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Geological Society, London, Special Publications

Segmentation and growth of foothill thrust-belts

adjacent to inverted grabens: the case of the
Colombian Llanos foothills
L. Jimenez, A. Mora, W. Casallas, A. Silva, E. Tesón, J. Tamara,
J. Namson, I. C. Higuera-Díaz, A. Lasso and D. Stockli

Geological Society, London, Special Publications 2013, v.377;

p189-220.
doi: 10.1144/SP377.11

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 Downloaded from http://sp.lyellcollection.org/ at University of Toronto on August 10, 2014

Segmentation and growth of foothill thrust-belts adjacent to inverted

grabens: the case of the Colombian Llanos foothills
L. JIMENEZ1, A. MORA1*, W. CASALLAS1, A. SILVA1, E. TESÓN1, J. TAMARA1,
J. NAMSON2, I. C. HIGUERA-DÍAZ1, A. LASSO3 & D. STOCKLI4,5
1
Ecopetrol S.A., Instituto Colombiano de Petróleo, A.A 4185 Bucaramanga,
Santander, Colombia
2
Namson Consulting Inc., 222 Trafalgar Lane, San Clemente, CA 92672, USA
3
Gerencia de Exploración Nacional, Ecopetrol, Calle 37 N8 8-43, Piso 8, Bogotá, Colombia
4
Department of Geology, 1475 Jayhawk Boulevard, 120 Lindley Hall,
University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, USA
5
Present address: The University of Texas at Austin, Jackson School of Geosciences, Texas

*Corresponding author (e-mail: andres.mora@ecopetrol.com.co)

Abstract: The geometry, kinematics and evolution of thick- and thin-skinned fold and thrust-belts
have been characterized for many tectonic provinces. However, the impact of prior extension in the
structural evolution of fold and thrust-belts remains under-appreciated. We use a series of balanced
cross sections across areas of thin- and thick-skinned tectonics superimposed over former exten-
sional structures in order to characterize the style of deformation, segmentation and displacement
magnitude. We detect the style of fault linkage in foothill settings adjacent to inversion belts. The
most relevant aspect is the presence of inherited ‘soft linkages’ generating zones of displacement
deficit, which in contraction interact laterally with en-echelon inverted segments via ‘detachment
linkages’. We document the temporal development and interaction between inverted faults and
fault splays branching from them where both are coeval but where the frontal fault tips propagate
more slowly during Oligocene and Early Miocene times. Later, during the Neogene, the frontal
fault splays slip faster than the main inversion fault. The structural style of thrust-belt development
displays along-strike variations, which reflect the changes in sedimentation rates and mechanical
conditions of deformation. However, the timing and magnitude of shortening remain uniform
along-strike.

Thrust-belts have been the topic of numerous
studies over the past decades (Chapple 1978;
Boyer & Elliott 1982; Butler 1982, 1987; Davis
et al. 1983; Suppe 1983; Dahlen et al. 1984; McClay
& Insley 1986; Mitra 1986, 1990; Jamison 1987;
McClay 1992; Baby et al. 1992; Mitra & Sussman
1997; Mugnier et al. 1997; Couzens-Shultz et al.
2003; Nemcok et al. 2005). Many of these studies
focused on the geometric aspects of either thin-
skinned (Baby et al. 1992) or thick-skinned thrust-
belts (Berg 1962; Allmendinger et al. 1983) or
more commonly fold and thrust-belts having both
end member styles (e.g. Coward et al. 1991;
Teixell et al. 2003) as well as the transition from
basement-involved to basement-detached systems
(Kley et al. 1996). However, few studies have con-
sidered the kinematic aspects, displacement and
shortening gradients, and geometries where thin-
skinned belts are influenced by tectonic inheritance
linked to the proximity of documented inverted
grabens or basement anisotropies.
Key questions remain relating to long-lasting
problems in inversion tectonics. For instance, how
is the displacement profile of faults in a foothill belt
affected by reactivated normal faults? If inversion
is important, then the contractional displacement
profiles should be proportional to the extensional
displacement profiles of the pre-existing normal
faults. It is known that normal faults grow by seg-
ment linkage and evolve via soft to hard linkages
that generate jagged displacement profiles with
individual fault segments having displacement
peaks in their central portions where they do not
interact with other segments (Davis et al. 2005;
Kim & Sanderson 2005; Cowie et al. 2007). It is
also important to note that individual normal fault
segments interfere with each other whenever they
overlap or are in close proximity. This creates
displacement deficits in the individual fault seg-
ments in those regions where they interact. In
contrast, early studies in thin-skinned contractional
belts (Dahlstrom 1970) suggested that displacement

