Journal of Structural Geology 58 (2014) 8e21

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Journal of Structural Geology

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Evolution of the stress and strain fields in the Eastern Cordillera,

Colombia
Obi Egbue a, c, James Kellogg a, *, Hector Aguirre b, Carolina Torres a, c
a
Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
b
Equion Energy, Bogota, Colombia
c
BP, Houston, TX, USA

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

Article history: This work integrates stress data from Global Positioning System measurements and earthquake focal
Received 17 December 2012 mechanism solutions, with new borehole breakout and natural fracture system data to better understand
Received in revised form the complex interactions between the major tectonic plates in northwestern South America and to
28 August 2013
examine how the stress regime in the Eastern Cordillera and the Llanos foothills in Colombia has evolved
Accepted 17 October 2013
Available online 30 October 2013
through time. The dataset was used to generate an integrated stress map of the northern Andes and to
propose a model for stress evolution in the Eastern Cordillera. In the Cordillera, the primary present-day
maximum principal stress direction is WNWeESE to NWeSE, and is in the direction of maximum
Keywords:
Stress map
shortening in the mountain range. There is also a secondary maximum principal stress direction that is E
Global Positioning System eW to ENEeWSW, which is associated with the northeastward “escape” of the North Andean block,
Borehole breakouts relative to stable South America. In the Cupiagua hydrocarbon field, located in the Llanos foothills, the
Escape dominant NNEeSSW fractures are produced by the Panama arceNorth Andes collision and range-normal
Fractures compression. However, less well developed asymmetrical fractures oriented EeW to WSWeENE and
Eastern Cordillera NNWeSSE are also present, and may be related to pre-folding stresses in the foreland basin of the Central
Cordillera or to present-day shear associated with the northeastward “escape” of the north Andean block.
Our study results suggest that an important driver for orogenic deformation and changes in the stress
field at obliquely convergent subduction zone boundaries is the arrival of thickened crust, such as island
arcs and aseismic ridges, at the trench.
Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Present-day stress in the northern Andes (Fig. 1) is a result of the
convergence of the South American, Caribbean, and Nazca plates
and the Panama microplate. Global Positioning System (GPS)
measurements (Trenkamp et al., 2002) show that the North Andean
block is escaping toward the northeast relative to the stable South
American plate along a transpressive system of faults located along
the Merida Andes, Eastern Cordillera, and Ecuadorian Andes
(Fig. 2). Simultaneously, in the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia, the
on-going Panama ArceSouth America collision is driving NWeSE
permanent shortening and rapid uplift of the range. Low-angle
subduction of the buoyant Caribbean plate is also driving perma-
nent NWeSE shortening in the Merida Andes and Eastern Cordil-
lera. Knowledge of the evolving stress regime in the Eastern
Cordillera is key to understanding the geodynamic processes at
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: kellogg@sc.edu (J. Kellogg).
work within the region, as well as the evolution of structural traps
and fracture systems for hydrocarbons. The present-day geology
shows the cumulative results of all the deformational events that
have affected the region. To better understand both the neostress
and paleostress regimes in the Eastern Cordillera, we have analyzed
data from a variety of stress indicators. The present-day stress
regime can be inferred from stress-induced borehole breakouts, as
well as GPS vectors, and earthquake focal mechanism solutions. The
paleostress is inferred from natural fracture systems and the
orientation of structural features in the Llanos foothills. It can also
be inferred from geologically dated measurements of north Andean
northeastward “escape”, the timing of the Panama arc collision, and
age data for the uplift of the Eastern Cordillera. This study suggests
that the range-normal compressive stress field responsible for
deforming rocks and producing the structural traps and fracture
systems in the Eastern Cordillera in the last 12 Ma has evolved to
include a range-parallel shear component in the last 2 Ma.
Paleostress analysis is an important tool in oil and gas explo-
ration, development, and reservoir simulation, constraining the
development of subsurface fracture systems models. Subsurface

