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Bucaramanga–Santa Marta Fault
Bucaramanga–Santa Marta fault system (Sistema de) Falla(s) de Bucaramanga-Santa Marta
View of the Bucaramanga Fault along Bucaramanga
Location of the fault in ColombiaShow map of ColombiaBucaramanga–Santa Marta Fault (Santander Department)Show map of Santander Department
Topographic map of northern Colombia showing the fault
Etymology	Bucaramanga, Santa Marta
Coordinates	7°05′25″N 73°05′15″W / 7.09028°N 73.08750°W / 7.09028; -73.08750
Country	Colombia
Region	Caribbean, Andean
State	Magdalena, Cesar, Norte de Santander, Santander
Cities	Santa Marta, El Paso, Bucaramanga, Floridablanca, Piedecuesta
Characteristics
Elevation	1–1,500 m (3.3–4,921.3 ft)
Range	Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta Eastern Ranges  Andes
Part of	Andean faults
Segments	Santa Marta, Algarrobo, Bucaramanga Faults
Length	674 km (419 mi)
Strike	341 ± 23 (NNW-SSE)
Displacement	110 km (68 mi)
Tectonics
Plate	South American Plate
Status	Active
Earthquakes	Pre-Columbian era (~1020 AD)
Type	Strike-slip fault
Movement	Sinistral
Rock units	Caribbean, La Guajira, Tahamí & Chibcha Terranes
Age	Neogene-Holocene
Orogeny	Andean

The Bucaramanga–Santa Marta Fault (BSMF, BSF) or Bucaramanga–Santa Marta fault system (Spanish: (Sistema de) Falla(s) de Bucaramanga-Santa Marta) is a major oblique transpressional sinistral strike-slip fault (wrench fault) in the departments of Magdalena, Cesar, Norte de Santander and Santander in northern Colombia. The fault system is composed of two main outcropping segments, the Santa Marta and Bucaramanga faults, and an intermediate Algarrobo Fault segment in the subsurface. The system has a total length of 674 kilometres (419 mi) and runs along an average north-northwest to south-southeast strike of 341 ± 23 from the Caribbean coast west of Santa Marta to the northern area of the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes.

The fault system is a major bounding fault for various sedimentary basins and igneous and metamorphic complexes. The northern Santa Marta Fault segment separates the Sinú-San Jacinto Basin and Lower Magdalena Valley in the west from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta to the east. The buried Algarrobo Fault segment forms the boundary between the Lower Magdalena Valley and northern Middle Magdalena Valley to the west and the Cesar-Ranchería Basin in the east. The Bucaramanga Fault segment separates the middle part of the Middle Magdalena Valley in the west from the Santander Massif in the east.

The fault system bounds and cuts the four largest terranes of the North Andes Plate; the La Guajira, Caribbean and Tahamí Terranes along the Santa Marta section and intraterrane movement in the Andean Chibcha Terrane. Studies of the fault segments have shown the fault was active in the pre-Columbian era, around the year 1020, when the area around Bucaramanga was inhabited by the Guane. Various seismic events analysed to have occurred during the Holocene of the Bucaramanga Fault segment lead to the conclusion the fault is active.

Description

The Bucaramanga–Santa Marta is a major fault system which extends for a total distance of 674 kilometres (419 mi) from the Colombian Caribbean coast to the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes to as far as about 6.5° N, south of the capital of Santander, Bucaramanga. The fault system, with an average strike of 341 ± 23 degrees, is a major wrench fault with a sinistral (left-lateral) displacement ranging from 45 to 110 kilometres (28 to 68 mi) and a fault slip rate of 0.01 to 0.2 millimetres (0.00039 to 0.00787 in) per year. The Santa Marta Fault forms the boundary between several distinct geological provinces: it is the western limit of the Santa Marta Massif with the Sinú-San Jacinto Basin, farther to the south the fault separates the Lower Magdalena Valley and northern Middle Magdalena Valley from the Cesar-Ranchería Basin. The Santander Massif is separated from the central part of the Middle Magdalena Valley along the southern Bucaramanga Fault segment of the fault system.