From: Nemčok, M., Mora, A. & Cosgrove, J. W. (eds) 2013. Thick-Skin-Dominated Orogens: From Initial
Inversion to Full Accretion. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 377, 189– 220.
First published online July 11, 2013, http://dx.doi.org/10.1144/SP377.11
# The Geological Society of London 2013. Publishing disclaimer: www.geolsoc.org.uk/pub_ethics
 Downloaded from http://sp.lyellcollection.org/ at University of Toronto on August 10, 2014
190 L. JIMENEZ ET AL.
should be theoretically preserved as almost con-
stant, even within relay zones and overlapping fault
segments. However, little is actually known about
fault displacement profiles and mechanisms of fault
growth in thrust-belts. Thrust fault growth models
have been recently proposed that are similar to
those thought to operate in normal fault settings
(see e.g. Bergen & Shaw 2010). In this context the
faults grow by segment linkage and the degree of
linkage increases as fault segments overlap. This
produces a smooth total displacement curve.
In order to understand such variables in a foothill
belt highly influenced by tectonic inheritance, it
would be necessary to understand the displacement
behaviour of faults, either extensional or contrac-
tional, through time. Although this is an extremely
challenging problem, in most cases it can be par-
tially solved by drawing analogies with the lateral
spatial behaviour in the present-day deformed state.
However, with the goal of finding ideal behav-
iours from natural observations, which can be gener-
alized into predictions of displacement profiles, it is
also necessary to understand the boundary con-
ditions and mechanical properties that pertain in
the natural laboratories, which in turn will control
some local variations in the displacement profiles.
This paper is an integrated study of the geometry
and kinematics of a foothill thrustbelt highly influ-
enced by tectonic inheritance. We first analyse the
geometry of the Eastern Cordillera eastern foot-
hill belt based on the discussion of 12 published
(Casero et al. 1997; Rowan & Linares 2000; Bran-
quet et al. 2002; Martinez 2006; Mora et al.
2010a, b; Roeder 2010; Egbue & Kellogg 2012)
and seven new balanced cross sections. We compare
our balanced cross sections with those of other
authors in order to document and improve our
understanding of the uncertainties and implications
of the interpreted geometries. Then, we measure the
shortening magnitudes in the different sections,
estimate the timing of deformation in the Llanos
foothills and describe the most relevant mechanical
boundary conditions governing the fault inversion.
Finally, we present a model that classifies major
faults in the Llanos foothills showing the timing
and associated style of deformation. Our goal is to
demonstrate that there is a pattern of fault growth
and displacement partitioning that governs the inter-
action in space and time between thin-skinned and
thick-skinned fold and thrust-belts. We argue that
this pattern can be applied to other thin-skinned
foothill belts influenced by tectonic inheritance.
Previous studies
The present day configuration of the Eastern Cordil-
lera coincides with the location and geometry of an
inverted Neocomian rift branch. Mora & Parra
(2008) have shown that the Llanos foothills of the
Eastern Cordillera of Colombia are a mirror image
of the western foothills (Fig. 1). Conjugate reverse
basement faults bound the Eastern Cordillera core
and are responsible for the main topographic relief
of the cordillera. At the southeastern end of the
Eastern Cordillera, the Servitá Fault is an example
of a reverse basement fault which is also one of
the inverted graben controlling faults (e.g. Mora
et al. 2008; Parra et al. 2009). In contrast, at the
boundary of the contractional deformation front to
the east, material is carried out of the grabens dur-
ing inversion, by means of low-angle thin-skinned
thrusts like the Guaicaramo and Yopal thrusts
(Rowan & Linares 2000; Martinez 2006). These
thrusts are normally located forelandwards bound-
ing pre-thrusting, long-lasting, Cenozoic depocen-
tres (Fig. 1).
In the past decades there has been a great inter-
est in understanding the geometry, kinematics and
mechanics of Andean fold and thrust-belts (Shaw
et al. 1999; McQuarrie & Decelles 2001; Allmen-
dinger et al. 2004) and the Sub-Andean basins
(Cazier et al. 1995; Cooper et al. 1995; Echavarria
et al. 2003; Ramos et al. 2004). These areas typi-
cally have poor seismic information that leads to
uncertainties in the interpretation, which affects
the estimates and distribution of shortening in the
present day geometry. Even more difficult to eval-
uate is the shortening history through time. Fault
geometry is difficult to define because conventional
seismic acquisition parameters rarely produce pre-
cise images. The study of fault geometry, growth
and displacement distribution is therefore chal-
lenging in thrust-belts. However, recent wells in
foothill settings clarify certain variables and uncer-
tainties related to the fault geometries. Recent
developments in interpretation techniques using
seismic imaging and well data have substantially
improved the subsurface image of thrust-belts. For
example, in a study in the eastern Venezuelan Lla-
nos foothills, Roeder (2010) shows pre-drilling
balanced cross sections with highly optimistic
assessments of total shortening (c. 100 km) and
which show space in the subthrust position for
deep subthrust plays as well as extensive potential
oil kitchens (Fig. 2). A second interpretation incor-
porating well data shows a dramatic reduction in
shortening estimates of more than 50% (c. 50 km
less shortening). Wells proved that most of the pre-
dicted shortening assessments were too large. This
example from Venezuela documents the evolu-
tion in understanding of the geometries and short-
ening in thrust-belts from the early 1990s to the
present. Older estimates of shortening values for
the Andean belts and the Sub-Andean zones in
different publications show large shortening values
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EASTERN FOOTHILLS THRUST-BELT, COLOMBIA 191

