Suárez Fault

Suárez Fault
Suárez Fault
Falla del Suárez
Etymology	Suárez River
Coordinates	06°35′48″N 73°18′16″W / 6.59667°N 73.30444°W
Country	Colombia
Region	Andean
State	Santander
Cities	Bucaramanga
Characteristics
Range	Eastern Ranges, Andes
Part of	Andean oblique faults
Length	98.3 km (61.1 mi)
Strike	021.1 ± 8
Dip	West
Dip angle	60-90
Displacement	0.1 mm (0.0039 in)/yr
Tectonics
Plate	North Andean
Status	Inactive
Type	Oblique thrust fault
Movement	Sinistral reverse
Rock units	Girón Fm., Paja Fm., Rosablanca Fm., Simití Fm.
Age	Quaternary
Orogeny	Andean

The Suárez Fault (Spanish: Falla del Suárez) is a sinistral oblique thrust fault in the department of Santander in northeastern Colombia. The fault has a total length of 98.3 kilometres (61.1 mi) and runs along an average north-northeast to south-southwest strike of 021.1 ± 8 in the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes from Barbosa in the south to Bucaramanga in the north, where it connects with the regional Bucaramanga-Santa Marta Fault.

Etymology

The fault is named after the Suárez River.^[1]

The Suárez Fault runs from Barbosa in the south,^[2] where it displaces the Simití Formation,^[3] and joins the Bucaramanga Fault a few kilometers to the north of the city of Bucaramanga. The Suárez Fault cuts Jurassic (Girón Formation),^[4] and Cretaceous sedimentary rocks (Simití, Rosablanca and Paja Formations),^[5] and Quaternary alluvial deposits and mud flows that form the "Bucaramanga Terrace".^[6] The trace of the fault is well defined, controls linear drainages such as the Suárez River for several kilometers, has sag ponds, and locally dams alluvium. The fault vertically offsets debris flows in the area of Girón and La Fuente and displaces a Tertiary erosion surface. The slip rate is estimated at 0.1 millimetres (0.0039 in) per year on the basis of displaced Quaternary deposits.^[1]