Campos Aapg

CENOZOIC PALINSPASTIC RECONSTRUCTION PALEOGEOGRAPHIC EVOLUTION AND HYDROCARBON
SETTING OF THE NORTHERN MARGIN OF SOUTH AMERICA
JAMES L PINDELL
Dept of Earth Sciences Dartmouth College Hanover NH 03755 USA and Tectonic Analysis Inc P O Box 99 Lyme NH 03768 USA
ROGER HIGGS
Consultant 131 Tanbridge Park Horsham Sussex RHI2 ISF England
AND
JOHN F DEWEY
Department ofEarth Sciences Oxford University Oxford OXI 3PR England
ABSTRACT The tectonic evolution of the Cenozoic mountain ranges fault systems and basins that comprise the roughly east west Caribbean
South America plate boundary zone from Colombia to Trinidad was controlled principally by highly oblique dextral convergence between the
Caribbean and South American Plates The Caribbean Plate is the Central American and Lesser Antilles subduction and is
pinned by zones
stationary in mantle reference frame whereas the South American Plate is westwards in that frame The Caribbean Plate is of Pacific
a moving
provenance and has since early Cenozoic time progressively invaded at an average rate of 2025 mmlyr the Proto Caribbean oceanic gap between
North and South America Thus the Lesser Antilles are terminated southward by a dextral transpression zone that
lengthened progressively
throughout Cenozoic time This zone showed strong partitioning between east west dextral strike slip faults such as the Oca and EI Pilar faults
and south southeastward directed thrust nappes The nappes loaded the South American craton to generate a coupled flexural foreland basin and
peripheral bulge that migrated eastwards At any time during this evolution the zone between the thrust complex and the crest of the peripheral
bulge was azone of potential updip hydrocarbon migration which moved eastwards in tandem with the relatively eastward migrating Caribbean
Plate In several cases especially in Oligocene and younger Cenozoic times E W trending strike slip and normal faults decoupled
parts of the
thrust load from the South American craton and allowed flexural recovery the rapid uplift of coast ranges and thick sedimentation in transtensional
basins All deformation in the Venezuela nappe pile pertaining to arc continent collision between the Caribbean and South American crusts is of
Cenozoic age and youngs from west to east
Our evolutionary tectonic reconstruction of the Caribbean South American plate boundary zone is critically dependent upon a
precise restoration
of the geometry of northwest South America immediately before the Caribbean Plate began its relative eastward motion This involved our
determining the amounts ofrelative motion along the various faults and deformation zones of Colombia and Venezuela that have developed mainly
since the late Oligocene Retro
restoring motion on these faults allows a construction of the Cenozoic nappe front prior to 25 Ma and the shape
of northwest South America prior to 60 Ma Displacements include about 110 km of sinistral motion on the Santa Marta Fault Zone up to 150
km of dextral slip in the Merida Andes zone 25 km of shortening across the Sierra de Perij a and at least 65 km and 90 km of dextral motion on
the Oca Fault Zone in Colombia and Venezuela respectively
On a retrodeformed paleogeographic grid which takes into account all of these restorations as well as removal of accreted terranes the
paleogeographic development of Venezuela and Trinidad is traced through Cenozoic time and important tectonic processes and controls on
hydrocarbon accumulations are defined and discussed
INTRODUCfION between the Caribbean and South American Plates which is
largely function of the westward component of drift of South

a
This paper outlines the Cenozoic evolution of the Venezuelan

America across the mantle and 2 the relative motions of vari
and Trinidadian parts of northern South America that were con
blocks within the PBZ Where the
trolled Caribbean tectonics Three assessed to
ous
plate boundary zone
by topics are
Caribbean and the continental South American crusts are
varying degrees 1 the palinspastic restoration of Cenozoic

deformations 2 Cenozoic Caribbean South America relative roughly adjacent current relative motion is approximately east
motion
west
slightly transtensional and accommodated at long
history and 3 paleogeographic mapping in relation to
tectonic development The synthesis demonstrates the complex straight dextral strike slip fault zones such as the Moron
Coche and El Pilar Faults of Venezuela and the North Coast
interplay between tectonic process relative plate motion and and Central Fault Zones of Trinidad I Motions
Range Fig
stratigraphic response It also discusses implications for basin of the blocks of the PBZ the
development petroleum systems and hydrocarbon potential in among some
during Neogene have
the basins of northern South America been so substantial that the relative motions between the blocks
and the Caribbean South America Plates have been
We
begin with a review and definition of some of the more
or
entirely
different from Caribbean South American relative motion For
important geological elements of northern South America Fig
I These include the main active fault zones of the South example in the Merida Andes separating the Maracaibo Block
and Guyana Shield relative motion is NE SW and
American Caribbean plate boundary zone the nature and tim dextrally
ing of formation of the boundary between autochthonous and transpressional whereas the South Caribbean Foldbelt separat
Block and the Caribbean Plate accommodates
allochthonous rock sequences development of thrust belts up ing the Guajira
southeast northwest relative motion Many of these
lifts of mainly Neogene age and formation of sedimentary ba displace
have offsets of
sins within both the South American autochthon and within the ment zones regional significance and must be
Caribbean allochthon or South Caribbean plate boundary zone
palinspastically restored to establish pre Andean sedimen
tation patterns and to unravel bulk Andean deformation history
Active deformations within the PBZ are responsible for most
Active Plate Boundary Zone
of the present day btoapthoygmraepthry Uplift has exposed
The main causes of active deformation in northern South a variety of rock units some of which record deformations of
America and the southern Caribbean the relative motion
are 1 formerly active fault zones which allow interpretation of earlier
Present address Rowfold House Billingshurst Sussex RHI4 900 England

Paleogeographic Evolution and Non glacial Eustasy Northern South America SEPM Special Publication No 58
Copyright @ 1998 SEPM Society for Sedimentary Geology ISBN 1 56576 041 7
46 JAMES L PINDELL ROGER HIGGS AND JOHN F DEWEY
Caribbean Plate
VENEZUELAN
Caribbean FOld BASIN f
Belt Q
N
COLOMBIAN
BASIN g
2e
i
Tachira Uribante
Trough
D Allochthons
B Basins
Arauca Southward limit
Arch of allochthons
0
o
V 200km
At maime Calima
errane
FIG I Tectonic and basin location map of northern South America Active neotectonic features dominant structure shown are
superimposed upon
Paleogene features allochthonous nappes Heavy arrows denote motion ofrelevant plates or blocks relative to Guyana Shield After Pindell and Erikson 1994
in these various
Tertiary phases ofnorthern South America s tectonic evolution Exposed uplifts and also known from sub
The most important of these phases was the southeastward surface is earlier Cenozoic thrust belt which
mapping an ex
thrust emplacement of allochthonous bodies of oceanic or meta tends from the Santa Marta Massif ofColombia to the Northern
morphosed arc related rocks of the Caribbean domain The em Range of Trinidad Fig 1 Thrusting in this belt was diachron
placement of these bodies created foredeep basin sections ahead ous from west to east and occurred in Santa Marta Guajira
of them beneath which much of Venezuela s hydrocarbon gen Peninsula in latest Cretaceous and Paleocene time northern
eration has occurred Lake Maracaibo in Late Paleocene to Middle Eocene the Guar
umen sub basin of the northeastern Barinas Basin in Late Eo
Thrust Belts and
Uplifts of Northern South America cene to Early Oligocene the Guarico Basin in Late Oligocene
the Maturfn Basin in latest to Middle Miocene and
Areas of Neogene topographic uplift largely coincide with Oligocene
of the active PBZ These include the to a much lesser extent in Trinidad in Middle Miocene time
structures
Perij a Range
the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia the Merida Andes the Fal This thrust history is dated by the age of sediments involved in
thrusts
con Anticlinorium the Caribbean Mountains the Serranfa del by the age of the foredeep basinal section overthrust by
the thrusts in various segments of the thust belt and by the age
Interior Oriental the Araya Paria Peninsula and Northern
of
Range of Trinidad and the Central and Southern Ranges of Trin rapid subsidence in the foredeep basin ahead of the thrusting
Of
idad Many of these are the sites of active thrusting in associ prime importance is that this Paleogene Middle Miocene
ation with differing degrees of strike slip offset but the Carib thrust belt has been significantly offset in places by structures
bean Mountains the Serranfa del Interior Oriental and the of the active plate boundary zone such as at the crossing of the
Paria Northern of Trinidad all of which had been belt by the active Merida Andes where the dextral strike slip
Araya Range
thrust belts in the Early and Middle Miocene are
being uplifted component of deformation is greater than 100 km Fig I see
because since late Middle Miocene the footwalls below This magnitude of neotectonic deformation demon
they are now
of extensional fault The footwall results from iso strates the need for palinspastic restoration of Neogene Recent
zones
uplift
static rebound the tectonic removal of the wall deformation to establish a more accurate depiction of earlier
by hanging e g
rapidly subsiding Bonaire and Carupano basins paleogeography

CENOZOIC SETTING OF THE NORTHERN MARGIN OF SOUTH AMERICA 47
Autochthonous Allochthonous Rock become the south southeast

versus
of Northern lombia more proximal to or to
South America ward the Guyana Shield

It is widely accepted that the collective Lower and Middle
The uppermost nappes of the diachronous Paleogene Middle Cretaceous sections from the various basins are marine plat
Miocene thrust belt are represented by a semi continuous belt form deposits eg Gonzalez de Juana et aI
1980 Krause and
of mostly metamorphosed rocks of oceanic andor island arc James 1989 which thin over the El Baul and Merida basement
affinity this belt consists of the Ruma Santa Ana Siquisique arches Although the concept of Late Cretaceous tectonism be
and Villa de Cura complexes but notCaracas Group EI Copey the Caribbean Plate and the autochthon
tween persists e g
Formation and in western
equivalents Araya peninsula Juan Beets et aI 1984 Chevalier et aI 1988 James 1990 the
Griego Group of Margarita and Tobago metamorphic complex redating of the flysch sequences as Cenozoic the passive sub
Martin Bellizzia and Arozena 1972 Case and MacDonald sidence history and the lack of a known driving mechanism for
1973 1974 aI 1980 Bartok et aI 1985
Maresch Stephan et Late Cretaceous deformation i e spatial separation of Carib
Ave Lallemant 1990 Snoke aI 1990 The metamorphism
et bean Plate to the west Pindell et aI 1988 all suggest persis
in most of these complexes AptianAlbian to early Late Cre
is tence of
passive margin conditions until the onset ofCaribbean
taceous in age Bellizzia 1972 1986 recognized that these South American interactions at locations east of the Central
units are allochthonous with respect to the interior sed
entirely Cordillera of Colombia Such interactions began in the western
basins It has long been thought based largely on K Maracaibo Cesar Basin at the end of the Cretaceous but not
imentary
until the Cenozoic for the remainder of the to the east
Ar isotopic ages from metamorphic rocks and on traditional margin
of Maracaibo One immediate implication of this is that the
Upper Cretaceous age assignments for flysch units such as the
best rocks had restrictive
Garrapata and Paracotos Formations that the allochthons first region s source no
paleogeographic
barrier to the north
collided with northern South America in the Late Cretaceous during deposition
Cretaceous Ju
However improved geochronology Kohn et aI 1984b Foland passive margin conditions were initiated by
rassic between Yucatan and northern South America In
et aI
1992 Ave Lallemant pers commun 1996 and revised rifting
addition to the continental margin itself several interior rift
ages on the flysch matrices rather than clasts Macsotay pers
basins formed in northern South America during the breakup
commun 1995 now show that the arguments for Cretaceous
of Pangea Examples are the Machiques Tachira or Uribante
collision involving northern South American autochthonous
rocks incorrect Trujillo and Espino troughs grabens Fig I respectively lo
are It is now clear that the Mesozoic allo
cated in the Perij a Range the southwest and northeast Merida
chthons and
para autochthonous assemblages of the South Andes and the southern Maturfn Basin The first three were
American outer margin were thrust southward into entirely Ce
terminally inverted during Andean orogenesis whereas the last
nozoic flysch basins that formed above the autochthonous Me has remained stable probably because Caribbean
relatively
sozoic shelf sediments and older basement e g Pindell et aI South American plate convergence is so much less severe in
1988 remains however to the
Uncertainty as
paleogeographic the east The Espino Graben continues west southwest into the
origin ofcertain nappes within the allochthonous belt of Central Llanos Basin of Colombia and may also trend to the northeast
Venezuela We do not in this paper attempt to define the ac beneath the Serranfa del Interior Gulf of Paria andor Orinoco
cretion history within the nappe pile itself Instead we take the Delta The Tachira and Machiques troughs in particular were
view that much of the nappe pile derives from an Aptian Albian active Jurassic rift of lithospheric thinning as indicated
zones
tectono thermal event in the eastern Pacific subduction and arc

by attendant bimodal volcanism and the thicker and more rapid
reversal of Pindell 1993 and that various elements
polarity accumulation of Cretaceous sediments above them during the
within the accreted toward the thermal subsidence phase compared to the surrounding plat
pile were
during arc migration
Venezuelan autochthon and that the final collision of the pile formal areas Although the Espino Graben contains basalts
and the autochthon is of Cenozoic age only Feo Codecido et aI 1984 it is more likely to be an upper
crustal detachment e g Wernicke type than a full scale lith
the
Cretaceous ospheric rift of McKenzie type since there is little differ
Sedimentary Basins and Basement Arches
ential thickening of overlying Cretaceous sediments as would
be
At and south of the line delimiting the allochthonous ter expected of the McKenzie type The areas of strong Jurassic
ranes Cenozoic parautochthonous sequences are thrust south lithospheric attenuation became the main Lower Cretaceous de
ward their fully autochthonous counterparts in down
onto pocenters of the passive margin whereas the less rifted regions
between these rifts have been preserved as relative structural
flexed northward thickening asymmetric foredeep basins The
and denoted
northern central Maracaibo northern Barinas Guarico Matu depositional highs as commonly by stratigraphic
onlap patterns reflecting their
rfn and the Southern Basin of Trinidad are such down flexed relatively buoyant nature e g
Maracaibo Platform Merida Arch Renz 1959 Lugo 1994
foredeep basins with several kilometers of Cenozoic clastic sed
Such highs may have been enhanced in Early Cretaceous time
iments above the Cretaceous sections At the time of thrusting
the Cretaceous section shallowed toward the south by flexure of the lithosphere in response to Jurassic and Lower
structurally
in each basin in the Maturfn Basin of However in
Cretaceous sedimentary loading above the more rifted areas and
as
today have to degree controlled Cenozoic hydrocarbon migra
some
the Maracaibo Basin subsequent basin inversion in the north
tion
and the Merida Andes in the southern part of the
pathways
loading by
PRE ANDEAN PALINSPASTIC RECONSTRUCTION OF THE NORTHERN SOUTH
basin have imparted a
southerly dip on the Cretaceous section
much of the basin AMERICAN AUTOCHTHON
across g Bockmeulen et aI 1983
e The
Cretaceous sections of all the basins and sections that are now This section reconstructs and restores blocks and strain
high
incorporated in the thrust belts e g Eastern Cordillera of Co zones within northern South America to a pre Andean defor
mational configuration Most structures assessed for style and drilling in the Lower Magdalena Basin has determined that the
magnitude of strain are Late Oligocene to Present Andean Amaime Santa Marta Schist metamorphic terrane occurs at and
some Incaic Eocene structurescandidates for palinspastic
are therefore extends to the east of the Algarrobo l well near El
restoration but lack constraints magnitude and style of strain
on Diffcil High as well and to the east of the Cicuco Field
as at
and therefore are excluded from the synthesis Our pre An All these areas have evidence of mid to late Cretaceous meta
and or thermal of clocks H Du
dean reconstruction shows the former positions of latitude and morphism resetting isotopic
longitude lines by means of a retrodeformed grid of such lines que Caro pers commun 1994 unlike the other belts within
The grid will be used later to portray Jurassic and Cretaceous the Central Cordillera The trace of the limit of metamorphism
paleogeographic development The palinspastic analysis pro follows the course of what Duque Caro 1979 called the San
vides an approximation of the size and shape of the cratonic Jorge Fault Zone If one follows this trace into the Santa Marta
autochthon for most of Late Jurassic to middle Oligocene time Fault Zone it is seen that the Santa Marta Schist area has been
offset at least 110 km The
and portrays our interpretation of the starting configuration for by metamorphism was
presumably
caused the allochthonous Amaime Santa
Andean orogenesis by overthrusting by
Marta Schist Terrane now eroded from much of the area that
Hence the eastern limit of metamorphism
the Santa Marta Bucaramanga and Oca
was
thermally reset
Offset along is more useful as an offset marker than is the eastern limit of
Fault Zones
the allochthonous oceanic rocks themselves The Paleozoic
rocks and Jurassic in the Santa Marta
Theimpressive topographic expression and relief
m 5 000 metamorphic plutons
Massif to the southeast of the Santa Marta Schist terrane have
of the Santa Marta Massif Fig I is the result offault displace
shown of thermal infer that those
ments
along its southwestern and northern flanks the Santa
no
sign resetting we areas
Marta and Oca faults respectively Large several km dip slip were not overthrust by the allochthons
Second as with the correlations between the Central Cordil
displacements are evident such that the Massif is upthrown
lera and Santa Marta Massif the Cretaceous to
relative to both flanks but significant strike slip offsets have Paleogene stra
of the Cesar and Middle
occurred along the faults as well as outlined below tigraphies Magdalena valleys also ap
pear to be offset by about 110 km as argued by Campbell
Campbell 1968 first argued a II O km sinistral displacement
the Santa Marta Fault Zone His evidence 1968 An additional stratigraphic argument pertains to the re
along Bucaramanga
gional distribution ofCenomanian sandstones The well devel
included offset of correlations between the CordilIera Central
and the Santa Marta Massif offset of structural and strati oped reservoir sands up to 1 450 feet of the Cenomanian To
between the Cesar and Middle cuy Formation of the southwestern Sierra de Perij a and
graphic markers Magdalena ba
southeastern Cesar Basin lie isolated from other
sins and evidence for strong faulting along the length of the geographically
such sands in present day geography However these sands are
fault Most of the evidence suggested to Campbell 1968 a
Miocene to Recent age for the offset Much has been learned quite close to sands of similar age in the northern Eastern Cor
dillera when 110 km of offset are restored see Villamil and
since this insightful work Many of his correlations have been
Pindell this volume
borne out by subsequent drilling and geochronological dating Third two regions of the thickest accumulations of Jurassic
The Santa Marta Massif Central CordilIera correlations have
red beds in the vicinity of the Santa Marta Bucaramanga Fault
proved to be entirely correct and his stratigraphic correlations
are also offset by a large amount Shown as RB red beds in
within the basins remain strong More recent correlations and
Figure 2 adjacent to the southwest Perija and Tablazo rifts these
arguments now make his case even stronger The evidence that
very thick accumulations of continental sediments were struc
we consider to be strongest for
assessing the offset is reviewed turally controlled by rift bounding faults Although the two rifts
below with associated for the
implications development of the intersect the Bucaramanga Fault at an oblique angle in a struc
Eastern CordilIera Figure 2 shows a
general map of the area turally complex zone which hinders precise measurement the
of the Santa Marta Bucaramanga Fault Zone and the locations
offset is the order of 100 km Some has occurred
of features mentioned below
on
shortening
within the Eastern Cordillera to the northwest of the Tablazo
First four belts with the relative
occur same positioning rift section this minimum estimate
within both the Central Cordillera and the Santa Marta Massif
making a
Fourth two Jurassic

plutons stipple pattern of Fig 2 of very
each of which contains nearly identical rocks in both areas
Fig similarcomposition lie 95 km apart and adjacent to but trun
2 They are a rift related sediments and volcanics b Jurassic cated by the Bucaramanga portion of the fault Although there
plutons c Precambrian Paleozoic metamorphic rocks and d are otherplutonic bodies in the area none is as large or as
Santa Marta Klippe Schists and the areas affected by the em
clearly by the fault as the two noted here Assuming
truncated
placement of the Amaime Terrane along the western flank of these two plutons are offset portions of a single original pluton
the Central Cordillera the eastern limit of which appears to be
prior to faulting then a 95 km dextral offset is indicated Again
the Otu Fault in the northern Central Cordillera Tschanz et aI some
degree tens of km of shortening has occurred to the
1974 McCourt aI 1984 Geotec 1988 Thematic
et Mapper northwest of the southeasterly pluton such that 95 km is a
Landsat Data Although the rift related sediments and pre Me minimum
sozoic rocks are sufficiently far apart and oblique to the fault At this point it is necessary to note that in the area of the
that bend in the Cordillera could the apparent
a
original explain Santander Massif the Bucaramanga Fault is only one of several
displacement the offset in the Jurassic plutons and in the limits parallel faults in the fault zone between the Maracaibo and Cen
of Santa Marta Amaime metamorphism is sharp and close to tral Cordillera blocks Others such as the Mercedes Thrust
the fault providing compelling tie points for assessing the off transpressional as well as the sinistrally induced folds of the
set The offset pluton is clearly displayed on any map and Barco area Notestein et aI 1944 Fig 2 record additional
left lateraldisplacement beyond the above estimates The 75 74 72
southwestern most Perij a mountains are less developed than the

northeastern Perija mountains leading us to propose that a por
tion of the northern Perija shortening 1015 km has been
transferred to the strike slip systems of the Mercedes Thrust
and folds of the Barco region In any case addition of total 11
Perija shortening see below to the strike slip offset along the
Santa Marta Fault gives a total sinistral offset of about 130 km
along the flanks of including Bucaramanga Fault and within
the Santander Massif
is
Fifth another feature that may indicate significant offset
the postulated southward continuation of the Maracaibo Plat
form Arch Fig 2 which based on structure contour and iso
10
Zambrano et aI 1971 is a structural and
pach maps e g
Cretaceous stratigraphic high and trends south southwest be

tween the Machiques and Uribante troughs before being lost
against the basement uplifts of the Santander Massif Likewise

in the northern Eastern Cordillera of Colombia another struc
tural and Cretaceous stratigraphic high Santander High occurs IRB Redbeds
between the Tablazo and the Cocuy Jurassic rifts Cooper et aI
1995 2 We consider that these two rifts may be the south
Fig 9
ward continuations of the Machiques and Uribante rifts of the
and Merida ranges and that the Santander
Perija intervening
High represents the southerly continuation of the Maracaibo
Arch If so sinistral offset in excess of 100 km is again
indicated
Moving north to the dextral Oca Fault schists from the Per
ico well north of the Oca Fault in western Baja Guajira are
8
similar and of the age as the Santa Marta Schist south of
same
the fault at the northwest corner of the Santa Marta Massif

some 65 km to the west Tschanz et aI 1974 The schists do
notcorrelate with any other rock type of the Santa Marta Massif
closer to the Perico well and therefore provide a minimum
estimate of displacement A greater offset is suggested by struc
ture contours on
crystalline basement beneath the western Gua
jira shelf R P George Jr pers commun 1997 an apparent 7
edge of basement just west of the present western Baja Gua

jiracoastline can be restored westward to at least the tip of
Santa Marta Massif to suggest an offset on the Oca of about
100 km Whatever the precise value most of the offset has
accumulated since middle Oligocene time as shown by the on
set of sedimentation at the Falcon Basin releasing bend along
the fault system although Campbell 1968 misinterpreted the