The fault divides the northern part of the Eastern Ranges in two structurally distinct regions. The Andean uplifted eastern block mainly comprises crystalline igneous and metamorphic rocks of Paleozoic and pre-Cambrian age, with lesser amounts of Jurassic, Triassic, and Tertiary sedimentary rocks. In the western downthrown block, predominately sedimentary rocks of Quaternary and Tertiary age are found, with lesser amounts of Cretaceous and Jurassic rocks. The northern half of the fault is partially covered by Quaternary deposits in the Cesar and Magdalena valleys.

Segments

The fault is divided into three segments; the main Bucaramanga fault segment in the south, the Algarrobo Fault in the central section, and the main Santa Marta fault segment in the northern part of the fault system. Between the two main outcropping segments, the Algarrobo Fault is present in the subsurface, overlain by Quaternary sediments. The urban centre of the major coal producing municipality El Paso, Cesar is located right above the fault. The fault reappears at surface east of Tamalameque, Cesar, where it continues south-southeastward into the Eastern Ranges in the departments of Norte de Santander and Santander. The fault can be traced until San Andrés, Santander. The Bucaramanga Fault possibly continues as the compressional Boyacá and Soapaga Faults on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense.

Municipalities

Tectonic setting

The Bucaramanga-Santa Marta Fault system is located in northwestern South America, on the North Andes Plate, where the 20 ± 2 millimetres (0.787 ± 0.079 in)/yr east to southeastward moving Caribbean, 60 mm (2.4 in)/yr eastward subducting Malpelo, and South American Plates converge. Since Early Mesozoic times, the western portion of Colombia was subjected to different episodes of subduction, accretion and collision, at the boundaries of the South America continental and the oceanic Farallon, Nazca, and Caribbean Plates and various island arcs. The interaction of the plate tectonic movements formed the Northern Andean Block, separated from the Maracaibo Block by the Bucaramanga-Santa Marta Fault. The Northern Andean Block is subdivided into tectonic realms, with the Bucaramanga-Santa Marta Fault separating the Central Continental Sub-plate Realm in the west from the Maracaibo Sub-plate Realm in the east. It has been suggested that these two realms are dominated by respectively Nazca and Caribbean Plate subduction. The compressional stress regime caused the formation of the oblique sinistral Bucaramanga-Santa Marta Fault and dextral Oca and Boconó Faults.

The interplay between the Santa Marta and Oca Faults produced offshore Caribbean platforms and valleys north of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta near Taganga. Uplift along the western margin of the Santa Marta Fault probably commenced in the Pliocene.

The Bucaramanga Fault intersects with the Boconó Fault at the Santander Massif. In this area, the top of the subducting slab has been estimated at an initial depth of approximately 100 kilometres (62 mi), then a horizontal part for about 50 kilometres (31 mi), and a farther descending section to reach a depth of around 200 kilometres (120 mi). The slab section, called Bucaramanga slab, here has a dip that continues to the oceanic crust of the Caribbean seafloor. Towards the north of the Bucaramanga Nest or Swarm, in a north–south area approximately 200 kilometres (120 mi) in length, a well-defined Wadati-Benioff Zone extending to 175 kilometres (109 mi) depth has been identified.

Activity

A study published in 2009 about the Bucaramanga segment of the fault system revealed that the fault had eight episodes of activity during the late Holocene. The most recent activity has been inferred to have been around the year 1020. During this pre-Columbian era, the area around Bucaramanga was inhabited by the indigenous Guane. The authors consider the Bucaramanga Fault therefore as active.

Other faults in the seismically active zone, named Bucaramanga Nest, produced 27 earthquakes of magnitudes 4.0 to 5.3 between May 2012 and January 2013.

Panorama

See also

• List of earthquakes in Colombia
• Cesar-Ranchería Basin
• Middle Magdalena Valley
• Taganga

