Tectonic evolution of petroleum systems within the onshore Llanos Basin: Insights on the presence of Orinoco heavy oil analogs in Colombia and a comparison with other heavy oil provinces worldwide

Mora, Andrés; García-Bautista, Diego Fernando; Reyes-Harker, Andrés; Parra, Maurício; Blanco, Vladimir; Sánchez, Natalia Martínez; Parra, Felipe de la; Caballero, Víctor; Rodríguez, Guillermo; Ruíz, Carlos Fuentes; Naranjo, Julian; Tesón, Eliseo; Niño, Fernando; Quintero, Isaid; Moreno, Nestor; Cardozo, E.; Gamba, N.; Horton, Brian K.; Arias-Martinez, Juan Pablo

doi:10.1306/1003181611417236

Cited by 12 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…The main basis for this hypothesis is the presence of U-Pb ages inferred to originate from the orogen on the western side of the Llanos-Barinas Foreland Basin rather than from cratonic provenance. Although a provenance divide has been proposed by Reyes-Harker et al (2015) and Mora et al (2019) as the trace of a proto-Orinoco channel belt, further data are needed to reach a definitive conclusion. Mora et al (2008) reported one of the youngest apatite fission track data sets of the Andes so far (Figures 2,16).…”

Section: Eastward Advance Of the Orinoco Rivermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based on a detrital (U-Pb) zircon analysis, Escalona & Mann (2011) suggest an eastward advance of a proto-Orinoco River during the Cenozoic evolution of the northern Andes (Figure 2). This assessment was further refined by Reyes-Harker et al (2015) and Mora et al (2019) by correlating abundant new provenance data with exhumation in the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia. The main basis for this hypothesis is the presence of U-Pb ages inferred to originate from the orogen on the western side of the Llanos-Barinas Foreland Basin rather than from cratonic provenance.…”

Section: Eastward Advance Of the Orinoco Rivermentioning

confidence: 99%

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Chapter 4

SGC¹

2019

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In this chapter, we summarize recent work on the geologic evolution of the northern Andes. Our intention is to present current information so that scientists from other disciplines can differentiate data from interpretations. In this effort, we focus on thermochronological data that provide precise places, dates, and rates. Thermochronological data provide cooling histories for rocks of the upper crust, whereas provenance data offer insights on rocks that have been eroded away. In reviewing published data, we provide a critical overview of recent paleogeographic interpretations. Specifically, we discuss hypotheses such as (i) Eocene proto-Magdalena River draining toward the Maracaibo Basin, (ii) the presence of a closed proto-Magdalena basin from the late Eocene to middle Miocene, (iii) the Miocene closure of the Isthmus of Panamá, (iv) the late Cenozoic surface uplift of the Eastern Cordillera, and (v) the Cenozoic eastward advance of the Orinoco River. We conclude that in most cases, favored ideas remain as intriguing hypotheses, but there remains room for alternative interpretations. The present summary is intended to provide a cautionary note on the use of limited datasets to make paleogeographic interpretations of the northern Andes.

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Section: Eastward Advance Of the Orinoco Rivermentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Eastward Advance Of the Orinoco Rivermentioning

confidence: 99%

Chapter 4

SGC¹

2019

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“…see Figures 3 and 7) may be the result of normal faults, differential compaction or even salt tectonics (dissolution–displacement) in the subsurface, as proposed in the southern segment of the Eastern Cordillera (Teixell et al, 2015). Identification of those structures is challenging due to the overprint of post‐Oligocene deformation that deformed the complete Palaeogene succession of the Cocuy region (Mora et al, 2015; Siravo et al, 2018). Future investigations need to study the response of these intracontinental lacustrine systems to local and regional changes in tectonics, sediment supply and climate.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent thermochronological and provenance studies carried out in the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia (Figure 1) have provided age constraints on deformation and cooling of the orogen since the Oligocene, with increased cooling rates during the late Miocene (e.g. Horton et al., 2010; Mora, Casallas, et al, 2015; Mora et al., 2019; Mora, Parra, et al, 2015; Ochoa et al., 2012; Parra, Mora, Sobel, Strecker, & González, 2009; Parra, Mora, Lopez, Rojas, & Horton, 2010; Siravo et al, 2018, 2019). However, only a few studies have shown support for exhumation during the latest Palaeocene to early Eocene times (Caballero, Mora, et al, 2013; Parra, Mora, Lopez, Rojas, & Horton, 2012; Velandia, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unravelling the widening of the earliest Andean northern orogen: Maastrichtian to early Eocene intra‐basinal deformation in the northern Eastern Cordillera of Colombia

