0895-9811/92 $5.00+.

00
1992 Pergamon Press Ltd
& Earth Sciences & Resources Institute

Journal of South American Earth Sciences, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 71-76, 1992
Printed in Great Britain

T e r r a n e - b o u n d a r y reactivation: A c o n t r o l o n the
e v o l u t i o n of the N o r t h e r n A n d e s
M. LITHERLAND*

and J. A. ASPDEN

British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, England, UK

(Received March 1991; Revision Accepted July 1991)

Abstract--The Andes of northern Ecuador and southern Colombia comprise two post-Oligocene cordilleras,
each with its Plio-Pleistocene volcanic chain separated by the fault-bounded, inter-Andean depression or
graben. Along the eastern Peltetec-Romeral fault occur Upper Jurassic ophiolitic rocks marking an ancient
suture between the allochthonous Chaucha terrane in the west and the South American plate. Along the
western Pujilf-Cauca fault are Upper Cretaceous-lower Eocene ophiolites marking the accretion of the
Cretaceous-Eocene Western Cordillera. Post-Oligocene reactivation of these terrane boundaries accounts
for the origin of the cordilleras and graben and helps to explain the location of the double chain of PlioPleistocene volcanic centers. A caldera-graben model is suggested.
Resumen--Los Andes del norte del Ecuador y sur de Colombia comprenden dos cordilleras post-Oligocenas,
cada una con su cadena volcfinica Plio-Pleistoc6nia, separadas por la depresiSn o el graben Inter-Andino
controlado por fallas. A lo largo de la falla oriental Peltetec-Romeral se encusntran rocas ofioltticas de edad
Jur~isica tardia marcando una sutura antigua entre el terreno albctono Chaucha al oeste y la placa Sudamericana. A 1o largo de la falla occidental Pujili-Cauca est4n las ofiolitas de edad CretAcica tardiaTerciaria temprana marcando la acrecibn de la Cordillera Occidental Cre~cico-Eoc6nica. E1 rejuvenecimiento post-Oligoceno de estos limites de terrenos explica el origen de las cordilleras y del graben y ayuda a
entender la localizaci6n de una doble cadena de centros volc~inicosPlio-Pleistoc6nicos. Se sugiere un modelo
de caldera-graben para explicar los mismos.

POSTULATED TERRANE BOUNDARIES

INTRODUCTION

DEVELOPMENT OF THE ANDES since Oligocene time The Peltetec-Romeral Fault

has been related to subduction of the Nazca plate
The most conspicuous structure visible on satelunder the South American continent (Pilger, 1984).
This process has produced uplift, generated a mag- lite imagery of northern Ecuador is the Chambo
matic arc, and created a retro-arc thrust belt along lineament, which follows the course of the Chambo
the sub-Andean zone. Most of the Andean shorten- River and connects southward with the Peltetec
ing in that zone has been accommodated by thrust- fault (Fig. 2). This major structure marks a line of
ing of the Eastern Cordillera over the Amazonian neotectonic normal faulting, indicated by juxtaposicraton. In the high Andes, however, extensional tec- tion of metamorphic basement rocks and the upper
tonic activity has generally prevailed (Soler and Cenozoic volcanic rocks of the graben (Fig. 2).
These same metamorphic rocks along the PelteSebrier, 1990).
In northern Ecuador, the two cordilleras that tec fault (Aspden and Litherland, 1987; in press)
comprise the Andes are separated by a fault-bounded form a steeply dipping tectonic m61ange of ophiolitic
inter-Andean depression, or graben, with a physio- affinity (Fig. 2) comprising serpentinites, picrites,
graphic depth of ca. 2000 meters. The detailed gabbros, dolerites, and basalts with fine-grained arevolution of the graben is not clear, but it probably gillites and cherts that contain Jurassic (Oxfordianrelates to both normal and wrench faulting (Nobler Callovian) palynoflora (Riding, 1988).
and Marocco, 1989; Tibaldi and Ferrari, 1990). Its
North of the area shown in Fig. 2, the basement
boundary faults are associated with ophiolitic comp- rocks along the Peltetec fault are covered by upper
lexes in both northern Ecuador and southern Colom- Cenozoic volcanic deposits except for a small outcrop
bia (Fig. 1). Furthermore, these faults and many of of ophiolitic (?) greenstones at Ambuqui, near the
the major Plio-Pleistocene volcanic centers of the Colombian border (Aspden and Litherland, in press).
Northern Andes appear to be spatially related (Kil- Farther north, in Colombia, the ophiolite/blueschist
ian and Pichler, 1989). In this paper, we explore the complexes of Barragan and Jambalo lie along the
possibility that the aforementioned phenomena re- Romeral fault (McCourt et al., 1984), which is the
late to terrane-boundary reactivation.
postulated extension of the Peltetec fault (Aspden et
al., 1988; Fig. 1). The Jambalo complex has yielded
metamorphic K-Ar ages of 125-132 Ma (Feininger,
*Address all correspondence and reprint requests to:
1982), and the Romeral fault zone has been active
Dr. Martin Litherland: telephone [44] (602} 363100;
during
the Cenozoic (Alvarez, 1985).
telefax: [44]

