. Gondwana Research 90 (2021) 77–101

A 535 Ma Early Cambrian B 500 Ma Late Cambrian

El Tigre Fm. deposited along Iapetus passive margin El Tigre Fm. deposited along Iapetus passive margin

TUS
I APE
ET
ET

IAPETUS
S
IAPETU

30°S 30°S

C 450 Ma Middle Ordovician D 415 Ma Late Silurian E 370 Ma Late Devonian

Arco Iris Unit, deposited in Famatinian back-arc? Establishment of a passive margin

EIC
RH
C
EI 30°S
30°S
RH

Merida
Santander Cuche
Quetame Palenque
La Miel Pumbuiza
Cuche
Palenque
30° Pumbuiza
S Cabanillas

F 340 Ma Early Carboniferous G 280 Ma Early Permian

Sedimentation within a Carboniferous back-arc? Active margin record (now segmented) in N. Andes

30°S

PALAEOTE
THYS

Rovira
Malacatos 30°S
Guaquia
Chiguinda
La Victoria
Isimanchi
Ambo

Fig. 13. Plate reconstructions for the Palaeozoic margin of northwestern Gondwana, modified and simplified from Cocks and Torsvik (2006) and Van der Lelij et al. (2016). ET:
El Tigre unit.

97
R. Spikings, A. Paul, C. Vallejo et al.
this is consistent with i) Phanerozoic rift-to-drift transitions, which typ-
ically span ~40 Ma, and ii) the conclusions of Tegner et al. (2019), who
compiled geochemical and geochronological data from the CIMP to sug-
gest that it records a rift-to-drift transition during ~616–590 Ma. Fur-
thermore, despite the paucity in geochemical data, a comparison of
the elemental and Nd isotopic compositions of the Scandinavian
and Egersund Dyke complexes with the Huarguallá Gabbro unit sug-
gests these ultramafic and mafic rocks formed with a mantle plume
setting at ~616 Ma, which progressed towards early continental rifting
within ~50 Ma.
Famatinian arc magmatism (Figs. 13a – d) commenced along
western Gondwana at ~530 Ma. We consider the lack of Cambrian and
Ordovician magmatism in Ecuador to be a consequence of its inboard,
back-arc position (Fig. 13c) due to the presence of basement rocks
that now form part of southwestern North America (e.g. Spikings
et al., 2016). A detailed reconstruction is beyond the scope of this
work, although Ordovician magmatism is recorded in the Maya Block
(e.g. Solari et al., 2010) and the Acatlán Complex (Keppie et al., 2008),
which rifted from Gondwana during 245–216 Ma (Spikings et al.,
2016). Abundant Ordovician magmatism within the Merida Andes
and Santander Massif, along with minor exposures in the Central Cordil-
lera, Quetame and Floresta Massifs of Colombia suggests that these
rocks originated within an arc zone located north of the outboard ter-
ranes (Fig. 13c), which was distal to the Triassic rift. This interpretation
is consistent with the lack of Triassic rift-related rocks in these units. The
oldest Ordovician magmatism recorded in the outboard blocks occurred
at ~480 Ma, suggesting these blocks may have faced a Cambrian passive
margin (e.g. Fig. 13b), and subduction was delayed relative to regions to
the west (e.g. Eastern Cordillera of Peru), and south (e.g. Merida Andes
of Venezuela). Thus, the weakly metamorphosed quartzites, wackes and
lutites of the Cambrian El Tigre Fm. (maximum depositional age 512 ±
21 Ma; Suhr et al., 2019) may have been deposited in a passive margin,
which received detritus from distal arcs.
Sandstones of the Devonian(?) Pumbuiza Unit that forms part of the
basement of the Oriente Basin, and the Palenque Unit (maximum depo-
sitional age of 391 ± 17 Ma; Suhr et al., 2019), which is exposed in the
northern Amotape Massif may be coeval with deposition of the
Cabanillas Gp. in Peru, and the Floresta, Cuche and Tibet Fms. in
Colombia, while no Devonian units have been identified in the Merida
Andes (Fig. 10). This period coincides with a Devonian magmatic gap
and a passive margin environment along western Gondwana
(Fig. 13e), which is reflected in a paucity of Devonian-aged detrital zir-