6
age of much of the offset as Eocene apparently by confusing
deformation caused by Oca Fault motions with that caused by
of the Lara in the Falcon In this
emplacement Nappes area
FIG 2 Location map of features used to assess sinistral offset along the
paper we take 65 km as a minimum dextral value for the Col
Santa Marta Bucaramanga Fault Zone Area denoted by down to right pattern
ombian portion of the Oca Fault which when added to the left of line with square teeth has been thermally and or structurally affected
shortening in Sierra Perija see below gives a minimum dex by emplacement of allochthonous terranes
tral offset for the Venezuelan portion of 90 km possibly as
much as 125 km
the Massif is
From the above due to the 110 km and 65 km sinistral and
sphere as
preferentially relative to the flanking
and Lower
dextral Marta and Oca faults Baja Guajira Magdalena terranes thrust over the
displacements on the Santa re
Caribbean Plate Both flanking regions the Baja Guajira and
of the Santa Marta Massif
spectively the tectonic promontory the Lower Magdalena basins have accordingly subsided under
it
has been structurally isolated from crust formerly adjacent to
extension during the fault motions
on both its north and the southwest sides The
high 5 000 m
topography and associated large positive gravity anomaly e g
Offset along the Merida Andes
Case and MacDonald 1973 formed
during the flanking
were
fault motions in Late Oligocene to Recent time Uplift largely The triangular Maracaibo Block is bounded by the Merida
reflects the buoying effect of the underlying Caribbean litho Andes the Santa Marta Bucaramanga Fault Zone and the Oca
Fault Zone and is escaping northwards with the adjcacent ter

ranes north of the Oca Fault towards the free face of the Ca
ribbean Sea where the escape is taken up as
shortening and
the Venezuelan Borderlands terranes onto the
overthrusting by
Caribbean Plate at the South Caribbean Foldbelt Escape is
shown neotectonic
by seismicity structures young strain indi
cators etc e g review by Mann and Burke 1984 For the

Merida Andes as a whole this escape is observed as mainly
west vergent dextral transpression with attendant transcurrent
escape of several smaller blocks within the larger system Figs
3 4 Evaluation of this deformation requires estimating the
of
magnitude shortening and dextral slip whether the style of
strain haschanged during Andean evolution and the age at
which deformation began
Estimates for across strike shortening within the Merida An
des range from about 20 km across the low Tachira
relatively
southern portion e g De Toni and Kellogg 1993 to as
much as 50 km in the higher central portion of the Andes Au

demard 1991 Additional
in the subsurface of the
structure
Apure Basin southeast of the Tachira area e g Chigne and

Hernandez 1990 suggests overall shortening across Tachira
FIG 4 Primary fault bounded blocks of the Merida Andes restored to
well in excess of the 20 km
Apure suggested by De Toni and their approximate pre Andean positions as modeled herein Restored shortening
Also Meier et al 1987 presented a model
Kellogg 1993 and dextral slip are about 40 Ian and 150 lan respectively Note wedge shaped
derived from mapping and seismic data that combines simple blocks in TrujillolLara region which have escaped northwards during com
pression to drive shortening in the Falc6n Anticlinorium The pre Andean Late
Oligocene reconstruction provides a fairly linear thrust front for the collective
Lara and flysch nappes emplaced in Paleogene time
690
and pure shear in the Tachira area and provides an elegant ex
planation for the commonly cited lesser amounts of shortening

110 within the Tachira saddle or depression This model sug
gests that numerous small fault bounded blocks have escaped
from Tachira along strike of the Merida Andes by pure shear
that there is less material in the northwest southeast
so
presently
cross section left to balance hence the greater amount of gray
100 at Tachira 4 which attempts to restore the
stipple on
Figure
larger blocks but not their internal strains At the northeastern
end of the Merida Andes where and
topography shortening are
less than in the central parts the loss of material in cross section
by tectonic escape of triangular wedges in the Serranfa de Tru

and Late Miocene to Recent
Lara
jillo area
shortening in the
Falc6n Basin be added the
A is position Valera must to
shortening in the Merida
Granite of 215 and 24 Ma Andes proper Fig 3 In this paper we believe 40 km of north
apatite fission track ages 0 southeast
Kohn et al 1984a
west
shortening has occurred along the length of the
Merida Andes implying that rotation of the Maracaibo Block
Central relative to the Guyana Shield was minimal during Andean

Andean
orogenesis
High The magnitude of dextral slip along the Andes can be esti
mated from four lines of evidence First is the reconstruction
of the Paleogene fronts where cross the Merida An
nappe they
des 1985 effects of dif
FIG 3 of first
e g Stephan Disregarding possible
Example step of method used here to create palinspastic ferential erosional retreat of the front on the two flanks north
restorations of areas within northern South America in
complex conjunction and southeast of the Andes
with Figures 4 and 10 second and third steps Primary faults are identified for west up to 130 km of dextral offset
inclusion in the pre Andean palinspastic reconstruction of the Merida Andes since Late Eocene time age of final thrust emplacement of the
Blocks between the faults are then restored to pre Andean times by translation Paleocene Lower Eocene flysch nappes in this area is readily
plus orminus rotation as in Figure 4 following arguments in text Figure 10
apparent on geological maps However if across strike short
then develops a retro deformed grid across the region showing present day is also considered the tie points across the Merida Andes
latitude and longitude lines as they are inferred to have been prior to Andean ening
deformation Development of the grid allows additional features to be plotted become even farther removed from one another and suggest a
and assessed in pre Andean coordinates total strike offset erosion has occurred
larger slip Strong on
1988
both flanks of the Merida Andes since the Late Eocene Erosion Geotec Disregarding the dextal strain and assuming
of the nappes has probably been greater on the northwest side orthogonal shortening in Eastern Cordillera a shortening to
but the area of Serranfa de Trujillo and the Barbacoas Platform ward 1300 deviates from the trend of the Santa Marta Fault by
infaulted sections of the allochthonous units and the 340 Thus in order for
show no
displacement at the Santa Marta Fault
structural metamorphic grade are not suggestive of
style and to have produced orthogonal shortening in the Eastern Cordil
those areas ever having been overthrust by a kilometers thick lera the trace of the Santa Marta Fault itself must have moved
nappe pile As Figure 3 shows in the absence of large strike northeastward relative to the Guyana Shield by tan 340 110
70 km the Eocene emplacement of the al
slip offset i e km 74 km Some of this perhaps 20 km is seen as short
lochthons in the northern Barinas Basin area near longitude ening along the faults flanking and within the Santander Massif
710W would require the highly unlikely overthrusting of the Thus to avoid left lateral strain in Eastern Cordillera at least
Trujillo and Barbacoas autochthonous areas by the Eocene al 54 km of dextral slip in the Merida Andes must have comple
lochthons Retraction of large dextral offset realigns the thrust mented the strain of the Eastern Cordillera for the time when
front to sensible configuration the Santa Marta Fault active Late
a was mainly Oligocene Mi
Second restoration of the Yucatan Block into the Permo This value is
ocene only a minimum as it neglects the dextral
Triassic reconstruction of Pangea is not readily achievable with
component of strain in the Eastern Cordillera
out large post Jurassic northward movement of the Maracaibo Fifth seismic has detected the presence of the
tomography
Block relative to the Shield Pindell 1985 and many others shallow subducted Caribbean slab beneath western
dipping
the Yucatan Block between Texas and Venezuela in vari
place Venezuela as far south as southern Lake Maracaibo
suggesting
ous methods of Pangean reconstruction Some 300 to 500 of some 400 km of convergence between the Caribbean Plate and
clockwise rotation of Yucatan relative to present in the recon the Maracaibo Block Hilst and Mann 1994 However only
struction is required for a fit and to explain the subsequent open about 280 km of this total can be attributed to Cenozoic con
ing history of the Gulf of Mexico This places the eastern mar vergence between North and South America see below Since
gin of the Yucatan Block adjacent to Venezuela and Trinidad Caribbean North America motion is essentially east west at this
A rigorous reconstruction fits northwest Yucatan tightly against
defined the trend of north of
the northern Gulf of Mexico continental and removes
longitude as
by Cayman Trough
margin Maracaibo the excess between the Caribbean and
shortening
accreted terranes andTertiary crustal shortening from northern Maracaibo about 120 km is best explained by northward mi
South America The resulting assembly produces a very tight
gration of Maracaibo Block relative to South America A dex
fit of pre Mesozoic continental blocks Fig 5 In this recon
tral shear at the trend of the Merida Andes in excess of 150 km
struction a severe overlap of pre Mesozoic continental crust
is necessary to produce a N S shortening of 120 km
100 km occurs between southern Yucatan and the northern
From the above we conclude that at least 150 km of dextral
Maracaibo Block if at least 100 km of dextral shear is not first
removed from the Merida Andes slip and about 40 km of shortening have occurred within or
or an adjacent fault zone of
but unapparent adjacent to the Merida Andes This has been achieved in com
equivalent importance
Third the Pacific provenance and latest Cretaceous Ceno plex ways involving smaller block escape possible block ro
tations and pure shear and simple shear and did not occur
zoic migration history of the Caribbean lithosphere relative to
northern South America Pindell et ai 1988 Pindell 1993 along any single fault or simple fault zone As for the timing
the bulk if not all of this displacement has occurred since em
cannot be reconciled with the Maracaibo Block
geometrically
in its present location relative to the Shield placement of the Lara and flysch nappes in the area of the
Guyana Again Northern Andes the side sedimentation
on west foredeep
large dextral displacement 100 km along the Merida Andes
Paujf Fm see below and thrusting continued into Late Eo
or
similarly large displacement fault zone after Early Oligo and the east side Lower section
cene time is required to allow Pacific derivation of Caribbean
cene on a
Oligocene foredeep
Pagtiey Fm see below has been overthrust and the nappes
lithosphere Without such an offset and given the small Ce were subsequently eroded
nozoic plate convergence between North and South America prior to deposition of Parangula For
mation Miocene Thus all
the Maracaibo Guajira and Paraguana continental blocks would displacement suggested by the off
have the relative eastward advance of the Caribbean setnappes is post Eocene possibly post Early Oligocene The
prevented
Pacific provenance argument constrains Merida offset to post
Plate the Eocene and Pindell and
during Early Oligocene e g
Barrett 1990 Early Oligocene times as well as any northward motion prior
this time would have driven the
Fourth triple junction closure between the Merida the Santa to
Guajira and Paraguana pen
insulas onto of the Caribbean Plate
Marta and the Eastern Cordillera fault zones cannot be achieved more
easterly portions
when such areas were situated to the north of the Maracaibo
without large dextral displacements in the Merida Andes The
Block We note also that
Santa Marta Fault trends 1640 withan offset of about 110 km sedimentological evidence onset of
in the north and perhaps 130 km along the Bucaramanga portion conglomeratic deposition directly suggests Late Oligocene on
set of uplift in the southern and central Merida Andes
in the south This displacement must be taken up in the Col Higgs
ombian Eastern Cordillera as shortening and when this offset 1993 while fission track and other isotopic cooling studies
is added to the shortening of the Merida Andes total shortening show the Late Oligocene to mark the onset of basement cooling
in the Eastern Cordillera must exceed 150 km and Pin associated with uplift Valera Granite in the northern Merida
Dewey
Andes Kohn et aI
dell 1985 1986 Laubscher 1987 Dengo and Covey 1993 Fig 3 We assume that both strike
1984a
However the structural grain of the Eastern Cordillera trends slip andcompressive deformations operated concurrently but
about 400 and the deformation in the Eastern Cordillera has a the fact that most fission track ages from the Merida Andes are
dextral component as shown active and fault less than 10 Ma Kohn et aI 1984a
by seismicity style suggests that basement
North
A
e 1
sout l11erica
Louisiana
Texas
n
f OJ
I T
Q
v r YUCATAN
g S FLORIDA
MEXICAN BLOCK
g BAHAMAS
TERRANES
g CRUST
j Ief
A nJ main
rv sJ Rt
TrujiII 7 t
16n
v
rv re entraIt
f B arce Ii ona
Sucre
Q
re entrant
r r salient Paria llq
ct
v El BauI re entrant
f
J 1 Arch
V ct
lb
0
FJ v 1
t
I
Reconstructed
v
U 9 v A nd ean terranes Permo Triassic reconstruction
J
FIG 5 closure reconstruction of Yucatan and northern South America for Triassic Lower Jurassic times
showing realignment of marginal offsets and the
need for southwestward displacement of present day Maracaibo Block to allow a satisfactory reconstruction Andean terranes of northwest South America have
been restored according to Figures 4 and 10 Westernmost and northern Cuba are
parts of pre Mesozoic Yucatan and Bahamas blocks Pindell 1985 rather
than the allochthonous Cuban magrnatic arc and are thus included in the reconstruction The finite pole of rotation between Yucatan and South America lies
west of Colombia such that the effects of rifting migrated westwards from Eastern Venezuela to the Guajira Peninsula
uplift compression has accelerated in the latter portion ofthe This allows pure shear to between the
bounding faults
occur
Late Oligocene to Recent period of displacements leading to northeast southwest extension in Tachira
Dextral
Given the above estimate for the net displacement within the slip is allowed overall by the bounding faults while topography
Merida Andes Figure 4 proposes a pre Andean configura may be suppressed in the Tachira Depression by the northeast
tion of a number of blocks in the region and summarizes our southwest extension between them Such a fault configuration
understanding of Andean dynamics by retrodeforming the pres would allow greater offset to occur across the entire range
a
ent orogen This reconstruction is

necessarily simplified for than on
single fault within it
any
example it cannot show thin skinned or low angle fault dis The occurrence of 150 km of dextral slip along the Merida
placements which could have carried a given suite of rock Andes has not produced as many clear and drastic offsets in the
across a
high angle fault prior to that suite s further displace preTertiary geology as has the offset along the Santa Marta
ment
by strike slip faulting However in addition to removing Bucaramanga system This is largely because the Merida Andes
the large net displacements the map attempts to keep certain much with most older features such the
are more
aligned as
Paleogene facies belts intact across the Andes and to maintain Paleozoic metamorphic belts the Jurassic rifts and the Creta
estimates and senses of offset along several secondary faults ceous facies belts As for the Jurassic rift geometry a
plot of
within the system such as the Valera Fault adjacent to the Va structures and red bed occurrences of the northern and southern
lera Granite Fig 3 Merida rift segments and Tachira in the
Trujillo pal troughs
In the northern Merida Andes much of the dextral offset has reconstruction
inspastic produces simple appealing rift
a and
occurred along the linear Bocon6 Fault Zone and numerous model In the reconstruction Fig 6 the two rift segments can
other parallel faults clearly visible on radar images To the be inferred to be separated by a sinistral transfer zone that
south the Bocon6 splays into a number of sub linear or re would correspond to and possibly explain the existence of the
gionally arcuate faults each with some component of the total Merida Arch The Arch however has an east west trend in
displacement In the Tachira area a set of northwest trending the reconstruction rather than its present northwest southeast
sinistral faults complements an east northeast trending dextral trend the former of which is likely closer to the true extensional
Meier et aI 1987 and both sets bounded by the north direction
set are
during rifting Villamil and Pindell this volume No
east
trending faults which presumably have a dextral compo serious complications appear to be created by such a proposal
nent and which define the Merida range as the northwest and 1994 arguments for the existence of the Arch in pres
Lugo s
northeast do and affect the molasse ent coordinates also hold true in the
east sets not enter
flanking palinspastic reconstruction
that the direction would

on the assumption shortening roughly
bisect the angle between these faults However most if not all
motion on the Oca and Santa Marta Faults post dates the Eo
cene such that these faults do not constrain the style of Eocene
strain Audemard 1991 showed that an area affected by Eo
cene deformation lies in a belt along the southeastern side of
the Tigre Fault which was later reactivated in Miocene time
with the rest of the Perij a to the northwest Also the Dabajuro
Platform of the southern Gulf of Venezuela Zambrano et aI
1971 aligns with Sierra de Perij a once the Oca Fault offset is
LoweiK restored We
A suggest the Dabajuro Platform represents the
rida Arch northeasterly continuation of the paleo Perij a range because it
moderate like the area southeast of Tigre Fault was
erosionally truncated
subsidence
in the Eocene Zambrano et aI 1971 Macellari 1995
of the
y
nfi The linearity and length Tigre Fault implies that it may
oogoU Basin basement involved strike
t
strong
have been a slip fault Lateral move
oo
subsidence ment in the Miocene to Recent must have been minimal be
nu
y
cause it is secondary to and bounded by the Oca and Santa

Barremian
limit Marta faults which are also linear However in the northern
Middle of Colombia north northeast trend
Magdalena Valley
FIG 6 Sketch of Jurassic and Early Cretaceous features of western Ven
ing faults of Eocene age pre Upper Eocene overlap assem
ezuela and Colombia using the pre Andean palinspastic reconstruction devel
oped here Fig 10 By Aptian time Aguardiente Formation the Merida blage appear to be strike slip as judged from seismic profiles
Arch had formed e
g A A in Barinas Basin due to I the existence of a insofar as basement is involved and brought to the surface in
transfer zone between theflanking Trujillo and Uribante troughs rifts andor distinctive flower structures 7 If 110 km of offset is
2 flexure between these primary thermally post rift subsiding depocenters
Fig
restored along the Santa Marta Fault the northern
Further western Venezuela as a whole was relatively high in Early Cretaceous Magdalena
fault of 7 with the Fault
time as shown by wrap around of
onlap edges possibly because rifting Figure aligns closely Tigre Fig 2
We suggest that the
was far stronger in both the northern passive margin and the Bogota Basin to Tigre Fault formed a northward continua
the south Although we acknowledge the existence of a Merida Arch tion of one of the
Magdalena faults and that the band
we
or more
note that the Renz 1959 strike line along the western Merida Andes tradi
of Eocene deformation along the Tigre Fault was narrow be
tionally interpreted to demonstrate the existence of the Arch actually climbs
cause the deformation was primarily strike slip in nature but
out of the rifts at his inferred arch when ploued on our palinspastic grid thus
inevitably depicting apparent onlap of Cretaceous units against an arch possessed a component of shortening which caused uplift and
whether or not a real arch exists Note that the broadness of the Arch prevents erosion Preferential vergence is not clear and may have been
precise definition of crest orientation Published arguments for the existence of
northwest southeast Arch in
double andor alternating flower like Accepting the 65 km
a
present coordinates e
g Lugo 1994 also hold
offset on the Oca Fault see above the faulting appears to have
true in the palinspastic reconstruction We know of no constraints to refute
continued northwards across the Dabajuro Platform and be
significant dextral offset along the Merida Andes as a whole
neath the overthrust zone of the Caribbean allochthons Given
the of subduction of the Carib
paleogeographic setting oblique
bean Plate beneath Colombia at that time a dextral shear within
within Sierra de Perijd
Deformation the Colombia would be in this
overriding plate expected area
Kellogg 1984 estimated 40 45 km of shortening across the toallow northward escape of the northern Colombian Central
Sierra de Perija since Eocene time with
perhaps 25 km of this Cordillera Santa Marta region from areas of strong Incaic Eo
since the Late
occurring Oligocene in an Andean stage which cene convergence If the faults reached the allochthonous Lara
is made distinct from the Eocene stage by an intervening period Nappes within the Gulf of Venezuela during nappe emplace
of Late Eocene La Sierra Fm deposition The 25 km short ment the dextral offset does not need to be balanced by au
ening value and a Late Oligocene onset of Andean deformation tochthonous structures Such an offset could have been hidden
agrees well with 1 apatite fission track ages from the SE beneath the allochthons simply as a slightly larger but unmea
foothiIls of the Sierra which cluster in the 27 22 Ma range Sha surable overthrust value to the west of the faults than to the
if dextral offset occurred toward the final
gam et aI 1984 2 the onset of west derived Late Oligocene east Alternatively
in the western
Middle Miocene El Fausto Group deposition stages of or after nappe emplacement a dextral offset in the
Maracaibo Basin Gonzalez de Juana et aI 1980 3 seismic limit of allochthons would be expected This is possible because
sections in the northern Perij a which show structural growth the Dabajuro Platform occurs where the southward limit of al
and stratalofflap of this age Audemard 1991 and 4 offset lochthons jumps northward dextrally from its trace north of
of Oligocene markers in the Falcon Basin assuming that Perij a Lake Maracaibo to its trace in Guajira Peninsula
is transferred strike the Oca In summary dextral transpression may best describe Eocene
shortening as
slip movement along
Fault into the Falcon Basin Macellari 1995 deformation in the Sierra de Perija However despite the prob
inferred able need to restore such deformation in pre Late Eocene
Concerning the Eocene deformation Kellogg 1984 a
that it caused northwest southeast shortening along a north palinspastic reconstruction the lack of control on the magnitude
thrust This inferrence based in part the of and partitioning between strike slip and shortening prevents
west verging was on
observation that the bounded on the northeast and in our opinion any sensible attempt at this In the pre Andean
Perij as are
southwest the Oca and Santa Marta faults and

by respectively palinspastic restoration developed here the total shortening for
0
v
2
l Flower Structure peneplained 013
c
NW
SL
at Eocene unconformity
1 000
5 000
10 000
feet
FIG 7 Northwest southeast

cross section of the northern Middle Magdalena Valley of Colombia Note structural style during or prior to development of
Late Eocene unconformity Flower structure may have been a dextral wrench of unknown offset passing north northeast into the Tigre or adjacent faults of the
Sierra de Perij a which may have accommodated tectonic escape of northwesternmost South America
during Eocene deformation Note also the eastward average
dip and bevelling of the Cretaceous Paleocene section beneath heavy black line attributed to underthrusting by the Caribbean Plate beneath Colombia during
Paleocene to Late Eocene time The subsequent return to deposition above the unconformity is due to subsidence of the Colombian
platform during a slowing
of relative motion between South American and the Caribbean Plate at the end of Eocene time
the Sierra de Perija is taken as 25 km toward the west northwest In addition the style of faulting along the Santa Marta Massif
since Late Oligocene time in Colombia since the onset of
Perija shortening should be
mainly dip slip rather than strike slip
The Falcon Basin and Urumaco Trough
The Falcon Anticlinorium
The Falcon Basin I in
Fig is opinion best modeled
our
Late to Middle Miocene releasing bend basin

as a
Oligocene The Falcon Anticlinorium is that portion of the Falcon Basin
that was compressed north south since Late Miocene time e with fair that has been folded and thrusted since the
g topography
Boesi and Goddard 1991 Macellari 1995 Basin formation end of Middle Miocene times The Falcon Anticlinorium can
corresponds in time with motion on the Oca Fault The basin be considered as part of the
shortening system of the northern
was nucleated upon the area of the previously emplaced Lara Merida Andes because the timing of the most intense defor
Nappes Transtensional reactivation of the thrust belt above the mation is similar in both areas Late Miocene to Recent and
Oca Fault appears to have contributed to basin formation south because there is a clear and distinct set of faults that connects
of the Oca Fault The Late Miocene Recent basin compression the Merida Andes to the Falcon Anticlinorium such as the Va
is concurrent with the main phase of uplift of the Merida Andes lera Fault Fig 3 Rod 1956 and James 1990 considered
The Oca Fault in Venezuela immediately north of Lake Ma this set of faults to be sinistral wrenches or escape structures
racaibo has accumulated at least 65 km of dextral offset mea for wedges of rock between the eastern part of Lake Maracaibo
surable in Colombia Fig 2 plus about 25 km 90 km total and the Bocono Fault The roughly north south left lateral
of additional dextral motion by lateral transfer of shortening faults are probably lateral ramps to folds and thrusts in the
within the Sierra de Perija Falcon Anticlinorium Radar images of Venezuela in particular
To the northwest in the Guajira Peninsula the Cuiza Fault suggest this interpretation the linear north south trending faults
trends east west and dextrally offsets litho units by about 15 bend to the east at their northern ends merging into the folds
km where it enters the Gulf of Venezuela it appears to be and thrusts of the Anticlinorium
associated with delimit the northern end of the Urumaco The entire Falcon section sits above variably metamorphosed
I Macellari 1995
The 15 km displacement may rocks of the Lara
Trough Fig Nappes which have a southward vergent
also represent the amount of extension in the Urumaco Trough thin skinned fold and thrust geometry associated with Eocene
If so the Urumaco
Trough may be a pull apart basin which oblique arc collision The nappes overlie and or interfinger with
transfers additional 15 km of E W dextral its southern several kilometers of Late Paleocene Eocene
an
slip to Upper foredeep
end where it merges with the Oca Fault Zone Therefore to the sands and shales of the formations Ulti
MiTrujsioalIo Paujf
east of the Urumaco
Trough in the eastern Falcon region the mately following the arguments above the Late Miocene Re
total Oca offset is likely greater than 105 km possibly 140 km cent Falcon Anticlinorium as a whole must be northward ver
above Sediment isopach maps Macellari

see 1995 suggest gent if it roots from the Merida Andes and motion is translated
that opening and subsidence of the Urumaco Trough has oc northward by the Valera and associated faults Supporting this
curred possibly in stages since the Oligocene like the Falcon is evidence for northward vergent thrusting at the north
ample
Basin but without the Falcon Basin s late ern flank of the Anticlinorium e g Boesi and Goddard 1991
compressional event
The estimated 25 km of Late Oligocene and younger short The younger northward vergence must dominate the present
in the
ening Perija approximately matches an offset value for structure and is likely more deeply seated than the Eocene
Late Miocene units in the western Falcon Ba
Oligocene Early southward thrusts which have been reactivated during the Late
sin Macellari 1995 Assuming the latter to be correct the bulk Neogene development of the Falcon Anticliorium
of the 65 km offset measured in Colombia may have occurred To our knowledge no one yet has directly measured the
prior to deposition of most of Macellari s Late Oligocene shortening for the Falcon s folds and thrusts but see Vasquez
Miocene seismic interval Therefore of the Oca and Dickey 1972 for a mathematical estimation of shortening
Early some
Fault s offset is likely pre Andean such that not all of the interpreted as shear strain along the Oca Fault New observa
Oca s displacement is incorporated into our
synthesis below tions of repeatedly thrusted section and more intense styles of
folding mainly north vergent particularly on the north side of tunately the intersection of this trend and the El Pilar Fault is
that this estimate is
the foldbelt are beginning emerge implying significant
to so oblique only approximate
If the faults connecting the Merida Andes to the In Trinidad similar process for reconstruction is needed
a
shortening
Falc6n Anticlinorium are sinistral lateral ramps their combined plus the closure of the Gulf of Paria pull apart basin Algar
offsets may the overall shortening in the Falc6n this volume Strike slip offset on the El Pilar Fault in Vene
approach per
haps as much as 15 km distributed across the entire Anticli zuela does not enter into Trinidad in a
simple eastward projec
norium Part of this would represent an additional component tion to the southern flank of the Northern Range Instead the
of the total in the northern Merida Andes motion is transferred southward the Gulf of Paria where
shortening across
it then crosses the Central and Southern Ranges as wrench sys