71

72

M. LITHERLAND and J. A. ASPDEN

.:.:.:/
Barragan

;w

MAJOR ECUADORIAN VOLCANOES

1. Cayambe
2. Reventador
3. Pichincha
4. Antisana
5. Cotopaxi
6. Chimborazo
7. Tungurahua
8. Altar
9. Sangay

.:::::::::~.:::::

.i:!:!:i:i'Q::!:i:!
~:i:i:iQ=i:!:i:i
:::::::::::::::::::::

x,~(~
, ~ ~
:q:)?~%~

c~

.::i:i~::i:i:i:

',%

c~

O/"~--h'/~

((

,%,%

~ : ~..:.:.:.';:
i:!:'-..:i:i:i:!~

::::::::::: ~':::::::
:::::::::::: ~'.::::::"
............~:.:.:..

\
Tambo:i:~

(
:..%,~

::::::""0.-;.
<3
co
-,..o,,,.,.*.~
o,

%/

Colornb
o
ia

t .. .- . * .. ,. ...
,o
, *. ,,o

%/

):i:i:!:i:i:!:
,.O.,o,o,,O.,

,:.:.:.:.:,:.'

,.,o..,.o,~

Saloya::~

complex:.:,:..~

'~"

co
~"

oAIkaline
OVolcanoes

i!':?",iliS

r~

;:::::::::::::::i:i

:::::::::::::::::::::

:::::::::::::::::l{,
Ii:i:i:i:i:i:i~'" (

Pallat
complex::

'~" N

~ AREA
rI~FIG. 2

o
%/

0 25 50 75 l OOkm
I

0 Volcano
~ ' Ophiolitic
complex
Inter-Andean
graben fault

Fig. 1. The setting of the Andean cordilleras, inter-Andean graben, ophiolitic rocks, and volcanoes of northern Ecuador and
southern Colombia.

The Pujilt-Cauca Fault

age (De Souza et al., 1984) and lie along the CaucaPatia fault. The Ecuadorian and Colombian ophioliticrocks are faulted against Cretaceous units (Baldock, 1982; Alvarez, 1985).

The western boundary fault of the inter-Andean

graben on is marked by the ophiolitic complexes of
Saloya, Pujili, and Pallatanga in Ecuador (Fig. 1),
approximately following the line of the DoloresGuayaquil megashear (Juteau et al, 1977; Lebrat et
POSTULATED T E R R A N E S
al., 1986). In Colombia, it coincides with the Bolivar
As described above, the structural limits of the
and E1 Tambo ophiolitic complexes (McCourt et al.,
1984), which are Late Cretaceous-early Tertiary in inter-Andean graben are defined by the Peltetec-

