X Congreso Colombiano de Geología, Bogota, 2005 1

STRUCTURE AND TECTONICS OF THE SINU-SAN JACINTO

ACCRETIONARY PRISM IN NORTHERN COLOMBIA

J. KELLOGG (1), E. TOTO (2), J. CERON (1,3)

(1) Univ. S. Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA, Kellogg@sc.edu, (2) Univ. Tofail, Kenitra,
Morrocco, (3) Empresa Colombiana de Petróleos, Bogotá, Colombia

ABSTRACT
Multichannel seismic profiles, potential fields and surface and subsurface data from the
North Colombia fold belt constrain a composite transect of the Sinu-San Jacinto
accretionary prism. The Sinu-San Jacinto prism is a two-sided wedge that developed in
response to Cenozoic compressional stresses at the Caribbean-North Andean convergent
margin. Gravity and magnetic modeling predict northwest-dipping (8° to 11° )
crystalline basement beneath the wedge providing a rigid backstop or buttress. A blind
east-verging backthrust near the sediment-basement interface is proposed to account for
the slip on the west-verging thrusts near the Romeral fault zone. At depth the Romeral
fault is modeled as a steeply southeast-dipping (~45°) suture between oceanic and
continental basement. The prism transect shows overall shortening of at least 110 km
from 275 to 165 km accommodated by folding and thrusting. Folds have been formed
over fault-bends by thrusts that ramp up section from a decollement near the top of the
Cretaceous with fundamental cutoff angles of 18 to 28°. The timing of the deformation is
pre-Oligocene to middle Miocene in the San Jacinto belt and Quaternary to Pliocene in
the Sinu belt. Application of a critically tapered wedge model.to the observed prism
geometry suggests that high pore pressures occur in the prism. Key Words: accretionary
prism, rigid backstop, South Caribbean marginal fault, Sinu-San Jacinto fold belt.

GEOLOGIC SETTING
The Sinu and San Jacinto fold belts in northwestern Colombia (Fig.1) form a wedge of
sediments up to 12 km thick which has been accreted to the South American margin
during the Cenozoic. A very low topographic slope and abundant mud volcanism
characterize the wedge. The wedge is bounded to the northwest by the South Caribbean
marginal fault and to the southeast by the Romeral fault zone (Fig.1). The Romeral fault
zone (RFZ) is a paleo-suture (Duque-Caro, 1979) that separates Paleozoic continental
basement rocks to the east from Mesozoic oceanic basement rocks to the west. The Sinu-
San Jacinto prism consists of the older subaerially exposed San Jacinto fold belt to the
east and the younger partially submerged Sinu fold belt to the west.

The San Jacinto belt includes Late Cretaceous pelagic rocks, a thick early Tertiary
turbidite sequence, and Quaternary fluvial and lacustrine sediments (Duque-Caro, 1979;
Flinch, 2003). Northwest verging folds and thrust faults trend approximately N20°E.

The Sinu fold belt includes Oligocene-Miocene shales and extensive fine-grained late
Miocene and Pliocene age turbidites overlain by shallow water Quaternary carbonate
facies made up of shales, reef limestones, sandstones and conglomerates (Duque-Caro,
1979). Narrow mud-cored anticlines with steeply dipping limbs are separated by broad,
gentle synclines. The belt has a remarkable number of mud volcanoes, domes, and diapirs
 X Congreso Colombiano de Geología, Bogota, 2005 2

produced by mobilization of Oligocene-Miocene high pressure shales (Duque-Caro,

1979, 1984; Vernette, 1989). Shortening in the Sinu fold belt is accomodated on NW-
verging imbricated growth fault-bend folds.

CT -1-
27

A LT
BE
D
ME
OR

T
EL
84
EF

-15
6 B
ND

B
LD
FO
EA

82
B

-0
RIB

9
INT
CA

C
AC
H

NJ
UT

SA

SJ
SO

-34

17
00
D

Figure 1. Location map for Sinu-San Jacinto fold belt. Seismic lines for regional transect (Fig. 2) shown in
blue. Geology from French and Schenk (1997).

