THE METAMORPHIC BELTS OF ECUADOR

PREFACE
This Overseas Memoir reports on geological and mineral studies of the
metamorphic rocks of Ecuador which are essentially confined to the Cordillera
Real and EI Oro metamorphic belts. The objectives were the elucidation of their
nature, structure, relationships. genesis and mineralisation, in response to the
need for a geological and mineral database to support and promote a viable
national mining industry. The work was carried out under the Cordillera Real
Geological Research Project (19861993), a bilateral Technical Cooperation
project between the Governments of Ecuador (Ministry of Energy and Mines)
and the United Kingdom (Overseas Development Administration ODA), using
geoscientists from the Ecuadorian Mining Institute (INEMIN), replaced in 1991
by the Geological and Mining Corporation (CODIGEM); and the British
Geological Survey (BGS).
ODA and BGS participation in the geological and mineral development of
Ecuador began in 1969 and during the 1970s British and Ecuadorian geologists
carried out the primary mapping and mineral exploration of the coastal area
and the Western Cordillera. The present work thus completes the
reconnaissance studies of the Ecuadorian Andes by Anglo-Ecuadorian teams,
and provides the springboard for the regional plate tectonic interpretations
outlined in this text and on the national maps (Geologic and
Tectonometallogenic) prepared in ODA/BGS in cojunction with CODIGEM.
BGS staff were contracted by ODA to serve on the project. Dr M Litherland
(Project Leader) and Dr J A Aspden (Senior Geologist) were resident in Quito for
the duration of the project and undertook the reconaissance studies of the
Cordillera Real from 1986 to l990.
From mid-1990 to 1993 Dr Aspden covered the El Oro metamorphic district
whilst Dr R A Jemielita (Economic Geologist) carried out follow-up mineraI
studies over the Cordillera Real. During the same period Dr Litherland compiled
the national maps. In addition to the residential staff and their counterparts.
other INEMIN/CODIGEM and BGS geoscients carried out geochemical,
petrographic, geochronological and paleontological studies on project
samples.Dr Litherland was responsible for the compilation of this Memoir and
accompanying maps.

ONE
INTRODUCTION
PHYSIOGRAPHY
Considering its small sizq (283 520 km2) mamland Ecuador is
physiographycally very varied. The Andean range, or Sierra, is at its narrowest
here ( 120 km9, being bounded to the west by the coastal lowlands (Costa) and
to the cast by the upper Amazon basin (Oriente). The Sierra comprises two
parallel ranges, the Cordillera Occidental (Western Cordillera) and the Cordillera
Real or Cordillera Oriental (Eastern Cordillera) (Figure 1). The highest peak is
Chimborazo (6310 M) The two cordilleras trend approximately NNE SSW,
separated in central and northern Ecuador by the Inter-Andean valley which
contains most of the major cities.
The cordillera Real, the main subject of this memoir Is about 650 km long wide
within Ecuador. Elevations along ots watershed are controlled in the north by a
chain of of Plio Quaternary volcanoes (Plate I) from North to south the major
peaks qre Cayambe (5790 m.) Antisana (5704), Cotopaxi (5897m.), Tungurahua
(5016 m), Altar (5318 m) and Sangay (5230 m). To the west the floor of the
Inter-Andean Valley occurs at 200-3500m, while de sub-Andean foothills of the
castern slope are at altitudes of about 1000m. The highest peaks of
metamorphic rock are Cerro Soroche (4730). Sra Urcu (4670) and Cerro
Hermoso
(4571m).
Project
expeditions visited these areas.
Hermoso was climbed (Cover and
Frontispiece).
In the south of the Cordilllera Real,
the watershed levels fall to 3000
3500 m the Inter-Andean valley
disappears and the two cordilleras
merge. West of
this massif, and
trending cast-west, at right angles to
the Andes, is the coastal footbills
range of the El Oro metamorfhic
district, the other, smaller project
study area (Figure 2)
The Cordillera Real and the Sierra as
a whole are deeply dissected by

major perennial rivers. The Sierra is a major watershed dividing Amazon

(Atlantic)-directed from Pacific-director drainage. I lowever, the following fuor
rivers drain castwards to the Amazon from the Western Cordillera crossing the
Cordillera Real and forming important lines of communication: the Chingual in
the north, and, further south, the Pastaza, Paute and Zamora.