Terrane-boundary reactivation: A control on the evolution of the Northern Andes

Rio

7845'W
COVER ROCKS

73

Blanco
AGE

I Lavas/pyroclast ics

MIOCENERECENT

Ivvvv
VVVV
/VVVVV

BASEMENT COMPLEX
~

Ophiolile/melange
(Peltetec "suture")

i30'S ~

Turbidites/volcanics
("to rearc")
I v v v v t Greenstones/phyllite
vvv
("island arc")
1"""2"'/;;4 Sch ists/o r t hogneiss
/-'',,
(older basement 9)
Fault
I

- JURASSIC

~,lrilp)~ i
JURASSIC
OR OLDER

.)
EL A L T A R
VOLCANO

RIOBAMBA

Buried fault

VVVVL
VVVV
VVVV
VVV~ v
V V V V ~C
VVVV "z
VVVV~
VVVV~j

I
- -

TUNGU- k~
-RAHUA
VOLCANO

- -

I~1\

vvvvvl

VVVVVVl

SANGAY
VOLCANO

.)as

10

15 Km

o"

2.
O"

Alausi []
cO"

Fig. 2. Simplified geologic map of the part of the eastern inter-Andean graben region of Ecuador where basement rocks are exposed
(see Fig. 1 for location).

74

M. LITHERLAND and J. A. ASPDEN

Chaucha Terrane: This terrane is a fragment of
continental crust lying between the two main interAndean faults and bounded to the south by the Raspas blueschist/ophiolite complex (Feininger, 1980;
Fig. 3). The nature of the basement is revealed by
semipelitic gneisses and schists, amphibolites, and
S-type granites that occur as scattered basement
inliers and river blocks (Aspden et al., 1988; Eguez et
al., 1988) or as xenoliths in younger volcanic units
(Bruet, 1987). These lithologies are similar to both
the Paleozoic rocks of the Amatope terrane (Mourier
et al., 1988; Fig. 3) and the Paleozoic (?) rocks of the
Eastern Cordillera. The Eastern Cordillera, Chaucha, and Amatope terranes may indeed be derived
from the same protocontinent. (Sm-Nd dates on the
Amatepe gneisses yield Late Triassic metamorphic
ages similar to minimum dates from the S-type
granites in the Cordillera Real (Aspden and Litherland, in press).) Low-grade quartzites and phyllites
of the metamorphic complex west of the Peltetec
fault (Fig. 2), which may represent sediments derived from the Chaucha terrane, are thrust westward
over the Chaucha basement (Aspden and Litherland,
in press). In Colombia, the equivalent basement of
the inter-Andean graben is composed of slices of
lower Mesozoic oceanic rocks (Aspden and McCourt,
1986).

Quito

g
J

..j
..j
~r
O
J

//
=$~ ....... .

t~
..,

AMOTAPE
TERRANE

"'

i"o~_J
N

Western Cordillera: To the west of the Pujili

fault lie Cretaceous to Eocene oceanic crust and island-arc sequences (Henderson, 1979; Eguez, 1986),
which form the bulk of the Western Cordillera.

Thus in terms of pre-Oligocene history, the

Peltetec-Romeral fault marks the site of the Late
Jurassic-Early Cretaceous suture between the midJurassic South American paleocontinental margin
(the Eastern Cordillera) and the Chaucha terrane. A
Fig. 3. Provisional terrane/suture map for Ecuador and northern
dextral strike-slip component has been noted in the
Peru (after Aspden et a/., 1988; Mourier et aI., 1988).
Eastern Cordillera rocks, and a transpressional Late
Jurassic-Early Cretaceous collision model is favored
(Aspden and Litherland, in press).
The Pujili-Cauca fault marks the Late CretaRomeral and Pujili-Cauca faults. However, these
faults are also associated with a series of older, ceous-early Tertiary suture between the South
ophiolitic and]or blueschist/eclogite complexes ex- American paleocontinental margin and a colliding
posed in basement inliers, suggesting that the island-arc now represented by the Western CorNorthern Andes probably include allochthonous dillera (Lebrat et al., 1986).
In Colombia north of the area shown in Fig. 1,
material and that the Peltetec-Romeral and Pujilithe
inter-Andean graben disappears as the two
Cauca faults originally represented sutures that corfaults
merge near MedellIn (McCourt et al., 1984).
respond to terrane boundaries. In northern Ecuador
Southward,
toward Peru, the graben disappears as
three terranes are postulated.
the two faults diverge (Fig. 3).
Eastern Cordillera: The basement rocks east of
the Peltetec fault comprise a Jurassic island-arc seT E R R A N E - B O U N D A R Y REACTIVATION
quence of turbidites and andesitic greenstones (Fig.
2), followed farther east by Paleozoic (?) metasediAs demonstrated locally (Fig. 2) and deduced on
ments with S-type granites (Aspden and Litherland,
in press). Individual lithotectonic divisions in these a regional scale (Fig. 1), the two fundamental terrocks may be allochthonous, but at present no other rane boundaries, or sutures, in the Ecuadorianophiolitic sutures have been recognized. In Colom- Colombian continental crust were reactivated with
bia, Paleozoic metamorphic rocks occur east of the the advent of post-Oligocene Nazca subduction.
Recent evidence suggests that they acted as normal
Romeral fault (McCourt et al., 1984).