0191-8141/$ e see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jsg.2013.10.004
 O. Egbue et al. / Journal of Structural Geology 58 (2014) 8e21
fracture systems in hydrocarbon reservoirs usually result from
paleostress that is unrelated to the present-day stress (Engelder,
1987). However, the neostress regime can strongly impact the
permeability of fractures that formed in a different, older stress
regime. It is important therefore to understand how the stress
regime has evolved through time.
The North Andean margin provides an excellent Present-day
example of an evolving stress field associated with oblique
convergence and arc collision at a subduction zone. The strain
associated with oblique convergence at subduction zones is often
partitioned between trench-normal contraction on thrust faults
and trench-parallel strain on strike-slip faults (Fitch, 1972; Jarred,
1986; McCaffrey, 1994). In general, fore arc slivers form over the
region of interplate coupling and are driven along strike by the
basal shear (Platt, 1993; McCaffrey et al., 2000). A volcanic arc can
help the partitioning process by localizing the margin-parallel
shear strain in a zone of thermally induced lithospheric weakness
(Beck, 1983). In the North Andean margin, however, the Miocenee
Present collision with the Panama arc has increased coupling on the
plate boundary, inverted the back arc basin, and displaced the
margin-parallel shear strain to the back arc. In this study we
combine GPS measurements and earthquake focal mechanisms
with geologic measurements of deformation and new borehole
breakout and well fracture data to develop a model for the evolu-
tion of the strain field in the Eastern Cordillera over the last 14 Ma.
Our study results suggest that the main driver for orogenic defor-
mation and changes in the stress field was the arrival of thickened
crust at the Ecuador and Colombia trenches, in particular, the
arrival of the Panama arc at 12e15 Ma and the Carnegie Ridge at
2 Ma.
2. Present-day stress field data
2.1. Global Positioning System
GPS studies are an important method for studying the kine-
matics of plate boundary zones, and intraplate deformation. The
velocity vectors used for this study (Fig. 1) are from the Central and
South American (CASA) GPS project (Trenkamp et al., 2002) which
measured plate motions and crustal deformation of the four major
plates in the region. The main results from the study can be sum-
marized as follows. In northern Colombia the Caribbean plate is
converging with stable South America in an EeSE direction at a rate
of 20
2 mm/a (Fig. 2). Panama is actively colliding with north-
western South America at a rate of approximately 25 mm/a. The
large eastward components of the GPS vectors in northern
Colombia (Fig. 1, CART, MONT, RION, MZAL) suggest transfer of
motion from the Panama microplate. The oceanic Nazca plate and
the aseismic Carnegie Ridge are rapidly subducting at the Ecuadore
Colombia trench at a rate of 58
2 mm/a relative to stable South
America. Approximately 50% of the NazcaeSouth America conver-
gence is locked at the subduction interface, producing elastic strain
in the overriding South American plate. GPS measurements also
show that the northern Andes is escaping northeastward at a rate of
6
2 mm/a relative to stable South America (Fig. 1, e.g., BOGO,
PASTO, BUCM, MERI, VDUP, MZAL).
2.2. Borehole breakouts
Borehole breakouts indicate the horizontal stress field at inter-
mediate depths; usually less than 5 km. Borehole breakouts are
consistently oriented elongations in the wellbore cross-section that
form as a result of differential stress applied to an initially circular
borehole. Borehole breakouts were first observed by Cox (1970) in
the Wapiabi shales of west-central Alberta. However, it was not
9
until later in the early 1980’s that they were attributed to the in-situ
stress field (Gough and Bell, 1981; Hickman et al., 1982; Plumb,
1982; Cox, 1983). A borehole breakout occurs when the stresses
around the borehole exceed that required to cause compressive
failure of the borehole wall (Zoback et al., 1985). The development
of intersecting conjugate shear planes causes spalling of the bore-
hole wall, resulting in the enlargement of the well bore. In a vertical
borehole, the wall shear stress is greatest in the direction of the
minimum horizontal stress (Sh). The long axes of borehole break-
outs therefore, are oriented approximately perpendicular to the
maximum horizontal stress direction (SHmax) (Plumb and Hickman,
1985).
The borehole breakout data presented in this work (Fig. 1) is
from four-arm caliper, high resolution dipmeter logs, and was
collected from 60 industry wells in the Eastern Cordillera and
surrounding areas. Each well was assigned a quality ranking based
on standard deviation, number of breakouts, and cumulative length
of broken out intervals using the rating scheme of Zoback and
Zoback (1989). The breakout symbols plotted on the map repre-
sent the location and direction of SHmax of each of the wells. The
bars show the direction of the mean azimuth of SHmax and the
length of the bars corresponds to the quality ranking of the
breakout data, which ranges from A to D. An “A” ranking represents
a well with many breakouts which have tightly clustered elonga-
tion azimuths. A “D” ranking represents a well with very few
breakouts, multiple azimuthal populations, and/or a large standard
deviation for the mean azimuth. In general, borehole breakout
orientations are bimodal, in the sense that data between 180 and
360 are equivalent to those between 0 and 180 . Borehole
breakouts in the region show significant scatter, but we propose
that the data fall into three major subsets by region: northern,
central, and southern. The northern subset is made up of wells
located above 6 N. Though a number of these wells show variable
SHmax orientation, the majority have EeW trending SHmax. The
central subset is made up of wells located between 2 N and 6 N.
Most of the wells in this subset have WNWeESE trending SHmax.
Wells in the southern segment (0 e2 N) have a NWeSE and less
commonly NNEeSSW trending SHmax. It is important to point out
that there are no clear patterns of azimuthal variations with depth
in the individual wells or in the data subsets except for wells in the
Llanos basin where the data shows a change in breakout orientation
at about 7800 ft (Torres Fleischmann, 1992). Below this depth, there
are two main breakout population clusters. These correspond to
SHmax orientations of 110 and 070 .
2.3. Earthquake focal mechanism solutions
Some of the stress data in Fig. 1 are derived from single
earthquake focal mechanism solutions (FMS) from the World
Stress Map database (Reinecker et al., 2005). An earthquake focal
mechanism solution is constructed using the radiation pattern of
seismic waves generated by an earthquake. The solution contains
two perpendicular planes that represent the fault plane and the
auxiliary plane, and divide the volume into compressional and
extensional quadrants. The orientation of the compressional (P),
intermediate (B), and extensional (T) axes are determined by the
orientations of these planes. It is important to point out, that the
moment tensor axes of earthquake focal mechanisms are not equal
to the principal stress axes. The only conclusion that can be made
is that the maximum principal stress lies within the dilatational
quadrant of the focal mechanism (McKenzie, 1969). The principal
strain axes of earthquake focal mechanism solutions (P-axis, B-
axis, and T-axis) are used as proxies for the orientation of the
principal stresses axes s1, s2, and s3. To account for the un-
certainties in this first-order approximation, the quality of the
10 O. Egbue et al. / Journal of Structural Geology 58 (2014) 8e21
 O. Egbue et al. / Journal of Structural Geology 58 (2014) 8e21 11