CLIMATE AND VEGETATION

Ecuador is an equatorial country with snow-peaked mountains. Crossing the
Cordillera Real from west to cast there is a tremendous variation in climate and
vegetation. The Inter-Andean Valley in the west is temperate with grassland
vegetation and rainfall in the region of 700 mm per year (see rainfall for Quito
and Cuenca.Table 1) Ascending the western slopes to the watershed one
crosses cold, wer,windy, mountainous moorlands (paramos) scarred by recent
glaciations and generally enshrouded in cloud: the snow line lies at about 1500
m. On the sheltered castern side, the tree line of the montane forest is at
about 3500 m, and as one descends to the Amazonic lowlands the climate
and vegetation become more tropical. Rainfall figures for the cordillera indicate
no dry season, only that the period from October to March is slighty less wet.
Indeed, the precipitacion during Puyos driest month is four times Quitos
wellest.
The Vilcabamba and El Oro areas near Peru have a more extreme dry season
betwen May and November due to the influence of the Humbolt current (Table
1), whilst between December and June rainfall is high due to the El Nio
current. With the low altitude, this produces hot, sticky conditions. This area
supports only scrubby woodland.

a.

b.

c.
Plate 1. Cordillera Real
a) El Altar volcano (5319 m): view of the volcanic cover sequence from the
basement schist.
b) Sangay (5230m), once of the highest active volcanoes in the world, wich
straddles the Cordillera Real.

c) The Cordillera Real rabge: view from the Rio Salado in the subtropical, subAndean Jowlands, to the snow-capped Cayambe volcano (5790 m) in the far
distance.

HUMAN ASPECT
The population of Ecuador is approximately 11 million and rising fast, with a
density of 37 per km2, the highest in South America. About 40 per cent are
lndians, many of whorn are Quechua-speaking descendents of the inhabitants
of the Incan Empire. They live mainly in remote regions of the Sierra, whilst
whites and mestizos inhabit the towns.
The Inter-Andean highway links the main towns of the Sierra from Tulcn (pop.
33 000) in the north, through Ibarra (80 000), Quito (1 250 000), Ambato (140
000), Riobamba (148 000), Cuenca (250 000) to Loja (160 000) in the south.
Over the Cordillera Real the population is sparse; sizable towns (e.g. Baos)
exist only along the main access routes. In the east, the unsurfaced subAndean highway links smaller towns, the largest of which are Puyo, Zamora,
Macas and Tena.
Population is relatively dense over the EI Ore metamorphic district, with towns
such as Portovelo and Pias in the mapped area, bordered by Arenillas, Santa
Rosa, Pasaje and the city of Machala (158 000) on the adjacent coastal plain.
Subsistence farming is the traditional livelihood of the Indians in their Iands and
of the more recent mestizo colonisers who clear the forests along new access

routes. Cash crops such as potatoes are also produced. Gold panning is a
common source of seasonal income and there is an embryonic hard-rock
mining industry. The Cordillera Real is also the source of Ecuadors
hydroelectric power from the plants at Agoyn, Pisayambo and Paute. Large
inaccessible arcas have been designated as National Parks.

ACCESS
There are five all-weather routes across the Cordillera Real connecting the
Inter-Andean and Sub-Andean highways. From north to south these are:
PapallactaBaeza, Baos-Puyo, CuencaLimon, LojaZamora and Loja
Zumba. The Guamore-Macas road is still under construction; the Tulcn - Lago
Agrio road has reached La Bonita, and the Salcedo - Tena road has long been
abandoned as a viable project.
South of the Rio Paute there are a number of mule trails across the cordillera,
but the north extensive segments are without access. These include the 120
km of cordillera between the Papallacta and Baos roads which contains the
Llanganates mountains, recently traversed by the mountaineer Mclnnes
(1984); and the stretch between the Papallacta and La Bonita roads,
inaccessible since the destruction of the OyacachiEI Chaco trail by the March
1987 earthquake. A foot traverse across the heart of this area (e.g.
SigsigpambaRio DoradoRio CofanesPuerto Libre) would take three or four
weeks and would thus require at least one supply cache.
Whilst rock outcrop is abundant along the road cuttings and over the paramos,
t is generally sparse through the montane forest and often inaccessible along
river gorge sections. Over many areas stream or talus blocks were used to
identify the geology.
PREVIOUS GEOLOGICAL WORK
The metamorphic rocks of the Cordillera Real and El Oro (Figure 2), the subject
of this memoir, were depicted on the national geological maps of theodoro Wolf
(1982) and Walter Sauer (1957). Wolfs descriptions incorporated economic
geology as part of this naturalists magman opus. Sauers (1965) were very
detailed and objective, representing some of the observations he made whilst
traversing the country to its most inaccessible quarters . He recognized most of
the metamorphic lithologies including ophiolites: distinguished the parafrom
the orthogneisses, and located and named many of the post tectonic plutonic
phases. His study was the most exhaustive before the present survey. In his
review of the Sub-Andean region he utilized the pioneering works of Wasson
and Sinclair (1923), Colony and Sinclair (1932) and Tschopp (1953).