The Serran dellnter or Oriental and Trinidad tems which have produced alternating periods of transtension
a
and dominant transpression In the simplest terms the com
with the features shown in Figure I three steps are
Starting bined dextralslip on the Central and Southern Ranges should
needed to reconstruct the Serranfa del Interior approximate the slip on the Venezuelan portion of the El Pilar
palinspastically
and Eastern Venezuelan Basin Fig 8 Erikson and Pindell this Fault
volume a b back in time the first is the removal of
Working
distributed east west trending simple shear which has affected Assembling the Pre 25 Ma Palinspastic Grid
the east of the Santa Ines Urica Fault Zone south of El
region
Pilar Fault and north of the Tonoro trend for about the last 12 The above considerations for western Venezuela and Colom
my This is the period over which the region has been in dextral bia synthesized in Figure 9 which shows a nest of vector
are
transtension Pindell primary Early

1994 and follows the to triangles defining triple junction solutions of block boundaries
Middle Miocene compressional period We estimate a total dex method after Dewey and Pindell 1985 Every block position
tral shear of about 20 km in the region south of El Pilar Fault and measured or inferred displacement between pairs of blocks
relative to the Shield Several linear faults splay off of the Santa is internally consistent in the diagram Trends of tie lines agree
Ines Urica into the Serranfa against which extensional fault with measured or interpreted azimuths of displacement between
systems tend to terminate at their northern ends pull apart ge blocks Several of the more important displacements are defined
ometry hence transtension This mode of strain can be consid by geological relations as described above whereas others are
ered as transtensional collapse of the Serranfa in a releasing taken from the literature or inferred from the construction of
bend and is a direct result of an the
configuration important change triangles
in about 12 Ma Algar and Pindell 1993 The collection of shown in Figure 9 and those
plate kinematics at displacements
The second step is to move the Serranfa northwestward by for eastern Venezuela and Trinidad Fig 8 have been integrated
restoring about 40 km of thrusting on the Pirital Thrust and into the palinspastic grid of Figure 10 All the displacements
the
perhaps 10 km more on thrusts to the south of it East of the are believed to have occurred after 25 Ma period of An
Pirital motion on the Quiriquire Fault eastward continuation dean orogenesis except much of the initial 65 km of move
of the San Francisco Fault with the ment along the Oca Faultwhich appears to have occurred in
probably corresponds mo
mid Oligocene In Figure 10 this additional strain

tion on the Pirital That the San Francisco Fault is dextral im the Early or
plies that total motion on the Quiriquire is greater than that on is removed to provide our best estimate of the early Tertiary
the Pirital but the amount of overthrusting may be less because paleogeographic configuration of the autochthon
of its more easterly orientation Figure 10 was created as follows A geological map of the
Third the folds and thrusts of the Serranfa itself need to be region fortified with various additions of ourown and latitude
reconstructed to their pre deformational geometry Here we longitude lines every 0 50 was physically cut into the various
follow Rossi 1985 for approximate shortening values 25 blocks of Figure 9 and other blocks in the east The individual
or some 40 km and trends within the Serranfa The effect of pieces were then rearranged according to the net displacements
this step is to further retract the northern part of the Serranfa to between blocks At this point the reconstructed map com
the northwest Aptian Albian El Cantil Formation shallow ma prised numerous undeformed blocks separated by gaps of vari
rine carbonates passive margin stage occur in the Serranfa ous sizes and
shapes The gaps represented total strains both
section as far north as El Pilar Fault thus
only partially not magnitude and direction between hypothetical centers ofthe
blocks Because an actual geological map was used structural
severely thinned continental originally underlay the re
crust
constructed Serranfa depocenter The original primary slope of styles near block boundaries could still be seen on the individ
the continental margin was thus situated even farther northwest ual pieces Those structural styles were then extrapolated into
than the restored that is recreated by the three steps of the gaps from less deformed parts of the blocks in order to fill
platform
this exercise this total dis the gaps with real information and latitude and longitude con
palinspastic Following reasoning
trol In this way the palinspastic grid was retrodeformed and
placement of the northern Serranfa del Interior with respect to
the Guyana Shield is about 100 km at about 1500 and 20 km smoothed into a deformed fishnet which we believe repre
shear
E W dextral simple Figure 8 shows the approximate po sents a reasonably close
approximation to the real paleogeog
sitions of key reference points in the palinspastic framework raphy of the autochthon prior to Andean and eastern basin or
The El Pilar Fault plots along the northern part of the recon ogenesis Once the lines were smoothed and tested for
struction and probably has a dextral offset of 50 100 km as consistency they were labeled with latitude and longitude val
judged by realigning Cretaceous metamorphic rocks of the Villa ues Coastlines national boundaries cities and some geological
de Cura belt with an equivalent aged metamorphic belt ie features then added to show former relative
were positions of
Manicuare Formation on the western Araya Peninsula Unfor those features These in addition to the retrodeformed grid
i
Restored EI Pilar Fault
Present shoreline
state lines
i
I
100
50
9
50
65 650 50
64 63
50
FIG 8 Gross palinspastic restoration of Serranfa del Interior Oriental following method of Figures 3 4 and 10 relative of
showing paleopositions key field
sections and localities examined and incorporated into the paleogeographic maps Figs 15 21 of this study
allow the plotting of data and structures in the former relative ment
paleogeography We have made no attempt to reconstruct
positions We realise of course that this kinematic exercise Jurassic deformations breakup configuration Also
to a pre
leading to the relationships shown in Figures 9 and 10 have possible dextral
displacement on the northeast trending linear
been performed on a plane surface principally by translations faults in the northern Middle Magdalena and the Sierra de Perij a
with minor rotations about vertical axes The earth s sphericity e g
Tigre Fault was not retracted because it is not yet esti
prohibits this as a rigorous quantitative measure where all rela mated or proved However
Early to Middle Eocene dextral
tive motions should be described as rotations about axes
passing shear on those faults could total several tens of kilometers
through the centre of the earth However the area over which
we are performing these relative motions is
sufficiently small
to aIlow
planar translational solutions to be reasonable Timing of the Onset of Andean Orogenesis in
Western Venezuela
approximations
An feature of the reconstructed autochthon is that
important A Late Oligocene age 25 Ma has been assumed thus far for
it possesses several marginal re entrants and salients
Fig 10 the initiation of the Andean Orogeny in western Venezuela
Judging from the necessary Permo Triassic position of Yucatan
and Colombia but the of has varied in space
relative to Northern South America Fig 5 rifting between the intensity uplift
and time since then This age of initiation is based on various
two was
sinistrally oblique The salients and re entrants form a
series of east northeast indicators and corresponds with a doubling of the convergence
primary rift segments that were sepa
rated rate between the Caribbean and northern South America As
by north northwest sinistral marginal offsets or transfer
zones mentioned earlier an
acceptable triple junction closure requires
The pre Miocene that motions of the Santa Marta Fault Merida Andes Eastern
paleogeographic maps developed herein
built upon the Cordillera systems were coeval Therefore an estimated age
are palinspastic framework of Figure 10 The
map of Jurassic rift related features is shown this base be
on from one locality applies at least to some extent to the other
cause it is reasoned that Jurassic deformations created this base localities
Late Oligocene 25 Ma Present Bulk Motions of Blocks in NW South America
Note These vectors do not restore all motion all the

Oca Fault a Colombia whose offset probably began
somewhat earlier than the age a this restoration
NORTH
o 50 100
Km
Guyana
Shield
Northem
Cordillera
Central
q
lre
ch
57 221 un 23 mmlyr
k
9
Vyr
North America It
@ 9 6 Ma CaribbeanSouth
America @ 9 6 Ma
CaribbeanINorth America @ 19 1 Ma
CaribbeanINorth America @ 12 Ma
FIG 9 Late
Oligocene to present bulk motions of main blocks in northwest South America and the Caribbean Plate Blocksplates defined
are
by dots and
fault between
adjacent pairs of blocks are shown by tie lines whose length and trend accord with dispacemenl The values shown into
zones net are
incorporated
the palinspastic reconstuction of Figure 10
Fission track method Gonzalez de Juana et aI 1980 and the Concentraci6n Car
bonera and Formations and
Mugrosa Colorado Gualanday
Shagam et al 1984 reported apatite fission track ages from of the Eastern Cordillera the Llanos Basin and the
the Merida Andes the Santander Massif and the Sierra de Per Group Mag
dalena Basins respectively et aI 1995
e g Cooper
ija In all three ranges the ages clearly suggest that basement
rocks began to cool down in the mid 20 s Ma implying onset Foundering of Lower Magdalena Basin basement
of uplift by that time The Sierra de Perij a may have begun to The basement of the Lower Magdalena Basin experienced
cool down first where several ages fall around 25 Ma The extensional and subsidence at the end of
faulting rapid Oligo
Santander Massif seems to have uplifted more slowly with ages cene time A shallow water platform
carbonate lies at the base
into the teens The Merida Andes
spread out
give some ages in of the extensional sub basins Plato Geofracture and Sucre Gra
the lower 20 but most
s are single digit ages suggesting that ben and is overlain by a km thick succession of generally Mi
the Merida Andes were either the last of the ranges to com ocene to Recent turbidites
which record the deepening asso
or have
mence strong uplift recently undergone the most drastic ciated with graben development Duque Caro 1979 As
uplift New Ar Ar isotope work in the Merida Andes indicates outlined above the deepening was a direct response to the iso
cooling in the mid 20 s by that method too 1 P Erikson pers lation of the Santa Marta Massif during the early motion along
commun 1996 the Santa Marta Fault which severed the Lower
Magdalena
area from the Massif The result was
record rapid uplift of the Massif
Sedimentary and synchronous subsidence of the Lower Magdalena If the
Early syn orogenic sedimentary deposits repeatedly give Santa Marta Fault was active in the late Oligocene the motion
dates of Late Oligocene about 25 Ma the Venezuelan lower
along its southeastward projection must have been transferred
Guayabo Group 1993 and lower El Fausto
Higgs Group into the interior e g Santander Massif and contributed to the
15
J
o G
13
Guajira Barcelona
Caracas Sucre
Salient R eentr ant Paria
Salient Salient
TI1d1il1o
1
Re entran t
R cr D
vo P U 64 depocen r
II
Caraca 63
H Serranfa 2
A L 9 depocenter IJ
nF
1J4
0 10
1 N Y I
Y
4 J
OOo
d
IlTJ M
111 1
M qu
W Maturin
O
V I V
c 1
resto ace
9 01 1 of Pirital Fault 9
t ElBaul J
1
z
r
l
FOld r
E1 RioQuiu
y
l
t ln C I
J 7
XV rr
tn S v
71 69 7 650 63 I 59
FIG 10 Palinspastic restoration of the northern South American autochthon at about 30 Ma Andean and Eastern Venezuela Basin deformations plus
Oligocene Oca Fault offset have been removed Also all allochthonous or accreted terranes have been removed but no Eocene deformations are removed due
to lack of control on magnitude and style This framework provides the basis in this paper for development of the Tertiary paleogeographic maps as well as for
the Cretaceous maps of Villamil and Pindell this volume Retrodeformed latitude and longitude lines are smoothed to denote fault drag and local block rotation
adjacent to main faults Present and paleo positions of Lake Maracaibo Guajira Paraguami and the Colombian border are shown in light and heavy lines
respectively NLl defines known extent of allochthons when plotted in reconstruction NL2 defines more likely original southward limit prior to erosion as
suggested by the occurrence of a 138 Ma age from presumably allochthonous granite in the QMC I well which presently plots south of NLl Feo Codecido
a
et 1984
onset of Andean deformations and uplift in the western parts chronous development of the others Thus the uplift of all the
of the Eastern Cordillera northern Andean ranges can be tied to a common
driving mech
anism As the four lines of evidence noted above
continuous the supported by
Youngest sedimentary strata to cross
it is clear that Andean had
orogenesis begun by 25 Ma Late
Eastern Cordillera
Oligocene
The Mirador and La Paz
Upper Eocene Lower Oligocene
Esmeraldas Formations of the Llanos and Middle Magdalena TERTIARY KINEMATICS OF THE CARIBBEAN AND SOUTH AMERICA
basins appear to be genetically related and may
respectively
once have been continuous across the Eastern Cordillera Scha An important control on the development of the foredeep
mel 1991 Cooper et
Deposition al 1995 of the Mirador For stratigraphy above the northern South American passive margin
mation continued until at least earliest
Oligocene time 34 platformal sections source rocks is the relative motion history
Ma Cazier et aI 1995 their Fig 3 and direction of the Caribbean and South American
indicating that uplift of rate
plates The motion between these two plates be

the Eastern Cordillera began no earlier than this The overlying history can
calculated by summing their motions for times relative

Carbonera Formation Oligo Miocene Cazier et aI 1995 has equal
North America In this paper outline model for the
prominent coal beds and a faster rate ofaccumulation reflecting to we a
increasingly swampy conditions and accelerated subsidence Tertiary history of Caribbean North America motion which fol
which presumably relate to foredeep development and the lows Fig II the stages of northern Caribbean evolution pre
nearby onset of orogenesis sented by Pindell and Barrett 1990 and Deng and Sykes
1995 This motion history is then summed with Tertiary North
Summary America South America motions Muller 1993 to determine
The of the and Santander ranges is the Caribbean South America Tertiary history of motion Fig
uplift Perija genetically
related the latter
being the transpressive equivalent of the for 12 and inset
mer Likewise the deformation and uplift of the Merida Andes The Caribbean South America relative motion
history Blan
Santander Massif and Eastern Cordillera are genetically related quilla Path of Fig 12 is Z shaped rather than a
single arcuate
in a triple junction fashion None of the three arms of the triple path because the pole of rotation for Caribbean North America
junction can develop in their respective styles without the syn is believed here to have changed significantly with time Pindell
220
200
180
16
Reconstruction after
Pindell and Barrett 1990
22
Yucatan Basin Cayman

Isles
n rthe
S
r
f
180
Hlspamola
uth rn
Jamaica S Zone of Miocene
Hlspamola shortening
Rifts of eastern Cayman Trough Reconstruction after
Pindell and Barrett 1990
140
220
Yucatan Basin Azimuth of motion

200
r
180
f
Puerto Rico
Riftso e
Restraining Cayman Trough

Bend now rotated
140
FIG 11 Three stage model forthe Tertiary development of the northern Caribbean from which three instantaneous stage poles for Caribbean North America
relative motion are estimated for incorporation into
regional plate motion circuits e g Fig 12 The three poles indicate a south southeastward migration away
from the Caribbean region with time from northern Ecuador
through Chile and into the Indian Ocean The average of the three poles lies close to most published
poles which atlemptto describe Caribbean North America motion back to the Eocene about a single pole In A main plate boundary was situated within rather
than north of Hispaniola In B Oriente Fault between Cuba and
Hispaniola becomes active such that small circles became less curved as the instantaneous pole
migrated south southeast By late Middle Miocene time the Deng and Sykes 1995 pole appears to have been achieved such that subsequent evolution was
transpressional in the northeast Caribbean and transtensional in the southeast Caribbean Fig 22 Rates of motion over time in our analysis and in Figure 12
follow those defined forthe Cayman Trough in Rosencrantz 1993
Eocene deviation in 52 Ma Flowlines of Caribbean Plate

paths is due to extens relative to South America
in Grenada Basin
59 Ma Path of Tobago
52Ma 39Ma representing
46Ma
39Ma Grenada Terrane
Path of Blanquilla
33Ma
representing the
Caribbean Plate 25Ma
19Ma
12Ma
lOMa
o 100 300 500
Presentj
North I I
km
I I
FIG 12 Flowlines of points representing the Caribbean Plate and Grenada Terrane relative to a
palinspastically restored South America Input for North
America South America relative motions from inset which shows motions of points representing North America relative to South America for eastern and
western parts of northern South America Input forCaribbean North America relative motions from Figure II
and Barrett 1990 Erikson et al 1990 and Dolan et al 1991 trenches When we consider the nature of the subduction of
argue that for much of Eocene Oligocene time transcurrent the Caribbean Plate beneath Colombia we see that true sub
motion occurred along the northern San Juan Basin of central duction by slab insertion is not occurring because the is
plate
This the most fault zone not its down relative to the mantle
Hispaniola was
probably prominent moving along dip length
that time and
through Hispaniola at as
argued by Pindell and The majority of the relative motion implied by Figure 12 has
Barrett 1990 was also probably the eastward continuation of been achieved by the motion of South America moving west
the early Cayman Trough Fig II Eocene Oligocene Carib ward across the mantle away from Africa
bean North American flowlines thus had curvature than of the relative flowpath of Figure 12 allows some
tighter Analysis
those derived from the present day Cayman Trough Then that might be observable in the rock rec
important predictions
in the Early Miocene initial motion
on the Oriente ord of northern South America and the southern Caribbean One
starting
Fault portion of the Cayman Trough initiated the separation of is that of
prediction dextrally oblique arc collision along north
Cuba and Hispaniola and reduced the curvature of small circles ern South America throughout most of the Cenozoic producing
Finally as shown by the onset of transtension in the southeast an ever
lengthening dextral transform system between the San
ern Caribbean
argued later Pindell 1994 the Present azimuth Jacinto Trench of Colombia and the Antillean Trench at the
of Caribbean motion relative to North America toward 700 of the Caribbean Plate The oblique collision al
leading edge
and 1995 the latter part of the lowed the load of the Caribbean Plate and its accretionary prism
Deng Sykes probably began by
Middle Miocene about 12 Ma In addition to these changes many of the allochthonous terrane of northern South America
in direction fold increase in the rate of relative
a
nearly two
plus the load of the sedimentary depocentre in the trench ahead
motion occurred at about 25 Ma Late Oligocene Fig 12 southeast of the to
accretionary prism migrate obliquely to
At this it is It has ward the South American The
point pertinent to state animportant point margin migrating load would
long been held that the Caribbean Plate is essentially stationary produce a
migrating foredeep and a migrating peripheral bulge
in the mantle reference frame This is because it is bounded on ahead of the foredeep discussed later In most cases where the
is old of the
both the east and west and therefore trapped by Benioff Zones lithosphere relatively at onset Tertiary last thermal
dipping beneath the Plate Lesser Antilles and Middle America resetting was of Jurassic age the crest of the peripheral bulge
CENOZOIC SE7TING OF THE NORTHERN MARGIN OF SOUTH AMERICA 61
dominated by of the Col6n Mito Juan

may be higher than an unflexed
condition by about 5 of the zuela was progradation
total deflection of basement at the point of the load In addition association whereas eastern Venezuelan facies show a regres
the distance from the of the load to the crest of the bulge sion San Juan Formation followed by a marked latest Maas
point
trichtian Vidofio Formation which contin
is typically 250 to 350 km In western Venezuela the Caribbean transgression lower
should have intercepted the margin during Paleocene ued into the Paleocene and which is not readily seen in western
forebulge
Venezuela This difference is believed herein be due the
time foredeep loading should have followed shortly thereafter to to
and according to the plate motions the allochthonous nappes onset of tectonism of greater significance than that which had
should have been emplaced in their final positions by the end affected the margin for most of Cretaceous time
of Eocene time The position of the crest of the bulge should In the west the Campanian Maastrichtian accretion of the
have migrated south and east during the time of emplacement Amaime and other terranes along western Central Cordillera
first across the Maracaibo Basin Paleocene and then across and onset of Caribbean underthrusting beneath western Colom
the Barinas Basin Eocene Middle Eocene time the bia Pindell 1993 produced tectonic controls on stratigraphic
Early By
bulge should have disappeared from both basins In eastern development before the end of the Cretaceous Also in Maas
Venezuela and Trinidad the continuation of the oblique and trichtian time onset of north south convergence between North
diachronous collision occurred up to Middle Miocene time The and South America led to 70 km of convergence by Middle
crest of the should have passed through the Guarico Basin Eocene time when measured at the longitude of eastern Vene
bulge
12
in Middle Eocene time and through the Serranfa del Interior zuela Fig Convergence higher at the longitude
was even
Oriental in Late Eocene time of western Venezuela but the effect is likely to have been
Predicting the time of initial collision and final emplacement greater in eastern Venezuela because of 1 greater proximity
of allochthons in each rifted segment of the northern margin of to the
converging transforms in the Equatorial Atlantic Ocean
from the Caribbean Plate at this time which
South America Fig 10 using the relative motion history of and 2 remoteness
Figure 12 is somewhat the estimate of the width was

consuming more westerly of Proto Caribbean lith
portions
dependent on
and subduction In western Venezuela

cross strike of the accretionary prism through Oligocene osphere by west
dipping
north south convergence between North and South America
Miocene time unexpectedly wide narrow collision
If it was
could have been taken up by the downflexing of the Proto

