Controls on architecture of the Late Cretaceous to Cenozoic southern Middle Magdalena Valley Basin, Colombia

Abstract

Research Article| February 01, 2003 Controls on architecture of the Late Cretaceous to Cenozoic southern Middle Magdalena Valley Basin, Colombia Elías Gómez; Elías Gómez 1Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Teresa E. Jordan; Teresa E. Jordan 1Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Richard W. Allmendinger; Richard W. Allmendinger 1Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Kerry Hegarty; Kerry Hegarty 2Geotrack International, 37 Melville Road, Brunswick West, Victoria 3055, Australia Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Shari Kelley; Shari Kelley 3New Mexico Tech, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Socorro, New Mexico 87801, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Matthew Heizler Matthew Heizler 4New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources, 801 Leroy Place, Socorro, New Mexico 87801, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Elías Gómez 1Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA Teresa E. Jordan 1Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA Richard W. Allmendinger 1Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA Kerry Hegarty 2Geotrack International, 37 Melville Road, Brunswick West, Victoria 3055, Australia Shari Kelley 3New Mexico Tech, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Socorro, New Mexico 87801, USA Matthew Heizler 4New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral Resources, 801 Leroy Place, Socorro, New Mexico 87801, USA Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 09 Jul 2001 Revision Received: 09 May 2002 Accepted: 13 May 2002 First Online: 01 Jun 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2674 Print ISSN: 0016-7606 Geological Society of America GSA Bulletin (2003) 115 (2): 131–147. https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(2003)115<0131:COAOTL>2.0.CO;2 Article history Received: 09 Jul 2001 Revision Received: 09 May 2002 Accepted: 13 May 2002 First Online: 01 Jun 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Elías Gómez, Teresa E. Jordan, Richard W. Allmendinger, Kerry Hegarty, Shari Kelley, Matthew Heizler; Controls on architecture of the Late Cretaceous to Cenozoic southern Middle Magdalena Valley Basin, Colombia. GSA Bulletin 2003;; 115 (2): 131–147. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(2003)115<0131:COAOTL>2.0.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGSA Bulletin Search Advanced Search Abstract The Maastrichtian–Cenozoic southern Middle Magdalena Valley Basin of Colombia contains a unique record of unconformities, strata, and structure, from which we extract the histories of exhumation of the Central Cordillera, to the west, and evolution of the Eastern Cordillera fold-and-thrust belt, to the east. This study integrates field-based analyses of stratigraphy, laboratory analyses of provenance, fission-track thermochronology, vitrinite-reflectance data, volcanic-ash geochronology, and studies of synorogenic geometries and structure displayed in seismic data. A major unconformity, the Middle Magdalena Valley unconformity, formed by eastward migration of Central Cordillera uplift during Late Cretaceous to early Eocene time, which transformed a Maastrichtian marine basin into a Paleocene depositional piedmont area. This transformation is recorded by a coarsening-upward sequence of marine shales to alluvial-fan conglomerates, which was partly eroded during further early Eocene propagation of Central Cordillera deformation. Cessation of this phase of uplift led to formation of a pediment surface, the Middle Magdalena Valley unconformity, which was buried by westward-onlapping middle Eocene to Neogene alluvial deposits. Middle Eocene to Neogene facies, paleoflow, and unconformities were controlled by Eastern Cordillera deformation. In the Eastern Cordillera foothills, growth strata and thermal history reveal two phases of folding of middle Eocene–Oligocene and late Miocene ages, prior to intense Pliocene–Pleistocene uplift. Two unconformities of early late Miocene and Pliocene–Pleistocene ages occur to the west of the Eastern Cordillera and record flexural tilting related to episodes of Eastern Cordillera loading. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.