Fig. 2. Schematic 3-D tectonic model for the northern Andes showing principal plate boundaries (after Egbue and Kellogg, 2010). Cross-section through 2 S latitude shows the
subducting Nazca plate and the detached North Andean block. Arrows show Present-day GPS-determined relative velocities of major plates (white) and the North Andes (black)
relative to stable South America (Trenkamp et al., 2002).

stress orientations derived from FMS in the World Stress Map
database is limited to a C-quality regardless of the size of the
earthquake and how well the focal mechanism is constrained. This
quality ranking assumes a deviation of up to
25 . Focal mecha-
nism solutions located in the vicinity of a plate boundary and with
kinematics similar to the plate boundary, are omitted and flagged
as possible Plate Boundary Events (PBE) indicating that the P-, B-,
and T-axes of the focal mechanism solutions might predominantly
reflect the geometry and kinematics of the plate boundary, rather
than the orientation of the regional stress field. The accuracy of
stress derivations from the FMS presented in this work are limited
by the fault-plane ambiguity and the coefficient of friction (Barth
et al., 2008).
SHmax orientations determined from FMS shown in Fig. 1 appear
to fall into two main subsets: showing NWeSE and ENEeWSW
maximum compressive stress directions (Ego et al., 1996; Corredor,
2003; Cortés and Angelier, 2005). The NWeSE compression has
been associated with CaribbeaneSouth American convergence and
PanamaeSouth America collision (Kellogg and Vega, 1995; Taboada
et al., 2000; Trenkamp et al., 2002; Corredor, 2003; Colmenares
and Zoback, 2003; Acosta et al., 2004), and the ENEeWSW
compression has been ascribed to NazcaeSouth America conver-
gence and Carnegie Ridge subduction at the ColombiaeEcuador
trench (Ego et al., 1996; Gutscher et al., 1999; Trenkamp et al., 2002;
Corredor, 2003; Colmenares and Zoback, 2003; Egbue and Kellogg,
2010).
3. Paleostress field data
The paleostress field in an orogenic belt can be inferred from the
geologic record, including fault and fold orientations, age-
constrained fault displacements, rock deformation studies, and
natural fracture orientations. Here we summarize structural
models for the Eastern Cordillera and present new natural fracture
data.
3.1. Structure of the Eastern Cordillera
The Eastern Cordillera has been generally interpreted as a wide
Mesozoic extensional basin that evolved into a foreland basin for
the Central Cordillera, and was subsequently inverted by Andean
compression and orogeny (Colletta et al., 1990; Dengo and Covey,
1993; Cooper et al., 1995). Based on a retrodeformed cross-
section through the Eastern Cordillera, Colletta et al. (1990) pro-
posed that the Cordillera was formed by the inversion of two deep
Upper JurassiceLower Cretaceous basins during Mio-Pliocene
times. In this model, the structure is controlled by low angle
thrusts and reactivated normal faults that constitute frontal ramps.
They estimated a total shortening of at least 105 km with a
decollement at a depth of about 20 km. Toro et al. (2004) obtained
similar results along two partial volume-balanced transects of the
Cordillera. Dengo and Covey (1993) proposed that basement-
detached (“thin-skinned”) shortening was followed by uplift on