Notes and references

Notes

1. ^ 2017 population data
2. 2016 population data

References

1. Jiménez Díaz, 2013, p. 56
2. ^ Paris et al., 2000, p. 10
3. Cuéllar et al., 2012, p. 77
4. Plancha 11, 1998
5. Plancha 18, 1999
6. Plancha 19, 2007
7. Plancha 26, 2007
8. Plancha 33, 2007
9. ^ Plancha 40, 2002
10. Plancha 47, 2001
11. Plancha 55, 2006
12. Plancha 65, 1994
13. Plancha 66, 2009
14. Plancha 76, 1980
15. Plancha 86, 1981
16. Plancha 97, 1981
17. Plancha 120, 1977
18. Plancha 136, 1984
19. Sánchez et al., 2012, p. 3008
20. DANE, 2015, p. 29
21. (in Spanish) Official website Santa Marta
22. (in Spanish) Official website Ciénaga
23. (in Spanish) Official website Zona Bananera
24. (in Spanish) Official website Aracataca
25. (in Spanish) Official website Fundación
26. (in Spanish) Official website Algarrobo
27. (in Spanish) Official website El Copey
28. (in Spanish) Official website Bosconia
29. (in Spanish) Official website El Paso, Cesar
30. (in Spanish) Official website Chiriguaná
31. (in Spanish) Official website Curumaní
32. (in Spanish) Official website Chimichagua
33. (in Spanish) Official website Pailitas
34. (in Spanish) Official website Pelaya
35. (in Spanish) Official website La Gloria, Cesar
36. (in Spanish) Official website El Carmen
37. (in Spanish) Official website Teorama
38. (in Spanish) Official website González, Cesar
39. (in Spanish) Official website Ocaña
40. (in Spanish) Official website San Martín, Cesar
41. (in Spanish) Official website San Alberto, Cesar
42. (in Spanish) Official website Ábrego
43. (in Spanish) Official website La Esperanza
44. (in Spanish) Official website Cáchira
45. (in Spanish) Official website El Playón
46. (in Spanish) Official website Rionegro
47. (in Spanish) Official website Bucaramanga
48. (in Spanish) Official website Floridablanca
49. (in Spanish) Official website Piedecuesta
50. (in Spanish) Official website Cepitá
51. (in Spanish) Official website San Andrés
52. Egbue et al., 2014, p. 9
53. Colmenares & Zoback, 2003, p.721
54. Nevistic et al., 2003, p.132
55. Colmenares & Zoback, 2003, p. 722
56. Cediel et al., 2003, p. 818
57. Yarce et al., 2014, p. 57
58. Idárraga García et al., 2011, p. 44
59. Posada Posada et al., 2012, p. 103
60. Idárraga García et al., 2011, p. 57
61. Diederix et al., 2009, p. 19
62. Colmenares & Zoback, 2003, p. 723
63. ^ Diederix et al., 2009, p. 23
64. Diederix et al., 2009, p. 21
65. Perico & Perico, 2014, p. 6