may have begun earlierllater than predicted from the motions
subduction beneath the Caribbean
respectively Nevertheless collision in each of the three rifted Caribbean lithosphere during
eastward between the Americas
segments should have begun approximately in Late Eocene Plate as it advanced relatively
Late Oligocene and Early Miocene time respectively see
Fig 16 inset In other words in nvrth south cross section
subduction of the Proto Caribbean in the west could
Another prediction is that the Andean Orogeny should have lithosphere
Late Oligocene time at about 25 Ma when the relative not have been achieved without between the
started in convergence
rate between the two plates doubled Given that American continents unless significant roughly east west
a
convergence
the main cause of relative motion was the westward drift of trending gap was torn into that lithosphere during subduction
South America across the mantle such an acceleration can be There may have been a continuum of structural shortening in
have driven strong compression in the overriding the east and downflexing during subduction in the west such
predicted to
that it is difficult to know what to expect in central areas north
plate As mentioned above a variety of evidence points to a
Andean de of Caracas In fact given these two methods of achieving the
Late Oligocene age for the initiation of significant
formations and related changes in sedimentation In addition American convergence it is entirely reasonable that eastern
the 12 Ma change in direction of motion should be clearly visi Venezuela was in compression whereas western Venezuela
ble in the geology of northern South America In particular the may have been in extension due to slab pull
behavior of certain structures and tectonic elements such as the The short lived San Juan Formation marks a relative fall in
Merida Andes might be expected to have changed given the sea level The age of initial San Juan deposition matches the
directed relative motion onset of the change in relative motion between North and South
change from southeast directed to east
between the two

plates at 12 Ma America Fig 12 inset Tectonic uplift may have caused the
relative fall which could have been due to application of com
the the motion In
TERTIARY PALEOGEOGRAPHIC DEVELOPMENT pressive stress on margin as
plate changed
creasingconvergence in the latter Maastrichtian could have
End Cretaceous Setting Starting Point for Tertiary Evolution been accommodated by the onset of underthrusting of Proto
Figures 13 and 14 are generalized latest Cretaceous Tertiary Caribbean crust beneath the lower continental margin of eastern
Venezuela and Trinidad

stratigraphic correlation charts of the more significant forma explored by Pindell et al
an idea
tions studied and integrated into this study most of which ap 1991 Further if such underthrusting were associated also
with inversion of north dipping faults within the rifted margin
pear on the set of paleogeographic maps presented in this sec
tion Figs 15 21 Age control for formations in the chart is graben system then the result on most of the shelf to the south
mainly from Bellizzia et al 1976 with revisions as noted in of the inverted structures could be seen as tectonic loading not
the following sections uplift Basement faulting during San Juan time at Pedernales
and strong indications of syn
Sequence stratigraphic development at various locations M pers commun 1995
Daly
across the Cretaceous mainly passive margin of northern South sedimentary San Juan Formation slumping and liquefaction
America is similar for most of Cretaceous time but in the Maas J Pindell and W Kidd field observations 1995 are in accord
trichtian marked differences in stratigraphic patterns and sedi with such a development By Paleocene time see below there
ment distribution began to develop between eastern and western is evidence for a northward source of sediment in Trinidad in
Venezuela Villamil and Pindell this volume Western Vene dicative of considerable uplift proto Northern Range seen as
QUATERNARY
lOCENE
PI
U RIO YUCA
MIOCENE M
FEROC
OUGOCENE
EOCENE
U
PALEOCENE
L
FIG 13 Cenozoic stratigraphic columns for various localities in the Maracaibo Basin plus a
generalized column for the Barinas Basin The Tambor
Plateau column is from unpublished work Higgs R and Odreman 0 field observations 1995 The City of Merida column comprises the San Javier and
Mucujun formations of Ghosh and Odreman 1987 with the added
concept that the San Javier Formation is
largely overturned Higgs R unpublished report
southward of probable slope olistostromes Chaudiere

fining Trinidad and to the sequence
stratigraphic history of the Ser
Formation into deep sea shales Lizard Springs Formation ranfa del Interior Further it is difficult to reconcile up to 70
Barr and Saunders 1968 In eastern Venezuela no such north km of shortening across the Proto Caribbean Seaway from
ward source has been detected for this time
period but the Maastrichtian to Middle Eocene time without an
important ef
tract of the lower Vidofio Formation
transgressive systems see fect on one or both of its However no ob
flanking margins
Erikson and Pindell this volume a may record tectonic loading vious effects of this proposed development were recognized in
to the north
any associated deep water turbidites may have the analysis of subsidence history in the Serranfa
been eroded since Miocene time
by Erikson
as the northernmost Serranfa and Pindell but their noted Paleocene Middle Eo
1993 to
presently contains very little of this formation Over most of cene tectonic uplift may have been due to Proto Caribbean un
the western and southern Serranfa subsidence appears to have
arrested
derthrusting as well as the arrival of the Caribbean bulge We
been largely duringupper Vidofio and Caratas depo leave the idea to be tested further in the future
sition shown slow sediment accumulation rates accom
as by To the west in northern Colombia after the
tectonic Erikson and Pindell this vol Campanian
panied by gradual uplift Maastrichtian
b Middle Eocene time
east vergent accretion of the Amaime and Santa
ume a By American convergence
Marta
temporarily ceased but the arrival of the Caribbean
arc terranes
along the western flank of the Colombian
forebulge Central Cordillera continued
at this time is evident as marked
by the upward shallowing plate convergence westward drift
of South America was accommodated by the thrusting of Col
Caratas sandstone to limestone transition followed
Tinajitas by ombian continental crust over the Caribbean Plate Pindell
the gradual arrival of the Caribbean foredeep basin across the The northern part of the Caribbean
Serranfa the latter seen as the 1993 lithosphere which
deepening upward Los Jabillos avoided collision with Colombia would thus have progres
and Areo Formations Erikson and Pindell 1993 this volume
b By Late Eocene Early Oligocene time the subduction zone sively migrated relatively eastward along northern South
America Since the Caribbean Plate has been
at which Proto Caribbean crust was consumed beneath the Ca nearly fixed in the
ribbean Plate lay north of central and eastern Venezuela such mantle reference frame the nature of the subduction beneath
that upper crustal extension due to flexural faulting and slab Colombia is such that Caribbean lithosphere does not
actively
pull dominated the region for a time prior to the actual oblique enter the mantle of the convergence is achieved
most
by the
arc collision in the Miocene South American continent driving across the Caribbean litho
This speculative model for end Cretaceous Middle Eocene sphere This leads to a number of peculiarites in the tectonic
time is particularly satisfying to
sedimentological aspects of behavior of northern South America and causes northwestern
N s
Sequence Stratigraphy
N orthem Maturin Basin
PACKAGE 3
FORELAND BASIN
OROGEN DERIVED
PACKAGE 2
FORELAND
BASIN
FORELAND
DERIVED
VV
PACKAGE 1
PASSIVE
MARGIN
KEY
D Mainly mudstone
I l Mainly sandstone
Meter scale sandstone
2 bodies in mudstone
10001 Conglomerate beds
EJ Coal beds
m Limestone beds
Glauconite sand beds

lIB condensed sections
Unconformity or
correl ative conformity
Parasequence boundary
time lines
FIG 14 Maastrichtian to Miocene facies and interpreted stratigraphic architecture and depositional environments Eastern Venezuelan Basin from Serranfa
del Interior Oriental outcrops north to northern Matunn Basin subsurface south Vertical dimension is rock thickness not time not to scale Curved fine
lines are schematic parasequence boundaries black dotted lines are sequence boundaries The succession is subdivided into three tectonostratigraphic packages
right hand side Note the change in basin polarity between the second and third packages Package 3 may be derived from west as well as north
Early Paleocene
b
o
Paleogeography
Y l1 pastic bfise 14
12
10
FIG 15 Early Paleocene paleogeography northern South America Grid comprises retro deformed latitude longitude coordinates after Figure 10 Relative
plate positions after Figure 12 Facies as discussed in text Heavy outlines of geographic features are in restored positions
South America to be
especially susceptible to changes in rela Maastrichtian Middle Eocene and Late Oligocene Recent times
tive motion history as outlined below were separated by a Late Eocene middle Oligocene period of
First a magmatic arc ordinarily would be expected above a slower 10 rate The times of moderate
mmlyr convergence
subduction zone but arc magmatism pertaining to the Carib rate
correspond with the Incaic and the Andean orogenic
bean Plate is rare or absent The
paucity of magmatism is pre phases of intraplate deformation whereas the slow period was
sumably due to the fact that the Caribbean Plate does not ac
typified by regional subsidence
enter and add water at the mantle beneath the
tively depth to Third and closely related to the second any changes in the
South American but is instead overthrust
lithosphere by that direction of subduction can also be manifested as
changes in
lithosphere structural style in the overriding plate In particular the margin
Second alternating periods of compressional and extensional parallel and margin normal components of strain will change
tectonism in the foreland autochthon are predicted as a func their relative with
proportions change in subduction direction
a
tion of measurable
changes in the rate of overthrusting Arc Depending on the relative proportions of these two variables
behavioral models such as that by Dewey 1980 relate periods strike slip faulting mayor may not accompany other defor
of compressional neutral and extensional arc
development to mations As expected the 12 Ma change in relative motion
the motion of the
overriding plate relative to the position of the direction was a time of major change in structural style in the
trench and Benioff Zone rollback
ignored here Compres Andes and in the Eastern Venezuelan Basin discussed later
sional arcs in which the overriding plate overrides the position Fourth the of the slab in the Benioff Zone will
dip help to
of the trench are characterized by determine the
relatively high arc topography extent of tectonic interaction at the
plate inter
and positive sediment source face A shallow
area explosive magmatism oc
dipping slab in addition to the possibility of
of and
currence backthrusting development of back arc fore precluding development of an arc has the ability to couple with
basins shallow trench and low
deep a
angle of Benioff Zone the lithosphere of the
overriding plate and drive basement in
and common occurrence of
severe
interplate earthquakes etc volved foreland uplifts The Andes show a strong
relationship
Extensional arcs in which the overriding plate drifts away from between regions of shallow dipping slabs and thick skinned
the trench
requires backarc or intra arc extension in order for deformations
the overriding plate to maintain contact with the downgoing Fifth in mainly the Neogene an important control on re
plate and generally the relative inverse of the above parame gional development has been the arrival and progressive colli
ters Times of moderate 20 mmlyr in
convergence rate sion of the Panamanian Arc Choco or Cuna Terrane e g Pin
Early Eocene
Paleogeography
I on
0 palinspastic base I
UW HlHW 14 0
w
ii iiH1l nn iii
I ENVIRONMENT
i
I 0 No deposition orlater eroded
Braided nUVlal
Cill Delta
roastalbraldPlaij8
wedge plain coastal plain
South
Z
American
crust
C Downgoing out
American
crust I D Inn r shelf
CJ
i
of page Prot Outer shelf 5helf
intr
510pe
Caribbean slab
If X 880 km X12 440 km and Y 200 km then Z

hence 86 km of convergenceis required toillow
483 Km
subduction I Deep
2a Shallow
j
1C
a
wat r carbonates
of Caribbean
Proto cru t beneath Caribbean Plate
I 6
64 fa w
FIG 16 Eocene northern South America Grid

Early paleogeography comprises retro deformed latitude longitude coordinates after Figure 10 Relative
dell and 1982 This is

Dewey arc a buoyant portion of the tion of Bonaire Figs 15 and 16 comprises fluvial sands which
Caribbean Plate that has resisted subduction beneath South have South American continental lithic Beets et aI
fragments
America The collision has played role in mobi 1984
an important Whatever the age of the Soebi Blanco Paleocene or
lizing the Andean terranes of northwestern South America Eocene an emergent peninsula must have existed at that time
In the sections the

following development of north
we trace
stretching from the Santa MartaGuajira area northward or
South America forward in time

ern
by assessing the above and northwestward into the Leeward Antilles
other kinds of parameters and by integrating plate motions In northern South America we
begin to see the direct effects
of the
regional structure uplift ages from various areas stratigraphy approaching Caribbean arc in the Guajira Peninsula and
in the
sedimentology and topography deposition of some of the flysch units such as the Par
acotos Formation now south of Caracas which were later
Paleocene thrust up onto the autochthon In Guajira Paleocene sediments

Early
are
largely missing and numerous Paleocene isotopic ages from
For Paleocene to Middle Miocene time several tectonic ele rocks in the nappes of the Ruma metamorphic belt indicate
ments associated with the oblique collision of the Caribbean
rapid cooling from which we infer that the nappes were under
allochthonous terranes were established which characterized
going emplacement onto the margin
the continued of northern South America These
development A large river s eventually became controlled by the Ruma
elements see inset Figure 15 combine to define a
steady state As the nappes became subaerial during emplacement
nappes
model of which from west to east with
development migrated they began to provide orogenic detritus to the interior and with
time The various elements are traced in the sections which time would have directed the drainage to the northeast After
follow the regression marked by the Mito Juan progradation north
In the Caribbean arc terranes the Paleocene marks an im ward flowing Orocue rivers became established Sands of this
portant phase of uplift Seismic sections in the Bonaire Basin fluvial system were already dirty graywacke and subgray
e gBiju Duval et aI 1982 Bellizzia 1986 and the stratig wacke belts of Van Andel 1958 because nappe emplacement
raphies of the Leeward AntilIes islands indicate Eocene onset to the southwest Amaime Suture had
already occurred How
of deposition on a deeply eroded and metamorphosed igneous ever until the fluvial system was bounded
directly on the west
and volcaniclastic basement Erosion must have been underway and northwest by uplifted Amaime Ruma nappes at the latitude
by Paleocene time The early Paleogene Soebi Blanco Forma of Maracaibo the rivers would have been
relatively unconfined
early Middle Eocene
J
se
I 6
04 62 oW
FIG 17 early Middle Eocene northern South America Grid comprises retro deformed latitudellongitude coordinates after Figure 10
paleogeography
Relative after 12 Facies discussed in text outlines ofgeographic features are in restored positions
plate positions Figure as Heavy
on a broad alluvial plain As the nappes emerged an accelera basin the Vidofio equivalent is the Chaudiere Formation which
tion in subsidence would have ensued adjacent to the thrust we

interpret as north derived deep water
slope olistolithic
front and the rivers would likely have coalesced to form a much shales and turbidite fan sandstones passing southeast into ma
larger river the site of the Cesar Valley Sierra rine basin shales of the Lizard Springs Formation Barr
along or
Perija plain
The river would have hugtended to the nappe front as the and Saunders 1968 Our inferred source area for the Chaudiere
thrust stack the continental
nappes emplaced This river was probably responsible for
were Formation was a rising at edge
supplying orogenic detritus to the Paracotos Formation and proto Northern Range
other turbiditic units of this age which contain chert glauco We believe that the thrust stack grew as the product of south
phane and mafic igneous rock fragments see Fig 15 ward Late Maastrichtian through Middle Eocene convergence
In the southwest half of the Maracaibo Basin sandstones between North and South America Fig 12 inset The equiv
shales and coal beds of the Catatumbo Formation alent of the basal Vidofio limestone in Trinidad is the essentially
were
depos
ited alluvial and delta i with permanent identical Soldado Formation which is known only trans
on wet plains e as
overbank lakes and marshesand pass northeast into shallow blocks contained in younger formations Salvador and
ported
marine Mito Juan andor Guasare Formation shales with lime Stainforth 1968 Two limestone blocks much larger 30 m
stones and sandstones Meanwhile the Barinas Basin was un than all other known examples occur in southernmost Trinidad
erosion of Cretaceous formations Soldado Rock and Marac quarry
dergoing outcropping Upper suggesting a southerly prov
which in turn suggests that the basal Vidofio limestone
probably reflecting the position of the Caribbean peripheral enance
bulge shelf of eastern Venezuela continued eastward running south

In central Venezuela Eocene peripheral bulge erosion ofTrinidad under the Orinoco Delta andor Colum
presently
largely removed Paleocene strata which we infer had been de bus Channel
Late Paleocene time the Maracaibo Basin
was probably
posited Fig 15 By
In the Eastern Venezuelan Basin the Vidofio transgression already divided by the Palmar Avispa High Higgs 1996 after
which had started in latest Maastrichtian time continued into Brondijk 1967 cf Fig 16 separating a region of fluvio la
Early Paleocene time thickening shelf lime
and cratonward custrine deposition to the southwest Los Cuervos Formation
Salvador and Stainforth 1968 from marine shelf to the northeast Guasare Formation Be
stones were
deposited as part a
of a transgressive systems tract overlain by highstand slope yond the northwest end of the Palmar these two
Avispa High
shales of the Vidofio Formation In the Trinidad portion of the domains merged at a delta presently northwest of Lake Ma
early iat Eocen l

Paleogeography I
on palinspastic 1
bas
I
J
I
I
6
1 6
FIG 18
early Late Eocene paleogeography northern South America Grid comprises relro deformed Ilaongititutude coordinates after
Figure 10 Relative
racaibo where the coal rich Marcelina Formation was depos A new
development occurring in the west but not yet af
ited In the Colombian Llanos Basin to the south equivalents Venezuela the homoclinal of the Central Cor
fecting was
uplift
include the sandy Barco Formation reservoir at Cusiana Field dillera and Santa Marta basement caused the
by leading edge
interpreted here lake delta and fluvial deposits in contrast to
as of the Caribbean Plate beginning its descent beneath the west
a previous estuarine interpretation see discussion by ward
Higgs migrating continental crust of Colombia This under
1997
thrusting probably began in the Maastrichtian but its effects
A delta complex is inferred for the Gulf of Venezuela which became very clear by the Paleocene Uplift was on the order of
now may be completely eroded to the northeast of known Mar 3 8 km and the entire autochthonous Cretaceous section was
celina deposition Clastic sediments with an orogenic com stripped from the Central Cordillera As shown in Figure 7 the
fed over the shelf edge this delta and Cretaceous Paleocene section of the Magdalena Valley was
ponent were
by deposited
ahead of the Caribbean nappes as turbidite fans tilted strongly eastward then bevelled followed by Late Eo
they are now
found in the Falcon region as the allochthonous and variably cene fluvial deposition
metamorphosed Matatere Formation Northeast of modern In central Venezuela the Paleocene Middle Eocene Morro
Lake Maracaibo in the Trujillo Fig 15 sediments
re entrant del Faro limestones of the Piemontine nappes may have been
shed off the north side of the Caribbean peripheral bulge were deposited at this time on the northeastern end of the Caribbean
more cratonic than the Matatere in
petrographic aspect derived peripheral bulge
from erosion of Upper Cretaceous strata of northern Barinas In the Eastern Venezuelan Basin
deposition of Vidofio pro
Basin and were deposited as turbidite fans of the Guaoco For grading slope muds continued diachronously succeeded by
mation which also allochthonous and occur in the Caratas Formation shelf sands and muds In Trinidad Chau
are presently
thrust front along the southern flank of the Caribbean Moun diere and Lizard Springs deposition probably continued but
tains in central Venezuela and in the western Gulf of Barcelona faunal control on these formations is insufficient to discern
Together the multi kilometer Matatere and Guaoco Formations Lower from Paleocene developments
Upper
probably added to and broadened tthe load represented by the
Caribbean accretionary prism producing a wider than normal

Early Eocene
gap between the Caribbean nappes and the position of the fore
bulge in the Barinas region The paleogeography predicts such Starting with this time slice Fig 16 our maps show our
a sedimentary pile in the correct location and the sedimentary interpretation of the paleoposition of the Villa de Cura nappe
record of the obducted allochthons confirms its existence within the Caribbean arc terranes Successive migration of the
FIG 19 Late Oligocene paleogeography northern South America Grid comprises retro deformed latitude longitude coordinates after Figure 10 Relative
after Figure 12 Facies as discussed in text Heavy outlines of geographic features are in restored positions
plate positions
northwest southeast
nappe toward its present position reached in the Early Mio Palmar Avispa High persisted trending
cene helps to define the relative motion history of the Carib across southwestern Lake Maracaibo The high separated a
bean arc
complex and South America dominantly fluvial sub basin in the southwest Mirador For
In the Caribbean terranes backarc extension was underway mation from a tide dominated shelf in the northeast Misoa
1996 The thick Misoa Formation up to 5
in the Grenada and Bonaire Basins Although these two basins Formation Higgs
km in the Serranfa de reflects foreland basin sub
are now separated by the bathymetric and structural constriction Trujillo rapid
at
Margarita Early Miocene north vergent thrusting on the sidence driven by the Caribbean tectonic load still submarine
which
north side of Margarita e g Biju Duval et aI 1982 Speed et lay immediately north of Lake Maracaibo The Mir
now
aI 1993 could have been of sufficient have trans ador and Misoa domains merged in the region presently north
magnitude to
lated Margarita to its present position relative to the Grenada west of Lake Maracaibo in a
predicted delta Fig 16 Tecton
Basin This same thrusting may be the reason why Margarita is ically the Palmar Avispa High could represent a curvature of
a positive feature If this is correct the Grenada and Bonaire the end of the Caribbean flexural bulge wrapping around
Basins may have been contiguous prior to the Early Miocene the sedimentary load exerted by the Matatere and Guarico tur
which were stilI accumulating in front of
both formed by backarc extension Margarita would have been bidites see above
situated near the transition between the two basins with the the Caribbean accretionary complex Fig 16 Alternatively the
curved forebulge could be a response to the thrust load itself
main distinguishing feature being the amount of stretching that
due to offset
took place in each The Grenada Basin is clearly more stretched which is inferred to have been similarly curved
in
probably to the point of the development of seafloor spreading of the frontal thrust by a lateral ramp better depicted Fig
that was nearly orthogonal to the trend of the arc Bird et aI 17
1993 An important prediction foregoing paleogeographic

from the
In the autochthon much of Colombia was undergoing hom interpretation of the Maracaibo Basin is that the Mirador For
oclinal and erosion Fig 16 except the southwest part mation pinches out near the southwestern shore of Lake Ma
uplift
of the Maracaibo Basin the Barco Concession racaibo constituting a potential regional stratigraphic trap
including
where fluvial of the Mirador Formation took place In central Venezuela enhanced erosion at the northeast end
deposition
Notestein et aI 1944 Note that the Mirador and Carbonera of thebulge combined with later orogenic effects of nappe
Formations of the Maracaibo Basin are older than those of the emplacement obscures the details of Early Eocene deposition
Llanos Basin Duenas Jimenez 1985 Ortega et aI 1987 The Near the west end of the Gulf of Barcelona at the Penas Blancas
Early Miocene
llate n
Paleogeography
se
pali
astic base
66
i 6 f2
6
FIG 20 late Early Miocene paleogeography northern South America Changes to palinspastic grid relative to that shown in Figures 15 19 are discussed
in text Relative plate positions after Figure 12 Facies as discussed in text Heavy outlines of geographic features are in restored positions
quarry quartz sandstones of latest Early Eocene age Cautaro underthrust this is required for the Caribbean to have remained
Formation overlie an unconformity and grade up into finer and for South American to continue
rigid lithosphere drifting
glauconitic sandstones of a thicker than normal Caratas For westward over the Caribbean An
important clockwise rotation
mation Macsotay pers commun 1995 These are capped by of the Leeward islands took place as the
originally north south
the Peiias Blancas limestones and the whole package is thrusted trending arc wrapped around the northwest corner of South
the of America this would also have affected the Villa de Cura
over a
melange Although allochthoneity is not
degree com
clear we infer this section passing of the periph

to record the plex Numerous paleomagnetic studies have borne this out in
eral bulge unconformity followed by a deepening up near both belts g MacDonald
e 1990 The individual island
shore to shelf foredeep section culminating in overthrusting blocks in the Leeward Antilles created
were probably by deep
between the island
and incorporation of melange and limestone units If this inter faulting complexes during this rotation The
of shear these faults has varied
pretation is correct usage of the term Caratas is misleading sense on probably early on
In the Eastern Venezuelan Basin general regression and when the arc trend was deflected from north south to east west
northward progradation continued such that Caratas Formation dextral offsets must have dominated over sinistral After Oli
sandstones and shales of this age occur farther north than in the gocene time when the islands were in an east west shear zone
Paleocene In the Trinidad portion of the basin turbidite fan sinistral displacements may have dominated
sandstones of the Pointe Pierre Formation may be north de
a Extension in the Grenada Bonaire Basin continued and deep
water sedimentation was
rived supplied from the still active Northern Range accretion probably initiated by this time at least
in the better developed Grenada portion The Bonaire Basin
ary thrust stack see Early Paleocene above
portion underwent less extension and was situated above the
continental rise of South America Thus its water
depths were
Early Middle Eocene
less at all times
probably shallowing southwards toward ter
The Caribbean allochthons continued to advance toward cen restrialshallow marine environments in the Guajira and Ma
tral Venezuela Rocks of the Ruma Metamorphic Belt were racaibo Sedimentation in the Bonaire backarc trough in
areas
their final whereas eastward nappe
probably reaching positions cluded carbonate and siliciclastic turbidites derived from the
movement continued to the north ofMaracaibo Underthrusting arc Leeward islands and turbidites derived from the south
at the east trench along the Colombian
dipping margin had west Later in Eocene time uplift of the Villa de Cura and
northwards by this time to the Leeward islands
propagated central Venezuelan allochthonous nappe pile would create a
where scissors marked the of the southern sedimentary province to the Bonaire Basin As
a
relationship migrating tip new
New CarlbbeiUl motion direction relativ

