Repeated reactivation of older thrust faults, the main mechanism of mountain building in the Andes and their foreland

P.R. Cobbold Gosciences-Rennes (UMR6118), CNRS et Universit de Rennes 1, Campus de Beaulieu, 35042 Rennes Cedex, France The Andes have grown episodically, during periods of rapid subduction at the Pacific margin of South America (or Gondwana), since the early Palaeozoic. In the upper crust, orogenic deformation has been mainly by motion on thrust faults. Although new thrusts have formed in young sedimentary strata, most of the deformation at depth has been by reactivation of pre-existing thrusts. Good evidence for this can be found around the Palaeozoic massifs of (1) the Cordillera Oriental of Colombia, (2) the Cordillera Oriental of Bolivia and NW Argentina, (3) the foothills of the Neuqun basin in NW Patagonia, and (4) the foothills of the Magellan basin in SW Patagonia. In all these examples, Mesozoic rift basins formed during periods of slow convergence at the Pacific margin. The rift basins then became inverted during Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic shortening. However, the main mechanism of inversion was not by compressional reactivation of Mesozoic normal faults, but by more direct reactivation of underlying Palaeozoic or Precambrian thrust faults. The latter had optimal orientations for reactivation under horizontal compression. Simple physical models illustrate the mechanics of this process. Because all the examples quoted are from producing areas of oil and gas, the economic implications are significant. The evidence for repeated reactivation is not everywhere obvious, but has come to light, as the quality of deep seismic data has increased, and as surface investigations have become more detailed. The Llanos basin of Colombia and the Neuqun basin of Argentina illustrate both the benefits and the pitfalls of structural interpretation, depending on whether or not pre-existing thrusts are taken into account. Cordillera Oriental of Colombia The Cordillera Oriental of Colombia, an intra-plate mountain range, has formed mainly by Cenozoic shortening. However, Mesozoic strata predominate at outcrop. Recent studies in the cordillera and new subsurface data from its foreland basins have provided good evidence for inverted rifts (Coletta et al., 1990). This has led to suggestions that rifted areas became weaker than their surroundings, or that normal faults reactivated as reverse faults. However, at some localities, Mesozoic strata are unconformable upon folded and faulted Palaeozoic sequences. There are good examples in the Guavio massif near the centre of the cordillera (Branquet et al., 2002), and in the Floresta massif, near the eastern edge of the cordillera (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1. Geological section through Floresta massif, Cordillera Oriental of Colombia (06 50 N). Notice eastward verging structures: inverted Arcabuco rift (left), Boyac thrust, and Soapaga thrust with unconformities in hanging wall (right).

In both massifs, there is evidence for two phases of Palaeozoic shortening, of broadly Caledonian and Hercynian ages. In the Floresta massif, above the Soapaga thrust, there are jumps in metamorphic grade across Devonian and Jurassic unconformities (Fig. 1). Backsliding on the thrust during the Jurassic resulted in the Arcabuco rift basin to the west. Finally, renewed compression during the Tertiary led to inversion of the Arcabuco rift and reactivation of the Soapaga fault as a thrust. A similar sequence can be inferred in the Guavio massif (Branquet et al., 2002). In the adjacent foreland (Llanos basin), seismic data from the hydrocarbon-producing Cusiana field also provide evidence for Palaeozoic thrusts, reactivated in the Tertiary. This alternative explanation for structural development at Cusiana contrasts with better-known models of rift inversion (Colletta et al., 1990). Neuquen basin of Argentina In the Neuquen Basin of northern Patagonia, Argentina, rocks at the surface are mainly Mesozoic strata. The western edge of the basin now forms part of the Andean foothills. There is good evidence for basin inversion, during various tectonic phases, since the middle Cretaceous (Vergani et al., 1995; Cobbold and Rossello, 2003). However, the earliest structures were Palaeozoic thrusts, followed by Permian granites (Fig. 2). Mesozoic rift basins accommodated Triassic volcanic rocks and Jurassic strata. Following an early Eocene phase of shortening and inversion, middle Eocene volcanic rocks onlapped the structure. Further shortening in the Neogene has caused additional reactivation of the basement-involved thrusts.

Fig. 2. Geological section through Cordillera del Viento, western edge of Neuqun basin, Argentina (37 07 S). Notice westward verging thrusts, repeated Palaeozoic strata (Pz), Permian granite (Pg), Triassic volcanic rocks (Choiyoi Fm), Jurassic strata (J) and middle Eocene volcanic rocks (Eo). References Branquet, Y., Cheilletz, A., Cobbold, P.R., Baby, P., Laumonier, B., Giuliani, G. 2002. Andean deformation and rift inversion, eastern edge of Cordillera Oriental (Guateque - Medina area), Colombia. Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 15, 391-407. Cobbold, P.R., Rossello, E.A. 2003. Aptian to recent compressional deformation, foothills of the Neuqun Basin, Argentina. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 20, 429-443. Colletta, B., Hebrard, F., Letouzey, J., Werner, P., Rudkiewicz, J-L., 1990. Tectonic and crustal structure of the Eastern Cordillera (Colombia) from a balanced cross-section. In: Letouzey, J. (Ed.). Petroleum and tectonics in mobile belts. Editions Technip, Paris, France, 80-100. Vergani, G.D., Tankard, A.J., Belotti, H.J., Welsink, H.J. 1995. Tectonic evolution and paleogeography of the Neuqun basin, Argentina. In: A.J. Tankard, R. Surez S. and H.J. Welsink (Eds.), Petroleum basins of South America. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir, 62, 383-402.