Fig. 1. Stress map of the northern Andes, showing GPS vectors (Trenkamp et al., 2002), and inferred directions of maximum horizontal stress from borehole breakouts (This study
and Torres Fleischmann, 1992) and earthquake focal mechanisms (Reinecker et al., 2005). GPS velocity vectors are relative to stable South America at 95% confidence level. The
lengths of the stress bars indicate data quality.
12 O. Egbue et al. / Journal of Structural Geology 58 (2014) 8e21

high-angle basement involved reverse faults (“thick-skinned”)
deformation and estimated approximately 150 km of shortening
(40%) from a regional retrodeformable cross-section. Cooper et al.
(1995) proposed that deformation in the Llanos foothills was pre-
dominantly inversion of pre-existing extensional faults by
basement-involved “thick skinned” listric reverse faults. They
estimated only 68 km of shortening.
Egbue and Kellogg (2012) studied the three-dimensional
structural evolution of the Piedemonte block in the NEeSW
trending central Llanos foothills, the frontal thrust zone along the
eastern flank of the Eastern Cordillera (Fig. 3). NWeSE directed
compression has formed a duplex zone containing as many as five
east-verging stacked thrust sheets. Using 2-D and 3-D seismic
reflection data, surface geology, and well data, Egbue and Kellogg
(2012) modeled approximately 4 km (9%) NWeSE shortening in
the Late Oligocene (25 Ma) followed by 13e19 km (30e40%) NWe
SE shortening in the last 10 million years.
Based on paleostress indicators (fault and fold orientations),
Cortés et al. (2005) present evidence of ENEeWSW directed
compression and shear stresses in the present day western flank
and center of the Eastern Cordillera during the MaastrichtianeLate
Paleocene, prior to the uplift of the Eastern Cordillera. Geologic
indicators of ENEeWSW compression and right-lateral shear in the
Eastern Cordillera in the last 2 Ma are largely obscured by the
ongoing NWeSE compression. The timing of this northeastward
“escape” is inferred from geological observations in Ecuador,
southern Colombia, and Venezuela (compiled in Egbue and Kellogg,
2010). The ongoing ENEeWSW compression is also evidenced by

Fig. 3. Geologic map of the Llanos foothills on the eastern flank of the Eastern Cordillera showing locations of several major hydrocarbon features in the Llanos foothills, including
the Piedemonte block and the Cupiagua and Cusiana fields (BP Exploration Company Colombia). Insets show the locations of Figs. 5 and 11.
 O. Egbue et al. / Journal of Structural Geology 58 (2014) 8e21 13