tothe Shield fadlltated northeastward
BI
escapeof Maracaibo thereby
maintainingcompression In wesl In th
east
previously compressional faults
became extensionaL
6
62 60
FIG 2I late Middle Miocene paleogeography northern South America Changes to palinspastic grid relative to that shown in Figures 15 20 are discussed
in text Relative plate positions after Figure 12 Facies as discussed in text Heavy outlines of geographic features are in restored positions
in the Gobernador Formation The same in central

mentioned above Margarita was situated somewhere mulating applies
transition between the oceanic Grenada and the highly extended northern Venezuela Guarumen area where renewal of sedi
had
Bonaire basins Starting in Middle Eocene time terrigenous and mentation shows that the bulge by now
passed through this
The the east where erosion
calcic1astic turbidites of the Punta Carnero Group were depos area bulge now lay to accordingly
ited on
deeply eroded and metamorphosed arc rocks of Los took place deposition
until the Late Eocene onset of La Pascua
Robles and Los Frailes Formations Munoz 1973 A similar above erosionally truncated Cretaceous strata Although the in
development should also have characterized the early Bonaire tensity of bulge development may have varied along strike we
Basin Although at Margarita this sedimentation began in the suggest a genetic and physical connection between the bulge in
it is the Maracaibo Apure and Guarico basins In Figure 18 such
Middle Eocene likely to have started somewhat earlier in
the first turbidites a bulge clearly wraps around and at an expected distance from
other places more prone to receiving as sug
the primary load exerted by the Caribbean nappes and trench
gested in Figure 17
North of Maracaibo the Caribbean nappes were about to sedimentation at this time We expect that the bulge was geo
ascend the continental margin of the nappes

emplacement morphologically a plateau of mainly sedimentary rock up to
200 m elevation incised by small rivers
northeast Maracaibo Basin would have been transpres
along In the Eastern Venezuelan Basin little
sional The load continued to drive change is evident com
advancing rapid accumu
lation rates in the Misoa Formation pared to the Early Eocene situation already described Depo
sition of shelf sands and muds continued in Venezuela Caratas
In southwestern Maracaibo Basin the Palmar Avispa High Formation while the in Trinidad is the Navet For
equivalent
migrated to the southwest of its previous position and eventu mation
consisting slope marls Possibly separating
of deep
sea
ally merged with regional uplift in Colombia compare Figs 16 the Caratas shelf clastics from the Navet slope marls was a belt
and 17 This migration typical of forebulges would explain
of outer shelf shelly sands and sandy limestones the Boca de
the offlapping relationship between the Orocue Group and Mir
Serpiente Formation which is known only as clasts in younger
ador Formation on the southwest flank of the High beneath its formations in Trinidad e g San Fernando Formation at Sol
capping unconformity Brondijk 1967 Fig 2 In northeastern dado Rock Kugler and Caudri 1975
Maracaibo Basin the Misoa Formation onlapped the northeast
flank of the retreating Palmar Avispa High The Misoa tidal Late Middle and Late Eocene
shelf had by now expanded into the Barinas Basin where sands In the Caribbean terranes the Punta Carnero Group of Mar
and shales indistinguishable from the Misoa were now accu garita represents early sedimentation in the Bonaire Basin dur
CENOZOIC SE1TING OF THE NORTHERN MARGIN OF SOUTH AMERICA 71
ing backarc extension Mufioz 1973 Biju Duval et aI 1982 duced by the local
style of Incaic deformation probably dextral
Subsequent thermal subsidence resulted in deep water deposi transpression along the Tigre Fault see above The La Sierra
tion Transported forams in ca1ci turbidites on Margarita Punta Formation includes conglomerates with clasts of local Creta
Mosquito Formation match those of Late Middle Eocene age ceous formations
indicating nearby contemporaneous high
in the Pefias Blancas and
Tinajitas limestones of the Eastern lands uplifted by the Tigre transpression and peneplaned dur
Venezuelan Basin This correlation was once used to argue that ing the La Sierra transgression
Margarita has been situated north of Barcelona since the Eo In the Apure region where the Barinas Basin meets the Col
However Eocene carbonates the Leeward Antilles is ombian Llanos Basin and Hernandez 1990 south
cene on
Chigne
lands contain the same forams F Galea pers commun 1992 eastward onto the Arauca Arch reached the
onlap contiguous
so the correlation with Barcelona is no longer a constraint on Guafita Cafio Limon Fields in Late Eocene or Early
These carbonates indicate
paleogeographic interpretation same Oligocene time We
regard the arch as essentially a broad
that the islands then emergent
were by or
nearly so Either the bend in the cratonward margin of the combined Barinas Llanos
islands eroded carbonate bank
or a now
fringing the Villa de Basins the position of the arch was influenced by the contem
Cura nappe pile during uplift supplied the calci turbidites Ex poraneous position of the Caribbean peripheral bulge Fig 18
tension net southeastward migration and clockwise rotation of At Guafita and Cafio Limon coal bearing fluvial and or deltaic
blocks continued to typify the evolution of the allochthonous deposits lying unconformably on Cretaceous strata and there
terranes fore recording the resumption ofsubsidence are variably called
A peninsula probably created by emergence of the ap
was Mirador Formation sensu Colombian Llanos Basin Mc
proaching Lara nappes which were now impinging on the con Collough 1986 Arauca Member of the Guafita Formation
tinent Fig 18 This area now forms the basement of much of Ortega et aI 1987 replacing Carbonera Formation of ear
the Falcon Basin On top ofthe allochthonous nappes the Santa lier industry usage and Lower Carbonera Formation Cleve
Rita Group late Middle Eocene sands and conglomerates and land and Molina 1990 This interval is Oligocene at least in
the Cerro Mision Formation Late Eocene shales denote sub and mayor may not include strata as old as Late Eocene
part
aerial exposure and deposition in possible piggy back basins McCollough 1986 Ortega et aI 1987 Kiser 1989 Chigne
or at least structural lows
protected from erosion later These and Hernandez 1990 Cleveland and Molina 1990 Parnaud et
deposits are not metamorphosed and have been considered as aI 1995 As an

example of the uncertainty the Lutita Guaf
part of the Falcon Basin stratigraphy by Macellari 1995 but ita or Guafita Shale which is a marker within the Arauca
the Falcon Basin is in fact younger and of different tectonic Member and which passes over the crest of the Guafita field
origin as described below Ortega et aI 1987 Fig 4 is Oligoceae according to

Ortega
Turbidites deposited in a foredeep trench ahead of the nappes al 1987 but Eocene in the Cafio Limon Field
et Upper ac
accreted to the thrust front Guarico Formation

were
Bouldery cording to Cleveland and Molina 1990 Fig 12 7 This age
mudflows olistostromes also in this trough
were
deposited discrepancy probably stems from imprecise palynological
such as those of the Formation whose shale matrix
Garrapata dating
has been redated as Middle Eocene A Bellizzia pers com In the northern Maracaibo Basin the preceding deposition of
1993 Coniacian ages from olistoliths of the thick Misoa Formation and the emplacement of the nappes
mun
previous came
pelagic carbonate onto the shelf northeast of Lake Maracaibo would have trig
Subaerial exposure of the previously submerged nappe pile gered the first
really significant phase of hydrocarbon matura
would have increased the effective tectonic load on the Mara tion and migration in Venezuela In Figure 18 we label the
caibo because the nappes southern sandy fringe of the Paujf sea the
foredeep basin were now displacing Maracaibo Tar
air instead of water with correspondingly greater density dif
a Belt comprising the La Sierra Tambor and El Cobre For
ference The enhanced load and resulting increase in subsidence mations all of which presently have oil seeps andor impreg
caused a regional transgression as indicated by I rapid south nation Sands of the Ei Cobre Formation are generally unce
westward advance of the onlap edge across the former Palmar mented oil
by anything other suggesting that oil
than
Avispa High On the former high fluvio deltaic shales sand emplacement preceded and prevented significant diagenesis
stones and coal beds were
deposited Carbonera Formation Billions of barrels of oil probably were lost at this stage in the
with subtle unconformity on the Mirador Formation Brondijk Maracaibo Basin s history by southward updip migration
1967 and 2 clastic starvation of the former Misoa Gober from the northern foredeep along Misoa carrier beds then leak
nador shelf producing distinctive drowned shelf condensed age to the atmosphere at the Maracaibo Tar Belt cf Zambrano
sections including glauconitic sands Calis Formation and et aI 1971 Fig 16 stage I This hypothesis implies that in
foram algal carbonates Masparrito Formation These con Late Eocene time stratigraphic migrational pathways were in
densed followed
deposits were
by shelf mud deposition when tact across the site of the future Merida Andes and that the
clastic supply was restored during the ensuing relative high tectonic structures of Lake Maracaibo were yet to form Zam
stand in the Maracaibo Basin
Paujf Formation Pagiiey For brano et aI 1971 Fig 16 stage II
mation in the Barinas Basin Separating this muddy shelffrom In central Venezuela the approach of the nappe pile was
the Carbonera Formation delta plain to the southwest close that the Guarico sub basin began to register
was a sufficiently
sandy fringe La Sierra Tambor El Cobre Formations Fig the effects of tectonic
loading By Late Eocene time basal sands
18 interpreted as estuarine and or tide dominated delta front of the La Pascua Formation
onlapped the Cretaceous erosional
deposits R Higgs field observations 1994 surface that had been created by
peripheral bulge uplift earlier
The La Sierra Formation of western Maracaibo Basin trans in the Eocene The El Balil Arch was not yet an important
which had been pro
gressed across an angular unconformity paleogeographic feature see Kiser and Bass 1985
In the Eastern Venezuelan Basin had maturation

the peripheral bulge e g
orogenic Querecual Formation Gonzalez
arrived The Caratas Formation de Juana et aI 1980 As in the Maracaibo Basin southward
causing regional shallowing
became capped in many areas by a distinctive limestone unit petroleum migration would have ensued with Cretaceous and
Pefias Blancas Formation and Tinajitas Member of the Caratas La Pascua Formation sandstones as likely conduits
Formation which we attribute to clastic starvation at the sub In the Eastern Venezuelan Basin Upper Eocene strata are
The characteristic limestone facies due to erosion caused by the

merged end of the
bulge largely missing peripheral bulge
time in the northwestern Serranfa
algal plus calcareous forams by comparison with
rhodoliths By Early Oligocene near
modern analogues Bosence 1982 indicates shallow marine Barcelona the began to encroach southward behind the ad
sea
photic conditions while intermittent rolling of rhodoliths vancing bulge depositing inner shelf sands and minor shales
e g by burrowing crabs explains their sub concentric struc Los Jabillos Formation on the unconformity previously cre
ture environments with constant agitation such as the beach ated by the peripheral bulge At outcrops along the southern
or foreshore are clearly unsuitable as the delicate algallami front of the Serranfa the Los Jabillos typically overlies a rav
nations would be damaged by impacts as would the calcareous inement surface on erosionally truncated Tinajitas or Caratas
benthonic forams The Tinajitas Member is missing pre strata The Los Jabillos is transitionally overlain by the shale
sumed eroded over much of the southern Serranfa and adjacent dominated Areo Formation interpreted as outer shelf deposits
subsurface because peripheral bulge erosion over the area oc These two units are directly analogous to and signify the same
curred next In more northerly paleo locations in the Serranfa processes of forebulge advance as the La Pascua and Roblecito
such as the Aragua Este river section
we
interpret the absence Formations to the west However the Los Jabillos and Areo are
of the Member 1980 which

Tinajitas being due to non deposition such
as
slightly younger Gonzalez de Juana et aI we
northerly areas having been deeper marine the whole time as interpret as a result of the overall eastward younging diachro
would be expected further north along the projection of the neity of the Caribbean arc s collision with northern South
peripheral bulge Uplift probably occurred there but the sedi America
ment surface may never have entered the photic zone
In Trinidad Upper Eocene conglomeratic deposits San Fer Late Oligocene

nando Formation are interpreted as deep water fan turbidites
the
R Higgs field observations 1997 Clasts include Tinajitas In Late Oligocene time in addition to continuing oblique
like algal rhodoliths among many other lithologies both as collision in central and eastern Venezuela two new develop
initiated the onset of the Andean
individuals and as clasts ofrhodolith limestone suggesting der ments were I Orogeny and
ivation from the forebulge with transport either northeastward 2 the onset of E W trending transcurrent faulting along north
ern South America which involved the Falc6n Basin
down the length of the bulge when it projected toward Trinidad Fig 19
northward off the flank of the when it south of We first discuss the onset of transcurrent faulting
or bulge lay
Trinidad An important observation is that once the obducted terranes
At the end of Eocene time the Lara nappes north of Mara had been emplaced they remained in their approximate em
caibo were
finally coming to their final resting place The placement positions relative to the basement they had been em
placed However it is clear that the Caribbean Plate has
nappes are structurally interleaved with deep water deposits of upon
the associated flysch trough In the Guarumen sub basin to the continued to migrate large distances eastward This requires that
east the overridden autochthonous succession reaches into the east west
trending transcurrent faults formed within the plate
the eastward of to the north of the obducted terranes after
Early Oligocene demonstrating diachroneity boundary zone soon
the
nappe emplacement Coarse sediments were shed southward obduction at any given point along margin Another way of
from the nappes such as the Tilangona Formation if the Lara nappes in the area of
Campos stating the problem is to ask
1977 At the end of Eocene time the Paujf Pagtiey sea
Fig Barquisimeto once represented the Caribbean Plate and were
time shown above how

18 had probably retreated from most of the MaracaibolBarinas terminally emplaced in Late Eocene as
the Caribbean Plate able to continue eastward

basin area Carbonera fluvio deltaic systems presumably pro was moving
northeastwardas the sea shrank but much of this record Strike slip faults must have formed between the bulk of the
graded
has been lost by erosion at the sub Miocene unconformity Caribbean Plate and the obducted allochthons Furthermore
given the eastward age of allochthon
In the Guarico sub basin southeastward transgression by the younging emplacement
the outlined here the development of trans
La Pascua Formation continued in the wake of the advancing along margin as
erosional bulge Overlying the La Pascua are Roblecito For current

faulting within the overthrust zone must also have mi
eastward after obduction had occurred
mation shales and sandstones
denoting the deepening of the grated forming shortly
sedimentation in anyone Thus the faults would have propagated from
marine foredeep basin subsidence exceeded place
The Roblecito Formation thickens to the north in a typical fore west to east
The zone contains

deep basin geometry Gonzalez de Juana et aI 1980 The Pa present South Caribbean plate boundary
leocene Middle Eocene Guaoco Formation that is caught up in several crustal scale transform faults such as the Oca the Fal
the nappe front does not record the time of nappe emplacement c6n Basin bounding faults the Mor6n San Sebastian Cariaco
as has been thought for decades Instead it is entirely allo Basin bounding faults Coche North Coast and El Pilar faults
chthonous having been deposited well beyondthe continental Initial motion at some of these may be dated by related fault
shelf and later thrusted onto the shelf aspart of the Caribbean controlled sediments The Falc6n Basin became active in the
Cretaceous rocks of the outer parts of Macellari 1995 Boesi and Goddard 1991 after
nappe complex Oligocene
source
the Caracas salient 10 overthrust by and accreted to Eocene emplacement of allochthons in that The Cariaco
Fig were area
the nappe at this time which would have their Basin to the east became active in the Late Miocene Erlich
pile triggered e g
and Barrett 1990 Although most of these fault zones remain II A second possibility in better agreement with this defor
active today the initiation of movement along them younged mation style is that a wedge of the allochthonous nappes was
to the east and was
always just subsequent to the termination driven into the Misoa sedimentary pile in a triangle zone tilting
of thrusting in a given area These fault zones which are all the Misoa Formation southward above a Late Eocene blind
high angle transcurrent faults are among those which permit thrust front Again erosion of the section would have begun in
continued eastward relative migration of the Caribbean litho the Late Eocene The normal faulting might have been related
sphere after allochthon emplacement to later Oligocene extension in the Falcon Basin Perhaps the
In most north south sections of Venezuela these faults blind thrust retracted somewhat to allow
cross was
collapse of the
also separate realms of uplift to the south from rapid subsidence Misoa Formation The third and
overlying preferred possibility
to the north The Caribbean nappes and southern
portion of the is that erosion was driven by isostatic rebound of the south flank
Caribbean Plate load were emplaced onto the continental mar of the Falcon Basin i e northeastern Maracaibo Basin at the
gin flexed beam flexure indicated by asymmetric foredeep ly inception of transcurrent
faulting there Fig 19 inset In this
ing to the south at all locations and then east west transcurrent model the fault style can be interpreted as north dipping nor
faults propagated eastward cutting the beam isolated the al mal faulting accompanying the uplift We know of no studies
lochthons and allowed the Caribbean to continue its relative which have directly dated the uplift and erosion If the model
without the allochthons with it Propagation
migration taking in Figure 19 inset is correct then the northeastern Maracaibo
of high angle transform faults within this load basin couplet Basin uplift would match the age of initial sedimentation in
effectively destroyed the ability of one plate to load or support Falcon Basin namely Late Oligocene
the other the elastic beams were severed There were two im
Considering that at least 3 km of material was eroded at this
mediate results rapid isostatic rebound of the loaded side ba unconformity in places the outcome of geothermal history
sin to an configuration and rapid isostatic subsidence
unloaded
modeling for northeastern Maracaibo Basin will strongly de
of the supported side orogenic overthrust to an unsupported
pend on which of the three models outlined above is adopted
configuration see inset Fig 19 Values for rebound and sub The first model would arrest maturation very early on as fast
sidence are about 2 to 5 km depending on the initial load size
as erosion occurred The second would begin to arrest it
and lithospheric characteristics the position of the transform early
well but if the normal related to extension
within the load basin couplet and how quickly the transform
on as
faulting was
in the Falcon Basin there may actually have been two smaller
propagated after thrust emplacement arrests of maturation The third would not have
We now return to the Late Oligocene time slice Fig 19 to significantly
arrested maturation until Late time We favor dom
Oligocene
compare this model with the relationship between the Falcon
inance of the third model because it does appear to have op
and Maracaibo basins After the emplacement of the Lara
erated further east at progressively younger times however
nappes to the north of Maracaibo erosion had nearly pene the other models could have contributed We conclude that up
planed the orogenic surface of the variably metamorphosed ac lift and erosion could have
cretionary prism and Santa begun in Late Eocene time but that
syn emplacement deposits e g
increased
Rita and Cerro Mision formations of the Falcon they considerably in the Late Oligocene between 27
region prior and 24 Ma
to the subsidence of the Falcon Basin proper The basal sedi thereby arresting maturation Most of the missing
section was removed by the latest Oligocene or earliest Mio
ments of the Falcon releasing bend basin are early Late Oli
gocene perhaps 25 to 27 Ma Macellari 1995 Facies belts are
cene
prior to deposition of the Icotea Formation The eroded
area was then transgressed by the La Rosa Formation sea in the
narrow indicating fault control on sedimentation By earliest
Miocene time deep water conditions prevailed across much of Early Miocene The transgression was probably driven by load
induced subsidence related to Andean
the basin Boesi and Goddard 1991 Thus injust a few million thrusting
This discussion has so far addressed only the margin parallel
years the eroded surface of the obducted nappes had dropped
component of relative motion In the larger view the shortening
considerably over a broad area
component must be taken up somewhere other than at the Fal
To the south of the Falcon Basin faults in the
bounding
con Basin 19 shows the position of the leading edge of
northeastern Maracaibo Basin more than 3 km of sediment Figure
subducted Caribbean in Late
James 1990 Boesi and Goddard 1991 were removed by ero lithosphere Oligocene time For
Caribbean to have reached that
sion sometime between the age of the youngest preserved Paujf lithosphere position under
have been
deposits Late Middle Eocene 40 Ma and the La Rosa For thrusting must underway along the north side of the
mation Leeward Antilles islands The islands at this time located

