Subsurface basement, structure, stratigraphy, and timing of regional tectonic events affecting the Guajira margin of northern Colombia

We have combined previous data from Mesozoic-Cenozoic outcrops in the Guajira Peninsula of northern Colombia with regional gravity, bathymetric, and seismic interpretations to demonstrate the existence of a 280 km long western extension of the Great Arc of the Caribbean (GAC) along the continental margin of Colombia. Seismic data reveal an 80–100 km wide domal-shaped basement high that exhibits internal chaotic seismic facies. This elongate and domal-shaped structure extends 1800 km from the Aves Ridge in the Caribbean Sea to the study area in offshore Colombia. The western extension of the GAC in Colombia and western Venezuela is buried by 700–3000 m of continental margin sedimentary rocks as a result of the GAC colliding earlier with the Colombian margin (Cretaceous-early Paleogene collision) than its subaerially exposed eastern extension along the Leeward Antilles ridge (late Paleogene-Neogene). Our compilation of geologic information from the entire GAC reveals that GAC magmatism occurred from 128 to 74 Ma with magmatism ages progressively younger toward the east. Six upper Eocene to recent marine seismic sequences overlying the domal basement high of the GAC have been mapped by our analysis of 2400 km of seismic lines and 12 well logs. Based on subsurface mapping correlated with well-log information and onland geology in the Guajira Peninsula, these six sequences record four major deformational events: (1) late Eocene rifting in an east–west direction produced half-grabens in the northern part of the area, (2) Oligocene transtension in the southern part of the area expressed by right-lateral Oligocene strike-slip faulting and extensional basin formation, (3) early-middle Miocene transtension, and (4) late Miocene-early Pliocene Andean uplift accompanied by rapid erosion and clastic infilling of offshore basins by the Magdalena delta and deep-sea fan. The significance of this basin framework is discussed for known and inferred hydrocarbon systems.

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SEISMIC FACIES ANALYSIS AND STRUCTURAL INTERPRETATION OF DEEPWATER NW SABAH

Jurnal Teknologi ◽

10.11113/jt.v75.3677 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 75 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Mohd Akhmal Muhamad Sidek ◽

Umar Hamzah ◽

Radzuan Junin

Keyword(s):

Gamma Ray ◽

Hydrocarbon Exploration ◽

Seismic Facies ◽

Tectonic Event ◽

Structural Interpretation ◽

Tectonic Events ◽

Regional Tectonic ◽

Seismic Facies Analysis ◽

Sequence Boundaries ◽

Seismic Lines

The deepwaters of NW Sabah has been an interesting site for deepwater hydrocarbon exploration in Malaysia. Up to now, the exploration in this is mainly focused to the Late Miocene until the Pliocene siliciclastic sediment reservoirs distribution at the shelf edge. This paper shows a gross seismic facies mapping analysis and structural interpretation of regional deepwater NW Sabah especially at Sabah Trough. To convert depth, all seismic lines were picked and tied with selected wells. The results of the interpretation were then summarized and presented with relation to regional tectonic events. Eight seismic stratigraphic units, six seismic facies together with five sequence boundaries were recognized. Multichannel reflection 2D seismic data, gamma ray logs and biostratigraphy description from the three wells at deepwater fold-thrust belt and published tectono-stratigraphic scheme from Dangerous Grounds (Sabah Platform) in South China Sea were selected in this study. The propose of this study is to document the relevance of regional tectonic event between Dangerous Ground and Sabah Trough.

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Kinematic analysis and tertiary evolution of the Lesvos ophiolites and metamorphic sole (Aegean sea, Greece)

Bulletin of the Geological Society of Greece ◽

10.12681/bgsg.17022 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 34 (1) ◽

pp. 267 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

D. MOUNTRAKIS ◽

E. THOMAIDOU ◽

N. ZOUROS ◽

A. KILIAS

Keyword(s):

Continental Margin ◽

Aegean Sea ◽

Late Eocene ◽

Early Miocene ◽

Tectonic Event ◽

Detachment Faults ◽

Early Oligocene ◽

Tectonic Events ◽

Extensional Tectonic ◽

Thrust Sheets

In Lesvos Island, the ophiolites and the metamorphic sole are emplaced onto the Permo-Triassic continental margin rocks. New field data on the Tertiary kinematics distinguished three successive tectonic events that affected the Lesvos ophiolites and sole. The Dl compressional event took place in Late Eocene - Early Oligocene and produced several thrust sheets and their stacking over the continental margin. The thickening of the crust after the Dl event, was followed by an important extensional tectonic event (D2) in semi-ductile conditions in Oligocene-Early Miocene times, which produced the uplift process of the orogen and the lateral rejection of the tectonic nappes through large extensional semi-ductile faults of low angle (detachment faults) and caused the exhumation of the underlying continental margin rocks in the form of a tectonic window. This extensional tectonic event led to the thinning of the crust in the wider area of Lesvos and probably caused the Early Miocene volcanic activity. The last D3 extensional tectonic event, took place in brittle conditions and represents the neotectonic regime in Late Miocene-Recent times.