Reconnaisance mapping of the metamorphic rocks aided by photogeological

interpretation began with the studies of Kennerley of the British Geological
Survey over the Llanganates area (Kennerley, 1971) and Loja Province
(Kennerley, 1973). Feininger (1978,1980) continued the mapping of the El Oro
metamorphic belt westward, discovering the blueschist/eclogite/ophiolite
complex at Raspas. Reconnaissance sheet mapping by DGGM/INEMIN/CODIGEM
at a scale 1:100000 has continued over the years with little differentiation of
the metamorphic rocks: overlying Plio-Quaternary volcanic sequences have
attracted more detailed studies. Individual attempts to understand the
metamorphic rocks of the Cordillera Real have also been under taken along the
few road sections. These include the petrological and structural studies of
Trouw (1976), a review by Feininger (1982), and unpublished metamorphic
studies by Duque.
Some K-Ar geochronology was undertaken (kennerley,1980;Aly,1980;Feininger
and
Silberman,1982;Hall
and
Calle,1982;Baldock,1982;Herbert
and
Pichler,1983;Pichler and Aly,1983); the available Rb-Sr geochronology was
statictically invalid.
Regional summaries of the metamorphic rocks in a national context (Kennerley,
1980; Baldock, 1982; 1985), whilst providing descriptions of the lithologies and
dividing them longitudinally into various groups could only speculate on their
age and correlation since there was only a range of metamorphic K-Ar ages
from Precambriam to Tertiary and no palacomological data. Whilst most authors
agreed with Sauer (1965) that the metamorphic rocks are of Paleozoic or
Precambrian age as indicated by their equivalents along strike in either Peru or
Colombia. Feininger (1975:1982) claimed the bulk of the Cordillera Real to
comprise deeper-water equivalents of the Amazonic Cretaceous sequence to
the cast. This supported the hypothesis of Bristow (1973), who, resurrecting an
carlier suggestion by Liddke and Palmer (1941), claimed that the Upper
Cretaceous sequence to the cast. This supported the hypothesis of Bristow
(1973), who, resurrectiong an carlier suggestion by Liddle and Palmer (1941),
claimed that the Upper Cretaceous sequences of the Cuenca area could be
traced eastwards into their metamorphics equivalents.
The Cordillera Real rocks thus appeared to be laterally Cretaceus and
longitudinally Palaezoic.

MINING HISTORY
At the time of the Spanish conquest, the Incan kingdom of Quito was known for
its gold, silver and platinum jewelery which, in those times, was without
commercial importance. The Spanish rapidly located the alluvial gold, e.g. the
Nambija and Zaruma districts. Indeed such was the gold fever that, of the thirty

seulements they established, twenty were alluvial gold mining towns along the
sub-Andean zone of the Cordillera Real (Navarro, 1986.Vol 1). However, due to
Indian revolts, sisease and economic factors, mining ceased at the beginning of
the 17th century, with the exception of the Zaruma district, which was worked
at reduced production levels. But even this area was virtually abandoned in the
19th century.
Foreing investors helped to reopen the Zaruma mines in the late 19 th and gold
polymetallic mines were also worked in the project area at Pilzhum, Peggy and
San Bartolome. More recently, a hunting party rediscovered the forgotten
mines of Nambija wich triggered an intense search for other deposits. Thus,
during the destroyed almost all the larvest of the fertile coastal area, the
impoverished campesinos dedicated themselves to the search for gold, first
locating the Ponce Enriquez field. From this time an ever-increasing gold fever
has seized wide sections of the poorer parts of the population.
Gold production figures for 1990 were in the region of 13 tonnes: five tonnes
from Nambija, three from of Zaruma- potovelo, two froim Ponce Enriquez and
the remainder from Chinapintza, Guaysimi, Campanilla and alluvial workings.

