Cimitarra Fault

Cimitarra Fault
Cimitarra Fault
Falla de Cimitarra
	Cimitarra Fault Location within Colombia
Etymology	Cimitarra River
Coordinates	07°20′12″N 73°55′23″W / 7.33667°N 73.92306°W
Country	Colombia
Region	Andean
State	Antioquia, Bolívar, Santander
Cities	Cantagallo, Puerto Wilches
Characteristics
Range	Central Ranges, Andes
Part of	Andean oblique faults
Length	136.5 km (84.8 mi)
Strike	323 ± 3
Dip	unknown
Dip angle	unknown
Displacement	0.1–1 mm (0.0039–0.0394 in)/yr
Tectonics
Plate	North Andean
Status	Inactive
Type	Oblique thrust fault
Movement	Sinistral reverse
Age	Quaternary
Orogeny	Andean

The Cimitarra Fault (Falla de Cimitarra) is a sinistral oblique thrust fault located in the departments of Antioquia, Bolívar, and Santander in central Colombia.

The fault extends for approximately 136.5 km (84.8 mi), trending in a general northeast to southwest direction, with an average strike of 323° ± 3°. It traverses the Middle Magdalena Valley and the Central Ranges of the Colombian Andes.

Etymology

The fault is named after the Cimitarra River, Antioquia, a left tributary of the Magdalena River.

Description

The Cimitarra Fault splays from the Palestina Fault in a northeasterly direction on the eastern border of the Central Ranges of the Colombian Andes, passes north of Barrancabermeja, and possibly connects to the Bucaramanga-Santa Marta Fault in the northeast. The fault displaces Jurassic to Cretaceous volcanic rocks, Mesozoic igneous rocks, a Tertiary erosion surface in the Central Ranges, and late Quaternary sediments. Portions of the fault are pre-Pliocene in age, since it is locally covered by undeformed Pliocene sediments. Farther northeast, the fault is overlain by young alluvial deposits of the Middle Magdalena Valley.

The fault is marked by well preserved fault scarps, long straight traces, displaced drainages, and it forms aligned river courses. The slip rate is calculated at 0.1 to 1 millimetre (0.0039 to 0.0394 in) per year.

References

1 2 3 Paris et al., 2000a, p.30
↑ Paris et al., 2000b
↑ Plancha 5-06, 2015
↑ Paris et al., 2000a, p.31

Bibliography

Paris, Gabriel; Machette, Michael N.; Dart, Richard L.; Haller, Kathleen M. (2000a), Map and Database of Quaternary Faults and Folds in Colombia and its Offshore Regions (PDF), USGS, pp. 1–66, retrieved 2017-09-18

Maps

Gómez, J.; Montes, N.E.; Nivia, Á.; Diederix, H. (2015), Plancha 5-06 del Atlas Geológico de Colombia – 1:500,000, Servicio Geológico Colombiano, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-06
Paris, Gabriel; Machette, Michael N.; Dart, Richard L.; Haller, Kathleen M. (2000b), Map of Quaternary Faults and Folds of Colombia and Its Offshore Regions (PDF), USGS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-09-18

External links

"Servicio Geológico Colombiano" (in Spanish). SGC. Retrieved 2025-10-08.

[Paris2000a_p30-1] 1 2 3 Paris et al., 2000a, p.30

[Paris2000b-2] Paris et al., 2000b

[Plancha5_06-3] Plancha 5-06, 2015

[Paris2000a_p31-4] Paris et al., 2000a, p.31