North Andes Plate

The North Andes Plate or North Andes Block is a small tectonic plate (microplate) located in the northern Andes. It is squeezed between the faster moving South American Plate and the Nazca Plate to the southwest. Due to the subduction of the Coiba and Malpelo plates, this area is very prone to volcanic and seismic activity, with many historical earthquakes.

North Andes Plate
North Andes Plate (note: outdated Nazca Plate)
TypeMicro
Movement1North-west
Speed123mm/year
Features Colombia
 Ecuador
 Venezuela
1Relative to the African Plate

Boundaries

The North Andes Plate is bound by (clockwise from north):

  1. Caribbean Plate
  2. South American Plate
  3. Malpelo Plate — considered a part of the Nazca Plate before 2017[1]
  4. Coiba Plate — considered a part of the Nazca Plate before 2016[2]
  5. Panama Plate

Terranes

The Colombian part of the North Andes Plate is subdivided into several terranes:[3]

Terranes belonging to the Colombian part of the North Andes Plate
AbbrNameAge rangePaleomapBasinsComplexesRangesDepartmentsCommentsNotes
CHTChibchaMesoproterozoic• Catatumbo
• Cesar-Ranchería
• Eastern Cordillera (Altiplano Cundiboyacense - Bogotá)
• VMM
• VSM		Ariarí, Garzón, Floresta, Quetame, SantanderCentral, Eastern, Perijá, SNSM, San Lucas, La MacarenaAntioquia, Arauca, Bogotá, Bolívar, Boyacá, Caquetá, Casanare, Cesar, Cundinamarca, Huila, Magdalena, Meta, Putumayo, Norte de Santander, Santander, TolimaLargest terrane, named after Chibcha[4][5][6]
Neoproterozoic
TAAnaconaDevoniannoneAnaconaCentralAntioquiaTiny terrane
Carboniferous
TTTahamíPermian• Amagá
• Cocinetas
• VIM		AntioquiaCentral, Macuira, SNSMAntioquia, Bolívar, Caldas, Cauca, La Guajira, Magdalena, Nariño, Risaralda, Sucre, Valle del CaucaMost extensive terrane
Triassic
TARArquíaEarly CretaceousnoneArquíaCentralAntioquia, Caldas, Cauca, Nariño, Quindío, Risaralda, Valle del CaucaThinly banded terrane[7][8][9]
TQQuebradagrandenoneQuebradagrandeCentralAntioquia, Caldas, Cauca, Nariño, Quindío, Risaralda, Valle del CaucaThinly banded terrane[7][9][10]
[11][12][13]
TCCaribeLate Cretaceous• Cauca-Patía
• Chocó
• Sinú-San Jacinto
• Tumaco
• Urabá		Santa Cecilia-La EquisCentral, Western, Darién, Baudó, Montes de MaríaAntioquia, Atlántico, Caldas, Cauca, Chocó, Córdoba, Nariño, Quindío, Risaralda, Sucre, Valle del CaucaEl Totumo
TLGLa Guajira• La GuajiraEtpana, MacuiraMacuira, SNSMLa Guajira, MagdalenaTayrona, Cabo de la Vela

Tectonics

Subduction of the Coiba Plate underneath the North Andes Plate causes frequent earthquakes in the Bucaramanga Nest, the most seismically active area in the world. The Bucaramanga-Santa Marta Fault stretches along the plate for more than 600 kilometers from north to south. The plate boundary with the South American Plate is most tectonically active along a more than 900 kilometer long megaregional fault system; the Eastern Frontal Fault System.

This fault system, extending into Ecuador and Venezuela all along the northern Andes, separates the terranes from the North Andes Plate from:[3]

South American Plate features bordering the Chibcha Terrane of the North Andes Plate
AbbrNameAge rangeBasinsComplexesRangesDepartmentsCommentsNotes
PRNJRío Negro-Juruena ProvincePaleoproterozoic• Llanos
• Putumayo
• Amazonas		Mitú, Parguaza, GuaviareChiribiquete, MavecureArauca, Caquetá, Casanare, Guainía, Guaviare, Meta, Putumayo, Vaupés, VichadaPart of Amazonian Craton[14][15]

References
  1. Zhang et al., 2017
  2. Chiarabba et al., 2016, p.22
  3. Gómez Tapias et al., 2015, p.209
  4. Manosalva Sánchez et al., 2017, p.84
  5. Mantilla Figueroa et al., 2015, p.42
  6. Toro Toro et al., 2014, p.22
  7. Plancha 364
  8. Plancha 365
  9. Plancha 387
  10. Plancha 410
  11. Plancha 411
  12. Plancha 429
  13. Plancha 430
  14. Bonilla et al., 2016, p.19
  15. Arango Mejía et al., 2012, p.25

Bibliography

Maps

Further reading
  • Bird, P. (2003) An updated digital model of plate boundaries, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 4(3), 1027, doi:10.1029/2001GC000252.
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