Early Miocene were
20 Ma marine incursion across the
so called Eocene Unconformity This age bracket can pos directly north of Falcon thus
underthrusting there could have
sibly be narrowed even further because low areas accommodated the compressional component of relative mo
structurally
of the overlain beds of the Icotea tion The trench along the islands must have propagated east
unconformity are by fluvial
Formation whose base could be old wards with the leading tip a scissors type fault zone with un
asUpper Oligocene
as
Zambrano et aI 1971 their

plate III Gonzalez de Juana et aI derthrusting increased toward the west but not to the east At
1980 Parnaud et aI 1995 Fig 3 and which may reflect early this point the Leeward islands and the allochthons formed a
onlap onto the unconformity large wedge of material overlying oppositely dipping under
One possible explanation for the removal of such a thick thrust zones Within this wedge complex deformations can be
section beneath the unconformity is erosion of topography pro with of shear faults of similar
expected conflicting senses on
duced by compression during Late Eocene nappe emplacement trend faults may have been sinistral to accommodate
some
However compressional features are not common and normal clockwise rotation of blocks while others were clearly dextral
faults cut the section e g Zambrano et aI 1971
Fig 16 stage and served as tear faults during the oblique emplacement of the
the sediments of the Maracaibo and Barinas ba

allochthons onto
margin Hence the origin of the southern Early orogenic
Caribbean plate boundary zone sins such as those of the Guayabo Group and the Leon Par
At about this time volcanism appears to have begun in

arc angula and Mucujun Formations now occur within the Merida
Andes their foothills 19 20 showing that deformation
the southern Lesser Antilles Speed et aI 1993 Also exten or
Figs
sion in Grenada Basin was near completion There may have stepped outwards in both directions through time The Chama
been a relationship between the cessation ofbackarc extension Mocotfes Valera fault system seems to have been active early
and the onset of arc shown in Figure 19 This fault system traces the Jurassic rift
magmatism
and has eastward salient to the east of
In the west Orogeny was beginning at this time
Andean as
expected a convex
Late Oligocene 25 Ma Fig 19 as indicated by isotopic modern Lake Maracaibo that intrudes into other parts of the
Andes If initial strain between 25 and 12 Ma was dextrally
dating sedimentological changes plate motion changes and
eastward motion of this salient relative to the
certain structural and stratigraphic developments in both Co transpressive
Shield would have driven dextral
lombia and Venezuela Uplift is inferred in northeastern Ma transpression in the southern
Andes whereas in the north
racaibo Basin related to the onset of extension in the Falcon Trujillo area sinistral escape of
blocks bound by north northwest trending faults would have
Basin as outlined earlier Uplift of the proto Sierra de Perija is
and thickening Oligocene occurred Such pattern is seen e g Rod 1956 Bellizzia et
a
indicated by westward coarsening
aI 1976 and also affected certain areas of Lake Maracaibo
continental deposits west of Lake Maracaibo Peroc Forma
with of strike
tion In southern Maracaibo Basin chert pebbles in Upper Ol perhaps varying degrees slip involvement
In the Guarico sub basin of central Venezuela the eastern
basal sandstones indicate
igocene Guayabo Group early uplift
Lara nappes were being emplaced above the Roblecito foredeep
of the Merida Andes Higgs 1993 Impounded by these three
sediments The Villa de Cura nappe was eroding at this time
uplifting large lake occupied southwestern Maracaibo
areas a
sediment of orogenic composition southwards to a
Basin Lake Leon Fig 19 in which the Upper Oligocene shedding
Leon Formation shales accumulated Higgs 1993 The main fluvial trunk system which flowed east regressive Chaguara
mas Formation eastwardly diachronous into Early Miocene
tenance of this lake long
enough to deposit the thick 300 m
At the base of the southern of
Leon Formation prior to inundation by coarse clastics e g
time orogenic slope or edge
the allochthons west of the Gulf of Barcelona the olistos
just
Guayabo Group may reflect tectonic overdeepening of the Tememure Formation denote trench fill just
tromes rapid
whereby subsidence initially exceeded sediment supply from overthrust and imbricated the allochthons in
the nascent mountains prior to being by
earliest Miocene time Distally along the trench turbidite sands
In the Barinas Basin alluvial deposition was underway on
reached into the proto Caribbean ocean and are now found in
the southeastern flank of the proto Merida Andean uplift form
the Scotland Formation of the Barbados acretionary prism
ing the Parangula Formation Much of this alluvial blanket was Baldwin et aI 1986 As of the Lara nappes pro
eroded the Andes continued to thrusting
subsequently as
expand pos a
out of the water in this area into the
sible is the Formation of Merida
gressed Early Miocene
remnant
Mucujun city defined detritus from the nappes would have provided an important
Ghosh and Odreman A
by 1987 meandering not braided
be inferred for these formations based sand component of the Naricual Formation of the western Serranfa
fluvial style can on
del Interior
bodies with lateral accretion surfaces abundance of mudstones
and Absence of coal beds suggest
scarcity of conglomerates Late Miocene 17 Ma
that i e without permanent Early
floodplains were normally dry
lakes and marshes However drainage flowing off the moun Early to Middle Miocene time marks the peak of the oblique
tains is inferred to have a lower gradient trunk river
joined collision in the eastern Caribbean Mountains and the Serranfa
northeast
flowing along the basin axis with large lakes and del Interior Oriental By 17 Ma Caribbean allochthons and the
marshes the in this
fringing occupying floodplain Deposition accretionary prism had overthrust much of the original shelf
wet overbank trunk alluvial system produced shales sand
margin Shelf rocks were imbricated into the prism making it
stones and coal beds exemplified by the Guardulio Member of wider than ever before In the Serranfa del Interior a deep de
the Guafita Formation at Guafita field Ortega et aI 1987 collement horizon developed within the Jurassic succession as
Similar facies extend southward into the Llanos Basin of Co shown by seismic profiles Hypothetical rift related evaporites
lombia where they have confusingly been called the Carbonera may have facilitated the detachment The entire section up to
Formation or Group McCollough 1986 Cazier et aI 1995 the Oligocene Early Miocene was folded and thrusted as a
aI 1995 or Upper Carbonera Formation Cleveland
Cooper et single package Strata as young as the Carapita Formation into
and Molina 1990 whereas in fact this Carbonera interval the Early Miocene were involved in this folding but field data
is younger than its Maracaibo Basin namesake Ortega et aI are insufficient to determine whether the Carapita pre dates all
1987 defined by Notestein et al 1944 We propose a wet folding or simply filled synclinal areas during initial folding
meanderplain origin for these Llanos Carbonera strata un and uplift Thus the accretionary prism acquired nearly 200 km
like Cazier et al 1995 and et al 1995 who envis of additional width basal thrusts carried the allochthon par
Cooper as
aged marine influenced lower coastal autochthon toward the southeast The degree of basement in
a
plain setting
Conglomerates are not abundant in the Upper Oligocene de volvement if any is uncertain
posits flanking the proto Merida Andes or Perij a uplifts and no developments occurred at this stage of evolution
Several
thick conglomerates of possible alluvial fan origin are known Conspicuous on Figure 20 is the uplift of the allochthonous belt
This observation suggests that the early uplifts were of subdued across a broad area
comprising the Villa de Cura the Gulf of
relief Barcelona Margarita and its surroundings the Carupano Basin
the Serranfa del Interior and the Northern Range of Trinidad nada Basin Biju Duval et aI
1982 Speed et aI 1993 thereby
Uplift was caused by buoyant South American continental crust reducing the former continuity between the Grenada and Bo
entering the Caribbean trench Over all these areas deep ero naire basins The southern tip of the Aves Ridge the Blanquilla
sional unconformities developed at this stage e g Biju Duval knob appears to have been thrust northwards as well pos
et aI 1982 Bellizzia 1986 e g Figs 22A B which were sibly with some clockwise rotation in the shear zone between
later buried by very thick sequences of Late Miocene to Recent the Aves and the Leeward Antilles islands hence the
Ridge
sediments denoting a change to very rapid subsidence see and existence of island These backthrusted
uplift Blanquilla
below in the western
areas were
portion of the collisional belt at this
The collision drove northward vergent backthrusting on the stage where collision had been underway the longest To the
north side of the orogenMargarita overthrust the southern Gre north of the uplifted area deep marine deposition continued in
A Section A
S Carupano Platform N
Q
o
r q
o
Km5
10
Basement Caracolito
Sub basin 0 10
Q Quaternary Km
Pli Pliocene
M Miocene
0 Oligocene
E Eocene
K Cretaceous
Middle Miocene
erosional unconformity
B
NW Section B
Carupano Platform Q S
o
Km 5
10
0 10
Km
c
N S
10
0
0
15
20
10Km
FIG 22 A and B Line drawings from seismic profiles in Carupano Basin after Bellizzia 1986
showing Tertiary fill above a deeply eroded subaerial
unconformity which formed in Middle Miocene time Greatest erosion is toward the south and is due
to Early and Middle Miocene underthrusting of South
American crust beneath the southeastern Caribbean Plate during oblique collision Post unconformity sedimentary section is very thick and cut by dominantly
extensional faults recording strong and rapid post collisional subsidence This succession is interpreted to indicate hanging wall collapse in the transcurrent
phase see text during and after the culmination of oblique collision and the change in relative plate motion direction shown in Figure 12 C Generalized cross
section of northern Maturin Basin after
Aymard et aI 1990 showing deformation front and erosional unconformity relating to the Middle Miocene oblique
collision overlain by agently southward dipping non shortened Upper Miocene to Recent overlap succession derived largely from the north Dips in the overlap
succession commonly 100 Mesa and Las Piedras Formations exceed depositional dip and require post depositional southward flexural tilting Thrust
relationship at far left showing deformed Serranfa del Interior section above the overlap sequence was observed nowhere in our field studies and is believed not
to exist As outlined in the text and Figure 24 Late Miocene and younger deformations in eastern Venezuela and Trinidad are believed here to record approximately
east west simple shear with isostaticlflexural rebound of southerly footwalls along high angle north dipping transcurrent faults e g EI Pilar Coche North
Coast Faults providing much of the present topography e g Serranfa del Interior Araya Paria Peninsula Northern Range of Trinidad
basinal areas such as the Tobago Grenada and Bonaire basins Venezuela Ar Ar ages on micas give Oligocene cooling ages
while arc magmatism and carbonate deposition continued on Foland et aI 1992 and fission track ages on zircons show
the southern Lesser Antilles Platform and Aves and at about 18 20 Ma or Mio
Ridge cooling uplift occurring Early
respectively cene Kohn et aI 1984b These ages conflict with older
On the south flank of the whole rock K Ar ages e g many of those cited in Ma
orogenic zone some important mainly
related
petroleum developments were occurring at this time A resch 1974 which appear to be influenced by a detrital com
peak of hydrocarbon maturation was triggered by the over ponent of Paleozoic and Jurassic micas However the new ages
thrusting hence burial of the shelf section along the entire provide isotopic evidence for the model outlined here and by
Eastern Venezuelan Basin Although maturation has been at Dewey and Pindell 1986 which Creta
specifically rejects
tributed in the past to mainly sedimentary burial Carapita For ceous collision along northern South America In accord with
mation Talukdar et aI 1988 a more important mechanism that modelwe suggest that the metamorphism in the Caracas
the tectonic of the Caribbean clastic Jurassic Cretaceous shelf slope section resulted from
probably was
emplacement Group
accretionary prism now eroded onto the Serranfa shelf section overthrusting by the Villa de Cura and Caribbean accretionary
By Carapita time as mentioned above much of the Serranfa prism and that the Oligocene Ar Ar ages record uplift and cool
had already been uplifted by incorporation into the accretionary ing of the nappe pile and imbricated shelf section as it was
prism so there was no way to deposit a northward thickening emplaced southwards over the Roblecito foredeep as
already
wedge of Carapita sediment across the entire Serranfa Fur outlined The few Early Miocene zircon fission track ages ob
thermore northward derived sands and conglomerates entered tained from the Caribbean Mountains possibly record the con
the Jusepin area at about 17 Ma Lamb and Sulek 1968 prov tinuation of this cooling However this time coincides with an
ing that a northern source existed by that time important subsidence phase and reduction in structuring in the
Also of fundamental importance at about this time was the eastern Bonaire Basin Biju Duval et aI 1982 which lay di
very rapid southward shift of the position of the peripheral rectly north of the Caribbean Mountains at this time The sub
bulge Fig 20 The cause for the jump was the accretion of sidence suggests that nappe emplacement in this area was com
the mass of the Serranfa section to the load represented by the plete and that transform faults had propagated east to this point
allochthonous belt From the of the the Ca
perspective bulge by Early to Middle Miocene time Fig 20 Also the paleo
ribbean Plate jumped 200 km south This allowed for the rapid geography and plate motions show that the South Caribbean
deposition of the Oficina Formation across a very wide area Foldbelt had propagated sufficiently far east by this time Fig
The age of the jump is imprecisely known at present but would 20 to take up the continuing convergent component of relative
be a good proxy for the age of peak structuring and therefore motion Thus we suggest that the Early Miocene cooling in the
maturation in the Serranfa which is now known only as Early Caribbean Mountains accelerated cooling may have been re
to early Middle Miocene The accretion of the Serranfa del In lated to isostatic rebound along the south side of the juvenile
terior not only the bulge to the south but also reorien Moron and San Sebastian faults which would carry the trans
pushed
tated it to east west for the first time Similarly Kiser and Bass current offsets known along the Falcon Basin and Oca Fault
1985 reoriented the El Baul Arch east southeast and eastward If so we can also expect flexural uplift and southward
showed that it is a
mainly post Chaguaramas Formation Early tilting of the plains south of the Caribbean Mountains Thus
Miocene feature We suggest that the reoriented El Baul Arch the Chaguaramas fluvial trunk system proto Orinoco that is
represents the western end of the peripheral bulge at this stage shown at this time Fig 20 adjacent to the mountain front
The existence of the bulge in this configuration for the first would migrate south through the rest of Miocene time to the
time defines the approximate shape and extent of the Orinoco position of today s Orinoco Flexural uplift in the northern
tar belt plains would elevate basinal isotherms to the surface contrib
In the Trinidad portion of the foredeep a northerly sedimen uting to the high heat flow in the Guarico sub basin In the
is evident at this time shales of the upper mountains themselves isostatic uplift of 3 to 4 km can be ex
tary source
Deep sea
Cipero Formation late Lower Miocene and early Middle Mi pected in this model
immediately adjacent to the Moron Fault
ocene contain two turbidite fans the Retrench and Herrera This flexural rebound model in which uplift increases north
sands These are analogous to the northerly derived Carapita after emplacement of the Villa de Cura may explain why it
sands mentioned above and are approximately the same age appeared to early workers that the Villa de Cura was a south
The water flanked their northern ward gravity slide Today its basal thrust clearly lies down
deep Cipero deposits are on
side by shelf clastics Brasso Formation in which hill from the Caracas Group that in section it appears
proximal cross
intervals of limestone Tamana Formation be have overthrust

can
interpreted to
as transgressive systems tracts In the Falcon area subsidence in the

pull apartreleasing
In addition to the northern the Maturfn fore bend basin continued Deep sea sedimentation characterized
uplifted source
received sediments from streams the north flank much the basin Agua Clara Formation but the Paraguana
deep draining e g
of the peripheral bulge Shield and also from a

largerriver block on the north side of the pull apart was the site of lime
system draining the interior to the west whose deposits are stone
deposition San Luis Formation with clastic intercala
known as the Chaguaramas Formation The Chaguaramas caps tions representing periods of relatively low sea level By earliest
the mid Tertiary foredeep cycle in the Guaoco sub basin La Miocene time isostatic equilibrium of the basin s south flank
above
Pascua deepening up into Roblecito Formation The Chaguar had been restored after the mainly Late Oligocene see
amas itself was uplifted and erosionally truncated after removal of up to 3 km of section in northeastern Maracaibo
Early
Miocene time as the foredeep basin continued to migrate east Basin Erosion of the topography combined with ever increas
In the Caribbean Mountains south of the Moron Fault of central Andean load induced subsidence in the Maracaibo Basin
ing
the Sierra de Erosion at Barinas cut down into the Cretaceous strata locally
Perij a exerted a greater load than the Merida
Formation Perez de et aI 1980
Andes at that time allowed the La Rosa Formation shallow as far as the Navay Mejfa
sea to invade much of the northern half of the basin in the dated by ammonites as Lower Turonian such that a
significant
middle part of the amount of rock could have been lost by this erosion
Early Miocene source or
weatheredoxydized at shallow levels for than 10 my At

By the time of Figure 20 sediment supply had caught up more
with subsidence following an initial lag which is commonly Maturfn where bulge erosion post dated additional Paleocene
to thrust fronts and the La Rosa had retreated Middle Eocene sedimentation only the early Tertiary and latest
seen
adjacent sea
tothe north Deltaic and then fluvial deposits of the Lagunillas Cretaceous units were lost
by erosion so source rock volume
Formation overlie the La Rosa Formation The Lagunillas For was kept intact The erosion that occurred may have enhanced
mation sediment influx is evidence of strong uplift and erosion the petroleum potential by exposing several formations at the
at this time
especially in the Sierra de Perija toward which the unconformity prior to deposition of the overlying Merecure
thickens dramatically into the

upper E Fausto sands facilitating later migration
Lagunillas
Group and Los Ranchos Formation Zambrano et aI 197
Gonzalez de Juana et aI
1980 Audemard 1991 The Perija Late Middle Miocene 12 Ma
which
Santander uplift began at 25 Ma was by now a signifi Deng and Sykes I995 have recently determined new poles
cant mountain belt producing strong subsidence along its flanks for Caribbean North America and Caribbean South America
and yielding abundant sediment Lagunil as
El Los
Fausto Ran
relative motions based on improved control using 66 slip vec
chos sedimentation placed western parts of the Cretaceous
tors from 117 focal mechanisms of shallow circum Caribbean
source rock intervals closer to and possibly within the matu
ration window than equivalent levels to the east By Middle
earthquakes Like the pole of Sykes et al 982 the new pole
Miocene time so much sediment had accumulated on the west predicts transpression N700E at the Puerto Rico Trench Fig
II C and relative motion that is slightly north of east in the
ern side of the basin 3 to 4 km that maturation had probably southern Caribbean This result matches neotectonic develop
in the Lara the north of Barquisi
begun Coeval uplift area to
ment well but conflicts with the
widely held belief that the
meto may have been a peripheral bulge effect of the tectonic southern Caribbean along both western and eastern Venezuela
loading in western Maracaibo Basin is in compression In the west along the South Caribbean Fold
In the Barinas Basin Parangula Formation dry meander belt northward Andean escape along the Merida Andes is suf
plain deposition had expanded by this time to cover much of
the basin Fig 20 The Parangula fluvial system fed into an ficiently rapid that a minor northward component of current
South America Caribbean separation would be overwhelmed
east flowing trunk river in north central Venezuela which can
However in the east this complication does not exist and the
be considered asthe proto Orinoco In Early Miocene time
plate boundary is a narrow zone of mainly strike slip relative
when in the Caribbean Mountains was still prev
compression movement consisting of only a few sliver shaped terranes
alent this river should have hugged the mountain front north
We believe that the current pole as measured by Deng and
of El Baul Arch Fig 20 After 2 Ma the river would have
Sykes 1995 is quite young such that its evolutionary effects
migrated south possibly as the Caribbean Mountains re
are dwarfed by older clearly convergent developments How
in
bounded isostatically after a change plate motion put them ever a detailed examination of the geology and neotectonic
into extension
development of the southeastern Caribbean indicates that the
Finally we summarize the Tertiary behavior of the peripheral latest phase of tectonic development is transtensional whereby
bulge one of the most important paleogeographic features with east west dextral strike
slip is associated with structures and
regard to hydrocarbons From the Late Paleocene to the Middle stratigraphic developments that require a component of north
Miocene which is the time over which nappe emplacement south extension As outlined below geological evidence indi
occurred it is possible from
paleogeographic maps to trace
our
cates that this phase
the migration of both the leading edge of the thrust front and
began in the late Middle Miocene 2
Ma Thus it appears to us that the Deng and Sykes pole can
the position of the peripheral bulge as a function of time Figure
be invoked for Caribbean motions back to that time Further
23 shows this migration summarized from Figures 5 21 In
more discussed earlier the well known convergent features
as
crosssection at anyone time the oil kitchen was located either
in the Eastern Venezuelan Basin and Trinidad are of Early to
beneath the thrust front or within the deeper parts of the fore
Middle Miocene age Thus we believe there is no conflict in
deep generated oils were generally free given
basin and the
the existence or the timing of the two structural styles
sufficient permeability to migrate toward the peripheral bulge
Two arguments for the 12 Ma onset of transtension after the
but probably not across it as the latter theoretically would have
culmination of nappe emplacement are as follows
been required downdip migration Thus the belt of migrating
oil in the Venezuelan Trinidadian basins between the kitchen I Numerous large offset extensional faults in the Carupano
is defined in 23 function of time Tobago
shelf trend about 850 Case and Hol
and the bulge Figure as a Margarita area
From this information the age of structural traps at any location combe 1980 Gonzalez de Juana et aI 1980 Bellizzia 1986
can be compared to the local age of the migrating oil belt to Robertson and Burke 1989 This trend falls into a compres
determine whether trap formation predated or postdated the sional rather than an extensional orientation in former models
main migration of ongoing transpression Such faulting suggests that the rela
A second and very important point also derives from Figure tive motion is equal to or more northeasterly than the fault
23 In the Barinas area peripheral bulge erosion occurred in strikes of 850 such as 800 Only then would the faults lie in an
this
the late Paleocene Middle Eocene In contrast in the Maturfn extensional orientation and given setting they are likely
Basin peripheral bulge erosion occurred in the Late Eocene to have also much dextral slip Also important in this offshore
Late Paleocene 59 Ma
2 1
3
Early Eocene 55 Ma
o 7
2
3 Early Middle Eocene SO Ma
5 @ 4 Middle Middle Eocene 45 Ma
5 Late Middle Eocene 40 Ma
6 LatestEocene 33 Ma
7 Late Oligocene 25 Ma
I 8 Early Miocene 17 Ma
I
Early MioceneS ward shift of the

bulge was due to incorporation 120
I
J of Serrania Interior into
1 accretionary prism El Baul Arch

0
IT u
x
18 100
t
j
u
qr r
J2 61
2 3 4
V
67
y
H
k 7 V hIvcr o
b J
l OS
171
H
LZJ
v c
80
V
k I
I l
t x
i l
I f0
J
I I J
r
7 1 r
v
60
720 700 680 660 640 620 600
FIG 23 MigraIion of Caribbean thrusI front

italics numbers and corresponding crest of
peripheral bulge plain numbers during Tertiary times ages tied
to inset Note that oil willalways be present in the swath between any coeval pair of lines denoting thrust front and crest of bulge and in general will be
migrating orthogonally toward bulge crest Further in non marine areas the flexural bulge played a major role in controlling fluvial deposition The map may
be used to help assess the relative age of primary oil migration and development of local structures traps
well
area is developed subaerial unconformity beneath the
a dip south at up to 50 Borger 1952 These formations are in
Upper paleontological date has been revised from

Miocene places cut
by high angle normal faults 1 Pindell field obser
Middle Miocene and younger sections Figs 22A B The vations 1995 and form a non thrustednon folded
overlap as
succession is km thick but above
post unconformity typically 3 to 6 semblage a deeply eroded subaerial unconformity in the
thicker Once the shelf exposed and basin Basal ages of the overlap assemblage are within the late
locally Carupano was
eroded in Middle Miocene time presumably resulting from Middle to early Late Miocene interval e Galea Alvarez and
g
convergence of the Caribbean crust over the South American Moreno Vasquez 1994 indicating renewed deposition and the
crust as documented for that time to the south in the Serranfa termination of thrusting and erosion The age of this succession
above find it very difficult to envision how 3 to 6 km
see we
generally matches that of the section above the deep unconfor
of subsidence could have occurred if compression
subsequent mity offshore in the Carupano Basin The Coche and El Pilar
has continued up to the present This situation is similar to the faults which must dip north and sole together at depth clearly
Oligocene development of the Falc6n Basin where subsidence control and delimit the renewed Carupano deposition We sug
occurred adjacent to the propagating transform fault but with gest that eastward propagation of the faults within the thrust
out the change in plate motions However in that case the belt is responsible for the subsidence to the north Furthermore
South Caribbean Foldbelt already in existence
was directly to as
deposition was renewed in the Maturfn Basin at this time as
the north which appears to have taken up the well La Pica
shortening com and as La Pica and younger bedding planes now
ponent We know that South Caribbean Foldbelt was active at dip south it appears that isostatic rebound of the footwall of
that time because we can trace the advance of the Caribbean the fault zone is responsible for uplift in the northern Serranfa
slab beneath Colombia time and the and the
through leading edge of resumption of sedimentation in the Maturfn Basin Up
the slab the Aves in
pointed directly at
Ridge Oligocene time lift of the footwall by isostatic rebound could account for av
Since the Late Miocene in the east there is no indication of an erage elevations near the faults of about I to 2 km We note
equivalent structure at which convergence could have

plate that the Serranfa del Interior and Northern Range of Trinidad
been taken up the crustal behavior of the two basins have elevations within this range Further because the isostatic
Although
appears similar a change in relative motions in the eastern case response would operate over a flexural wavelength of 100 to
is indicated consistent with the seismicity 200 km to the south with minor is observed
only faulting as
2Bedding planes of the Late Miocene to Recent fluvio this mechanism neatly accounts for the present southward re
deltaic La Pica Quiriquire La Piedra and Mesa Formations of gional dip of the beds above the sub Upper Miocene uncon
the Maturfn Basin of eastern Venezuela little deformed and

are
formity in the Maturfn Basin The mechanism may also explain
the Orinoco River flows far from the thrust front in the that Miocene strain in the Eastern Cordillera of
why so early pre Late
basin driven south since 12 Ma and oil fields such Colombia was not accompanied by significant amounts of sin
why as
istral
Quiriquire have accumulated in this section adjacent to the wrenching
thrust front the north At the 12 Ma change in relative motion the Caribbean Plate
updip migration to
was situated under South America precisely along the trend of