present-day GPS measurements, earthquake focal mechanisms,
and bore-hole breakout data.
3.2. Natural fractures
Natural fractures are typically present in all rocks to varying
degrees. In fold and thrust belt regions, the rocks are even more
intensely fractured. These fractures are developed and/or modified
during deformation in well consolidated rocks. Most of the tight,
well-cemented reservoirs, like those in the flanks of the Eastern
Cordillera, have natural fractures which are important features that
control fluid-reservoir dynamics. Subsequent stress regimes can
strongly affect the permeability of ancient fractures that formed in
a different, older stress regime. The propagation paths for fractures
in a geologic setting are strongly influenced by the state of stress
and are only weakly dependent on the rock fabric (Olson and
Pollard, 1989). Vertical fractures propagate normal to the least
principal stress, thus, they follow the path of the stress field present
at the time of their propagation (Engelder and Geiser, 1980). By
examining a map of fracture-set orientation, we can infer the dif-
ferential stress that was active during their propagation.
In the Cupiagua hydrocarbon field (Fig. 3) on the eastern flank of
the Eastern Cordillera, cores and image logs (Ultrasonic Borehole
Imager-UBI and Fullbore Formation MicroImager-FMI) show that
natural fractures are present at different stratigraphic intervals
including the main reservoirs. Fractures are a modifier of reservoirs,
enhancing permeability when they occur open and connected, and
reducing permeability when they are closed. In the reservoir in-
tervals, fractures with a low acoustic amplitude and high transit
time (i.e. dark on UBI images) are dominant, and are interpreted as
being open or partially open at the borehole wall (Adams et al.,
1999). A high transit time suggests an aperture at the borehole
wall and a mud or clay fill which gives rise to low acoustic
impedance. However, clay smeared fractures are rare in cores from
Cupiagua; hence the fractures are interpreted as being filled with
drilling mud. Fractures with high acoustic amplitude are rare. UBI
images show acoustic amplitude contrast which is a response to
changes in acoustic impedance at the borehole wall, which in
clastic sequences is related mainly to changes in matrix porosity
and lithology. Within the Cupiagua field, open fractures commonly
occur in proximity to cataclastic faults suggesting that fracture
propagation has a genetic relationship with major deformation
episodes. The mean fracture density varies within the reservoir
units, and ranges between 0.11e0.62 fractures per foot (Adams
et al., 1999). A stratigraphic summary diagram for the Llanos foot-
hills (Fig. 4) shows the key lithostratigraphic units/formations,
reservoir units, unconformities, and detachment levels. In general,
the Barco formation is more intensely fractured than the Mirador

Fig. 4. Stratigraphic summary diagram for the Llanos foothills showing typical gamma ray log response, the key lithostratigraphic units/formations, proven reservoir rocks, source
rocks, and regional seals. On the left is a schematic cross section for the structure of the Cupiagua field. Stratigraphic information is from BP Exploration Company Colombia.
14 O. Egbue et al. / Journal of Structural Geology 58 (2014) 8e21

and Guadalupe Formations. It is important to point out that the
variations in fracture density may not be solely a result of geological
factors. It is also dependent on variations in UBI image quality.
Based on log images (UBI and FMI) from wells in the Cupiagua
field, we recognize three main families of fractures in the Cupiagua
field (Fig. 5). The data was classified, correlated, and plotted as rose
diagrams to group fracture events into clusters/families. A fracture
dip vs depth plot from UBI for the wells (Fig. 6) shows that most of
the natural fractures present in the reservoir between 12,000 and
16,000 ft are steeply dipping to subvertical (40e90 ) suggesting
that the maximum principal stress directions are subhorizontal.
Only one anomalous well shows a wide dispersion of fracture dip
angles below 15,000 ft. Stearns (1967) observed that infold struc-
tures in the western United States, conjugate and tensile fractures
form sets that are oriented in varying directions relative to bedding
and the fold hinge line (Fig. 7). In Cupiagua, a NWeSE trending
fracture set is widespread throughout the field, and is dominant in
the southern portion of the field (Fig. 5). These fractures are aligned
parallel to the present-day regional stress maximum. An EeW to
WNWeESE family of fractures is approximately orthogonal to the
axis of the structure. This family of fractures is dominant in the
northern segment of the field, but these fractures also occur in the
central and southern segments. This fracture set corresponds to
Stearns’ fracture type 1 (Fig. 7a). A third NNEeSSW family of