Fig. 1. Geological map of the Eastern Cordillera of the Colombian Andes. Black boxes denote the location of the areas
discussed in the text.

based on similar interpretations to those in the pre-
drilling assessments (see e.g. Roeder & Chamber-
lain 1995a, Colombia; Roeder & Chamberlain
1995b, Bolivia). However, recent well data from
the foothills of the northern Andes suggest that
interpretations using steeper faults without much
allochthony of the thrust sheets, may fit the data
better. On the basis of this, the assumption is made
that geometric solutions including extreme shorten-
ing estimates (.25 km) along basement thrusts can
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192 L. JIMENEZ ET AL.

Fig. 2. Cross sections from the Venezuelan Foothills by Roeder (2010). (a) Showing (above) a pre-drilling
interpretation with a highly optimistic assessment of total shortening (c. 100 km). Below a second interpretation
incorporating post-drilling data shows a dramatic reduction in shortening estimates of more than 50%. (b) Another
example from Roeder (2010) showing an optimistic, pre-drilling interpretation above and a post-drilling
reassessment below.
 Downloaded from http://sp.lyellcollection.org/ at University of Toronto on August 10, 2014
EASTERN FOOTHILLS THRUST-BELT, COLOMBIA
be ruled out in the eastern foothills of the Colombian
Eastern Cordillera.
Fault interaction in the Llanos foothills is
reflected in the currently active tectonics of the
region (Mora et al. 2010a, b). Active basement
inversion faults in the southern segment of the
Llanos foothills (e.g. the Servitá Fault, Fig. 1)
become inactive when a frontal thin-skinned fault
(in this example the Guaicaramo Fault, Fig. 1)
grows and becomes the active fault trace. This
defines a soft-linked interaction, which is appar-
ent in the total displacement behaviour measured
from balanced cross sections. However, Mora et al.
(2010a, b) determined that a displacement gradi-
ent exists from south to north, which they attri-
bute to a change in the stress regime. Both ideas
still have to be tested with data from further north
in additional segments of the deformation front, in
order to see if a change in the stress regime is the
cause or whether there are peaks and deficits in
displacement owing to the presence of the differ-
ent front segments. We therefore incorporate more
sections to the north where, in addition, a new struc-
tural style (which involves antiformal stacks and
passive roof duplexes) has been documented
(Martinez 2006; Mora et al. 2010a, b; Egbue &
Kellogg 2012).
Whether or not the actual displacement profile
is jagged or constant at the scale of the study area
is fundamental not only to understanding of the
specific segments of the deformation front and the
segmentation of foothill belts, but also for the iden-
tification of potential oil traps, where the precise
location of optimistic v. pessimistic models should
be influenced by an actual knowledge of fault seg-
ments on which displacement maxima and minima
are located.
Methods
In this study we present a new geological map,
which integrates previous detailed mapping
surveys by Mora et al. (2006), Mora et al. (2009),
Parra et al. (2009) and Mora et al. (2010a, b) as
well as a completely new map of the northern por-
tions of the deformation front between sections
G–G′ and M–M′ (Figs 3 & 4). Using this new geo-
logical map and a dense grid of 2D and 3D seismic
surveys, we constructed seven new cross sections
(Fig. 4) that are consistent with the sections of
Mora et al. (2010a, b). All of the sections were
balanced using the software 2DMove and one of
them was kinematically retrodeformed in order to
show the temporal evolution of the thrust-belt.
Shortening and displacement values were calcu-
lated in each individual structure based on simple
line-length measurements, which are independent
193
of the software used. This is different from the
method followed by Mora et al. (2010a, b), which
calculated displacements based on the fault parallel
flow algorithm of 2DMove. This is, first, a very
specific tool of that software package, and second,
it yields small differences when compared with