Bibliography

• Cediel, Fabio; Shaw, Robert P.; Cáceres, Carlos (2003), "Tectonic Assembly of the Northern Andean Block - The Circum-Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean: Hydrocarbon habitats, basin formation, and plate tectonics", AAPG Memoir, 79: 815–848
• Colmenares, Lourdes; Zoback, Mark D. (2003), "Stress field and seismotectonics of northern South America", Geology, 31 (8): 721–724, Bibcode:2003Geo....31..721C, doi:10.1130/G19409.1
• Cuéllar Cárdenas, Mario Andrés; López Isaza, Julián Andrés; Osorio Naranjo, Jairo Alonso; Carrillo Lombana, Edgar Joaquín (2012), "Análisis estructural del segmento Bucaramanga del Sistema de Fallas de Bucaramanga (SFB) entre los municipios de Pailitas y Curumaní, Cesar - Colombia" (PDF), Boletín de Geología, Universidad Industrial de Santander, 34: 73–101, retrieved 2017-06-20
• Diederix, Hans; Hernández M., Catalina; Torres J., Eliana; Osorio, Jairo Alonso; Botero, Paola (2009), "Resultados preliminares del primer estudio paleosismológico a lo largo de la Falla de Bucaramanga, Colombia", Ingeniería, Investigación y Desarrollo, UPTC, 9: 18–23, retrieved 2017-06-20
• Egbue, Obi; Kellogg, James; Aguirre, Hector; Torres, Carolina (2014), "Evolution of the stress and strain fields in the Eastern Cordillera, Colombia", Journal of Structural Geology, 58: 8–21, Bibcode:2014JSG....58....8E, doi:10.1016/j.jsg.2013.10.004
• Idárraga García, Javier; Posada, Blanca Oliva; Guzmán, Georgina (2011), "Geomorfología de la zona costera adyacente al piedemonte occidental de la Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta entre los sectores de Pozos Colorados y el Río Córdoba, Caribe Colombiano", Boletín de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras, INVEMAR, 40: 41–58
• Jiménez Díaz, Giovanny (2013), Relationship between curved thrust belts, rift inversion, oblique convergence and strike-slip faulting - an example of Eastern Cordillera in Colombia (PhD thesis), Università di Roma, pp. 1–106
• Nevistic, A.V.; Rossello, E.A.; Haring, C.E.; Covellone, G.; Bettini, F.; Rodríguez, H.; Salay, R.; Colo, C.; Araque, E. Castro, C. Pinilla, C.P. Bordarampé, L. (2003), The Andean Santander-Oriental Tectonic Syntaxis: A first-order pattern controlling exploration play-model concepts in Colombia, VIII Simposio Bolivariano - Exploración Petrolera en las Cuencas Subandinas, pp. 130–134{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Paris, Gabriel; Machette, Michael N.; Dart, Richard L.; Haller, Kathleen M. (2000), Map and Database of Quaternary Faults and Folds in Colombia and its Offshore Regions (PDF), USGS, pp. 1–66, retrieved 2017-06-20
• Perico Martínez, Néstor Rafael; Perico Granados, Néstor Rafael (2014), Caracterización y recurrencia sísmica del Nido de Bucaramanga, V Congreso Internacional de Ingeniería Civil, Universidad Santo Tomás Seccional Tunja, pp. 1–19
• Posada Posada, Blanca Oliva; Andrade, Carlos A.; Thomas, Yves-François (2012), "Estructura del subsuelo de la plataforma continental aledaña a las estribaciones de la Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, bahías de Taganga, Santa Marta y Gaira", Boletín Científico, CIOH, 30 (30): 93–104, doi:10.26640/22159045.245, hdl:1834/14769
• Sánchez, Javier; Horton, Brian K.; Tesón, Eliseo; Mora, Andrés; Ketcham, Richard A.; Stockli, Daniel F. (2012), "Kinematic evolution of Andean fold-thrust structures along the boundary between the Eastern Cordillera and Middle Magdalena Valley basin, Colombia", Tectonics, 31 (3): 1–24, Bibcode:2012Tecto..31.3008S, doi:10.1029/2011TC003089, retrieved 2017-06-20
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Maps

• Hernández, Marina; Clavijo, Jairo (1998), Plancha 11 - Santa Marta - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-20
• Hernández, Marina; Maldonado, Iván (1999), Plancha 18 - Ciénaga - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-20
• Colmenares, Fabio; Mesa, Milena; Roncancio, Jairo; Arciniegas, Edgar; Pedraza, Pablo; Cardona, Agustín; Silva, César; Romero, Jhoamna; Alvarado and Oscar Romero, Felipe Vargas, Carlos Santamaría, Sonia (2007), Plancha 19 - Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-20{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Colmenares, Fabio; Mesa, Milena; Roncancio, Jairo; Arciniegas, Edgar; Pedraza, Pablo; Cardona, Agustín; Silva, César; Romero, Jhoamna; Alvarado and Oscar Romero, Felipe Vargas, Carlos Santamaría, Sonia (2007), Plancha 26 - Pueblobello - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-20{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Colmenares, Fabio; Mesa, Milena; Roncancio, Jairo; Arciniegas, Edgar; Pedraza, Pablo; Cardona, Agustín; Silva, César; Romero, Jhoamna; Alvarado and Oscar Romero, Felipe Vargas, Carlos Santamaría, Sonia (2007), Plancha 33 - El Copey - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-20{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• González, Javier; Clavijo, Jairo; Hernández, Marina; García, Carlos (2002), Plancha 40 - Bosconia - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-20
• Hernández, Marina; Clavijo, Jairo; González, Javier (2001), Plancha 47 - Chiriguaná - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-20
• Bernal Vargas, Luis Enrique; Mantilla Figueroa, Luis Carlos (2006), Plancha 55 - El Banco - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-20
• Royero, José María; Clavijo, Jairo; Mendoza, Hernando; Barbosa, Gonzalo; Vargas, G.; Bernal, R.E.; Ferreira, P. (1994), Plancha 65 - Tamalameque - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-20
• Daconte, Rommel; Salinas, Rosalba; Royero, José María; Clavijo, Jairo; Arias, Alfonso; Carvajal, Luz S.; López, Martín E.; Angarita, Leonidas; Mendoza, Hernando (2009), Plancha 66 - Miraflores - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-20
• Daconte, Rommel; Salinas, Rosalba (1980), Plancha 76 - Ocaña - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-20
• Vargas, Rodrigo; Arias, Alfonso (1981), Plancha 86 - Ábrego - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-20
• Vargas, Rodrigo; Arias, Alfonso (1981), Plancha 97 - Cáchira - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-20
• Ward, Dwight E.; Goldsmith, Richard; Jimeno, Andrés; Cruz, Jaime; Restrepo, Hernán; Gómez, Eduardo (1977), Plancha 120 - Bucaramanga - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-20
• Vargas, Rodrigo; Arias, Alfonso; Jaramillo, Luis; Tellez, Noel (1984), Plancha 136 - Málaga - 1:100,000, INGEOMINAS, p. 1, retrieved 2017-06-20