Terrane-boundary reactivation: A control on the evolution of the Northern Andes

75

WESTERN
CORDILLERA

CHAUCHA
TERRANE

EASTERN
CORDILLERA ~

MAGMA CHAMBER
MELTING

Fig. 4. Caldera-graben model for northern Ecuador and southern Colombia, with post-Oligooene igneous activity concentrated
along reactivated terrane boundaries.

faults, forming the 1000-km-long inter-Andean

depression, or graben. The location of m a n y of the
major post-Oligocene volcanic centers along, or close
to, the boundaries of this graben (Fig. 1) suggests
that the reactivated terrane boundaries also controlled the ascent of magma, acting as regional conduits. A n extensional caldera-graben model could
apply at depth, similar to the one proposed for the
Tertiary Chilean Andes (Thiele et al., 1990), within
the framework of Andean volcano-tectonic segmentation (Hall and Wood, 1985). In such a model (Fig.
4), extensional forces have opened up the old terrane
boundaries, thereby forming a caldera-graben structure.

Aspden, J. A., Litherland, M., and Salazar, E., 1988. Una interpretaciSn preliminar de la historiacolisionaldel centro y sur del
Ecuador y posibles controles para la geologla cenozoica y de mineralizaciSnpolimet~ilica.Polit~cnica(Quito) 13 (3) Monografia de
Geologla No. 5, 49-75.
Aspden, J. A., and Litherland, M., in press. The geology and
Mesozoic collisional/accretionaryhistory of the Cordillera Real,
Ecuador. Tectonophysics,in press.
Aspden, J. A., and McCourt, W., 1986. Mesozoic oceanic terrane
in the Central Andes of Colombia. Geology 14, 415-418.

Baldock, M. W., 1982. Geology of Ecuador (Explanation of

National Map). DirecciSn General de Geologia y Minas, Quite,
Ecuador, 70 p.
Bruet, F., 1987. Los xenolitos en las lavus de los valcanes de
Quito, RepfJblica del Ecuador. Polit~cnica (Quito) 12 (2) Monograf'm de Coologia No. 5, 113-128.

Acknowledgments--Fieldwork in Ecuador was carried out under a

technical cooperation agreement between the British Geological
Survey (BGS) and the Ecuadorian Mining Institute (INEMIN)
funded by the Overseas Development Administration. Foreign
and Commonwealth Office, London. This paper is published with
permission of the Directors of BGS (NERC) and INEMIN, Quito.
We thank our INEMIN colleagues R. Bermudez, M. Pozo, and F.
Viteri for their help, and J. D. Bennett, E. J. Cobbing, M. Hall, A.
J. Reedman and F. Van Thournout for criticism of the text.

De Souza, H. A. F., Espinosa, A., and Delaloye, M., 1984. K-Ar

ages of basic rooks in the Patla Valley, S W Colombia. Tectonophysics 107, 135-145.

