The basement of the Eastern Cordillera, Colombia: An allochthonous terrane in northwestern South America

Abstract

The fault system of the Borde Llanero of Colombia represents the limit between two early Paleozoic geologic provinces: the Guiana Shield (Gondwana) to the east, and an allochthonous terrane — formerly a piece of the North American continent — to the west. The Baudó Range, the Western Cordillera, and the western flank of the Central Cordillera are the result of post-Jurassic accretion. In contrast the pre-Emsian metamorphic rocks of the eastern flank of the Central Cordillera, of the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia, and of the Mérida Andes correspond to an allochthonous terrane that was accreted to the north-western continental border of South America during the collision between North America and Gondwana in Silurian-Early Devonian times. Geochronologic and petrographic data indicate the presence of the Grenvillian granulite belt, represented by the Garzón-Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta belt. This belt is separated from the Guiana Shield by a magmatic tract which is parallel to the Borde Llanero of Venezuela and Colombia. The late Paleozoic regional metamorphism in the Northern Andes of Colombia occurred during Late Silurian-Early Devonian times. Since the late Emsian, a sedimentary cycle was initiated on this allochthonous basement. The faunal records of northwestern South America and the North American continent are indistinguishable for that time. This similarity clearly shows that both northwestern South America and the North American regions of the Appalachians and New Mexico belong to the same paleobiogeographic province. The faunal communication in this case supports the idea of the immediate neighborhood of the two continents.