A similar situation exists in Trinidad In the Caroni Basin a
the Merida Andes The in motion direction would place
change
Middle Miocene to Quaternary sediment thins
wedge of upper the Jurassic basement structures of the Merida Andes in an ori
northward onlapping peneplain and pinching out
an erosional entation ideal for the onset of dextral shear This would be par
against the Northern Range as shown by seismic profiles This ticularly true if traction at the plate interface occurred all the
geometry suggests that a syn depositional normal fault existed way to the area of the Merida Andes especially considering
to the south and caused half graben rotational subsidence of that the collision of the buoyant Choco Panama terrane was
the Caroni Northern
Basin Range block commencing in late in progress increasingly choking the Colombian Sinu Trench
Middle Miocene time Northward projection of the basal un subduction that South America could not drift westward
zone so
conformity in the Caroni Basin clears the Northern Range al without interference Tectonic escape of the Maracaibo Block
together suggesting that the present Northern Range topogra would be facilitated by the free face represented by the
phy is the result of uptilting of the fault block rather than South Caribbean Foldbelt The result was an acceleration of the
thrusting Transtension prevailed in Late Miocene time then an Maracaibo Block to the east northeast relative to the Shield
Early Pliocene transpressional event created flower structures producing a

angle of transpression in the Merida
more acute
and second renewed subsidence Andes The enhanced

a
unconformity Subsequently transpression appears to have caused ac
of Pliocene to celerated uplift resulting in higher topography as this is when
allowed deposition of an overlap assemblage
the mountains began to yield large quantities of gravel depos
Quaternary age
12 Ma transition from to ited as alluvial fans fringing the Merida Andes e g Betijoque
From the above a transpression
transtension in eastern Venezuela and Trinidad is in full agree Rfo Yuca La Cope Formations The La Cope Formation Ma
ment with the new pole position of Deng and Sykes 1995 cellari 1982 which was previously only loosely dated as Mio
This change in kinematics was probably caused by a change in Pliocene has recently yielded a firm palyno date of Middle
North and South American drift directions across the mantle Miocene on samples collected by us The northward component
bend at 5 9 5 Ma MUller et aI of Maracaibo Block migration was faster at that time than the
which also show a anomaly or
1993 northward component of Caribbean Plate motion relative to the

21 three tectonic Shield Therefore convergence and underthrusting has contin
Turning to Figure important developments
in late Middle Miocene time One is the onset ued at the South Caribbean Foldbelt and the transtensional de
were underway
of the east not in the west In Colombia
of transtension in the east after the completion of nappe em velopments are seen
similar is where the Garzon Quetame Co

placement and folding and thrusting as discussed above Linear a development seen
cuy transpressional zone is superimposed upon the older thin

slip faults activated by the transtension probably
dextral strike
skinned orogen The dextral component of the transpression in
include the Coche El Pilar North Coast and Central Range
Colombia fed into that of the Merida Andes but not without
Warm Springs faults The Gulf of Paria offsets the El Pilar
and Warm Springs faults in a pull apart or releasing bend fash much complication involving polarity change at the intervening
Tachira saddle As the Eastern Cordillera converged toward the
ion Similarly the Cariaco Basin appears to offset the El Pilar
northeast a northwest southeast foredeep developed ahead of
Fault from the main transcurrent fault zone along the northern it as shown by a gravity low This foredeep is on trend with
flank of the Caribbean Mountains The two pull aparts occur
the Tachira saddle and may help to explain its relatively low
immediately east of the basement transfer zones defining the relief
continental margin salients and re entrants as expected
The Late Miocene to Recent strain in the eastern portion of Finally in the Falcon Basin part of the compressional com
ponent of the dextral transpression along the northern Merida
the plate boundary zone relative to the Shield is directed to
Andes appears to have been transferred into the Falcon Anti
ward the east and diminishes from about 20 mm yr in the north
clinorium where the Upper Oligocene Middle Miocene section
in the south The entire Serranfa is
to zero
collapsing eastward became inverted hence the lower topography in the northern
away from the Santa Ines Urica Fault Zone see Fig 24 The
Merida Andes Uplift along the south flank ofthe Falcon Basin
Gulf of Paria is a place where this collapse is most pronounced
locally overrode the Falcon section This may have imparted
Note that eastward directed strain at the pre existing Pirital and
some degree of foredeep geometry in the Late Miocene al
Tonoro structures will have behaved transpressionally because much of the basin subaerial at the time As noted
though was
of their relative orientation to the strain even though regionally earlier many of the structures in the Falcon Basin are south
the eastern portion of the plate boundary zone is in transtension
vergent but these are probably surface expressions of triangle
relative to east west faults Also noteworthy is that all Middle above a
zones
deeper more primary northward vergent detach
Miocene deposits are folded and thrusted to the south whereas ment
possibly within the Trujillo or Misoa formations which
Upper Miocene and younger deposits are not underlies the entire Falc6n pull apart basin In the far north the
In the west Figure 21 shows approximately one half of the vergence of the Anticlinorium is northward Biju Duval et aI
post 25 Ma southeast directed compression and one third ofthe 1982 Boesi and Goddard 1991
dextral offset in the Merida Andes having been achieved by 12
SUMMARY CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR HYDROCARBONS
Ma This strain is believed to have occurred during southeast
directed relative motion of the Caribbean Plate nearly orthog The Cenozoic paleogeographic evolution of northern South
level of detail
onal to the trend of the Andes The dextral slip is required so America has been analyzed at the formational
o 15 30 45 60 km
Carib SoAm since
Late
structures
Neogene
12 Ma
Coche Fault
12 Ma 20 mm yr
IN
I
EI Pilar Fault
Transtensional model
1
lP
@
tion rectio
FIG 24 Neotectonic post 12 Ma features of the Serranfa del Interior Oriental incorporated into model of regional transtension The former thin skinned
orogen is collapsing eastward along dextral transcurrent faults generally with a normal component Urica San Francisco Bohordal Faults etc probably above
a Miocene
shaly detachment surface previously overthrust Carapita Formation Eastward pointing arrows portray cumulative eastward displacement of terranes
since 12 Ma between the Guyana Shield and Caribbean Plate Caribbean motion vector after Deng and Sykes 1995 which is fully supported by our field
observations of young
post 12 Ma structures and attitudes of depositional units Certain structures whose orientation is less than azimuth 800 tend to behave
compressionally inset but a strong dextral component may accompany such compression depending upon strain partitioning Cross sections in Roure et al
1994 show that northwest southeast normal faults cut the larger antiforms along the productive Tonoro Zone Thus east west extension is also important in
that predicted by transtensional model for the
post 12 Ma period after Pindell 1994
area as our
A series of maps outline the main elements of the evolution for the observed American convergence without development
and tectonic and depositional processes using the concept of a of a localized fold thrust belt
Cretaceous passive margin Pindell and Erikson 1994 Erikson Second Paleocene to Middle Miocene oblique collision be
and Pindell this volume b Villamil and Pindell this volume the Caribbean and South American
a tween plates produced and
the
as
starting point at the end of Cretaceous time The analysis drove eastwardly diachronous migration of four elements a
defines the style and timing of dynamic controls on Cenozoic a flexural
peripheral bulge ahead of southeast of the relatively
basin development with important implications for hydrocar migrating Pacific derived Caribbean plate b a foredeep basin
bon systems and synthesizes an enormous wealth of diverse
adjacent to and ahead of the Caribbean Plate c a zone of
information into a concise model that can be applied tested and imbricate overthrusting by Caribbean allochthonous and South
improved American para allochthonous nappes terranes and d a zone

During Cenozoic time evolution has been dominated by four of isostatic rebound of the footwall and subsidence of the hang
main developments First late Maastrichtian Middle Eocene wall within the overthrust associated with the east
ing zone
north south
convergence between North and South America ward propagation of east west transform faults within the plate
may be manifested by structural thickening uplift and erosion interface which helped to allow the continuation of Caribbean
of and chaotic derived from
deposition formerly passive mar South American relative motion
and rise sections at
gin slope postulated zone of convergence
a Third Late Oligocene to Recent northeastward escape of the
at the foot of or within the northern South American Maracaibo Block and other terranes of the greater Northern
margin
Possible effects of this so far are recognized only in the east Andes as a result of strong east west Andean convergence and
in the west the downward bending of the Proto Caribbean lith the collision of the Panama Arc with the Western Cordillera of
osphere beneath the advancing Caribbean Plate may account central Colombia This phase accelerated in Late Miocene time
as a result of the 12 Ma change in relative motion burial of the

probably source rocks by these foredeep units Maturation
direction between South American and Caribbean Plate which kitchens formed earliest in the northern portions of the basins
put the Merida Andes into a more ideal dextral shear orien to the overthrusts where Cretaceous section buried
adjacent was
tation relative to the east west relative plate motion fastest The peripheral bulge unconformities between the pas
Fourth the end Middle Miocene change in relative plate mo sive and foredeep sections always associated with extensional
tion from southeast to east west
produced a Late Miocene to faulting due to their flexural
origin have served as prime pe
Recent troleum migration routes to sections further updip from the
period of generally transcurrent tectonics within the pre
viously oblique collision zone of Eastern Venezuela and Trin kitchens with minor traps at some of the faults If foredeep
idad In the west northeastward advance of the Maracaibo and maturation were allowed to progress without structural com
in motion such that local anomalies in heat flow oils should have been
other terranes has dominated this change plications or
the South Caribbean Foldbelt remains the dom Late Eocene in northern Maracaibo
compression at
migrating upsection by
inant observation Barinas Basin note oil sands of our Maracaibo Tar Belt Fig
Within this framework many aspects of northern South 18 Late Oligocene in Guarico Basin and Early and Middle
America hydrocarbon
s systems can be identified and better un Miocene in Maturfn Basin Talukdar et al 1988 and Sweeney
derstood Here given the end Cretaceous passive margin pa et al 1989 independently calculated maturation times in the
leogeographic starting point in which no oils are known to have Maturfn and northern Maracaibo basins which agree with these
been generated by the onset of Tertiary time due to insufficient ages
burial summarize those critical aspects which pertain to
we 2 Andean flank basins With the most dramatic uplifts of
causes and timing of basin creation deposition of main clastic Sierra Perij a in the latest Oligocene Miocene the Santander
reservoir formations timing of maturation and gross direction Massif in the Early Miocene and the Merida Andes in the Late
of To break this discussion into the Miocene Recent
corresponding periods of very rapid molassic
migration simplify we
Tertiary creation of three main basin types each with sufficient deposition have occurred along the Andean flanks such that oils
burial of source
bearing section to trigger oil maturation the have been generated beneath the primary depocenters As these
Caribbean foredeep basins the Andean flank basins and the mountain ranges have developed within the once larger Eocene
plate boundary pull apart basins foreland region of the Caribbean nappes we refer to the reju
venated depositional areas as the Andean flank basins
I Caribbean foredeep basins The MaracaibolBarinas inter Late Oligocene Middle Miocene El Fausto Group sediments
vening Merida Andes developed later the Guarumen the Gua
of western Maracaibo Basin form a foreland section adjacent
rico the Maturfn and to an uncertain extent the South Trini to the
Perija that is sufficiently thick to have triggered matu
dadian basins northward
possess thickening asymmetric ration by Middle Miocene time Sweeney et aI 1989 Like
basinal sections which developed above the former
foredeep wise Early and Middle Miocene uplift of the Santander Massif
Cretaceous passive margin section in which the prime regional drove coeval subsidence in southern Maracaibo which pulled
source rocks occur Furthermore the foredeep and passive mar the locus of deposition from the west to the south at that time
sections are separated by regional unconformities which
gin Finally Late Miocene uplift of the Merida Andes drove a mas
mark the
passage of the Caribbean peripheral bulge prior to sive subsidence along their northwestern flank which has pulled
foredeep loading The foredeeps and associated imbricate the locus of deposition to the southeastern Maracaibo Basin for
relative Caribbean advance and
thrustbelts were controlled by that interval Collectively most of Maracaibo Basin has entered
thus young to the east Primary foredeep sedimentation and maturity due to burial of older source rocks by the deposition
thrusting occurred in MaracaibolBarinas Basin latest Paleo of mol as sic sediments derived from the circum Maracaibo up
Misoa Gobernador and other
cene early Late Eocene Pauji lifts The pattern outlined here for Maracaibo Basin is similar
formations Guarumen Basin Early Oligocene Gobernador to the pattern shown by the calculations of Sweeney et al
and Pagiiey equivalents Guarico Basin Oligocene Early 1989 On the Barinas side of the Merida Andes the Late Mi
Miocene La Pascua Roblecito and other formations Maturfn ocene to Recent acceleration of
uplift has caused increased sed
Basin Late Middle Miocene Merecure
Areo Car
Oligocene imentation rates during Rio Yuca
deposition again leading to
apita and other formations South Trinidad Basin Early and local burial depths capable of generating hydrocarbons How
Middle Miocene Nariva Brasso and other formations
Cipero ever through
going fault systems along the site of the Merida
The foredeeps important for two reasons first because they
are Andes were clearly operative during the Late Oligocene to Re
controlled clastic reservoir deposition e g Misoa Formation cent such that Maracaibo oil is unlikely to have entered Barinas
and second because the rapid sedimentation and subsequent Basin since before this Andean flank basin history began
flanking thrust imbrication caused the onset of hydrocarbon pre Late Oligocene
generation along the orogenic sides of each basin Furthermore 3 Plate boundary pull apart basins The numerous transcur
foredeep subsidence outpaced sedimentation in each basin due rent fault systems of northern South America helped to accom
to the
loading effect by the advancing Caribbean terranes lead modate the strike slip component of relative motion between
ing to
deposition of marine shales potential seals above the the Caribbean Plate and South American continent after
more clastic reservoir sections collision had occurred in any given location Strike
e g
Pauji over Misoa Pagiiey oblique arc
over Gobernador Roblecito over La Pascua Areo Carapita slip activity and development of associated pull apart or re
over Los Merecure
Jabillos Long distance migration from be leasing bend basins propagated eastward beginning in any
neath Caribbean allochthons prior to primary foredeep subsi given area
just after thrust emplacement of Caribbean allo
dence is possible in all these basins but maturation of Creta chthons Restricted initial depositional systems followed by
ceous source rocks within these basins necessarily followed the high heat flow and sedimentation for
variably rapid provide
rock
source deposition preservation and rapid subsequent mat trend is also likely to have been the main extension direc
uration Structuring is complex in these zones and basin fill tion within the Jurassic rifts Villamil and Pindell this vol
facies vary dramatically The compressional components of ume which leads us to suggest that the Merida Arch is a
relative motion in such areas

prior to 12 Ma were probably transfer zone between the adjacent Trujillo and Uribante
accommodated on the north side of the
developing South Ca rift segments
ribbean plate boundary zone namely with the inception of the 5 The El Baul Arch probably marks the position of the pe
South Caribbean Foldbelt ahead of the Caribbean Serranfa thrust load
ripheral bulge
and foredeep sediment pile in the Maturfn region and was
The first major strike to within the col
slip
develop system
best expressed in Middle Miocene time
lision zone was the Oca Fault and the
releasing bend Falc6n 6 Foredeep development and thrusting in the Guarumen sub
Basin in middle to Late Oligocene time
just after Late Eocene basin occurred in the Late Eocene and Early Oligocene
completion of allochthon emplacement in the west The Falc6n
Basin is an example of a plate boundary pull apart basin with respectively Oil was probably generated there at that time
with a tendency to migrate southward However uplift
its own Tertiary source rocks the Pecaya and Agua Clara For
rather than subsidence has occurred there subsequently
mations owing to restricted and deep water sedimentation
within the bend
Other basins of this type include the offering little chance for any significant young maturation
releasing Thus any oils which might be in place likely survived re
Urumaco Trough La Vela Bay Golfo del Triste the Cariaco
and loss to the surface
Basin and the Gulf of Paria Figs 21 the migration partial during this uplift
I inception of all
7 After the main Middle Miocene
of which youngs to the east in each of these basins period of thrusting and
Exploration in the Maturfn Basin
needs to address and different folding structuring for the last 12 my
entirely new
petroleum systems has been dominated east west extension at northwest
relative to the standard well known systems for autochthonous by
southeast normal faults and dextral slip on east west faults
portions of northern South America Such faults help to closure
An provide along the axes
of the
important aspect of these types of basins is that the faults
main folds and ramp anticlines The transition from tran
that controlled them triggered an important event for several of to transcurrent tectonics at 12 Ma was the direct
the autochthonous basins to the south of the faults As strike spression
result of a 200 change in Caribbean South America plate
slip dissection occurred the basinal subsidence that took place relative motion atthat time The present topographic ex
on the northern sides was matched by isostatic rebound on the
of the Serranfa del Interior is proposed to be
southern sides which led to and erosion over large pression
uplift areas
due to isostatic rebound of the footwall Serranfa
most of northern Maracaibo Basin which lies
mainly
e g
directly side
south of the Falc6n
Oca system Fig 19 Thus although mat
during extensional dextral shear at the El Pilar and
Coche Fault Zones
uration may have been approached or achieved at one it point 8 The Gulf of Paria lies above Late Miocene Recent
may also have then been slowed or arrested by the onset of
a
pull
strike slip faulting apart basin which nucleated on a number of southeast
Finally we offer some conclusions derived from this study trending faults The pull apart basin continues eastward
into the Caroni Basin of onshore Trinidad The pre
with direct future hydrocarbon and de existing
bearing on
exploration Cretaceous Middle Miocene succession of the
in Venezuela and Trinidad through re
velopment will have been faults associated

gion strongly disrupted by
I The Misoa Formation is of tidal shelf environment not del with the basin s development
taic with implications for trap type reservoir geometry and 9 The Late Miocene Recent Gulf of Paria pull apart basin
orientation Shelf sand bars sealed in shales are potential contains several kilometers of sediment capable of driving
stratigraphictraps Sand sheet and sand bar reservoir ori maturation in the lower parts of the pull apart section itself
entation depend on paleo tidal transport paths rather than if source prone intervals are present Furthermore peak
strictly on paleoslope paleoshore orientation as in the for maturation of the underlying Cretaceous section here has
mer deltaic interpretation occurred only since Middle Miocene time so oil from Cre
2 A late Middle and Late Eocene Maracaibo Tar Belt source rocks could have
was taceous
migrated from depth into
formed west south and east of Lake Maracaibo sands of the
compris pull apart section as well This is a common
semi consolidated sands of the La Sierra

ing un or Tam occurrence in the Trinidadian fields as shown by geochem
bor El Cobre and sandy Pagiiey Formations This belt ical studies of oil fractionation history
should be largely overlain by shales and pass laterally up 10 The Late Middle Miocene Falc6n Basin is simi
Oligocene
and down paleoslope into shale dominated equivalents of lar to the Gulf of Paria Basin in that it is a releasing bend
fering potential for stratigraphic or combination traps or pull apart basin above the main northern South America
3 Merida Andes uplift started in Late Oligocene time 25 Caribbean collisional belt However the Falc6n Basin lies
Ma cutting off main hydrocarbon migration pathways above Lara nappes whereas the
mostly metamorphosed
from the Maracaibo to Barinas Apure Guarumen regions Gulf of Paria Basin formed within the parautochthonous
4 In western Venezuela the Merida Arch is recognized for thrust belt The Cretaceous source rock section lies beneath
Jurassic and Cretaceous times All arguments for the ex the obducted Lara Nappes in the Falc6n Basin and is there
istence of the Merida Arch Lugo 1994 remain true when fore overmature Thus much of the Fal
presumably mostly
restoration 150 c6n Basin
plotted on our
palinspastic incorporating probably lacks Cretaceous source rocks unlike
km of slip along the Merida Andes however the trend of most of the other onshore Venezuelan basins
the Arch such restoration is east west rather than the II An end Cretaceous to Middle Eocene
on a
episode of incipient
present northwest southeast orientation This east west subduction of Proto Caribbean lithosphere beneath eastern
Venezuela and Trinidad is which accommodates BOCKMEULEN H BARKER C AND DICKEY P A 1983 Geology and geo
proposed
chemistry of crude oils Bolivar Coastal Fields Venezuela American As
70 km of observed convergence between the Ameri
plate sociation of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin v 67 p 242 270
cas for this interval and may have provided a northern
BOESI T GODDARD D 1991 A new model related to the dis
AND geologic
of sediments time in Trinidad
source
during Paleogene tribution of hydrocarbon source rocks in the Falc6n Basin northwestern
Venezuela in Biddle K
ed Active Margin Basins Tulsa American As
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS sociation of Petroleum Geologists Memoir 52 p 303 319

BORGER H D 1952 Case history of Quiriquire field Venezuela American
This paper highlights part of a 5 year research program in Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin v 36 p 2291 2330
Venezuela and Trinidad which synthesized many scales of field BOSENCE D W J 1982 The occurrence and ecology of Recent rhodoliths
and conducted from Dartmouth areview in

Peryt T M ed Coated Grains Berlin Springer Verlag p 225
study regional analysis College
in collaboration with the Venezuelan and Trinidadian Ministries 242
BRONDUK J F 1967 Eocene formations in the southwestern part of the
of Energy and Mines We are grateful to our other collaborators
Maracaibo Basin Contributions of the Asociaci6n Venezolana de Geologia
in the program principally Sam Algar Claudia Arango Alirio
Minerfa y Petr61eo Maracaibo Basin Eocene Nomenclature Committee Aso
Bellizzia Johan Erikson Garry Karner Bill Kidd Oscar Odre ciaci6n Venezolana de Geologia Minerfa y Petr6leo Boletin Informativo v
Pimentel Walter Pitman III Lynn Ken Tab 10 no 2 p 35 50

man
Nelly Sykes
CAMPBELL C J 1968 The Santa Marta wrench fault of Colombia and its
butt and Tomas Villamil We also thank Hans Krause and others
regional setting in Saunders J B ed Transactions of the Fourth Caribbean
at Maraven Gordon Young and others at PDVSA and Francia
Geological Conference Port of Spain p 247 261
Galea Rafael Lander Lionel Torres and others at for
Corpoven CAMPOS v 1977 Tect6nica y evoluci6n hist6rica de la regi6n de Calderas
their kind direction 11 Congreso Latinoamericano de Geologia Memoria Boletin de

inspiration and advice on many matters Caracas
Geologia Publicaci6n Especial 7 Torno In p 1687 1703