the calculations of displacement and length done
by conventional line-length balancing.
A subsequent step was to create additional ver-
sions of the southernmost cross sections we use in
this study. These were done by two different inter-
preters. The original cross sections are shown in
the data repository. Table 1 shows a comparison
of the shortening estimates from the versions by
different interpreters. In addition digital versions
of the published balanced cross sections from the
study area have been compiled and measured in
order to use the same methods to calculate shor-
tening and displacements and finally to compare
these values with the values obtained in our study
(Tables 1 & 2).
Information from seismic evidence and thermo-
chronology has also been used to help constrain
the timing of deformation. Finally thickness maps
for the Cenozoic units were compiled in order to
detect potential influences of the basin geometry
in the spatial distribution of the different structural
styles.
Results
Geometry and structural styles of the Eastern
Cordillera Llanos foothills
One of the most dominant features of the Llanos
foothills is a prominent basement uplift cored by
the Farallones and Santa Marı́a Anticlines, which
are bounded by the Tesalia –Servitá Fault System
(Fig. 3). This is the area with the highest structural
and topographic relief. It has a conspicuous north-
ward plunge. In front of this structure, the Medina
Syncline is one of the Palaeogene depocentres
breached by the Guaicaramo thrust that began mov-
ing after the Late Miocene (Mora et al. 2010a, b).
The Medina syncline has a southward plunge and
the Cretaceous rocks are exposed northeastwards
along strike of its eastern limb, where the section
is bounded by a set of faults referred to as the Guai-
caramo Fault System. Further north, a new frontal
fault system emerges, referred to as the Cusiana –
Yopal Fault System (Fig. 3). The Cusiana –Yopal
Fault System bounds another Cenozoic depocentre
that is breached by the basement-involved Cusiana
Fault to the south and the basement-detached
Yopal thrust to the north. Both structures define a
more or less cylindrical southwards-plunging struc-
ture, the Nunchı́a Syncline (Fig. 4).
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194 L. JIMENEZ ET AL.

Fig. 3. Geological map of the eastern foothills of the Eastern Cordillera showing the main structures and the traces of
different cross sections that have been constructed. The traces of the main sections dicussed in this study are shown in
 Downloaded from http://sp.lyellcollection.org/ at University of Toronto on August 10, 2014

EASTERN FOOTHILLS THRUST-BELT, COLOMBIA 195

Fig. 4. New geological map from the northern portions and the new traces of seven cross sections (G–G′ to M –M′ ).

We use the term Ariari – Guatiquı́a segment for
the area between sections A –A′ and C –C′ (Figs 3,
5 & 6), where basement-involved deformation is
dominant. Another segment is the Guavio segment,
where the Guaicaramo thin-skinned thrust sheet is
an additional element in front of the main basement
Farallones anticline; this segment is located
between cross sections D –D′ and F–F′ (Figs 3, 6
& 7). Further NE the Tierranegra segment coincides
with the region where the most important fault is
the Guaicaramo Fault, between sections G –G′ and
J–J′ , which is a basement-involved reverse fault
(Figs 4, 8 & 9). The northernmost sector (Piede-
monte segment, Fig. 3) contains duplex structures
and antiformal stacks in the footwall of the Guai-
caramo Fault between sections K –K′ and M–M′
(Figs 4, 9 & 10).
We group the faults into fault systems, according
to their proximity and potential mechanical inter-
actions, as described in Mora et al. (2010a, b).
The Tesalia –Lengupá Fault System includes the
Mirador, Boa, Servitá, Tesalia and Lengupá faults
(Fig. 3). The Guaicaramo Fault System includes
the Guaicaramo, Pajarito, Chameza and Los Yopos
faults (Fig. 3). The Yopal thrust system includes the
Cusiana and Yopal faults (Fig. 3).
Geometries, shortening and displacement
patterns. Key features from published cross
sections
The southernmost sections (section A –A′ to section
F – F′ , see Figs 5 –7) have already been published in

