Late Miocene–Pliocene onset of fluvial incision of the Cauca River Canyon in the Northern Andes

Pérez-Consuegra, N.; Hoke, G. D.; Fitzgerald, Paul G.; Mora, Andrés; Sobel, Edward R.; Glodny, Johannes

doi:10.1130/b36047.1

Cited by 10 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 118 publications

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“…6). Rapid erosion of the plateau flanks has been previously inferred from 6-7 Ma Apatite (U-Th-Sm)/He ages (AHe) (Pérez-Consuegra et al, 2022) in the Cauca Canyon (Fig. 6).…”

Section: Tectonic Implications Of the Erosion Rate Mapmentioning

confidence: 78%

Erosion rate maps highlight spatio-temporal patterns of uplift and quantify sediment export of the Northern Andes

Ott¹,

Perez-Cosnuegra²,

Scherler³

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Erosion rates are widely used to assess tectonic uplift and sediment export from mountain ranges. However, the scarcity of erosion rate measurements often hinders detailed tectonic interpretations. Here, we present 25 new cosmogenic nuclide-derived erosion rates from the Northern Andes of Colombia to study spatio-temporal patterns of uplift along the Central and Eastern Cordillera. Specifically, we combine our new and published erosion rate data with precipitation-corrected normalized channel steepness measurements for building high-resolution erosion rate maps. We find that erosion rates in the southern Central Cordillera are relatively uniform and average ~0.3 mm/a, whereas rapidly eroding canyons dissect slowly eroding, low-relief surfaces in the northern Central Cordillera. We interpret that long-term, steep slab subduction has led to an erosional steady-state in the southern Cordillera Central, whereas in the northern Cordillera Central, Late Miocene slab flattening caused an acceleration in uplift, to which the landscape has not yet equilibrated. The Eastern Cordillera also displays pronounced erosional disequilibrium, with a slowly eroding central plateau rimmed by faster eroding western and eastern flanks. Our maps suggest recent topographic growth of the Eastern Cordillera, with deformation focused along the eastern flank, which is also supported by balanced cross-sections and thermochronologic data. Spatial gradients in predicted erosion rates along the eastern flank of the Eastern Cordillera suggest transient basin-ward migration of thrusts. Finally, using our erosion maps to infer millennial-scale sediment fluxes, we find that the Eastern Cordillera exports nearly four times more sediment than the Central Cordillera. Our analysis shows that accounting for spatial variations in erosion parameters and climate gradients reveals important variations in tectonic forcing that would otherwise be obscured in traditional river profile analyses. Moreover, given relationships between tectonic, and topographic evolution, we hypothesize that the dynamic landscape evolution of the Northern Andes revealed by our erosion maps is mostly linked to spatio-temporal variations in slab dip with potentially superposed effects from inherited Mesozoic rift structures.

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“…6). Rapid erosion of the plateau flanks has been previously inferred from 6-7 Ma Apatite (U-Th-Sm)/He ages (AHe) (Pérez-Consuegra et al, 2022) in the Cauca Canyon (Fig. 6).…”

Section: Tectonic Implications Of the Erosion Rate Mapmentioning

confidence: 78%

Erosion rate maps highlight spatio-temporal patterns of uplift and quantify sediment export of the Northern Andes

Ott¹,

Perez-Cosnuegra²,

Scherler³

et al. 2023

Preprint

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“…These faults may have played a role in the connection between the Amagá and the Middle Magdalena Basin (Figure 14). Other authors have also proposed similar connections based on geomorphological and thermochronological data (Pérez-Consuegra et al, 2022).…”

Section: Colombian Hinterland and Foreland Regionsmentioning

confidence: 84%

“…Grey colours represent exposures of basement blocks and coloured polygons the sedimentary facies. Outside of the study area, previous publications were used to reconstruct the paleogeography, sedimentary facies, volcanism and deformational events (Caballero et al, 2013; Echeverri et al, 2015; Horton et al, 2020; Jaramillo, Romero, et al, 2017; Lara et al, 2018; Montes et al, 2019; Pérez‐Consuegra, Ott, et al, 2021, Pérez‐Consuegra et al, 2022; Reyes‐Harker et al, 2015; Wagner et al, 2017; Zapata et al, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drainage and sedimentary response of the Northern Andes and the Pebas system to Miocene strike‐slip tectonics: A source to sink study of the Magdalena Basin