Richard P Jr reviewed this paper and provided many
George CASE J E AND HOLCOMBE T L 1980 Geologic tectonic map of the Carib
and alternative opinions for which we are grateful
insights bean region US Geological Survey Miscellaneous Investigations Map 1
1100 scale 1 2 500 000
REFERENCES CASE J E AND MACDONALD W D 1973Regional gravity anomalies and
crustal structure in northern Colombia Geological Society of America Bul
ALGAR S T AND PINDELL J L 1993 Structure and deformation history of
letin 84 p 2905 2916
v
the Northern Range of Trinidad and adjacent areas Tectonics v 12 p 814
CAZIER E c HAYWARD A 8 ESPINOSA G VELANDIA J MUGNIOT J
829
F LEEL WG JR 1995 Petroleum of the Cusiana Field
AVE LALLEMENT H G 1990 The Caribbean South American plate boundary
AND geology
Llanos Basin foothills Colombia American Association of Petroleum Ge
Araya Peninsula eastern Venezuela in Larue D K and Draper G eds
ologists Bulletin v 79 p 1444 1463
12th Caribbean Geological Conference Transactions Sl Croix p 461
471
CHEVALIER Y STEPHAN J F DARBOUX 1 R GRAVELLE M BELLON H
AUDEMARD F 1991 Tectonics of western Venezuela Unpublished Ph D The
BELLlZZIA A AND BLANCHET R 1988 Obduction
collision pre Terti
et
sis Rice University HousIon 245 p
aire dans les zones internes de la Chaine Caribe venezuelienne sur Ie transect
AYMARD R PIMENTEL L Errz P LOPEZ P CHAOUCH A NAVARRO J
lie de Margarita Peninsule d Araya Comptes Rendus I Academie des Sci
MUARES J AND PEREIRA J G 1990 Geological integration and evaluation
ences de Paris Serie 11 307 p 1925 1932
v
of Northern Monagas Eastern Venezuelan Basin in Brooks J ed Classic
CHIGNE N AND HERNANDEZ L 1990 Main aspects of petroleum exploration
Petroleum Provinces London Geological Society Special Publication 50 p
in the Apure area of Southwestern Venezuela 1985 1987 in Brooks J ed
37 53
Classic Petroleum Provinces London Geological Society Special Publica
BALDWIN S L HARRISON T M AND BURKE K 1986 Fission track evi
tion 50 p 55 75
dence for the source of accreted sandstones Barbados Tectonics v 5 p
CLEVELAND M N AND MOLINA J 1990 Deltaic reservoirs of the Cafio
468
457
Lim6n field Colombia South America in Barwis J H McPherson 1 G
BARR K W AND SAUNDERS J B 1968 An outline of the geology of Trini
and Studlick J R J eds Sandstone Petroleum Reservoirs New York
dad in Saunders J 8 ed Transactions of the Fourth Caribbean Geological
Springer Verlag Casebooks in Earth Science p 281 315
Conference Port of Spain p 1 10
COOPER M A ADDISON F T ALVAREZ R CORAL M GRAHAM R H
BARTOK P E RENZ 0 AND WESTERMAN G E G 1985 The Siquisique
HAYWARD A B HOWE S MARTINEZ J NAAR J PENAS R PULHAM
ophiolites northern Lara State Venezuela A discussion on their Middle Ju
A J AND TABORDA A 1995 Basin
development and tectonic history of
rassic ammonites and tectonic implications Geological Society of America
the Llanos Basin Eastern Cordillera and Middle Magdalena Valley Colom
Bulletin v 96 p 1050
1055
bia American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin v 79 p 1421
BEETS D J MARESCH W V KLAVER G T MOTTANA A BOCCHIO R
BEUNK F F MONEN H P 1984 rock series and 1443
AND Magmatic high
DENG J AND SYKES L R 1995 Determination of a Euler Pole for contem
pressure metamorphism as constraints on the tectonic history of the southern
Caribbean in Bonini W E Hargraves R B and Shagam R eds The porary relative motion of Caribbean and North American plates using slip
vectors of interplate earthquakes Tectonics v 14 p 39 53
Caribbean South American Plate Boundary and Regional Tectonics Boul
der of America Memoir 162 p 95 130 DENGO C A AND COVEY M c 1993 Structure of the Eastern Cordillera of
Geological Society
BELLlZZIA A 1972 Sistema montafioso del Caribe borde sur de la Placa Colombia implications for trap
styles and regional tectonics American As
Caribe i es cordillera al6ctona 6th Caribbean sociation of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin v 77 p 1315 1337
una
Margarita Geological
Conference Transactions p 247 258 DEToNl B AND KELLOGG J 1993 Seismic evidence for blind thrusting of
BELLlZZIA A 1986 Sistema montafioso del Caribe una cordillera al6ctona the northwestern flank of the Venezuelan Andes Tectonics v 12 p 1393
1409
en la parte norte de America del Sur Caracas VI Congreso Geol6gico Ve
nezolano Sociedad Venezolana de Memoria Torno 10 p 6657 DEWEY J F 1980 Episodicity sequence and style at convergent plate bound
Ge610gos
6836 aries inStrangeway D W ed The Continental Crust and Its Mineral De
BELLlZZIA A PIMENTEL N AND BAJO R 1976 Mapa geol6gico estructural posits Ottawa Geological Association of Canada Special Paper 20 p 553
de Venezuela Caracas Ministerio de Minas scale 573
e Hydrocarburos
1 500 000 DEWEY J F AND PINDELL J L 1985 Neogene block tectonics of Turkey
Buu DuVAL B MASCLE A ROSALES H YOUNG G 1982 and northern South America continental applications of the finite difference
AND Episutural
Miocene basins the north Venezuelan method Tectonics v 4
p 71 83
Oligo along margin in Watkins 1S
and Drake cL eds Studies in Continental DEWEY 1F PINDELL J L 1986 Neogene block tectonics of Turkey
Margin Geology Tulsa Amer AND
ican Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir 34

p 347 358 and northern South America continental applications of the finite difference
BIRD D E HALL S CASEY J F AND MILLEGAN P S 1993 Interpretation method Reply Tectonics v 5 p 703 705
of magnetic anomalies over the Grenada Basin Tectonics v 12 p 1267 DOLAN J F MANN P MONECHI S DE ZOETEN R HEUBECK C AND
1279 SHIROMA J 1991 Sedimentologic stratigraphic and tectonic synthesis of

Eocene Miocene sedimentary basins Hispaniola and Puerto Rico in Mann KOHN B P SHAGAM R AND SUBIETA T 1984b Results and preliminary
P Draper G and Lewis J eds Geology of Hispaniola Boulder Geolog implicationsof sixteen fission track ages from rocks of the western Carib
ical Society of America Special Paper v 262 p 217 240 bean Mountains Venezuela in Bonini W E Hargraves R B and Shagam
DUENAS JIMENEZ H 1985 Observaciones sobre la nomenclatura estratigraf R eds The Caribbean South American Plate Boundary and Regional Tec
ica de la Cuenca de los Llanos Orientales Colombia Bogota II Simposio tonics Boulder Geological Society of America Memoir 162 p 421
415
Bolivariano de la Exploraci6n Petrolera en las Cuencas Subandinas KRAUSE H H AND JAMES K H 1989 Hydrocarbon resources of Vene
Memorias zuela their source rocks and structural habitat in Ericksen G E Canas
DUQUE CARO H 1979 Major structural elements and evolution of north Pinochet M T and Reinemund J A eds Geology of the Andes and its
western Colombia in Watkins J S Montadert L Dickerson P W eds Relation to Hydrocarbon and Mineral Resources Houston Circum Pacific
Geological Geophysical Investigations of Continental Margins Ameri

and Council for
Energy and Mineral Resources Earth Science Series v II p
can Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir 29 p 329 351 405
414
ERIKSON J P AND PINDELL J L 1993 Analysis of subsidence in northeastern KUGLER H G AND CAUDRI C M 1975 Geology and paleontology of Sol
Venezuela discriminator of tectonic models for northern South America dado Rock Trinidad West Indies
as a
Eclogae Geologica Helvetica v 68 p
Geology v 21 p 945 948 365
430
ERIKSON J PINDELL J L LARUE D K 1990 Mid Eocene Ol LAMB J L SULEK J A 1968 Miocene turbidites in the Carapita For
AND Early AND
igocene sinistral transcurrent faulting in Puerto Rico associated with for mation of eastern Venezuela in Saunders J B ed Transactions of the
mation of the northern Caribbean plate boundary zone Journal of Geology Fourth Caribbean Geological Conference Port of Spain p 111 119
v 98 p 365 384 LAUBSCHER H P 1987 The kinematic puzzle of the Neogene northern Andes
ERLICH R AND BARRETf S F 1990 Cenozoic plate tectonic history of the in Schaer J P and Rodgers J eds The Anatomy of Mountain Ranges
northern Venezuela Trinidad area Tectonics v 9 p 161 184 Princeton Princeton Press p 211 227
University
FEO CODECIDO G SMITH F D JR ABOUD N AND DE DI GIACOMO E LUGo J 1994 The Merida arch tectonic control on
deposition from Late
1984 Basement and Paleozoic rocks of the Venezuelan Llanos basins in Mesozoic To Early Cenozoic in western Venezuela Puerto la Cruz V Sim
Bonini W E posio Bolivariano de la Exploraci6n Petrol era las Cuencas Subandinas

Hargraves R B and Shagam R eds The Caribbean South en
American Plate Boundary and Regional Tectonics Boulder Geological So p 291 31O
of America Memoir 162 MACDONALD W D 1990 Survey of Caribbean paleomagnetism in Dengo
ciety p 175 187
FOLAND K A SPEED R WEBER J 1992 studies of G and Case J E eds The Caribbean Region Boulder Geological Society
AND Geochronologic
the hinterland of the Caribbean mountains orogen of Venezuela and Trinidad of America The Geology of North America v H p 393
404
of America Abstracts with v 24 p 149 MACELLARI C E 1982 EI Mio Plioceno de ladepresi6n del Tachira Andes
Geological Society Programs
GALEA ALVAREZ F A AND MORENO VASQUEZ J 1994 Biofacies de fora Venezolanos distribuci6n paleogeografica e implicaciones tect6nicas Ca
miniferos la Formaci6n eventos racas GEOS Escuela de Geologia y Minas Universidad Central de Vene
en Carapita y su relaci6n con los tect6nicos
Mioceno Mioceno Medio en el norte de zuela v 27 p 3 14
Temprano Monagas Venezuela
Puerto La Cruz V Simposio Bolivariano de la MACELLARt CE 1995 Cenozoic sedimentation and tectonics of the south
Exploraci6n Petrolera en las
Cuences Subandinas p 225 227 western Caribbean pull apart basin Venezuela and Colombia in Tankard
GEOTEC LTDA 1988 de Colombia scale A J Suarez Soruco R and Welsink J

H eds Petroleum Basins of South
Mapa Geol6gico Bogota
America Tulsa American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir 62
I 1 200 000 2 sheets
GHOSH S K AND ODREMAN 0 1987 Estudio sedimentoI6gico paleoam p 757 780
biental del Terciario la del Valle de San Javier Estado Merida MANN P AND BURKE K 1984 Neotectonics of the Caribbean Reviews of
en zona
Sociedad Venezolana de Boletin 36

46 31 Geophysics and Space Physics v 22 p 309 362
Ge610gos p no
GONZALEZ JUANA C lTURRALDE DE AROZENA J M MARESCH W V 1974 Plate tectonics originof the Caribbean mountain sys
DE AND PICARD CAD
ILLAT X 1980 Geologia de Venezuela y de sus Cuencas Petroliferas Ca tem of northern South America discussion and proposal Geological Society
of America Bulletin v 85 p 669
682
racas Ediciones Foninves 1031 p
MARTIN BELLIZZIA C AND lTURRALDE DE AROZENA J M 1972
Complejo
HIGGS R 1993 Sedimentological evidence for early uplift Oligocene of the
ultramafico zonado de Tausabana EI Rodeo gabro zonado de Siraba Capu
Venezuelan Andes abs American Association of Petroleum Geologists
Bulletin v 77
ana
y complejo subvolcanico estratificado de Santa Ana Paraguana Estado
p 325
Falc6n Margarita 6th Caribbean Geological Conference Transactions p
HIGGS R 1996 A new facies model for the Misoa Formation Eocene Ven
337 356
ezuela s main oil reservoir Journal of Petroleum Geology v 19 p 249
MCCOLLOUGH C N 1986 Geology of super giant Cano Limon field and
269
Llanos Basin Colombia in Horn M K ed Transactions of the Fourth
HIGGS R 1997 Basin
development and tectonic
history of the Llanos Basin
Circum Pacific Energy and Minerals Resources Conference Singapore p
Eastern Cordillera and Middle Magdalena Valley Colombia Discussion 299 316
American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin v 81 p 133
MCCOURT W J ASPDEN 1 A AND BROOK M J 1984 New geological and
1331
HILST R 1994 Tectonic implications of geochronological data from the Colombian Andes continental growth by
VAN DER MANN P AND tomographic
multiple accretion Journal of the Geological Society of London v 141 p
images of subducted lithosphere beneath northwestern South America Ge 831 845
ology v 22 p 454
451
MEIER B SCHWANDER M AND LAUBSCHER H P 1987 The tectonics of
JAMES K 1990 The Venezuelan hydrocarbon habitat in Brooks J ed Clas
Tachira a
sample of north Andean tectonics in Schaer J P and Rodgers
sic Petroleum Provinces London Geological Society Special Publication
J eds The Anatomy of Mountain Ranges Princeton Princeton University
50 p 9 35
Press p 229 237
KELLOGG J N 1984 Cenozoic tectonic history of the Sierra de Perija Ven of
MOLLER D R 1993 A quantitative analysis post chron 34 83 Ma plate
ezuela Colombia and adjacent basins in Bonini W E Hargraves R B motions in the central North Atlantic South Atlantic and the Caribbean area
andShagam R eds The Caribbean South American Plate Boundary and Ph D Thesis of California San
unpublished University Diego
Regional Tectonics Boulder Geological Society of America Memoir 162 MOLLER D R ROYER J Y AND LAWVER L 1993 Revised plate motions
p 239 261 relative the in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans Geology 21 p
to hotspots v
KISER D 1989 Relaciones estratigraficas de la Cuenca ApurelLlanos con

275 278
adyacentes Venezuela suroeste y Colombia oriental Caracas Sociedad
areas MUNOZ N G 1973 Geologia sedimentaria del flysch Eoceno de la Isla de
Venezolana de Ge610gos Monografia I 71 p Venezuela Caracas GEOS Escuela de
Margarita Geologia y Minas Uni
KISER G D AND BASS I 1985 La reorientaci6n del arco de EI Baul y su versidad Central de Venezuela v 20 p 64
5
importancia econ6mica Caracas VI Congreso Geol6gico Venezolano Me NOTESTEIN F B HUBMAN C w BOWLER J W 1944
AND Geology of the
moria Torno VIII p 5122 5135 Barco Concession of Colombia South America
Republic Geological So
KOHN B P SHAGAM R BANKS P O BURKLEY L A 1984a Meso of America Bulletin 55
AND ciety v
p 1165 1216
zoic Pleistocene fission track ages on rocks of the Venezuelan Andes and ORTEGA J F VAN ERVE A AND DE MONROY Z 1987 Formaci6n Guafita
their tectonic implications in Bonini W E Hargraves R 8 and Shagam unidad del Terciario el subsuelo de la Cuenca
nueva
litoestratigrafica en
R eds The Caribbean South American Plate Boundary and Regional Tec Barinas Venezuela suroccidental Sociedad Venezolana de Ge610gos
Apure
tonics Boulder Geological Society of America Memoir 162 p 365 384 Boletin no 31 p 9 35
PARNAUD F Gou Y PASCUAL J c CAPELLO M A TRUSKOWSKI 1 AND SALVADOR A AND STAINFORTH R M 1968 Clues in Venezuela to the ge
PASSALACQUA H 1995 Stratigraphic synthesis of Western Venezuela in ology of Trinidad and vice versa in Saunders J B ed Transactions of the
Tankard A J Suarez Soruco R and Welsink H J eds Petroleum Basins Fourth Caribbean Geological Conference Portf
Spain p 40
31
of South America Tulsa American Association of Petroleum Geologists SCHAMEL S 1991 Middle and upper Magdalena basins Colombia in Biddle
Memoir 62 p 698
681 K T ed Active Margin Basins Tulsa American Association of Petroleum
PEREZDE MEJIA D KISER G D MAXIMOWITSCH B AND YOUNG G A Geologists Memoir 52 p 283 301
1980 Geologia de Venezuela in Felder B ed Evaluaci6n de Formaciones SHAGAM R KOHN B P BANKS P O DASCH L E V ARGAS R ROGRI
en Venezuela Caracas Schlumberger p 1 1 1 23 GUEZ G 1 AND PIMENTEL N 1984 Tectonic implications of Cretaceous
PINDELL J L 1985 Alleghenian reconstruction and the subsequent evolution Pliocene fission track ages from rocks of the circum Maracaibo Basin re
of the Gulf of Mexico Bahamas and Proto Caribbean Sea Tectonics v 4 gion of western Venezuela and eastern Colombia in Bonini W E Hargra
p I 39 ves R B and Shagam R eds The Caribbean South American Plate
PINDELL J L 1993 Regional synopsis of Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Boundary and Regional Tectonics Boulder Geological Society of America
evolution in Pindell J L and Perkins BF eds 13th Annual Research Memoir 162 p 385
412
Conference Proceedings Mesozoic and Early Cenozoic Development of the SNOKE A W YULE J D ROWE D W WADGE G AND SHARP W D
Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Region Gulf Coast Section Society of Eco 1990 Stratigraphic and structural relationships on Tobago West Indies and
nomic Paleontologists and Mineralogists Foundation p 251 274 some tectonic
implications in Larue D K and Draper G eds 12th Ca
PINDELL J L 1994 Transtension en Venezuela oriental y Trinidad desde hace ribbean Geological Conference Transactions St Croix p 402
389
10 Ma abs Puerto la Cruz V Simposio Bolivariano de la Exploraci6n SPEED R AND FOLAND K A 1990 Miocene metamorphism and Neogene
Petrolera las Cuencas Subandinas Memoria p 263
en
tectonics of Northern Range rocks abs Port of Spain Second Geological
PINDELL J L AND BARRETI S F 1990 Geologic evolution of the Caribbean Conference of the Geological Society of Trinidad and Tobago Abstracts p
region a
plate tectonic perspective in Dengo G and Case J E eds The 19 20
Caribbean Region Boulder Geological Society of America The Geology SPEED R C SMITH HORWITZ P L PERCH NIELSON K V S SAUNDERS
of North America v H p 432
405 J B SANFELlPPO A B 1993 Southern Lesser Antilles Arc Platform
AND
PINDELL J L CANDE S C PITMAN III W c ROWLEY D B DEWEY J F Pre Late Miocene Stratigraphy Structure and Tectonic Evolution Boulder
LABRECQUE J AND HAXBY W 1988 A
plate kinematic framework for
Geological Society of America Special Paper 277 98 p
models of Caribbean evolution Tectonophysics v 155 p 121 138 STEPHAN J F 1985 Andes et chaine caraibe sur la transversale de Barqui
PINDELL J L AND DEWEY J F 1982 Permo Triassic reconstruction of west
simeto Venezuela evolution geodynamique in Mascle A ed Sympo
ern Pangean and the evolution of the Gulf of Mexico Caribbean region sium Geodynamique des Caraibes Paris Edicions Technip p 505 529
Tectonics v I p 179 212
STEPHAN J F BECK c BELLlZZIA A AND BLANCHET R 1980 La chaine
PINDELL J L AND ERIKSON J P 1994 The Mesozoic passive margin of
caraibe du Pacifique 11 l Atlantique Paris 26th International Geological Con
northern South America Salfity J A
in ed Cretaceous Tectonics in the
ference v C 5 p 38 59
Andes Wiesbaden Vieweg Publishing International Monograph Series
SWEENEY J TALUKDAR S BURNHAM A VALLEJOS C 1989 Pyrolysis
Earth Evolution Sciences p 60
1
kinetics applied to prediction of oil generation in the Maracaibo Basin Ven
PINDELL J L ERIKSON J P AND ALGAR S T
relationship 1991 The be
ezuela Organic Geochemistry v 16 p 189 196
tween plate motions and
sedimentary basin development in northern South SYKES LR MCCANN W R AND KAFKA A L 1982 Motion of the Carib
America from a Mesozoic passive margin to a Cenozoic eastwardly pro
bean Plate the last 7 million years and implications for earlier Ce
during
gressive transpressional orogen in GilIezeau K A ed Transactions of the nozoic movements Journal Geophysical Research v 87 p 10656 10676
Second Geological Conference of the Geological Society of Trinidad and
TALUKDAR S GALLANGO 0 AND RUGGIERO A 1988 Generation and mi
Tobago Port of Spain p 191 202
RENz 0 1959 Estratigrafia del Cretaceo en Venezuela occidental Boletin de gration of oil in the Maturin subbasin Eastern Venezuelan Basin Organic
Geologia v 5 p 3 48 Geochemistry v 13 p 537 547
TSCHANZ C M MARVIN R F CRUZ J MEHNERT H H AND CEBULA
ROBERTSON P M AND BURKE K 1989 Evolution of the southern Caribbean
G T 1974 Geologic evolution of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta north
plate boundary in the
vicinity of Trinidad and
Tobago American Association
of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin v 73 p 490509 eastern Colombia Geological Society of America Bulletin v 85 p 273
ROD E 1956 Strike slip faults of northern Venezuela American Association 284
of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin v 40 p 476

457 VAN ANDEL T H 1958 Origin and classification of Cretaceous Paleocene
ROSENCRANTZ E 1993 Revised opening history of the Cayman Trough Ca and Eocene sandstones of western Venezuela American Association of Pe
ribbean Sea abs troleum Geologists Bulletin v 42 p 734763

Geological Society of America Annual Meeting Ab
stracts with Programs v 25 p A 71 VASQUEZ E AND DICKEY P 1972 Major faulting in north western Venezuela
ROSSI T 1985 Contribution 11 I etude geologique de la frontiere sud est de la and its relation to global tectonics Margarita VI Conferencia Geol6gica del
Caribe
Memorias p 191 202
plaque Caraibe la Serrania del Interior Oriental Venezuela sur Ie transect
Cariaco Maturin unpublished Ph D Thesis Universite Bretagne Occiden ZAMBRANO E VASQUEZ E DUVAL B LATREILLE M AND COFFlNlERES
tale Brest 338 p B 1971 Sintesis

paleogeografica y petrolera del occidente de Venezuela
RouRE F CARNEVALI J 0 Gou Y AND SUBlETA T 1994 Geometry and Caracas IV Congreso Geol6gico Venezolano Memoria Venezuela Minis
kinematics of the north Monagas thrust belt Venezuela Marine and Petro terio de Minas e Hidrocarburos Boletin de Geologia Publicaci6n Especial
leum Geology v I I p 347 362 5 Torno I p 483 552

Campos Aapg

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Campos Aapg

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

CENOZOIC PALINSPASTIC RECONSTRUCTION PALEOGEOGRAPHIC EVOLUTION AND HYDROCARBON

SETTING OF THE NORTHERN MARGIN OF SOUTH AMERICA

INTRODUCfION between the Caribbean and South American Plates which is

largely function of the westward component of drift of South

This paper outlines the Cenozoic evolution of the Venezuelan

varying degrees 1 the palinspastic restoration of Cenozoic

Present address Rowfold House Billingshurst Sussex RHI4 900 England

Arauca Southward limit

rapidly subsiding Bonaire and Carupano basins paleogeography

Autochthonous Allochthonous Rock become the south southeast

South America ward the Guyana Shield

tectono thermal event in the eastern Pacific subduction and arc

Fourth two Jurassic

left lateraldisplacement beyond the above estimates The 75 74 72

southwestern most Perij a mountains are less developed than the

Cretaceous stratigraphic high and trends south southwest be

against the basement uplifts of the Santander Massif Likewise

the fault at the northwest corner of the Santa Marta Massif

edge of basement just west of the present western Baja Gua

the fault system although Campbell 1968 misinterpreted the

Fault Zone and is escaping northwards with the adjcacent ter

cators etc e g review by Mann and Burke 1984 For the

much as 50 km in the higher central portion of the Andes Au

Apure Basin southeast of the Tachira area e g Chigne and

and pure shear in the Tachira area and provides an elegant ex

planation for the commonly cited lesser amounts of shortening

by tectonic escape of triangular wedges in the Serranfa de Tru

Central relative to the Guyana Shield was minimal during Andean

ent orogen This reconstruction is

that the direction would

cause it is secondary to and bounded by the Oca and Santa

southwest the Oca and Santa Marta faults and

FIG 7 Northwest southeast

Late to Middle Miocene releasing bend basin

above Sediment isopach maps Macellari

it then crosses the Central and Southern Ranges as wrench sys

transtension Pindell primary Early

mid Oligocene In Figure 10 this additional strain

Late Oligocene 25 Ma Present Bulk Motions of Blocks in NW South America

Note These vectors do not restore all motion all the

plates The motion between these two plates be

calculated by summing their motions for times relative

Yucatan Basin Cayman

Yucatan Basin Azimuth of motion

Restraining Cayman Trough

Eocene deviation in 52 Ma Flowlines of Caribbean Plate

o 100 300 500

dominated by of the Col6n Mito Juan

Figure 12 is somewhat the estimate of the width was

and subduction In western Venezuela

could have been taken up by the downflexing of the Proto

between the two

Venezuela and Trinidad

southward of probable slope olistostromes Chaudiere

10001 Conglomerate beds

Glauconite sand beds

I 0 No deposition orlater eroded

If X 880 km X12 440 km and Y 200 km then Z

FIG 16 Eocene northern South America Grid

dell and 1982 This is

In the sections the

South America forward in time

Paleocene thrust up onto the autochthon In Guajira Paleocene sediments

early Middle Eocene