Fig. 3. (Continued) solid lines with letters from A–A′ to M– M′ . Sections A–A′ to F–F′ correspond to the cross
sections from Mora et al. (2010a, b). Sections G– G′ to M –M′ correspond to new sections constructed during this study.
Sections I– II to the north correspond to cross sections from Egbue & Kellogg (2012). Sections with traces in dashed
lines correspond to cross sections in the data repository by Alejandro Silva. Section with traces in dashed and dotted
lines correspond to cross sections in the data repository by Jay Namson. The codes of the sections from the repository
shown in the map correspond with names to be found in the repository.
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196 L. JIMENEZ ET AL.

Table 1. Shortening data in each cross section

Cross section Tesalia – Guaicaramo Yopal Total

Lengupa system system system

A –A′ 14627.42 0 0 14627.42 Mora et al.

B – B′ 11757.97 0 0 11757.97 (2009, 2010b,
C – C′ 21680.35 2232.09 0 23912.44 pers. comm.)
D –D′ 12383.12 7167.32 0 19550.44
E–E′ 14195.76 7230.49 0 21426.25
F–F′ 11545.96 10853.22 0 22399.18
G –G′ 0 13339.92 1702.68 15042.6
H –H′ 0 16068.33 1188.69 17257.02
I–I′ 0 14357.69 3680.85 18038.54
J – J′ 0 9755.97 4839.02 14594.99
K –K′ 0 16052.24 7059.98 23112.22
L–L′ 0 12959.58 9043.74 22003.32
M–M′ 0 11311.48 10599.83 21911.31

MVI-800 9212.07 7400.35 0 16612.42 A. Silva

MVI-870 11234.16 7158.1 0 18392.26
MVI-1070 10179.2 9446.35 0 19625.56
ME-1230 10019.21 9399.75 0 19418.96
ME-1440 3815.05 20814.7 0 24629.75
ME-1600 4421.72 17608.65 0 22030.37
ME-1655 3586.72 21193.66 0 24780.38
ME-1800 CO-04 3981.12 25128.18 0 29109.3
ME-05 CO-08 3773.7 26070.9 0 29844.58
ME-01 CO-10 3408.35 26665.05 0 30073.4
ME-2210-40 2987.0 27200.8 0 30187.75
MVI-800 14563.8 0 0 14563.78 J. Namson (pers.
MVI-820 13295.89 0 0 13295.89 comm.)
MVI-870 13326.46 0 13326.46
ME-1000 10066.2 6489.21 0 16555.39
ME-1020 13625.43 0 0 13625.43
ME-1070 8252.3 11518.52 0 19770.82
ME-1655 10067.06 9621.64 0 19688.7
Tamara (pers. comm.) 10729.67 0 0 10729.67
Rowan & Linares (2000) 6200.5 16158.3 0 22358.8
Casero et al. (1997) 12295.5 3983.48 0 16278.98
Roeder (2010) 0 15853.72 3809.47 19663.19
Roeder (2010) 10185.54 15000.74 0 25186.28
Egbue & Kellogg (2012) 0 6817.86 16179.96 22997.82
Egbue & Kellogg (2012) 0 4780.81 12055.48 16836.29
Egbue & Kellogg (2012) 0 6740.19 15424.59 22164.78
Martinez (2006) 0 2929.05 14089.95 17019

See locations in Figures 3 and 4. See cross sections in Figures 5– 10.