The shortening in the Sinu-San Jacinto fold belt is the result of convergence between the
Caribbean plate and the northwest margin of South America. Plate tectonic
reconstructions suggest that the Caribbean - NW South America plate margin was
transpressive during Paleocene to Late Eocene time followed by up to 1000 km of NW-
SE convergence in the last 45 my (Pindell and Dewey, 1982). Seismic reflection profiles
across the toe of the South Caribbean deformed Belt reveal active folding of the youngest
sediments with undeformed reflectors beneath the fold belt dipping gently to the
southeast (Kolla et al., 1984). A weakly defined southeast-dipping Wadati-Benioff zone
has been interpreted as the result of slow subduction of Caribbean crust beneath the
North Andes (Kellogg and Vega, 1995). GPS measurements show oblique east southeast
convergence of 20 ± 2 mm/a between the Caribbean San Andres island and stable South
 X Congreso Colombiano de Geología, Bogota, 2005 3

America (Trenkamp et al., 2002). This result is consistent with the angular velocity
vector for Caribbean-South American relative motion based on GPS results (51.5°N, -
65.7°E, 0.272°/m.y.) of Weber et al. (2001). Southeastward motion at sites on the North
Colombia accretionary prism suggests plastic or recoverable elastic deformation
produced by Caribbean subduction and Panama collision.

The predicted cross-sectional geometry of the wedge is shown in Fig.2. The basal
decollement has never been intersected by drilling. Multichannel seismic profiles show a
strong, deep horizon below which little deformation occurs extending from the toe of the
wedge to a point 20 km southeast of the shelf break (Lehner et al., 1983). Lehner et al.
(1983) interpreted this horizon as the basal decollement. We estimate its regional dip
from the seismic data to be about 2.0° ± 0.5° to the southeast. The wedge has a thickness
of about 5 km at the toe increasing to over 10 km seaward of the shelf break. Under the
folded Cenozoic sedimentary sequence of the platform, basement rocks of the North
Andean plate (Mesozoic oceanic rocks to the west and Paleozoic continental rocks to the
east) may be providing a rigid buttress (Fig.2). Toto and Kellogg (1992) calculated that
the wedge, while growing northwestward, acquired a low cross sectional taper of about
4°. Basal and internal friction in the wedge are not known; however, the computed
abnormally high pressure within the wedge and abundant mud volcanism are consistent
with the low value of the taper.

METHOD
A 380-long regional composite transect (Fig. 2) was constructed across the study area
parallel to the direction of tectonic transport and crossing areas having the most
geological and geophysical data (Toto, 1991). The cross section is constrained by almost
continuous seismic coverage across the Sinu-San Jacinto wedge and adjacent areas and is
orthogonal to offshore refraction lines (Ewing et al., 1960). The seismic profiles were
converted to depth and then sequentially integrated into the composite transect. The
depth conversion was attained using a depth-dependent velocity function for the shallow
synkinematic and postkinematic section and interval velocities in the deeper prekinematic
section derived from sonic logs. Surface geology was used to constrain the seismic data
near the surface. The seismic data were complemented by proprietary regional gravity
and magnetic data to assist our interpretation of regional structural trends and the
geometry of basement structures. The structures derived from the seismic and surface
geology were then constrained and extrapolated to depth through the forward modeling
of the potential fields. Interval densities used in the gravity modeling were derived from
the seismic refraction data and constrained by rock properties when well logs were
available.

BASEMENT
Seismic data was tied to wells penetrating the pre-Tertiary rocks to constrain the top of
basement east of the RFZ. West of the Romeral in the San Jacinto belt, however, seismic
basement is not detectable, so depth to basement was estimated from the total magnetic
intensity anomaly. Seaward of the trench, Caribbean basement is seen to dip southeast at
an angle of about 2° on seismic profile CT1-27 (Kolla et al., 1984).
 NW SOUTH CARIBBEAN MARGINAL FAULT
Ewing et.al
(1960), Profile 16 CT-1-27 84-156
A Sea Level Sinu Accretionary Wedge No Data Sinu B
Tp-Q

To-m
Tp-Q (?)
To-m Tp-e(K)
Tp-e(K) ?
OCEANIC
BASEMENT
CARIBBEAN OCEANIC BASEMENT

COASTLINE
SAN BERNARDO -2X ROMERAL FAULT ZONE
B San Jacinto Fold Belt C
84-156 SJ-34
To-m Tm(u)-Tpl
Tp-Q
To-m Tp-e(K) Tp/e (K To-Tm(l)
)
Tp-e
Tp-e(K)
X Congreso Colombiano de Geología, Bogota, 2005

OCEANIC (?) BASEMENT CONTINENTAL

OCEANIC BASEMENT
BASEMENT

SAN PEDRO - 1 MAG -1 CICUCO -10 BOQUETE -1 LAS MARTAS -1

C 1700 D
SJ-34 Magangue Arch L-1700
Tm(u)-Tpl SE
To-Tml

Figure 2. Transect of Sinu-San Jacinto fold belt and Magangue arch. For location see Fig. 1.
NORTH ANDEAN CONTINENTAL BASEMENT

Kilometers

0 10 20 30 40 50
4
 X Congreso Colombiano de Geología, Bogota, 2005 5

Two broad, deep basement depressions within the platform east of the RFZ are separated
by the Magangue arch. The northern and larger of these structural lows, the Plato basin,
trends north-northwestward. Seismic data shows that this basin is filled with sediments
whose thickness is about 9 km or more (Ceron et.al, 2004). The southern low, the San
Jorge basin, is a graben-like feature downdropped by the Loba and Sucre faults (Duque-
Caro, 1977). The thickness of the Cenozoic deposits filling this depression is estimated
to reach 8 km. Duque-Caro (1977) stated that the platform is crossed by several major
structural lineaments that trend N20°E, N55°W, and N45°E. The most conspicuous of
these is the north to north 20° east-trending RFZ. The RFZ separates the relatively
unfolded platform from the highly deformed San Jacinto fold belt. The paleo-Romeral
also marks the junction of two distinct basements, as indicated by magnetic modeling,
which is consistent with a southeast dip of about 45° (Fig. 1). Basement highs, especially
in the platform, appear correlated with sedimentary thickness and facies changes,
suggesting syn-tectonic sedimentation.

West of the Romeral in the San Jacinto fold belt, the basement has not been imaged by
the seismic reflection data. The depth to top, however, was estimated from a magnetic
map (Empresa Colombiana de Petroleos, 1979) using the Vacquier method (1951).
Isolated basement rocks are involved in the thrusting and folding. However, potential
field data suggest that the basement slivers are “rootless” and deformation is “thin-
skinned”.

The predicted top of basement from the total magnetic and gravity fields dips 8° to 11° to
the northwest until it intersects Caribbean basement on the basal decollement at a point
40-50 km southeast of the South Caribbean marginal fault. The top of Caribbean
basement coincides with a strong reflector on many seismic profiles (Lehner et al., 1983)
seaward of the trench. It is recognizable under the lower continental slope dipping about
2° to 3° to the southeast.

FOLD AND FAULT GEOMETRIES

Deformation in the Sinu-San Jacinto belt is thin-skinned similar to other accretionary
prisms such as Makran or Barbados and other foreland thrust belts. In this style of
deformation sedimentary rocks above a decollement deform independently of the
crystalline basement.

The seismic coverage shows several distinct patterns of reflectivity. The San Jacinto is
characterized by a general absence of coherent seismic signals except for isolated sets of
discontinuous dipping reflectors, as opposed to the fairly good reflectivity in the platform
east of the RFZ. The seismic incoherence, relatively low density from gravity modeling,
and the absence of high-frequency magnetic anomalies are consistent with the
interpretation of the San Jacinto belt as a prism of highly deformed sedimentary rocks.
The Sinu prism, however, is characterized on marine seismic profiles by discontinuous to
continuous, medium to high amplitude reflectors cut by faults, folds and diapirs.
 X Congreso Colombiano de Geología, Bogota, 2005 6

East of the RFZ lie relatively undeformed rocks with broad, gentle folds occasionally
associated with faults. West of the RFZ in the San Jacinto deformed belt tight anticlines
and synclines are related to thrust faults that trend N20° E. These anticlines and synclines
are interpreted as fault-bend folds associated with emergent thrusts and blind thrusts (Fig.
1). The predicted thrusts ramp up section from a decollement near the top of the
Cretaceous with fundamental cutoff angles of 18° to 28°. Just west of the RFZ, where
the seismic pattern is chaotic (seismic profile 82-09), we estimate the depth to
decollement as a little over 2 km based on the surface geology. West-verging folds and
thrusts involve Cretaceous (?), Paleocene, Eocene, and Oligocene rocks. However, we
have estimated the depth to dense magnetic basement under the San Jacinto fold belt as
about 4 km based on gravity and aeromagnetic data. The entire Paleocene-Eocene-
Oligocene(?) section may have been repeated at least once by thrust faulting. Shortening
within the San Jacinto is estimated as 50-60 km or about 45%.

It is also clear from seismic profiles east of the Romeral that the slip on the west-verging
faults does not continue at the basement-sediment interface. There is considerable
evidence for dextral-oblique displacement of basement along the Romeral suture zone
(Cediel et al., 2003), but little evidence for large post-Oligocene strike-slip displacement.
We therefore propose a wedge geometry with a blind east-verging backthrust near the
sediment-basement interface. Flinch (2003) shows seismic evidence for an east-vergent
thrust in the upper basement at the contact between the Sinu-San Jacinto wedge and the
Plato Basin. The rigid backstop mechanism proposed here would explain observed
features and is similar to models proposed for Barbados (Torrini and Speed, 1989) and
the California Coast Range-Great Valley sequence (Unruh et al., 1991). Most of the
deformation in the San Jacinto belt appears to be pre-Oligocene to middle Miocene in
age.

In the Sinu belt, the deformation appears to be pre-Pliocene in age. Seismic profile 84-
156 across the continental shelf shows several broad anticlines resulting from the
displacement of the rocks over widely spaced ramps. A broad flat-bottomed syncline
contains younger sediments unconformably onlapping older sediments. Mud diapirism
resulting in mud volcanoes and domes appears to core the ramp anticlines.

Northwestward, beneath the continental slope about 60 km from the coast line, seismic
line CT1-27 reveals numerous folds above parallel imbricate thrust ramps that dip about
26° to the southeast. These faults ramp up from a flat-lying decollement that lies at a
depth of about 7 km in strata of possible Miocene age (Kolla et al., 1984; Ruiz et al.,
2000). The horizontal spacing between the adjacent imbricate ramps is 6 to 8 km. The
upper decollement of each thrust is rotated to the same dip as its ramp by the next
underlying thrust slice to the northwest. The overall structure may be a duplex with the
roof thrust (upper decollement) paralleling the floor thrust (lower decollement) or it may
simply be imbricate thrusts beneath a Quaternary angular unconformity. Either way, net
shortening in the Sinu accretionary wedge is at least 50 km or 40%, and the deformation
is Quaternary in age. Ruiz et al. (2000) estimated about 60-65 km of Miocene to Present
shortening in the Sinu accretionary system.
 X Congreso Colombiano de Geología, Bogota, 2005 7

Most of the seismic reflection profiles, especially those across the continental margin,
show one or more unconformities. The most prominent and extensive unconformity lies
between the Miocene and Pliocene strata. The age of the unconformity is estimated from
San Bernardo-2X well. This unconformity is well identified on seismic line L-156 and
on offshore seismic lines just south of the regional cross section (Lehner et al., 1983).
On these seismic lines it separates the structurally undeformed strata from the underlying
pre-Pliocene strata. On seismic section CT1-27 northwestward of the shelf break, the
combination of growth faults and the marked deformation of the whole sedimentary
sequence make the unconformity difficult to follow.

An older unconformity is evident in profile 82-09 and from the surface geology
separating Eocene and Oligocene strata. Duque-Caro (1979) considered this
unconformity as related to the main orogenic event (the pre-Andean Orogeny) that
faulted and folded the San Jacinto belt. Duque-Caro (1979) estimated a vertical uplift of
about 5000 m, based on calcium carbonate compensation depth calculations. This uplift
may have caused the emergence of areas leading to subaerial erosion.

Another regional unconformity is encountered east of the RFZ. It starts from the
Romeral where it crops out and extends eastward into the platform and separates the
lower Miocene from the upper Miocene strata. This unconformity might be correlated
with a chronostratigraphic equivalent unconformity in the Pacific San Juan basin of West
Colombia.

STRUCTURAL AND TECTONIC EVOLUTION

Underthrusting or subduction of the Caribbean plate has continued beneath the
northwestern margin of South America since the late Cretaceous (?) (Duque-Caro 1979).
The structural style is similar to other accretionary prisms. Its Cenozoic sedimentary
history records the northwestward migration of the deformational front. The
predominant structures of the prism seems to be related to the process of in-sequence
frontal accretion, with minor subsequent out of sequence deformation mechanically
imposed to maintain the overall taper of the wedge (Platt, 1990).

The Sinu-San Jacinto wedge started to evolve in the early Cenozoic by the accretion of
Paleocene-Eocene age pelagic sediments and turbidites at the RFZ or paleo-trench (?)
(Duque-Caro, 1979). The 5 km of uplift required by carbonate compensation depth
estimates suggests that in the late Eocene-early Oligocene the top of the oceanic
basement rocks in the buttress or backstop was located 1 to 3 km deeper than its present
depth of 4 km, i.e. 5 to 7 km depth. Blind southeast-verging backthrusting at the top of
the buttress and southeastward underthrusting at the base of the buttress began at this
time. In the prism faults and folds verged to the northwest. This deformational event,
termed by workers in the study area the pre-Andean Orogeny, is indicated by an
unconformity between the Eocene and Oligocene strata. Duque-Caro (1979) assigned a
late Eocene age to this orogenic event. This age may correspond to the time of a major
change in Caribbean plate motion (~45 my) and an abrupt increase in Caribbean-South
American convergence (e.g. Pindell et al., 1982).
 X Congreso Colombiano de Geología, Bogota, 2005 8

The sedimentation east of the wedge, however, began in the Oligocene and continued
until at least the late middle Miocene when another deformational event took place as
indicated by an unconformity in the platform and near the RFZ. Thus, the slope on the
buttress in late Eocene time must have been very steep.

Duque-Caro (1979) suggested that following the pre-Andean Orogeny (late Eocene ?),
the trench migrated about northwest to the Sinu trench. Evidence for the existence of the
Sinu fault zone is equivocal, however. A maximum thickness of 8 km of pelagic and
turbiditic sediments comprise the stratigraphic column. Under the continental margin
complex compressive structures, including mud-diapir-cored ramp anticlines, that appear
to be growth features, can be seen in profile 84-156. These continental shelf structures
are cut by an unconformity that separates the Miocene and Pliocene strata (Lehner et al.,
1983). This unconformity may be related to the Andean Orogeny and the collision of the
Panama-Choco arc with northwestern South America (Trenkamp et al., 2002).

Beneath the continental slope, the youngest units are involved in imbricated thrust slices
or a duplex structure (line CT1-27). Deformation appears to be Quaternary to present-
day in age. These imbricate structures are typical of the structures found at the front of
accretionary prisms along active margins such as the Makran, the Barbados, and the
Nankai wedges (e.g., White and Louden, 1982; Moore et al., 1986).

The diapiric emplacement of mud domes and volcanoes, observed in places close to the
termination surfaces of the thrust sheets, might have been induced tectonically. The
diapirs are composed of very fluidized shales (Duque-Caro, 1979 and 1984); and may
have been sourced near the basal decollement. .

CONCLUSIONS
The seismic reflection pattern and the structural style outline three different structural
units:(a) a relatively undeformed platform east of the Romeral Fault Zone (RFZ), (b) a
highly deformed San Jacinto belt just west of the RFZ, and (c) the Sinu deformed belt
where the deformation is continuing at the wedge front. The Sinu-San Jacinto wedge
includes imbricated fault-bend fold structures deformed over southeast dipping ramps. A
blind southeast verging backthrust is proposed at the top of the rigid buttress to explain
the apparent lack of slip east of the RFZ. We attribute the northwest thrusting to a
regional compression oriented northwest-southeast associated with the convergence of
the Caribbean and the South American plates from the early Cenozoic to the present time.
Two main unconformities were identified: a late Eocene or early Oligocene unconformity
related to the pre-Andean Orogeny, and the late Miocene or early Pliocene unconformity
related to the Andean Orogeny when the Panama Arc collided with South America. The
gravity and magnetic fields are consistent with gently northwest-dipping oceanic
basement west of the RFZ. The Romeral fault zone is modeled as a steeply southeastward
dipping (~45°) fault. The observed taper of the Sinu-San Jacinto prism has been
compared to the geometry predicted for a critically tapered wedge of low cohesion
material pushed over a sloping frictional surface (Toto and Kellogg, 1992). Two tapers
were computed: 2° from the RFZ west to the shelf break and 4° for the continental slope.
The model predicts high, nearly lithostatic pore pressures in the wedge. Several types of
 X Congreso Colombiano de Geología, Bogota, 2005 9

duplexes and imbricate thrust systems may form important hydrocarbon traps in fold and
thrust belts because of the multiple stacking of reservoir units and enhanced fracturing
from increased curvature in the overlapping thrust sheets.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We thank Empresa Colombiana de Petroleos (Ecopetrol) for providing reflection profiles
and aeromagnetic data. This research was supported by the Petroleum Research Fund of
the American Chemical Society (Grant 21740-G2).

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