cons in Carboniferous basins in Ecuador (this study), Peru (Chew et al.,
2007; George et al., 2019) and farther south (e.g. Bahlburg et al., 2009).
However, Horton et al. (2010) found a peak in Devonian-aged detrital
zircons in Devonian sedimentary rocks in Colombia, with high Th/U ra-
tios that allude to an igneous provenance, leading them to conclude that
a Devonian arc may have shed detritus into northwestern Gondwana.
With the exception of a rhyolite within the volcanic Bladen Fm.
(406 + 7/−6 Ma; Martens, 2010), and granites of the Mountain Pine
Ridge (420–405 Ma; Steiner and Walker, 1996) of the Maya Mountains,
Maya Block, Devonian-aged magmatism within southwestern North
America is sparse. However, Martens et al. (2010) suggest that Devo-
nian magmatism may be extensive in the subsurface of the Maya
Block, although a lack of geochemical data precludes a tectonic
interpretation.
Carboniferous magmatism occurred within the Acatlán and Oaxacan
complexes, and the Maya Block during 334–289 Ma (Kirsch et al., 2012;
Ortega-Obregón et al., 2014; Solari et al., 2010), and the Eastern Cordil-
lera of Peru during 360–285 Ma (Miskovic et al., 2009), although it is
lacking in the present-day cordilleras of Ecuador and Colombia
(Fig. 10), presumably due to an inboard, back-arc position (Fig. 13f).
The lack of Carboniferous magmatism in the Merida Andes (Van der
Lelij et al., 2016) reflects the consumption of Rheic oceanic lithosphere
beneath the North American Plate (e.g. Nance et al., 2010), and passive
margin conditions along northern South America. Siliclastic rocks were
98
Gondwana Research 90 (2021) 77–101
deposited within Carboniferous basins in northwestern Gondwana,
which have been subsequently tectonically dissected, forming the
siliclastic Chiguinda and Isimanchi (Cordillera Real), and La Victoria
(Amotape Massif) Fms. within Ecuador, and the El Imam and Guatiquia
Fms. in Colombia (Fig. 10).
Carboniferous to Permian sedimentary successions in the Merida
Andes (Fig. 10) have been interpreted to form part of a foreland basin
(Laya and Tucker, 2012) that formed during the closure of the Rheic
Ocean and the development of the Alleghenian Orogen (Fig. 13g). How-
ever, the tectonic setting of Carboniferous units in Ecuador and
Colombia has not been well constrained, while Permian sedimentary
rocks have not been identified within the cordilleras. Vinasco et al.
(2006) and Piraquive (2017) suggested that a regional metamorphic
event affected Permian intrusions in the Cordillera Central and Sierra
Nevada de Santa Marta, respectively, at ~278 Ma. However, there is no
clear evidence that zircon growth at ~278 Ma had a metamorphic origin
(e.g. Th/U ratios are close to 1; Piraquive et al., 2017). On the contrary,
garnets within the La Secreta Mylonites of the Inner Santa Marta Meta-
morphic Belt (northern Colombia) reveal clear evidence for regional
scale metamorphism at ~250 Ma, while contemporary zircons with
Th/U ratios of ~0.1 supports a metamorphic origin (Piraquive, 2017),
which coincides with high-temperature metamorphism in the Maya
(Weber et al., 2007) and Chortis (Ratschbacher et al., 2009) blocks. Col-
lisional events at ~250 Ma (Spikings et al., 2016) may be responsible for
Permian sedimentary gaps in the Cordilleras Real (Ecuador) and Central
(Colombia), as a distal response to continent-continent collision. Perm-
ian arc magmatism occurred during 298–253 Ma within northwestern
Gondwana (including the contemporary conjugate margin that cur-
rently forms part of the North America Plate), although the abundance
of Permian intrusions decreases from northern Colombia to Ecuador.
Only one Permian magmatic rock has been identified within Ecuador
(Rovira Complex; Spikings et al., 2016; Fig. 10), and thus it is likely