Eguez, A., 1986. l~volation C~nozoique de la CordiU~re Occi.

dentale SeptentrlonaIe d'Equateur. Unpublished PhD thesis,
Universit6 de Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France, 116 p.
Eguez, A., Cajas, M., and D~vila, F., 1988. Distribuci6n de terrenos ooe~nicos alSctonos y de terrenos continentales en la Cordillera Occidental del Ecuador. Polit~cnica(Quito) 13 (3) Monograf'm de Geologia No. 6, 101-136.

REFERENCES
Alvarez, J., 1985. Ofiolitas y Evolucidn Tectdnica del Occidente
Colombiano. Ingeomina, Medellin, Colombia, Reporte 1988, 30 p.
Aspden, J. A., and Litherland, M., 1987. Opiolitic rocks from the
Cordillera Real of Ecuador: Their regional significance within the
context of the northern Andes. Terra Cogn/ta 7 (2-3), 419.

Feininger, T., 1980. Eclogite and related high-pressure regional

metamorphic rooks from the Andes of Ecuador. Journal of Petrology 21,107-140.
Feininger, T., 1982. Glaucophane schist in the Andes at JambalS,
Colombia. Canadian Mineralogist 20, 41-47.

Hall, M. L., and Wood, C. A., 1985. Volcano-tectonic segmentation of the Northern Andes. Geo/ogy 13, 203-207.

76

M. LITHERLAND and J. A. ASPDEN

Henderson, W. B., 1979. Cretaceous to Eocene volcanic arc activity in the Andes of northern Ecuador. Journal of the Geological
Society of London 136, 38%378.

Nobler, C., and Marocco, R., 1989. Lacustrine megaturbiditos in

an intermontaine strike-slipbasin: The Miocene Cuenca basin of
south Ecuador. International Symposium on Intermontane Bas.
ins" Geologyand Resources, Chiang Mal, Thailand, 282-293.

Juteau, T., M6gard, F., Raharison, L., and Whitechurch, H., 1977.
Les assemblages ophioHtiques de Poccident equatorien: Nature,
petrographique et position structurale. Bu//et/n de/a Soci~t~ Geologique de France 7, 5,1127-1132.

Pilger, R. H., 1984. Cenozoic plate kinematics, subduction and

magmatism: South American Andes. Journal of the Geological
SocietyofLondon 141,793-802.

KHian, R., and Pichler,H., 1989. the northandean volcanic zone.

Zentralblatt ffir Geologie und Paldontologie, Teil I, H, 5/6, 1075-

Riding, J. B., 1988. A Palynclogical Investigation of a Sample

from the Ma~uazo Division, Rio Jadan, Ecuador. British Geologi-

1085.

cal Survey, Technical Report WHt88/347R, 3 p.

Labrat, M., M6gard, F., and Dupuy, C., 1986. Pre-orogenic volcanic assemblages and position of the suture between oceanic terranes and the South American continent in Ecuador. Zentralblatt
f#x Geologie und Paldontologie, Teil I, 9/10,1207-1214.

Soler, P., and S~brier, M., 1990. Nazca slab retreat versus compressional deformation in the Central Andes since late Oligocene
times. Abstracts, Symposium International de la G~odynamique
A ndine, Grenoble, France, 187-190.

McCourt, W. J., Aspdan, J. A., and Brook, M., 1984. New geologicaland geochronologicaldata from the Colombia Andes: Continentalgrowth by multiple accretion. Journal of the Geological
Society of London 141, 851-846.

Thieh, R., Beccar, I., NystrSm, J. D., and Vergara, M., 1990.
Tertiary Andean volcanism in a caldera-graben setting. Ab.
stracts, Symposium International de la G~odynamiqus Andine,
Grenoble, France, 309-312.

Mourier, T.,M6gard, F.,Reyes River, L., and Pardo Arguedas, A.,

1988. L'evolutionmezozoique des Andes de Huancabamba el rhypothese de raccretion des bloc Amotape-Tahuin. Bulletinde la
Soci~t~ C~ologiqus de France (8), IV, I, 69-79.

Tibaldi, A., and Ferrari, L., 1990. A wedge model for the Quaternary tectonics of the Andes of Ecuador. Abstracts, Symposium
International de la G~odynamiqus Andinc, Grenoble, France, 119122.