Magmatic record of the last 70 million years in the Northern Andes: Spatiotemporal analysis

Abstract

The wide distribution of magmatism in the last 70 Ma, along the northern margin of South America is related to the interaction between the Caribbean, Farallon / Nazca and South American Plates; We compiled databases of magmatic rocks (plutonic and volcanic) from different sources, which were homogenized to be spatialized and analyzed statistically. For the Late Cretaceous-Middle Eocene the distribution of plutonic rocks is observed only north of 3 ° N, while the volcanism was developing in the W of the South American margin. The relatively short period (~10 Ma) of cessation of plutonism in the middle Eocene may be related to the difficulty of the thick plateau to subduct and the relative sliding movement of the plates of South America and the Caribbean due to migration. During the early MiocenePlesitocene an amplitude stage in the geography distribution of magmatism was presented, coinciding with the reactivation of major fault systems in Colombia and Ecuador, the migration of the volcanic axis towards the central cordillera and the terrain accretion of land on the margin continental.