that present-day Ecuadorian continental crust mainly existed in the
Permian back-arc.
6. Conclusions
1. The Huarguallá Gabbro unit is defined as a series of olivine bearing
gabbros and ultramafic rocks exposed in fault bounded slivers of
the anastomosing Peltetec Fault Zone along the western flank of
the Cordillera Real. Argon isotope data from plagioclase yields
40
Ar/39Ar dates that span between 565.5 ± 34.4 Ma and 581.8 ±
41.1 Ma, which are interpreted as crystallisation ages and reveal
the presence of late Neoproterozoic mafic rocks, regardless of the
poor precision. Geochemical compositions are consistent with an as-
thenospheric magma source that was contaminated with ~25% of
continental crust in a rift setting. The Huarguallá Gabbro forms part
of the geographically dispersed Central Iapetus Magmatic Province,
and its location in Ecuador is consistent with the continental recon-
struction of Tegner et al. (2019), which juxtaposes northwestern
Gondwana with late Neoproterozoic dyke complexes within Baltica.
Stratigraphic constraints on the formation of rift-basalts of the
Puncoviscana Belt (Argentina), suggests they formed within the
same setting, during the rift stage of the Iapetus Wilson Cycle.
2. The Cambrian, siliclastic El Tigre Unit of the Amotape Complex in
Ecuador may have been deposited prior to the onset of arc
magmatism in either the conjugate margins of the Maya Block and
Mixteca Terrane, and to the west (Peru) and south (Venezuela),
and thus is considered to be a passive margin sequence.
3. Ecuadorian lithosphere was in the back-arc during the Ordovician,
while the arc rocks are currently preserved in dispersed locations
within the conjugate margins of the Maya Block and the Acatlán
Complex (Mixteca Terrane). Consequently, we do not predict that
Ordovician arc rocks form part of the contemporary basement to
Ecuador. Ordovician intrusions form a substantial component of the
basement of the Merida Andes, Santander Massif, and dispersed
R. Spikings, A. Paul, C. Vallejo et al.
inliers in the cordilleras of Colombia. These crustal blocks may have
been located north of the outboard conjugate Maya, Mixteca and
Oaxaquia blocks, and thus resided within the Ordovician arc, which
was dismembered by younger tectonic events.
4. Maximum depositional age constraints combined with fossil assem-
blages suggest the Chiguinda and La Victoria siliciclastic units were
deposited during the Carboniferous. The complete lack of Carbonifer-
ous plutons in Ecuador and Colombia is attributed to a back-arc posi-
tion to the relict conjugate margins of the Maya Block, Oaxaquia and
the Mixteca Terrane, while some Carboniferous detritus may have
been sourced from the Carboniferous arc in Peru. The lack of Carbon-
iferous arc magmatism in the Merida Andes reflects the subduction
of remnants of the Rheic Ocean beneath Laurentia during the amal-
gamation of Pangaea.
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.gr.2020.10.009.
Credit author statement
Richard Spikings: Raised funds, devised the concept, student super-
vision, sampled rocks, data acquisition and reduction, wrote the
manuscript.
Andre Paul: Sampled rocks, data acquisition and reduction.
Cristian Vallejo: Field work collaborator.
Pedro Reyes: Sampled rocks, Field work collaborator.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influ-
ence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful for the assistance of Bernado Beate during
field work and logistical planning in Ecuador. The manuscript was im-
proved by the useful and thorough reviews of Dr. Sarah George and an
anonymous reviewer. Funds for the project were awarded to RS by
the Swiss National Science Foundation (grants 200020_134443 and
200020_146332).
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