Cimitarra Fault
Cimitarra Fault | |
---|---|
Falla de Cimitarra | |
Etymology | Cimitarra River |
Coordinates | 07°20′12″N 73°55′23″W / 7.33667°N 73.92306°W |
Country | Colombia |
Region | Andean |
State | Antioquia, Bolívar, Santander |
Cities | Cantagallo, Puerto Wilches |
Characteristics | |
Range | Central Ranges, Andes |
Part of | Andean oblique faults |
Length | 136.5 km (84.8 mi) |
Strike | 323 ± 3 |
Dip | unknown |
Dip angle | unknown |
Displacement | 0.1–1 mm (0.0039–0.0394 in)/yr |
Tectonics | |
Plate | North Andean |
Status | Inactive |
Type | Oblique thrust fault |
Movement | Sinistral reverse |
Age | Quaternary |
Orogeny | Andean |
The Cimitarra Fault (Template:Lang-es) is a sinistral oblique thrust fault in the departments of Antioquia, Bolívar and Santander in central Colombia. The fault has a total length of 136.5 kilometres (84.8 mi) and runs along an average northeast to southwest strike of 323 ± 3 in the Middle Magdalena Valley and Central Ranges of the Colombian Andes.
Etymology
The fault is named after the Cimitarra River, Antioquia, a left tributary of the Magdalena River.[1]
Description
The Cimitarra Fault splays from the Palestina Fault in a northeasterly direction on the eastern border of the Central Ranges of the Colombian Andes,[1] passes north of Barrancabermeja,[2] and possibly connects to the Bucaramanga-Santa Marta Fault in the northeast.[3] The fault displaces Jurassic to Cretaceous volcanic rocks, Mesozoic igneous rocks, a Tertiary erosion surface in the Central Ranges, and late Quaternary sediments. Portions of the fault are pre-Pliocene in age, since it is locally covered by undeformed Pliocene sediments. Farther northeast, the fault is overlain by young alluvial deposits of the Middle Magdalena Valley.[1]
The fault is marked by well preserved fault scarps, long straight traces, displaced drainages, and it forms aligned river courses. The slip rate is calculated at 0.1 to 1 millimetre (0.0039 to 0.0394 in) per year.[4]