v t e Tectonism in Colombia
Tectonic plates	Caribbean plate Coiba plate Malpelo plate North Andes plate Panama plate South American plate
Terranes	Chibcha Tahamí Caribe La Guajira Arquía Quebradagrande Anacona Amazonian Craton Río Negro-Juruena
Terrane-bounding fault systems	Bagre Norte Bucaramanga-Santa Marta (BSF) Cimitarra Cucuana Eastern Frontal (EFS) Afiladores Algeciras Garzón-Pitalito Guaicáramo Guayuriba Mocoa San Pedro-Cumaral Servitá-Santa María Sibundoy Suazá Yopal Boconó Mulato-Getudo Oca Otú Norte Palestina Romeral (RFS) Armenia Buesaco-Aranda Córdoba-Navarco Montenegro Paraíso Piendamó Rosas-Julumito
Intraterrane faults	Chibcha Bituima–La Salina Bogotá Caño Tomás Chitagá-Pamplona La Dina Honda Ibagué Irlanda La Macarena La Plata Suárez Tarra Usme Vianí Tahamí Espiritú Santo Uramita Caribe Abriaquí Argelia Bagre Norte Bahía Solano Cañasgordas Cauca Garrapatas Murindó Murrí Mutatá Montería Naya-Micay Piedrancha Remolino-El Charco Santa Rita El Tambor Toro Tucurá Unguía Urrao La Guajira Cuisa Other terranes Meta Dagua-Calima Guáitara Morronegro-Las Mercedes
Major earthquakes	1646 1743 1785 1827 1834 1868 1875 1906 1917 1936 1958 1962 1967 1970 (1) 1970 (2) 1979 (1) 1979 (2) 1983 1987 1991 1992 1994 1995 (1) 1995 (2) 1996 1999 2004 2007 2008 2012 2013 (2) 2015 2016 (1) 2016 (2)
Orogenies	Andean Famatinian Sunsás Rondônia-Juruá Tapajós Transamazonian Carajas-Imataca
Other topics	Bucaramanga Nest Vichada Structure
Sources	Paris, Gabriel; Machette, Michael N.; Dart, Richard L.; Haller, Kathleen M. (2000). Map and Database of Quaternary Faults and Folds in Colombia and its Offshore Regions (PDF). USGS. pp. 1–66. Retrieved 2017-06-20.       Gómez Tapias, Jorge; Montes Ramírez, Nohora E.; Almanza Meléndez, María F.; Alcárcel Gutiérrez, Fernando A.; Madrid Montoya, César A.; Diederix, Hans (2015). Geological Map of Colombia. Servicio Geológico Colombiano. pp. 1–212. Retrieved 2019-10-29.       Various authors (2014). Enciclopedia de desastres naturales históricos de Colombia (PDF). Universidad del Quindío. pp. 1–21. Retrieved 2017-06-20.
Category • Images

• Seismic faults of Colombia
• Strike-slip faults
• Active faults
• Geography of Cesar Department
• Geography of Magdalena Department
• Geography of Norte de Santander Department
• Geography of Santander Department
• Earthquakes in Colombia
• Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta