This PDF is from AAPG Memoir 117, which can be purchased at

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2
McClay, Ken, Andres Mora Bohorquez, Javier Tamara, James Hammerstein,
­Gonzalo Zamora, and Hodei Uzkeda, 2018, Sub-Andean thick and thin-skinned
thrust systems of southeastern Peru and Bolivia—A review, in G. Zamora,
K. R. McClay, and V. A. Ramos, eds., Petroleum basins and hydrocarbon
­potential of the Andes of Peru and Bolivia: AAPG Memoir 117, p. 35–62.

Sub-Andean Thick and Thin-Skinned

Thrust Systems of Southeastern Peru and
Bolivia—A Review
Ken McClay, Javier Tamara, and James Hammerstein
Fault Dynamics Research Group, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX UK
(emails: k.mcclay@es.rhul.ac.uk; Javier.TamaraGuevara.2013@live.rhul.ac.uk; j.a.hammerstein@rhul.ac.uk).

Andres Mora
Exploration Directorate, Ecopetrol SA, Carrera 7 No. 32 – 42 7th floor, Torre Norte Ed. San Martin Bogotá –
Colombia Cra 7 # 32-42 7th floor Bogotá-Colombia (email: andres.mora@ecopetrol.com.co).

Gonzalo Zamora
Repsol Exploration, C/ Méndez Álvaro, 44, 28045 Madrid, Spain (email: gzamorav@repsol.com).

Hodei Uzkeda
Departmento de Geologia, Universidad de Oviedo, c/. Jseus Arias de Velasco s/n. 33005, Oviedo, Asturias,
Espana (e-mail: hodel@geol.uniovi.es).

ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the role of basement fabrics and inverted extensional faults that
strongly affect the frontal zones of the fold-and-thrust faults of sub-Andean basins in Peru
and Bolivia. This review examines the relationships of hinterland deformation in the base-
ment with the Present Day topography from the Andean plateau to the sub-Andean foreland
basin. Preexisting, steep basement–involved extensional faults that were inverted in the last
phase of Andean deformation 1∼10 Ma to the Present Day2 produced basement-cored uplifts
that transferred thick-skinned shortening eastward onto the thin-skinned thrust fault and
fold systems detached above the basement. Regional cross sections are reviewed and revised
in the light of analysis of seismic data as well as mechanically feasible models of the hinter-
land to foreland transfer of displacement. Steep inverted faults with dominantly high vertical
uplift in the hinterland exhume the older stratal packages together with crystalline basement,
and these units provide the source for the largely Neogene to Holocene syn-tectonic foreland
basins in front of the advancing thrust wedge of the sub-Andean system in Peru and Bolivia.

Copyright ©2018 by The American Association of Petroleum Geologists.

DOI:10.1306/13622116M11750

35

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 36 McClay et al.
INTRODUCTION
The retro-arc foreland basins and frontal fold-and-
thrust belts of the sub-Andean system host signifi-
cant petroleum resources (e.g., Tankard et al., 1995;
McGroder et al., 2015). The frontal fold-and-thrust
belts were mainly formed during the last phase of
the Andean deformation from ∼10 Ma to the Pres-
ent Day (Ramos, 2009, 2010; Horton, 2018a). Recent
publications (Folguera et al., 2016) and benchmark
reviews particularly by Ramos (1999, 2009, 2010) and
Horton (2018a, b) have established the fundamental
frameworks for the stratigraphy, timings, and struc-
tural styles for the Andes and particularly for the sub-­
Andean basins in the central and southern Andes.
Strata in the sub-Andean basins of Peru and ­Bolivia
range in age from the Early Paleozoic through Meso-
zoic and Cenozoic and lie above a metamorphic and
igneous basement (Ramos, 2009). The Andean cor-
dillera underwent extensional deformation in the
Late Proterozoic–Early Cambrian, extension in the
Late Ordovician–Silurian, and a well-documented
phase of Triassic rifting (Ramos et al., 2004; Perez
et al., 2016; Horton, 2018a). The Andean contractional
deformation initiated in the Late Cretaceous with the
west-northwest subduction of the Nazca Plate beneath
western South America (e.g., Ramos, 1999, 2009, 2010;
Ramos et al., 2002, 2004 Horton, 2018a, b). From the
Late Cretaceous to the Present Day, deformation mi-
grated eastward as the central Andes uplifted and
widened. The last phase of Andean deformation from
the late Miocene 1∼10 Ma to the Present Day2 was fo-
cused on the frontal fold-and-thrust belts that border
the sub-Andean foreland basins (Sempere, 1995; Mora
et al., 2006, 2014; Ramos, 2009, 2010; Espurt et al., 2011;
Horton, 2018a). In Peru this stage was associated with
the development of the 1500 km (930-mi)-long zone of
flat-slab subduction of the Nazca Plate and Inca Pla-
teau underneath western Peru at ∼10 Ma (Gutscher
et al., 1999, 2000; Ramos, 2009, 2010; Ramos and Fol-
guera, 2009).
Thick-Skinned Thrusting in Fold-and-Thrust
Belts
Many studies of the sub-Andean frontal fold-and-
thrust belts in Peru and Bolivia have interpreted dom-
inantly thin-skinned thrusting involving kink-band
fault-bend fold styles without significant basement
influence (cf. cross-sections in Baby et al., 1992, 1995;
Gil Rodriguez et al., 2001; Hermoza et al., 2005; Espurt
et al., 2008, 2011; Gautheron et al., 2013; McGroder
et al., 2015). In particular, in Southeastern Peru and in
Bolivia, these cross sections show imbricated Lower
13972_ch02_ptg01_035-062.indd 36
Paleozoic units in thick 110 km 36.2 mi4 or greater2
antiformal stacks at the western edge of the thin-
skinned sections of the frontal thrust wedge. Basement
uplift on inverted steep extensional faults, however,
has been well documentedin many of the ­sub-Andean
fold-and-thrust belts particularly in the Eastern Cordil-
lera of Colombia (Mora et al., 2006, 2014), in the Sier-
ras Pampeanas in northwest ­Argentina (Zapata and
Almendinger, 1996; Ramos, 2009), in the frontal sectors
of the Neuquén Basin in western Argentina (Manceda
and Figueroa, 1995; Zamora et al., 2006; Giambiagi et
al., 2009; Zamora and Zapata, 2015; Branellec et al.,
2016; Fuentes et al., 2016), and in the Patagonian Andes
(Orts et al., 2012; Folguera et al., 2016).
Transfer of displacement from basement uplift
on steep inverted faults (e.g., thick-skinned thrust
deformation) onto thin-skinned thrust systems de-
tached above the basement in the foreland is both
geometrically and mechanically limited by the orien-
tation and dip of the inverted basement fault as well
as by the frictional constraints and pore-fluid pres-
sures at the time of reactivation (Sibson, 1985, 1995).
During dip-slip reactivation of steep basement faults
1dips of 45965°2 most of the deformation is vertical
uplift, and there is limited horizontal shortening of
only a few kilometers transferred onto a thin-skinned
fold-and-thrust system in front of the uplifted base-
ment block. Basement-controlled, uplifts have been
described in many sub-Andean basins (e.g. examples
from the Sierras Pampeanas and Neuquén Basin,
Argentina [Giambiagi et al., 2009; Ramos, 2009; Zamora
and Zapata, 2015; Fuentes et al., 2016]. Basement-cored
uplifts commonly produce frontal triangle zones and
wedge thrust systems in the transition from thick- to
thin-skinned thrust styles (e.g., Mount et al., 2011) as
well as irregular topographic profiles characterized by
plateau-like uplifts with low-angle dipping hanging-
walls as compared to thin-skinned thrust belts where
the hanging-walls dip at high angles parallel or
sub-parallel to the underlying thrusts (Figure 1).
In thin-skinned fold-and-thrust belts where there
is little basement influence (e.g., the Canadian Rocky
Mountains and the external parts of the Appalachians –
Valley and Ridge Province) and particularly, where there
is a very weak basal detachment unit such as salt and
overpressured shales, the frontal sectors are character-
ized by critically tapered Coulomb wedges (cf. Davis et
al., 1983; Dahlen, 1990) where there is a gently dipping
basal detachment and a topographic slope toward the
foreland (Figure 1). Critically tapered Coulomb wedges
have been described from the frontal fold-and-thrust
belts of many orogens and also in submarine fold-and-
thrust belts (Morley et al., 2017; King and Morley, 2017).
Digital elevation models (DEMs) were constructed
using public-domain (Figure 2) elevation data Aster
11/13/18 4:45 PM
 Sub-Andean Thick and Thin-Skinned Thrust Systems of Southeastern Peru and Bolivia—A Review  37

Figure 1. a. Conceptual diagram of a wide thin-skinned thrust wedge showing imbricate thrust faults forming a critically ta-
pered Coulomb wedge detached above basement. b. Thick-skinned wedge thrust systems with reactivated basement faults
forming plateau uplifts with a narrow frontal thrust belt and isolated foreland uplifts.

data and imaged in ARC-GIS. Characteristic profiles
(Figure 3) were analyzed and mean slopes calculated
for the frontal sectors of the sub-Andean thrust belts in
southern Peru and Bolivia. In this chapter the digital
elevation data over the sub-Andean fold-and-thrust
belts were used to characterize the structural styles
and in particular the role of inverted basement faults
in their formation. The results from the analyses of el-
evation data are compared to published cross sections
across the Peruvian and Bolivian frontal fold-and-
thrust belts (locations shown in Figure 3).
TECTONIC SETTING OF THE PERUVIAN AND BOLIVIAN
SUB-ANDEAN FOLD BELTS
Figure 2a shows the broad tectonic framework
for the Peruvian and Bolivian Andes. Much of
the Peruvian sub-Andes lies above the Peruvian
flat-slab segment of the subducted Nazca Plate and
the Inca Plateau (e.g., Gutscher et al., 2000; Ramos,
2009) to the north of the overridden Nazca Ridge
whereas the southern part of the Peruvian sub-Andes
as well as the Madre del Dios, Beni, and Bolivia
sub-Andean fold belts occur above a Present Day
normal-slab segment with the Central Volcanic Zone
and the high Andean plateau to the west (Figure 2a).
Ramos (2009) and Ramos and Folguera (2009) pos-
tulated that older flat-slab systems occurred in the
past and particularly that an Altiplano flat-slab
segment occurred from 40 to 32 Ma unit 27218 Ma
and the Puna flat-slab segment occurred from
∼ 40 until ∼12 Ma (Figure 2b).
Gutscher et al. (1999, 2000), Ramos (2009), and
Ramos and Folguera (2009) amongst others pro-
posed that periods of flat-slab subduction were
characterized by strong coupling between the over-
riding continental plate and the subducting oceanic

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 38 McClay et al.

a) Figure 2. Regional digital elevation mod-

els of the Andean Cordillera: a. Present
Day South American plate tectonic setting
showing the dominant tectonic elements
of the Andean Cordillera, the current flat-
slab subduction regions from the Pam-
pean slab in the south, the 1500 km
(932 mi) Peruvian flat slab segment in the
central Andes and the Bucamaranga flat-
slab in the northern Andes (modified from
Ramos, 2009). b. Past and Present Day
flat-slab subduction in the Andes (modi-
fied from Ramos, 2009). c. Triassic rift ba-
sins of the Andes and the Andean foreland
(modified from Ramos, 2009).

b)

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 Sub-Andean Thick and Thin-Skinned Thrust Systems of Southeastern Peru and Bolivia—A Review  39
c)
plate such that high contractional stresses were de-
veloped in the continental lithosphere leading to
reactivation of basement fabrics and significant in-
version in the frontal fold-and-thrust belts as well as
uplifted plateaus including the Puna–Altiplano Pla-
teau of the central Andes (cf. recent review by Hor-
ton, 2018a). Ramos (2009) and Ramos and Folguera
(2009) in particular pointed out that much of the
Paleocene and Neogene sub-Andean foreland fold-
and-thrust belts extending from Patagonia to Peru
were developed on top of and strongly influenced
by inversion of the underlying Triassic rift systems
(Figure 2c).
Figure 4 summarizes the chronostratigraphy of
the sub-Andean system in southeastern Peru show-
ing the main pre-Andean tectonic events, multiple
detachment levels, as well as principal sources and
reservoir units. Figure 5 summarizes the main stra-
tigraphy of the south Bolivian fold-and-thrust belt.
Both diagrams show similar stratigraphy from the
crystalline pre-Ordovician basement to the Late
Ordovician- Silurian rift and postrift to the Missis-
sippian Ambo/Itacua Formations and in particu-
lar the Triassic rifting. Of particular importance is
Late Cretaceous unconformity (Figures 4, 5) that
13972_ch02_ptg01_035-062.indd 39
Figure 2.  (Continued)
signals the initiation of the Andean foreland, ero-
sion, and the onset of the Andean contractional
deformation (e.g., Ramos, 2009; Horton, 2018a).
Contractional deformation and uplift of the An-
des moved progressively eastward as the result
of variable coupling of the South American plate
with the subducted Nazca Plate beneath it (Ramos,
2009; Horton, 2018a, b). In southeastern Peru the
main sub-Andean contraction and inversion de-
formation was the result of the development of a
flat-slab regime with the subduction of the Inca
Plateau beneath Peru from ∼12 Ma to the Present
Day (Figure 2a; Gutscher et al., 1999, 2000; Ramos,
2009, 2010; Ramos and Folguera, 2009). Detailed
thermochronology has revealed that development
of the frontal thrust belts in both southeastern Peru
and Bolivia has mainly occurred over the last 6 Ma
(Espurt et al., 2008, 2011; Uba et al., 2009; Gautheron
et al., 2013; Eude et al., 2015) with a complex de-
velopment of foreward-breaking thrusts as well as
“out of sequence” movement.
In this chapter the topographies of the frontal thrust
wedges and regional cross sections are reviewed and
analyzed in term of both thick- and thin-skinned
thrusting and folding.
11/13/18 4:46 PM
 40 McClay et al.
TOPOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FRONTAL
FOLD-AND-THRUST BELTS OF PERU AND BOLIVIA
High-resolution DEM (Figures 6, 7) were constructed
for both the Peruvian and Bolivian sub-­Andean sys-
tems. This analysis is focused from the high and
relatively flat Andean plateau in the center of the
cordillera (pink, red, and dark purple colors on the
DEMs) to the eastern flanks of the plateau and to
the frontal fold-and-thrust belts that deform the fore-
land basins along the eastern flank of the Andean Oro-
gen. Slope profiles were analyzed and average angles
were calculated for the different slope segments. In
general, the profiles were separated into three main
elements—the high Andean plateau, the eastern flank
that slopes steeply toward- the foreland basin, and the
13972_ch02_ptg01_035-062.indd 40
Figure 3. DEM of the central
Andes and sub-Andean fold-
and-thrust belts showing the
location of key cross sec-
tions of Figure 8 as well as
­Figures 9, 10 discussed in this
chapter.
frontal fold-and-thrust belt that slopes gently towards
the undeformed sector of the foreland basin. There are
many short wavelength variations in the topography
caused by strong subaerial erosion, particularly where
basement uplifts produce exhumed basement units at
the edges of the Andean plateau and on the eastern
flanks of the plateau (Figures 6a, 7a).
Southern Peru and Northern Bolivia
Figure 6a shows an oblique view of the Andean cordil-
lera of southern Peru and northern Bolivia encompass-
ing the southern part of the Ucayali Basin and the Madre
del Dios Basin. The Andean plateau varies in elevation
between ∼3.5 and greater than 5 km 1∼2.2 to 7 3 mi2
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 Sub-Andean Thick and Thin-Skinned Thrust Systems of Southeastern Peru and Bolivia—A Review  41

Figure 4. Summary tectono-stratigraphic section of the southeastern Peruvian sub-Andean fold-and-thrust belt and foreland
from the Late Ordovician to the Present Day (modified from Baby et al., 2018).

above sea level. The eastern flanks of the Andean pla-
teau slope steeply 1∼395°2 toward the foreland basin
(Figure 6b). On the eastern slopes the DEM image and
the slope profiles show peaks of high elevation above
the mean, and these may indicate the positions of
basement-involved fault systems. Profiles 6.1 and 6.2
across the Oxapampa and Ene basins show the gently
dipping western flank of the Shira mountains and a
steep eastern flank characteristic of uplift on a steep
basement fault system (Figure 6b).
The steep and highly eroded terrain on the fron-
tal slopes of the Armihuari Complex in profile 6.3
in Figure 6 most likely reflects basement-involved
thrusts at depth that were uplifted as a result of the
subduction of the Nazca Ridge beneath this sec-
tion of the Andean cordillera. The frontal fold-and-
thrust belts have almost no topographic slope and
are strongly eroded with the isolated highs most to
be erosional remnants of Mesozoic strata in emer-
gent thrust-related folds. In northern Bolivia the
frontal thrust belts have topographic slopes of ∼1°
(Figure 6b) with local highs that may also indicate
basement involvement.
Bolivian fold-and-thrust belt
Topographic images and profiles of the southern
Bolivian fold-and-thrust belt (Figure 7) show the high
Andean plateau (mean elevations between 3.5 and
3.7 km [2.2 and 2.3 mi] above sea level) to the west
with the eastern flanks of the plateau sloping on
average between 1 and 2° toward the frontal fore-
land fold-and-thrust belt that has a very low slope

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 42 McClay et al.

Figure 5. Summary stratigraphic column of the Bolivian fold-and-thrust belt from the Precambrian crystalline basement to the
Present Day (modified from Moretti et al., 2002).

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 Sub-Andean Thick and Thin-Skinned Thrust Systems of Southeastern Peru and Bolivia—A Review  43

a)

b)

Figure 6. a. 3-D oblique view of a DEM of southeastern Peru showing the location and 3-D view of the topographic profiles
across the Andean cordillera from the Ucayali Basin to the Madre del Dios Basin. b. Digital summary of topographic profiles
across the Andean cordillera in southeastern Peru with a focus on the eastern slopes and the frontal fold-and-thrust belt.
Mean slopes were calculated for distinctive segments of the topographic profiles. Note the high elevation Andean plateau
1∼ 495 km 3∼ 2 to ∼ 3 mi42 to the southwest and abrupt slopes of the Eastern Cordillera to the low-relief forelands of the Ucayali
and Madre de Dios Basins.

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 44 McClay et al.

c)

Figure 7. a. DEM image of the Bolivian fold-and-thrust belt showing the frontal thin-skinned system with long, slightly curved
folds with the hinterland of the Andean plateau exhibiting significantly higher and irregular topography. b. 3-D oblique view of
a DEM of Bolivia Cordillera and four topographic profiles across the frontal fold-and-thrust belt. c. Digital topographic profiles
across the Bolivian fold-and-thrust belt. Note the high elevations of the Andean plateau to the west, the steep eastern flank
with moderate to high slopes, and the frontal fold-and-thrust belt with a low topographic slope from 0.3 to 0.4°.

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 Sub-Andean Thick and Thin-Skinned Thrust Systems of Southeastern Peru and Bolivia—A Review  45
of ∼0.390.4° to the east (Figure 7c). The eastern flank
(browns and yellows in the DEMs, Figures 7a, b)
shows segmented and short wavelength highs indic-
ative of marginal basins controlled by basement
uplifts transitional to the development of broken
forelands such as Sierras Pampeanas to the south
(e.g., Ramos, 2009; Strecker et al., 2009). The fron-
tal low-angle topographic slopes of the Bolivian
fold belt indicate a low-taper Coulomb wedge sys-
tem detached above a gently west-dipping base-
ment as indicated in cross sections by Gil Rodriguez
et al. (2001), Baby et al. (1995), Eude et al. (2015), and
papers in this volume (Baby et al., 2018; Louterbach
et al., 2018; Rocha and Cristallini, 2018).
STRUCTURAL STYLES OF THE FRONTAL FOLD-
AND-THRUST BELTS IN PERU AND BOLIVIA
Cross sections showing the sub-Andean frontal fold-
and-thrust belts of Peru commonly show a thin-
skinned frontal fold-and-thrust belt with a complexly
deformed hinterland with repeated units of Paleozoic
strata and basement uplifts (e.g., Espurt etal., 2011).
Interpretations that contain repeated panels of Paleo-
zoic strata, particularly in buried, that is, “blind”
duplexes, dramatically increase the amount of shorten-
ing in the cross sections leading to along-strike dispari-
ties in the amounts of shortening and displacements in
some sub-Andean fold-and-thrust belts. These geom-
etries also raise the question of the mechanical feasi-
bility of forming thick, stacked duplexes in antiformal
stacks more than 10 km (6.2 mi) high, without very
significant syn-kinematic erosion needed to reduce the
vertical load on the active basal detachment. The pres-
ence of significant inverted Triassic and older exten-
sional faults has been documented particularly in the
Ucayali Basin and in the uplift of the Shira mountains
to the west, and this indicates a strong basement influ-
ence in parts of the Peruvian sub-Andean frontal fold-
and-thrust belts. Torres (2012) and Torres and McClay
(2014) proposed that the hinterland of the Camisea
fold-and-thrust belt is best modeled with inverted hin-
terland basement fault systems with significant uplift
and limited horizontal shortening transferred onto the
frontal thin-skinned fold-and-thrust belt (McClay et
al., 2018, this volume). This model of basement inver-
sion and uplifted basement fault blocks has also been
applied in this chapter to other sub-Andean cross sec-
tions where basement uplifts have been documented,
particularly in the hinterlands behind the frontal thin-
skinned thrust and fold belts.
The following section reviews regional cross sec-
tions across the Peruvian and Bolivian sub-Andean
13972_ch02_ptg01_035-062.indd 45
fold-and-thrust belts. Most cross sections have been
modified to include more basement-involved uplifts
(i.e., inversion) that were illustrated in the original
publications. Most cross sections are long regional
lines and are shown at two times vertical exaggeration
to see details of the fault systems.
Santiago Basin, Northern Peru
Figure 8a, b show two cross sections across the Santiago
Basin in northern Peru (located in Figure 3). The cross
section in Figure 8a shows uplifted (inverted?) base-
ment fault blocks with a thin-skinned fault-fold system
detached on evaporates above the basement (modified
after Witte et al., 2018, this volume). This interpretation
is very similar to the northern Peru cross section pub-
lished by Gil Rodriguez et al. (2001). The shortening
values are low 7–8 km 1495 mi2 in the sections in Witte
et al., (2018, this volume) and ∼15.15 km 1∼9.41 mi2 in
the section published by Gil Rodriguez et al. (2001).
Huallaga Basin, Northern Central Peru
The dominant fault styles are those of basement-inv-
ereted extensional faults detached above a deep brit-
tle-plastic transition zone. Previous cross sections
across the Huallaga Basin published by Hermoza et
al. (2005) have invoked a very long ramp-flat scenario
for the Chazuta thrust with around 35 km (22 mi)
of shortening and a total shortening of more than
80 km (50 mi). Eude et al. (2015) published a section
­(Figure 8b-1) with prominent back-thrusting as well
as the long flat of the Chazuta thrust giving as much
as 145 km (90 mi) of shortening. Such large shorten-
ings are not consistent with the sections to the north
across the Santiago Basin where maximum shortening
is between 7 and 15 km (4 and 9 mi; Gil Rodriguez et
al., 2001; Witte et al., 2018, this volume). An alternative
interpretation by Estevez Plata (2015) invokes two salt
detachment horizons and no large repetition on the
Chazuta thrust. This interpretation is based on well
data and reprocessed seismic data and is much more
in accordance with dominant basement inversion and
limited shortening.
Shira Mountains, Ucayali Basin, South-Central Peru
The dominant structural style in Figure 8c is that of a
major asymmetric basement fold and uplift with local­­
ized footwall shortcut faults into the nearby Ucayali
Basin. The back-limb dips gently to the east. This struc-
tural style is reflected in the topographic profiles (6-1
11/13/18 4:47 PM
 46 McClay et al.

a)

b)

Figure 8. Summary structural sections across the Peruvian and Bolivian sub-Andean frontal fold-and-thrust belts. Note most
sections have vertical exaggeration of 2:1 to illustrate the fault styles at depth. Locations of all sections are shown in Figure 3.
a. Cross section across the Santiago Basin, northern Peru, showing basement fault blocks and inversion with a thin-skinned
fault-fold system detached on evaporates above the basement (modified after Witte et al. [2018, this volume]). b. Cross
sections across the Huallaga Basin in north-central Peru. The fault styles are those of basement-inverted extensional faults
detached above a deep brittle-plastic transition zone (modified from unpublished sections, Ecopetrol staff, 2017, personal
communication) c. Cross section across the Shira mountains, south-central Peru. The dominant structural style is that of a
major basement fold and uplift with localized shortcut faults into the nearby Ucayali Basin. Note the gently dipping back limb
and very steep front limb (modified from unpublished sections, Ecopetrol staff, 2017, personal communication); d. Simplified
summary cross section across the northern part of the Madre de Dios basin in southeastern Peru. A major basement uplift
cored by Permo-Triassic granites and basement forms a steep frontal limb to the uplift with an almost isoclinal detachment
fold developed in front (modified from unpublished sections, Ecopetrol staff, 2017, personal communication). e. Summary
cross section across the southern part of the Madre de Dios basin in northern Bolivia and southeastern Peru. Basement uplifts
are linked to complex imbricates in the supra-basement strata (basement fault interpretation modified from Baby et al., 2018,
this volume). f. Summary cross section across the north sector of the Bolivian fold-and-thrust belt showing gentle inversion
of basement blocks that clearly control the thin-skinned detachment structures above (basement fault interpretation slightly
modified from Louterbach et al., 2018, this volume). g. Summary cross section across the southern sector of the Bolivian fold-
and-thrust belt showing largely thin-skinned detachment and fault-related folds above the basement (modified from Rocha
and Cristallini, 2018, this volume).

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 Sub-Andean Thick and Thin-Skinned Thrust Systems of Southeastern Peru and Bolivia—A Review  47

c)

d)

e)

Figure 8.  (Continued)

13972_ch02_ptg01_035-062.indd 47 11/13/18 4:48 PM

 48 McClay et al.
f)
g)
Figure 8.  (Continued)
and 6-2 in Figure 6b) and is characteristic of inversion
on steep basement faults. Shortening across this section
is only 495 km 12.593 mi2.
Madre de Dios Basin—Southern Peru and Northern Bolivia
Simplified summary cross section across the northern part
of the Madre de Dios Basin in southeastern Peru is shown
in Figure 8d. A major basement uplift on a steep base-
ment inversion fault is cored by Permo-­Triassic granites
and basement. This forms a steep frontal limb with a very
tight detachment fold developed in front with only minor
inverted faults in the foreland basin to the east. This forms
a broad triangle zone with buttressing against the base-
ment fault systems in front of the major uplift. Shortening
is in the range of several tens of kilometers dependent on
the elevation of the frontal detachment fold.
Figure 8e is a summary cross section across the south-
ern part of the Madre de Dios Basin in northern Bolivia
and southeastern Peru modified from Baby et al. (2018,
this volume). East-vergent basement uplifts are linked
13972_ch02_ptg01_035-062.indd 48
to complex imbricates in the supra-­basement strata
with the thin-skinned thrust systems characterized by
duplexes above the basement and wedge terminations
in the Cenozoic strata in the foreland basin. Baby et al.
(2018, this volume) propose around 47 km (29 mi) of
shortening for their cross section.
Bolivian fold-and-thrust belt
Figure 8f is a cross section across the north sector of the
Bolivian fold-and-thrust belt (Louterbach et al., 2018,
this volume) showing gentle inversion of basement
blocks that clearly control the thin-skinned detachment
structures above, more complex but similar in style to
the Camisea structures shown in Figure 9 and discussed
in McClay et al. (2018, this volume). Slight inversion of
the individual basement blocks partitioned the cover
deformation into different thin-skinned zones.
Figure 8g is an unmodified cross section from Ro-
cha and Cristallini (2018, this volume) across the south-
ern sector of the Bolivian fold-and-thrust belt showing
11/13/18 4:49 PM
 Sub-Andean Thick and Thin-Skinned Thrust Systems of Southeastern Peru and Bolivia—A Review  49

Figure 9. Detailed section through the thin-skinned thrust belt of the Camisea fields, southeast Peru Line 84-UB-40. a. Seismic
image showing the kink-band-style thrust-related folds and frontal triangle zone. b. Interpretation of the seismic section in
part a of this Figure, showing the Late Ordovician–Silurian extensional faulting below the thin-skinned thrust belt together with
local inversion that controlled the geometry of the basal detachment and thrust-ramp locations.

characteristally thin-skinned fold-and-thrust belt de-
tached above a basement dipping between 1.5 and 3°
to the west above the basement. Rocha and Cristallini
(2018, this volume) analyze this section in terms of a
classic Coulomb wedge model that formed as a series of
imbricate fans in the last 6 Ma. Basement influence is not
apparent in this part of the Bolivian fold-and-thrust belt.
Discussion
The summary cross sections across the sub-Andean
fold-and-thrust belts of Peru and Bolivia shown in
Figure 8 display thick-skinned basement uplifts in the
hinterland that transfer displacement to frontal thin-
skinned frontal fold-and-thrust belts that commonly
terminate in triangle zones as they wedge into the
foreland basins.
Detachments and Thin-Skinned Deformation
In sections that display distinct frontal wedges with
thin-skinned geometries in southern Peru and in
Bolivia, multiple detachments are developed usu-
ally with the basal detachment above the basement
either in the Late Ordovician–Silurian sequences or
in the Carboniferous shales of the Ambo Formation

13972_ch02_ptg01_035-062.indd 49 11/13/18 4:49 PM

 50 McClay et al.
(Figure 8e-g). In some sections thick Devonian
shale units become higher level detachments above
the Ordovician-Silurian detachment, particularly
in the Bolivian fold belt (Figure 8g; e.g., Baby
et al., 1992, 1995; Rocha and Cristallini, 2018, this
volume).
Figure 9 shows the detailed seismic image as well
as an interpretation of a narrow thin-skinned frontal
fold-and-thrust system from the Camisea sub-basin in
southeast Peru (McClay et al., 2018, this volume). This
system is detached on a basal decollement within the
Late Ordovician–Silurian strata as well as higher level
detachments in the Mississippian Ambo shales. The
uppermost detachment occurs in the Neogene syn-­
kinematic strata where the individual thrusts terminate
within the syn-kinematic late Miocene to Pleistocene
strata forming back-thrust triangle zones (Figure 9).
The narrow (a few kilometers to a few tens of kilo-
meters in width) thin-skinned frontal fold-and-thrust
belts in southern Peru and northern Bolivia are driven
by hinterland basement uplifts (Figure 8cf) with only
few kilometers of total shortening from as little as
∼4 km (Figure 8c) to ∼30 km 1∼19 mi2 of total shorten-
ing for the Camisea sections (McClay et al., 2018, this
­volume)—far less horizontal contraction compared to
the many tens to hundreds of kilometers of shorten-
ing in totally thin-skinned fold-and-thrust belts such
as those in Bolivian fold-and-thrust belt (Baby et al.,
1992, 1995, 2018 [this volume]), or in the Canadian
Cordillera (e.g., Price, 1981). In subaerial terranes such
as the ­Andes, the fold-and-thrust belts are subjected
to significant uplift and erosion with the products de-
posited in rivers and fans that drain into the foreland
basin. Greater than normal uplift and exhumation was
created where the Nazca Ridge was overridden by the
South American plate forming the Fitzcarald Arch in
the foreland basin (Bishop et al., 2017).
Figure 10. Detailed geoseismic section across the Ucayali Basin showing well-developed inversion and reactivated extensional
fault from the hydrocarbon traps for the Agua Caliente and Tamaya fields.
13972_ch02_ptg01_035-062.indd 50
Inversion and Thick-Skinned Deformation
Basement structural controls have been invoked in
many orogenic belts (see review by Lacombe and
Bellahsen, 2016), from the Alps (Pfiffner, 2016) to the
Pyrenees (Muñoz, 2002), the Apennines (Butler et al.,
2004), Papua New Guinea (Hill et al., 2004), and in the
Sierras Pampeanas (Ramos, 2009).
Outcropping uplifted basement blocks and limited
thin-skinned supra-basement fold-and-thrust belts
have been particularly well documented on the west-
ern flanks of the Neuquén and Cuyo Basins in western
Argentina (e.g., Zamora et al., 2006; Giambiagi et al.,
2009; Zamora and Zapata, 2015; Fuentes et al., 2016)
where the horizontal shortening in the frontal fold-
and-thrust belt is only a few kilometers to generally
less than 20 km (12 mi).
Basement uplifts are well documented in the Ucay-
ali Basin (Figure 10) and in northern Peru. Regional
sections (Figure 8a–d) are likely to have been con-
trolled by significant Triassic rifting documented in
these areas (Ramos, 2009; Ramos and Folguera, 2009)
as well as Late Ordovician–Silurian rift fault systems
that have locally affected the deposition of the postrift
Late Mississippian Ambo and Pennsylvanian Tarma
Formations (Figure 4; Boekhout et al., 2018). The pres-
ence and reactivation of these extensional faults clearly
have influenced the geometries of the frontal fold-and-
thrust structures (cf. McClay et al., 2018, this volume)
as well as controlling the major basement inversions in
the Ucayali (Figure 10) as well as in the Huallaga and
Santiago Basins of northern Peru (Figure 8a, b).
In particular the section across the Shira mountains
in southeast Peru shows a classic inversion geome-
try with a long, gently sloping back-limb and a steep
frontal basement fold and minor deformation in the
Ucayali foreland basin (Figure 8c). The involvement
11/13/18 4:49 PM
 Sub-Andean Thick and Thin-Skinned Thrust Systems of Southeastern Peru and Bolivia—A Review  51

of significant basement inversion and uplift in the Pe-
ruvian and Bolivian sub-Andean fold-and-thrust belts
has important implications for the construction and
restoration of cross sections as discussed in detail later.
Implications for Section Constructionand Restoration
Many current models for the southern Peruvian and
Bolivian Sub-Andean systems involve hinterland
duplexes and antiformal stacks of Paleozoic strata
behind or under the frontal thin-skinned system (Baby
et al., 1992, 1995; Gil Rodriguez et al. 2001; Hermoza
et al., 2005; Espurt et al., 2008, 2011; Gautheron et al.,
2013; Eude et al., 2015; McGroder et al., 2015; Hor-
ton, 2018a, b). Figure 11a shows the model published
by Espurt et al. (2011) where 53 km (33 mi) of short-
ening is accommodated in the duplex alone and an
additional ∼23 km 114 mi2 of shortening is taken up
by the thin-skinned deformation of the frontal thrust
and fold wedge. In contrast Figure 11b (after Torres,
2012; McClay et al., 2018, this volume) shows an alter-
nate interpretation that replaces the duplex–antifor-
mal stack complex of Figure 11a with a series of large,
inverted basement blocks similar to what is shown in
northern Peru–Santiago Basin sections in Figure 8a,
b and similar to inverted basement blocks in the
Neuquén and Cuyo Basins of western Argentina (e.g.,
Zamora et al., 2006; Zamora and Zapata, 2015). A kine-
matic restoration using Move™ and a mechanical res-
toration using Dynel™ (Figure 12a, b; Uzkeda, 2012)
give around 28 km (17.4 mi) of total shortening includ-
ing the first basement block. The mechanical resto-
ration also shows the sequences and amounts of fault
slip and hanging-wall incremental strains (Figure 12c).
A simplified forward Dynel model of an inverted half

Figure 11. Thin- and thick-skinned interpretations of the Camisea fold-and-thrust belt, southeastern Peru. a. Cross section from
Espurt et al. (2011) showing the imbricated Paleozoic strata forming a stacked duplex-antiformal stack at the transition from
the uplifted and exhumed basement in the hinterland to the thin-skinned thrust and fold wedge in the foreland. b. Alternative
thick-skinned interpretation without the Paleozoic duplex system (after Torres, 2012; Torres and McClay, 2014).

13972_ch02_ptg01_035-062.indd 51 11/13/18 4:50 PM

 52 McClay et al.

a)

Figure 12. a. Sequential restoration of the revised Camisea section in Figure 11b using Move. b. Dynel mechanical-based res-
toration of the revised Camisea section in Figure 11b showing the amounts of basement uplift as well as very much reduced
horizontal shortening. c. Mechanical restoration of the revised Camisea section in Figure 11b showing the fault activities, fault
slip values, and hanging-wall incremental strains at progressive stages of the restoration.

13972_ch02_ptg01_035-062.indd 52 11/13/18 4:50 PM

 Sub-Andean Thick and Thin-Skinned Thrust Systems of Southeastern Peru and Bolivia—A Review  53

b)

Figure 12.  (Continued)

13972_ch02_ptg01_035-062.indd 53 11/13/18 4:50 PM

 54 McClay et al.

c)

Figure 12.  (Continued)

13972_ch02_ptg01_035-062.indd 54 11/13/18 4:50 PM

 Sub-Andean Thick and Thin-Skinned Thrust Systems of Southeastern Peru and Bolivia—A Review  55
graben forming an inverted basement block and base-
ment wedge that transfers displacement into a frontal
thin-skinned duplex shows a progressive develop-
ment with fault activities and synchronous slip as
well as hanging-wall incremental strains ­(Figure 13;
Uzkeda, 2012).
The basement-involved inversion model with lower
shortening values is more consistent with along-strike
variations in displacements—for example, from the
Shira mountains and Ucayali foreland (Figures 8b, 10)
to the Camisea sub-basin (Figure 11b). In addition, the
formation of a totally subsurface 10–15 km (6–9 mi)
thick duplex-antiformal stack where the active fault is
at the base of the system is considered to be mechan-
ically unfeasible where the vertical loading on the ac-
tive basal fault system and the amount of work needed
to uplift 10–15 km (6–9 mi) of crustal section is taken
into account. In addition, there is very little subsurface
evidence for such antiformal stacks. Therefore, in this
chapter we have reinterpreted many of the sections
in Figure 8 to be driven by hinterland basement up-
lift more akin to the interpretations of Gil Rodriguez
et al. (2001) and Witte et al. (2018, this volume) across
the Santiago Basin in northern Peru as well as being
similar to the well-exposed sections in examples from
western Argentina (Zamora et al., 2006; Zamora and
Zapata, 2015; Fuentes et al., 2016).
Wedge Thrusts, Duplexes, and Triangle Zones
The internal geometries of the thick- and thin-skinned
thrust systems of the Peruvian and Bolivian sub-­
Andean systems are characterized by wedge thrusts
forming triangle zones both involving basement as
well as thin-skinned systems where thrust faults ter-
minate particularly within the syn-kinematic sedimen-
tary units (Figures 8, 9). Figures 14, 15 show simplified
conceptual models of thin-skinned and thick-skinned
triangle zones characteristic of the frontal fold-and-
thrust belts of the Peruvian and Bolivian sub-Andean
systems.
Figure 14a shows a simple thin-skinned type I tri-
angle zone formed by a major-thrust fault-bed fold
and a back-thrust fault-propagation fold above a
basement half-graben that is not inverted whereas
Figure 14b–d shows various possible forms of type II
triangle zones formed by thin-skinned thrust wedges
above the basement units. Type I thin-skinned back-
thrust triangle zones are shown in Figure 8a across
the Santiago Basin in northern Peru where an evap-
orite unit makes a major detachment above the base-
ment (Witte et al., 2018, this volume). Evaporite units
are also involved in the inversion sections shown in
13972_ch02_ptg01_035-062.indd 55
Figure 8b across the Huallaga Basin in Peru (Estevez,
2015). Complex type I triangle zones are also shown
in Figure 8f where significant back-thrusts are inter-
preted in the Silurian shales on the Bolivian fold-
and-thrust belt (Louterbach et al., 2018, this volume).
Wedge-thrust type II triangle zones (Figure 8c, d)
and characteristic of the thin-skinned frontal thrust
and fold systems where they terminate within the
syn-kinematic strata (Figure 8f, -g; Louterbach et al.,
2018, this volume; Rocha and Cristallini, 2018, this
volume). In particular the Camisea seismic section
(Figure 9) shows both thrust ramp wedge systems
as well as a prominent shear fault-bend fold wedge
similar to Figure 14d.
Figure 15 shows simplified geometric models
where a preexisting half graben extensional fault has
been inverted and linked to a thin-skinned frontal
detachment system. In all these conceptual models
the basement-inverted fault system forms a base-
ment wedge with an associated back-thrust in the
overlying sedimentary units and forms a type II tri-
angle zone similar to the basement wedge systems
in Figures 8, 9. Figure 15a is a conceptual model on
an uplifted basement wedge system and a frontal
thin-skinned fault-propagation fold type I triangle
zone. Figure 15b is an example of an inverted base-
ment fault and fold with a basement wedge triangle
zone as well as a thin-skinned wedge triangle zone
in front of the basement uplift. Figure 15c is a con-
ceptual model of an inverted half graben forming a
basement fault-bend fold triangle zone and a thin-
skinned wedge triangle zone in front of the basement
uplift similar to the structural styles in the Camisea
sub-basin (Figure 11b). Figure 15d is a modified ver-
sion of Figure 14a where a later basement inversion
fault has deformed a type i triangle zone (modified
after Zamora and Zapata, 2015).
The conceptual models shown in Figures 14, 15 only
show a small sample of possible and mechanically fea-
sible triangle zone geometries. Further detailed docu-
mentation and analysis are needed.
Timing, Uplift, and Exhumation
Along the Peruvian sub-Andean zone the most recent
studies (e.g., Espurt et al., 2011; Gautheron et al., 2013;
Eude et al., 2015) unambiguously suggest a late Mio-
cene cooling based on Apatite-Helium and Apatite
Fission Track ages and vitrinite reflectance data. Older
ages and vitrinite reflectance data suggest that older
(Paleogene) events are also possible (Eude et al., 2015),
but the data published so far have failed to clearly
document the age of these Paleogene cooling events.
11/13/18 4:50 PM
 56 McClay et al.

a)

Figure 13. a. Dynel forward model of an inverted basement fault with a basement thrust ramp and termination in a frontal
duplex. The sequence of faulting is shown with the active faults shown in red. b. Dynel forward model shown in part a of this
Figure with the fault sequences, fault activities, and slip distributions (colored dots along the active faults with size indicating the
amount of slip), as well as the hanging-wall incremental strains.

13972_ch02_ptg01_035-062.indd 56 11/13/18 4:50 PM

 Sub-Andean Thick and Thin-Skinned Thrust Systems of Southeastern Peru and Bolivia—A Review  57

b)

Figure 13.  (Continued)

13972_ch02_ptg01_035-062.indd 57 11/13/18 4:51 PM

 58 McClay et al.

Figure 14. Idealized conceptual models of thin-skinned triangle zones characteristic of the sub-Andean fold-and-thrust belts.
a. Simple thrust-ramp fault-bend fold and a frontal back-thrust forming a type I triangle zone. b. Type II triangle zone formed
by a simple-thrust fault-bend fold with a back-thrust together with a frontal back-thrust forming an upper triangle zone.
c. Thin-skinned simple intercutaneous wedge with a possible back-thrust and an upper back-thrust triangle zone. d. Simple
shear intercutaneous wedge terminating in an upper triangle zone;

Figure 15. Idealized conceptual models of thick-skinned triangle zones characteristic of sub-Andean fold-and-thrust belts.
a. Basement-involved structural wedge and a thin-skinned frontal triangle zone (modified after Mount et al., 2004). b. Base-
ment-involved fault-propagation fold and back-thrust with a thin-skinned frontal triangle zone (modified after Hagke and
Malz, 2018). c. Basement-involved fault-bend fold and frontal triangle zones. d. Thin-skinned frontal triangle zone (similar to
Figure 14a) with a thick-skinned basement inversion structure that has faulted and uplifted the triangle zone (simplified after
Zamora and Zapata, 2015).

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 Sub-Andean Thick and Thin-Skinned Thrust Systems of Southeastern Peru and Bolivia—A Review  59
Exhumed partial annealing zones or exhumed partial
retention zones and ages from rocks around them have
not been detected, neither has the degree of thermal
evolution of the samples been determined (e.g., Eude
et al., 2015). However, these authors suggest earlier
(Oligocene–Miocene) deformation events, supported
by the thermochronological ages. While this is possi-
ble, and more likely in the Eastern Cordillera, the avail-
able evidence for this is not conclusive, and even more
ambiguous in the sub-Andean zone. The current data
sets suggest that the deformation in the sub-­Andean
ranges of Peru are mostly late Neogene in time. Echa-
varria et al., (2003) reached similar conclusions regard-
ing the thin-skinned belt in the Bolivian sub-Andean
province.
In the Eastern Cordillera of the Peruvian and
­Bolivian sub-Andes, a recent compilation by G ­ arzione
et al. (2017) suggests that the most important and fi-
nal phase of surface uplift is late Neogene to even
­Holocene. However, Garzione et al. (2017) also dis-
cuss data suggesting that in some places in the
Eastern Cordillera of Peru and Bolivia, the phase of
topographic growth could have started as far back as
the early Miocene. The previous findings can also be
related with inversion and activity along basement
thrusts generating surface uplift coeval with thin-
skinned deformation further east in the sub-­Andes
of Peru and Bolivia. A similar behavior has been doc-
umented in the eastern foothills of Colombia (e.g.,
Parra et al., 2009; Mora et al., 2013; De la Parra et al.,
2015)
CONCLUSIONS
Topographic profiles through the hinterlands of the
frontal Peruvian and Bolivian sub-Andean fold-and-
thrust belts show steep frontal slopes characteristic of
basement uplifts. They are characterized by the sig-
nificant structural controls that preexisting rift fault
systems from the Late Ordovician–Silurian extension
and from the Triassic rift systems in the sub-Andean
basins have exerted on the Peruvian and Bolivian late
Andean frontal fold-and-thrust wedges formed in
the last ∼12 Ma. They link to supra-basement, thin-
skinned detachments to form frontal fold-and-thrust
belts that themselves wedge into the syn-kinematic,
late Miocene to Present Day strata of the undeformed
foreland basins. Back-thrusts developed within the
sedimentary strata commonly form tight-frontal syn-
clines and type I triangle zones.
Shortening in the basement wedge model for most
of the Peruvian sub-Andes as described in this chap-
ter would imply significantly 1 7 502 less horizontal
13972_ch02_ptg01_035-062.indd 59
shortening, from a few kilometers to several tens of
kilometers, than geometric models that involve Pa-
leozoic duplexes in the hinterland. Therefore, the
basement wedge model is preferred in this review,
rather than complex duplexes and antiformal stacks
of Lower Paleozoic strata, because it is simpler and
mechanically more feasible and involved significantly
less overall shortening. The thick- to thin-skinned
structural model produces significant hinterland up-
lift forming steep frontal slopes as seen in the topo-
graphic profiles across the sub-Andean frontal wedge
systems;
Detachment fault systems follow key decollement
units but also ramp up-section to produce fault-bend,
fault-propagation, and detachment fold styles. Ramps
in the detachment are commonly located above older
extensional faults or where minor inversion has dis-
turbed the detachment trajectories.
Triangle zones are characteristic of the Peruvian
and Bolivian sub-Andean frontal fold-and-thrust
belts. Both type I—oppositely verging thrust fault sys-
tems—and type II basement wedges as well as fault-
block wedges within the supra-basin strata are well
developed in the frontal sectors of the Peruvian and
Bolivian fold-and-thrust belts.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Research summarized in this chapter was par-
tially funded by the STAR consortium of the Fault
Dynamics Research Group RHUL—kindly sup-
ported by BHPBilliton, ConocoPhilips, ENI, Nexen,
Shell, and Talisman. Hodei Uzkeda kindly con-
structed some of the balanced cross-sections and
Dynel models while funded by the STAR consor-
tium, and Daniel Torres also kindly provided cross
sections on which some of our models were based.
Nicola Scarselli is thanked for help with imaging
seismic sections.
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