Fig. 5. Fracture strike rose diagram plot for the northern, central, and southern Cupiagua field. The Cupiagua hydrocarbon field is located in Fig. 3. Black dots show well locations.
 O. Egbue et al. / Journal of Structural Geology 58 (2014) 8e21
Fig. 6. Fracture dip/depth plot from UBI for Cupiagua field wells shown in Fig. 5. Different symbols represent different wells. Note that most of the natural fractures present in the
reservoir between 12,000 and 16,000 ft depths are steeply dipping to subvertical (40e90 ).
Fig. 7. Schematic diagrams showing (a) fractures types associated with folding, after
Stearns (1967) and (b) an example of an asymmetrical fracture unrelated to folding.
15
fractures is common in the central portion of the field (Fig. 5), and is
also present in the southern segment. These type 2 fractures run
parallel to the axis of the Cupiagua structure and occur in both the
crest and flank regions.
4. Discussion
4.1. Present-day stress
The regional stress map (Fig. 1) shows that the primary
present-day maximum principal stress direction in the Eastern
Cordillera is WNWeESE to NWeSE. This direction is roughly
orthogonal to the mountain range and in the direction of
maximum shortening. Colmenares and Zoback (2003) proposed
that the negatively buoyant Caribbean slab may be driving the
rotation of SHmax to the ESE in the direction of relative subduction
under the northern Andes. The WNWeESE stress direction is also
the PanamaeNorth Andes relative convergence vector when cor-
rected for the 6 mm/a northeastward “escape” of the North Andes,
and the magnitude of the shortening required to build the Eastern
Cordillera (68e150 km, 3.1 Structure of the Eastern Cordillera),
suggests that most of the continuing shortening and uplift of the
range is associated with the ongoing PanamaeNorth Andes colli-
sion. Close to the Panama block indenter on the western side of
the northern Andes, the collision-related stresses are particularly
strong. For example, south of MZAL, the 1999 Armenia earthquake
(Fig. 1, focal mechanism at 4.4 N, 284.3 E) may have been
localized left-lateral slip on the NNE-trending Romeral fault sys-
tem related to the PanamaeNorth Andes collision (Pulido, 2003).
We interpret this as Panama collision-produced shear on the
broad western flank of the northeastward “escaping” North Andes
block.
A secondary present-day maximum principal stress direction in
the Eastern Cordillera is EeW to ENEeWSW. This is particularly
pronounced in the northern termination of the Eastern Cordillera,
the Bocono fault system in Venezuela, and in southern Colombia
and Ecuador. We propose that this stress direction is associated
with the subduction of the Carnegie Ridge and the northeastward
“escape” of the North Andes relative to stable South America. The
stress is particularly noticeable at the northern end of the Eastern
16 O. Egbue et al. / Journal of Structural Geology 58 (2014) 8e21

Fig. 8. Eastern Cordillera uplift, shortening, and escape history (a) Uplift history of the Eastern Cordillera. Estimated paleoelevation of the Eastern Cordillera (black squares with
error bars after Wijninga, 1996; Gregory-Wodzicki, 2000) and tectonic uplift (red lines). Tectonic uplift is estimated from present day total uplift (10 km) for erosion rates of 0.5 and
1.0 mm/a. b) Estimated shortening rates for the Eastern Cordillera since PanamaeSouth America collision began and northeastward “escape” rates for the North Andean block
(Egbue and Kellogg, 2010). Shortening rates proportional to tectonic uplift rates are estimated for 60 km and 120 km shortening. The present-day PanamaeSouth America
convergence rate is approximately 30 mm/yr (Trenkamp et al., 2002). (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of
this article.)

Cordillera where a left-stepping restraining bend produces per-
manent compressional deformation.
4.2. Paleostress
During the Late Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, the area of the
present-day Eastern Cordillera was a rift basin with approximately
WNWeESE oriented extension (minimum principal stress) (Ojeda,
1996; Sarmiento-Rojas et al., 2006). Based on low-temperature
thermochronometry and seismic reflection data from the middle
Magdalena Valley and field paleostress indicators, Parra et al.
(2012) and Cortés et al. (2005) claim evidence for Paleocene to
Eocene ENEeWSW contraction on the western flank of the present
Eastern Cordillera.
4.2.1. Oligocene stresses
By Oligocene time, uplift and shortening of the Central
Cordillera led to uplift in the foreland basin (now the western
foothills of the Eastern Cordillera) (Horton et al., 2010; Moreno
et al., 2011). Apatite fission-track and zircon (UeTh)/He 30 (ZHe)
ages support an Oligocene age for the onset of deformation in the
central axis of the Eastern Cordillera (Mora et al., 2010a; Saylor
et al., 2012). Egbue and Kellogg (2012) estimate Late Oligocene
shortening as 20% of the total Cenozoic shortening in the eastern
foothills of the Eastern Cordillera. Hossack (1999) reported the
presence of asymmetrical fracture sets (Fig. 7b) that appear to
predate folding in the Cupiagua structure. This was done by
removing those fractures that are related to folding from the
fractures dataset. Prior to the subtraction, the fracture data was
rotated so that the bedding is unfolded to the horizontal. Type 1
 O. Egbue et al. / Journal of Structural Geology 58 (2014) 8e21
Fig. 9. Schematic block diagram showing (a) early compressive fracture generation and (b) late stage shear fractures superimposed on earlier fracture system.
and type 2 fracture sets were removed from all the fracture data, a
process which is similar to backstripping. Two less well developed
fracture sets remain that are orthogonal: a WSWeENE and a
NNWeSSE trend. Since these fractures remain after the bedding
dips on the different parts of the fold are unfolded back to hori-
zontal, they are interpreted as predating folding of the Cupiagua
structure. Orthogonal fracture sets of this type are not uncommon,
and are typically found in undeformed foreland areas in front of
thrust belts. Some examples are the fracture sets of the Appala-
chian Plateau (Engelder and Geiser, 1980), the Alberta foreland
(Babcock, 1974), and the European Platform from the Alps to as far
as southern England (Bevan and Hancock, 1986). In all cases, a
main fracture set is usually orthogonal to the thrust belt and a
second set lies at right angles to the main set. Younes and Engelder
(1999) have shown that the earliest fractures in the Appalachian
plateau developed prior to a major phase of layer parallel short-
ening. Continued shortening and detachment sliding of the cover
rocks developed a new set of fractures that are slightly rotated
compared to the earlier set. If we assume that the orthogonal
fractures in the Cupiagua field are analogous to the Appalachian
fracture sets, then it is possible that they could have formed
during an earlier phase of layer-parallel shortening (Hossack,
1999). On the other hand, this EeW to ENEeWSW stress orien-
tation is the same as that observed in the present-day stress field
associated with the northeastward “escape” of the northern
Andes, and the two may therefore be confused.
17
4.2.2. Andean stresses (Miocene to Present)
Paleobotanical data (Fig. 8a; Wijninga, 1996; Gregory-Wodzicki,
2000) and fission-track ages (Mora, 2007; Mora et al., 2010b)
indicate that most of the uplift in the central and eastern flank of
the Eastern Cordillera occurred in the last 10 Ma. Tectonic uplift
(Fig. 8a) is estimated from present-day total uplift and paleo-
elevation data. Elevation is shown in black with present mean
elevation just over 3 km and estimated paleoelevation based on
paleobotanical and geomorphological data (black squares with er-
ror bars after Wijninga, 1996; Gregory-Wodzicki, 2000). Tectonic
uplift (red line in online version) is estimated using present day
total structural relief (10 km) and assuming erosion rates of 0.5 and
1.0 mm/a. Neogene exhumation history from apatite fission track
data and low-T thermochronology (Mora, 2007; Parra et al., 2009)
supports the continued rapid tectonic uplift proposed for the last
3 Ma. Using apatite fission-track data, Mora et al. (2010a,b) esti-
mated exhumation rates of 1e1.5 mm/a for compressional struc-
tures in the eastern foothills of the Eastern Cordillera over the last
3 Ma. Wittmann et al. (2011) used cosmogenic nuclide-based
measurements to estimate denudation rates of 0.49e1.2 mm/a for
the Ecuadorian Andes. Note that the uplift curve for an erosion rate
of 0.5 mm/a shows tectonic uplift in the Eastern Cordillera
distributed over at least 10 Ma.
The shortening rates for the Eastern Cordillera (Fig. 8b; Egbue
and Kellogg, 2012) since 12 Ma (the initiation of the Panamae
South America collision) are estimated from the tectonic uplift rates
18 O. Egbue et al. / Journal of Structural Geology 58 (2014) 8e21
Fig. 10. Model for fracture development in the Cupiagua field (after Hossack, 1999) (a) fracture sets orthogonal and perpendicular to the early thrust belt. (b) ENEeWSW superposed
fracture set related to propagating thrust front or present-day shear.
(Fig. 8a) and constrained to fit the present GPS measured rate,
12
4 mm/a (Trenkamp et al., 2002). Shortening rates (v) are
assumed to be proportional to tectonic uplift rates (u): v ¼ ku,
where k is a dimensionless proportionality constant. Shortening
rates are shown for a total shortening of 120 km in the last 12 Ma
(0.8  150 km; Dengo and Covey, 1993; Egbue and Kellogg, 2012).
For 120 km shortening, k ¼ 18. Shortening rates are also shown for
60 km shortening, the minimum published estimate for the Eastern
Cordillera (0.8  68 km; Cooper et al., 1995), where k ¼ 9. North-
eastward escape rates for the North Andean block (Fig. 8b) are from
the compilation by Egbue and Kellogg (2010). The present-day
PanamaeSouth America convergence rate is approximately
30 mm/yr (Trenkamp et al., 2002). Note that range-parallel shear
“escape” has become an important factor in the last 2 Ma, but
range-normal shortening rates exceed the shear rates, and total
shortening is 3e6 times as great as the shear displacement in the
last 12 Ma.
About 12e15 Ma the Panama arc began colliding with the
northern Andes (Coates et al., 2004; Montes et al., 2012), and the
Eastern Cordillera became a major sediment source (Gregory-
Wodzicki, 2000), although some sediments were being supplied
to the Eastern Foothills area as early as the Oligocene (Mora et al.,
2010a; Saylor et al., 2012). During the Andean stage (Miocene to
Present) of deformation (Fig. 9a), thrusting and folding in the re-
gion generated most of the Eastern Cordillera and foothills struc-
tures orthogonal to the main stress and developing fold-related
conjugate fractures. Two sets of fractures, symmetrically orientated
to the fold hinges of the Cupiagua structure, form a strike-parallel
type 2 fracture set and a strike-normal type 1 fracture set. A rota-
tion of the shortening direction to a direction normal to the Cusiana
(and Cupiagua structures (Fig. 3)) probably occurred as the thrust
front advanced into the Llanos foothills (Hossack, 1999) (Fig. 10).
Subsequent thrusting and folding generated the type 1 and type 2
fractures which were then superposed onto the earlier orthogonal
set. The orientation of structures in the Piedemonte hydrocarbon
block located northeast of the Cupiagua field, as seen on 3-D
seismic reflection depth slices (Fig. 11), shows evidence of this
late stage thrusting. The structures are oriented perpendicular to
the NWeSE present-day maximum principal stress direction in the
Eastern Cordillera.
4.2.3. Early Pleistocene range-parallel shear
By Early Pleistocene (Figs. 8 and 9b), in addition to the
compressional stress regime, a NEeSW strike-slip component was
introduced as the northern Andes began to “escape”. About 2 Ma,
the aseismic Carnegie ridge, which was formed by the Galapagos
 O. Egbue et al. / Journal of Structural Geology 58 (2014) 8e21 19

Fig. 11. 3-D seismic reflection depth slices through the Piedemonte block showing the orientation of major structural features at (a) 2270 m, (b) 4300 m, and (c) 5280 m.
20 O. Egbue et al. / Journal of Structural Geology 58 (2014) 8e21
hotspot, arrived at the ColombiaeEcuador trench (Lonsdale and
Klitgord, 1978; Pedoja, 2003; Cantalamessa and Di Celma, 2004),
and initiated the northeastward “escape” of the northern Andes
(Egbue and Kellogg, 2010). This resulted in the development of
asymmetrical shear fractures oriented EeW to WSWeENE and
NNWeSSE similar to the fractures interpreted by Hossack (1999) as
predating the folding. Presently, in the Eastern Cordillera the
escape rate is almost as great as the rate of shortening due to the
collision with Panama (Trenkamp et al., 2002; Egbue and Kellogg,
2012). However, since compressive strain results in higher
stresses than shear strain, range normal compression still domi-
nates the stress field in the Eastern Cordillera.
5. Conclusions
Borehole breakouts and seismic focal mechanisms indicate two
present-day principal stress directions in the Eastern Cordillera;
WNWeESE to NWeSE, aligned with the GPS measured Panamae
North Andes collision, and EeW to WSWeENE, aligned with the
northeastward “escape” of the North Andes. The Panama collision
has produced most of the folding, shortening, and uplift of the
Eastern Cordillera. The dominant fracture systems observed in the
Cupiagua fold structures on the eastern flank of the Eastern
Cordillera are produced by the collision and range-normal
compression. Less well developed asymmetrical shear fractures
oriented EeW to WSWeENE and NNWeSSE may be related to pre-
folding stresses in the foreland basin of the Central Cordillera
(future Eastern Cordillera) or to present-day shear associated with
the northeastward “escape” of the north Andean block. However,
range-normal compression still dominates the stress field in the
Eastern Cordillera. Our study suggests that the critical driver for
orogenic deformation at transpressive plate boundaries is the
increased coupling associated with the subduction of aseismic
ridges and island arc collisions. Both range-normal shortening and
range-parallel shear displacement must be considered when esti-
mating the earthquake hazard for the Eastern Cordillera and the
populous Bogota area.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Editor Cees Passchier, Joel
Saylor, and an anonymous reviewer, for very constructive reviews.
We thank BP Colombia and Equion Energy Colombia for making the
fracture data from Cupiagua field and the 3-D seismic reflection
data available, as well as providing partial support for the first
author’s research at the University of South Carolina. The CASA
project was supported by NSF Grants EAR-8617485, EAR-8904657,
and NASA. The borehole breakout data was supplied by Ecopetrol.
Figs. 1 and 3 were created with Generic Mapping Tool (GMT)
(Wessel and Smith, 1998).
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