et al. 2023

Self Cite

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Miocene strike‐slip tectonics was responsible for creating and closing short‐lived (ca. 6 Ma) passages and the emergence of isolated topography in the Northern Andes. These geological events likely influenced the migration and/or isolation of biological populations. To better understand the paleogeography of the Miocene hinterland and foreland regions in the Northern Andes, we conducted a source‐to‐sink approach in the Magdalena Basin. This basin is located between the Central and Eastern Cordilleras of Colombia and contains an ample Miocene record, which includes Lower Miocene fine‐grained strata and Middle Miocene to Pliocene coarsening‐up strata. Our study presents a new data set that includes detrital U–Pb zircon ages (15 samples), sandstone petrography (45 samples) and low‐temperature thermochronology from the Southern Central Cordillera (19 dates); which together with previously published data were used to construct a paleogeographical model of the Miocene hinterland and foreland regions in the Northern Andes. The evolution of the Magdalena Basin during the Miocene was characterized by playa and permanent lake systems at ca. 17.5 Ma, which may be related to a marine incursion into NW South America and western Amazonia. The appearance of Eocene to Miocene volcanic sources in the Honda Group after ca. 16 Ma suggests the development of fluvial passages, which connected the Pacific with the western Amazonia and Caribbean regions. These passages were synchronous with a time of Miocene exhumation and topographic growth (ca. 16 to 10 Ma) in the Central Cordillera and the transition from lacustrine to fluvial deposition in the Magdalena Basin. Middle to Late Miocene strike‐slip deformation promoted by oblique plate convergence and the oblique collision of the Panamá‐Chocó Block likely explains the synchronous along‐strike fragmentation and exhumation in the Central Cordillera.

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“…Muscovite 40 Ar/ 39 Ar dates are older outside this valley at ∼250 … 425 Ma (van der Lelij et al., 2016). Cosmogenic radionuclide dating (Ott et al., 2023) and low‐temperature thermochronology (Pérez‐Consuegra et al., 2022) from the central and western Colombian Andes (Figure 10c) show the highest erosion/denudation rates in the lofted Cauca valley (1 km elevation) along the Romeral‐Cauca fault systems. Though perhaps coincidentally, we note that the trend of the main valley in each natural prototype supports the observed differences between the final configurations of the presented high and low erosion models.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Morpho‐Tectonics of Transpressional Systems: Insights From Analog Modeling

Conrad,

Reitano,

Faccenna

et al. 2023

Tectonics

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Transpressional margins are widespread, and their dynamics are relevant for plate boundary evolution globally. Though transpressional orogen evolution involves a topographic response to deformation, many studies focus only on the structural development of the system ignoring surface processes. Here, we present a new set of analog models constructed to investigate how tectonic and surface processes interact at transpressive plate boundaries and shape topography. Experiments are conducted by deforming a previously benchmarked crustal analog material in a meter‐scale plexiglass box while controlling erosion through misting nozzles mounted along the transpressional wedge. To analyze the experiments, we generate digital elevation models from laser scans and conduct image correlation analysis on photos taken during experiments. We focus on three experiments that cover a range of erosional conditions and shortening stages (two end‐member erosion models and a dry reference). In all experiments, a bivergent wedge forms, and strain partitioning broadly evolves according to previously established models. Regarding drainage networks, we find that the streams in our models develop differently through feedback between fault development and drainage rearrangement processes. Differences between end‐member erosional models can be explained by the varying response of streams to structure modulated by rainfall. Additionally, erosion may influence the structural evolution of transpressional topography, leading to accelerated strike‐slip partitioning. From these results, we create a model for developing structures, streams, and topography where incision and valley formation along main structures localize exhumation. We apply insights from the models to natural transpressional systems, including the Transverse Ranges, CA, and the Venezuelan Andes.

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Late Miocene–Pliocene onset of fluvial incision of the Cauca River Canyon in the Northern Andes

Cited by 10 publications

References 118 publications

Erosion rate maps highlight spatio-temporal patterns of uplift and quantify sediment export of the Northern Andes

Erosion rate maps highlight spatio-temporal patterns of uplift and quantify sediment export of the Northern Andes

Drainage and sedimentary response of the Northern Andes and the Pebas system to Miocene strike‐slip tectonics: A source to sink study of the Magdalena Basin

Morpho‐Tectonics of Transpressional Systems: Insights From Analog Modeling

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