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Stratigraphic revision and reconstruction of the deep-sea fan of the Voirons Flysch (Voirons Nappe, Chablais Prealps)

Swiss Journal of Geosciences ◽

10.1186/s00015-020-00383-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 114 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Jérémy Ragusa ◽

Lina Maria Ospina-Ostios ◽

Pascal Kindler ◽

Mario Sartori

Keyword(s):

Deep Sea ◽

Distal Part ◽

Accretionary Prism ◽

Proximal Part ◽

Late Eocene ◽

Lithostratigraphic Units ◽

Stratigraphic Record ◽

Sea Fan ◽

Stratigraphic Evolution ◽

Depositional Setting

AbstractThe Voirons Flysch (Caron in Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae 69:297–308, 1976), is a flysch sequence aggregated into the sedimentary accretionary prism of the Chablais and Swiss Prealps. Its palaeogeographic location is still debated (South Piemont or Valais realm). We herein present a stratigraphic revision of the westernmost unit of the former Gurnigel Nappe sensu Caron (Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae 69:297–308, 1976): the Voirons Flysch. This flysch is subdivided into three lithostratigraphic units at the formation level (the Voirons Sandstone, the Vouan Conglomerate, the Boëge Marl), with an additional unit (Bruant Sandstone) of uncertain attribution, ranging from the early Eocene to probably the late Eocene. We further propose a new model of the depositional setting of the deep-sea of the Voirons Flysch based on palaeocurrent directions, the overall geometry and sedimentary features. This model depicts an eastward deflected deep-sea fan. The stratigraphic record of the proximal part of this fan is fairly complete in the Voirons area, whereas its most distal part is only represented by one small exposure of thinly bedded sandstones in the Fenalet quarry. The stratigraphic evolution of the Voirons Flysch shows two major disruptions of the detrital sedimentation at the transition between Voirons Sandstone—Vouan Conglomerate and Vouan Conglomerate—Boëge Marl. The cause of these disturbances has to be constrained in the framework of the palaeogeographic location of the Voirons Flysch.

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Isolation and characterization of microsatellite loci inSymbiodiniumB1/B184, the dinoflagellate symbiont of the Caribbean sea fan coral,Gorgonia ventalina

Molecular Ecology Resources ◽

10.1111/j.1755-0998.2009.02549.x ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 9 (3) ◽

pp. 989-993 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

JASON P. ANDRAS ◽

NATHAN L. KIRK ◽

MARY ALICE COFFROTH ◽

C. DREW HARVELL

Keyword(s):

Microsatellite Loci ◽

Caribbean Sea ◽

Gorgonia Ventalina ◽

Isolation And Characterization ◽

The Caribbean ◽

Sea Fan

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Morphological Expression of Submarine Landslides in the Accretionary Prism of the Caribbean Continental Margin of Colombia

Submarine Mass Movements and Their Consequences - Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research ◽

10.1007/978-3-319-00972-8_35 ◽

2013 ◽

pp. 391-401 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Javier Idárraga-García ◽

Carlos A. Vargas

Keyword(s):

Continental Margin ◽

Accretionary Prism ◽

Submarine Landslides ◽

The Caribbean ◽

Morphological Expression

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The Imbert Formation of northern Hispaniola: a tectono-sedimentary record of arc-continent collision and ophiolite emplacement in the northern Caribbean subduction-accretionary prism

Solid Earth Discussions ◽

10.5194/sed-7-1827-2015 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 7 (2) ◽

pp. 1827-1876 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

J. Escuder-Viruete ◽

A. Suárez-Rodríguez ◽

J. Gabites ◽

A. Pérez-Estaún

Keyword(s):

Subduction Zone ◽

Continental Margin ◽

Middle Eocene ◽

Accretionary Prism ◽

Island Arc ◽

Caribbean Island ◽

Stratigraphic Sequence ◽

Oblique Collision ◽

The Caribbean ◽

Ophiolitic Complex

Abstract. In northern Hispaniola, the Imbert Formation (Fm) has been interpreted as an orogenic "mélange" originally deposited as trench-fill sediments, an accretionary (subduction) complex formed above a SW-dipping subduction zone, or the sedimentary result of the early oblique collision of the Caribbean plate with the Bahama Platform in the middle Eocene. However, new stratigraphical, structural, geochemical and geochronological data from northern Hispaniola indicate that the Imbert Fm constitutes a coarsening-upward stratigraphic sequence that records the transition of the sedimentation from a pre-collisional forearc to a syn-collisional piggy-back basin. This piggy-back basin was transported on top of the Puerto Plata ophiolitic complex slab and structurally underlying accreted units of the Rio San Juan complex, as it was emplaced onto the North America continental margin units. The Imbert Fm unconformably overlies different structural levels of the Caribbean subduction-accretionary prism, including a supra-subduction zone ophiolite, and consists of three laterally discontinuous units that record the exhumation of the underlying basement. The distal turbiditic lower unit includes the latest volcanic activity of the Caribbean island arc; the more proximal turbiditic intermediate unit is moderately affected by syn-sedimentary faulting; and the upper unit is a (caotic) olistostromic unit, composed of serpentinite-rich polymictic breccias, conglomerates and sandstones, strongly deformed by syn-sedimentary faulting, slumping and sliding processes. The Imbert Fm is followed by subsidence and turbiditic deposition of the overlying El Mamey Group. The 40Ar / 39Ar plagioclase plateau ages obtained in gabbroic rocks from the Puerto Plata ophiolitic complex indicate its exhumation at ∼ 45–40 Ma (lower-to-middle Eocene), contemporaneously to the sedimentation of the overlying Imbert Fm. These cooling ages imply the uplift to the surface and submarine erosion of the complex to be the source of the ophiolitic fragments in the Imbert Fm, during of shortly after the emplacement of the intra-oceanic Caribbean island-arc onto the continental margin.

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