et al. 2020

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The onset of deformation in the northern Andes is overprinted by subsequent stages of basin deformation, complicating the examination of competing models illustrating potential location of earliest synorogenic basins and uplifts. To establish the width of the earliest northern Andean orogen, we carried out field mapping, palynological dating, sedimentary, stratigraphic and provenance analyses in Campanian to lower Eocene units exposed in the northern Eastern Cordillera of Colombia (Cocuy region) and compare the results with coeval succession in adjacent basins. The onset of deformation is recorded in earliest Maastrichtian time, as terrigenous detritus arrived into the basin marking the end of chemical precipitation and the onset of clastic deposition produced by the uplift of a western source area dominated by shaly Cretaceous rocks. Disconformable contacts within the upper Maastrichtian to middle Palaeocene succession document increasing supply of quartzose sandy detritus from Cretaceous quartzose rocks exposed in eastern source areas. The continued unroofing of both source areas produced a rapid shift in depositional environments from shallow marine in Maastrichtian to fluvial‐lacustrine systems during the Palaeocene‐early Eocene. Supply of immature Jurassic sandstones from nearby western uplifts, together with localized plutonic and volcanic Cretaceous rocks, caused a shift in Palaeocene sandstones composition from quartzarenites to litharenites. Supply of detrital sandy fragments, unstable heavy minerals and Cretaceous to Ordovician detrital zircons, were derived from nearby uplifted blocks and from SW fluvial systems within the synorogenic basin, instead of distal basement rocks. The presence of volcanic rock fragments and 51–59 Ma volcanic zircons constrain magmatism within the basin. The Maastrichtian–Palaeocene sequence studied here documents crustal deformation that correlates with coeval deformation farther south in Ecuador and Peru. Slab flattening of the subducting Caribbean plate produced a wider orogen (>400 km) with a continental magmatic arc and intra‐basinal deformation and magmatism.

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“…Recent studies (Mora et al, 2019a(Mora et al, , 2019b suggest that the Upper Cretaceous source rocks in the foothills would have been mature and in the oil window by the late Miocene to recent period. Given that this is also the timing of the most important shortening and antiformal stacking in these structures (Ketcham et al, 2016), we suggest, as initially proposed by Mora et al (2010b) for the thin-skinned sub-Andean basins of South America in general, that the presence of source rocks in the oil window favored the role of those horizons as efficient detachments during the Pliocene -Pleistocene.…”

Section: Neogene Molassementioning

confidence: 99%

Chapter 5

SGC¹

2019

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In this chapter, we summarize for the first time the structural geometry and evolution of the Eastern Foothills of Colombia based on new and previously published cross-sections. We compare shortening records of the Caguán-Putumayo and Llanos Foothills as two different end-members for thick-and thin-skinned foothill deformation along the Andean deformation front. The Caguán-Putumayo area involves thick-skinned deformation and broad basement uplifts, such as the Garzón Massif, with a simple frontal monoclinal structure expressed in folded and faulted basement rocks, similar to broad thrust-related uplifts in the eastern Rocky Mountains of North America. In contrast, the Llanos Foothills have a more complex array of structural styles, from tightly folded frontal basement structures to thin-skinned antiforms of faulted detachment folds. The main factor controlling the style of basement deformation appears to be basement composition, which is igneous/metamorphic crystalline in the Caguán-Putumayo area and low-grade metasedimentary in the Llanos Foothills, prompting tighter basement folds. The main factors in determining thin-versus thick-skinned deformation appear to be the thickness of the Mesozoic -Cenozoic stratigraphic units and the presence or absence of detachment horizons. The Andean Foothills of Colombia record a geometric evolution that started in the Oligocene, with similar structural styles across all segments at that time. However, the deformation styles diverged rapidly during the Miocene to recent shortening, where rapid deposition of thick fluvial sedimentary units drove source rocks into the oil window and helped form efficient detachment horizons for thin-skinned deformation in deeper sectors of the basin.

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Tectonic evolution of petroleum systems within the onshore Llanos Basin: Insights on the presence of Orinoco heavy oil analogs in Colombia and a comparison with other heavy oil provinces worldwide

Cited by 12 publications

References 63 publications

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Unravelling the widening of the earliest Andean northern orogen: Maastrichtian to early Eocene intra‐basinal deformation in the northern Eastern Cordillera of Colombia

Chapter 5

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