PROJECT OPERATIONS
The area of study was initially limited to the metamorphic rocks of the
Cordillera Real and El Oro. Later it was decided to include the

unmetamorphosed Zamora batholith and its envelope rocks on the

accompanying map in order to augment the study of the pre-Cretaceous
history of Ecuador and also include the important Nambija mining area.
However, the field surveys over this, the Sub-Andean belt, were not as detailed
as over the rest of the project area.
The reconnaissance survey of the Cordillera Real (198690) was undertaken
along a series of geotraverses using roads and trails where available.
Litherland, with counterparts Bermudez or Pozo, mapped the area north of the
Rio Pastaza, and Aspden, with counterparts Viteri or Bermudez, mapped the
area south of the Rio Paute; the intervening ground was shared. The survey of
the El Oro metamorphic belt (199O92) was undertaken by Aspden, with
counterparts Silva, Bermudez or Bonilla.
Outcrops and river boulders were sampled and geological observations made.
Stream sediment samples (seived in the field to 175 mesh grain size) and
panned heavy-mineral concentrates were collected where convenient.
In terms of specialized field studies, the major economic follow-up programme
was conducted by Jemielita and counterpart Bolaos.There was an economic
investigation by Clarke and Viteri in 1988, regional geochronological studies by
Rundle in 1987 and Harrison in 1989, and a palaeontological investigation by
Woods in 1991.
Microscopic petrographic studies and some stream, mineral and heavy-mineral
geochemistry
were
undertaken
in
Quito,
whilst
geochronological,
palaeontological, rock and most of te mineral analyses were carried out in the
BGS laboratories (UK). Consultants reports are listed on pp.107108.
REPORTS AND MAPS
Geological field maps were constructed using IGM (Instituto Geogrfico Militar)
base maps, normally on a 1:50000 scale. These became increasingly available
for the Cordillera Real, replacing the old Census maps drawn from uncontrolled
airphoto mosaics. The 1 :500 000 scale topographic base for the accompanying
maps was compliled by project staff from IGM maps and satellite images.
Annual reports were produced for the first four years of the project. These
bilingual reports include appendices of specific field reports (in Spanish),
laboratory analyses, reports by project consultants, and geotraverse maps.
A summary of the first four years work on the Cordillera Real together with 1 :
500 000 scale geology and metal maps were produced. The work on the El Oro
region, with a 1:100 000 scale geological map, and the results of the economic
followup of the Cordillera Real were produced as unpublished reports. All

these are available as open-file reports at BGS (in English) and CODIGEM (in
Spanish).
Published and unpublished project-related reports and maps are listed
separately on pp.107-109.
NERC Isotope Geology Centre were able to date the rocks of the metamorphicbelts by different isotopic methods, including the most recent lead isotope
studies by Sieve Noble.
We are equally grateful to the staff in the INEMIN,Quito Polytechnic. and BGS
laboratories who undertook the analytical work for the project, and to the
scientific institutions and mining companies who collaborated with the project
and who helped to make it a success within Ecuador. In this respect special
thanks are due to Napoleon Baez, David Coochey, Pablo Duque, Arturo Egez,
Minard Hall, Alex Hirtz, Luis Torres, Phil Townsend and Frank Van Thournout, We
also appreciate the important contributions made by Rio Tinto Zinc (formery BP
Minerals).
In the field, locally recruited guides and porters carried, cut, chopped, cooked
and fished, and tried to ensure (that the geologists arrived in one piece at the
bottom of the Andes.
Last, but not least, there is Manuel Celleri (Plate 15b),our CODIGEM field
assistant, who also acted as driver, cook, panner and sergeant, who knows the
Cordillera Real and remembers everything that happened.
Brian Kennerley launched the ODA and BGS participation in Ecuadorian geology
leading the first investigations and the firts project team. Following his untimely
death in 1976, he now lies peacefully in a Quito cemetary. This memory is
dedicated to his memory which is still treasured by many Ecuadorians.