Mora et al. (2010a, b). They show a transition
from basement-involved to -detached deformation,
which coincides with the transition from the
Ariari –Guatiquı́a to the Guavio segment (Fig. 3).
The southernmost section shows four different
fault stacks (section A –A′ in Fig. 5). The basement
exposures are associated with the Tesalia –Servitá
Fault System, where shortening is absorbed by
inversion on the main basin bounding fault and
more frontal shortcut structures. Moving northwards
displacement on the Guaicaramo Fault increases via
thin-skinned deformation (see Fig. 6 sections C –C′ ,
D–D′ , E–E′ , respectively, and Tables 1 & 2). This is
important complementary information, given the
fact that the associated Medina syncline has a south-
ward plunge while the associated bounding thrusts
(the Guaicaramo thrust) decrease displacement
in the same direction (Fig. 3). The reverse faults
of the Tesalia– Servitá Fault System east of the
northward-plunging Farallones and Santa Maria
anticlines lose displacement as they are traced
northwards. In the data repository we show addi-
tional sections located in Figure 3, which are not
shown in the main text of this paper. This pattern
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EASTERN FOOTHILLS THRUST-BELT, COLOMBIA 197

Table 2. Slip data in each cross section

Cross section Tesalia– Guaicaramo Yopal Total

Lengupa system system system (m)

A – A′ 16420.23 0 0 16420.23 Mora et al. (2009,

B – B′ 8457.14 0 0 8457.14 2010b, pers.
C – C′ 21500 2265.32 0 23765.32 comm.)
D – D′ 13032.32 7214.5 0 20246.82
E – E′ 9998.51 7539.14 0 17537.65
F – F′ 3566.46 7985.61 0 11552.07
G – G′ 0 10109.87 1553.05 11662.92
H – H′ 0 11599.58 1019.72 12619.3
I – I′ 0 10310.28 3412.88 13723.16
J – J′ 0 6822.95 4811.42 11634.37
K – K′ 0 9767.17 6849.33 16616.5
L – L′ 0 12010.32 8808.13 20818.45
M – M′ 0 13888.56 9200.54 23089.1
Tamara (pers. comm.) 3209.88 0 0 3209.88
Rowan & Linares (2000) 8309.88 7634.83 0 15944.71
Casero (1997) 340.15 3319.27 0 3659.42
Roeder (2010) 0 14436.94 2790.75 17227.69
Roeder (2010) 6913.68 15184.18 0 22097.86
Egbue & Kellogg (2012) 0 5111.47 13675.26 18786.73
Egbue & Kellogg (2012) 0 2482.47 9410.86 11893.33
Egbue & Kellogg (2012) 0 6699.34 15330.55 22029.89
Martinez (2006) 0 329.02 9764.98 10094

See locations in Figures 3 & 4. See cross sections in Figures 5–10.

of decreasing displacement northwards along the
Tesalia –Servitá Fault System is confirmed by the
additional interpretations used for this study and
shown in the repository (Tables 1 & 2, compare
data from sections by Silva v. data from previous
publications by Mora et al. 2010a, b). It is worth
noting that the most prominent shortening peak in
the cross sections by Mora et al. (2010a, b) is in
cross section F–F′ (see the original cross section
by Mora et al. 2010a, b in Fig. 7, named F2 –F2′ )
and it exceeds 30 km (Mora et al. 2010a, b). Other
published sections with roughly the same trace as
sections F–F′ (Casero et al. 1997; Rowan & Lin-
ares 2000; see these sections on Fig. 7) suggest
much less shortening (see Table 1). The key dif-
ference between Mora et al. (2010a, b) interpreta-
tion v. Casero et al. (1997) and Rowan & Linares
(2000) interpretations is the presence of a lower
cut-off between the Eocene sandstones and the
Guaicaramo thrust as well as a pull-up structure
below the Guavio anticline, both interpreted by
Mora et al. (2010a, b) based on time migrated
seismic sections (Fig. 7). Both features add more
than 10 km of shortening to these frontal structures
and disappear when depth-migrated seismic lines
are used. In Figure 7 we present a revision of the
cross section by Mora et al. (2010a, b), which has
less shortening than the original (see the revised
2011 version in Fig. 7, named F1 –F1′ ). Section
MVI-1997-1655 (Fig. 3 for location) by Namson
and an analogue version by Silva (see the original
sections in the repository) coincide in their traces
with version F1 –F1′ , and also give conservative
total shortening values (,25 km, see Table 1). By
noting the consistency of the shortening/displace-
ment values of the most recent version of this
section (F1 –F1′ , see Fig. 7) with sections constructed
along an almost identical trace (Silva, Namson; see
sections in the repository and shortening values
in Table 1) and parallel cross sections by other
authors (Casero, Rowan & Linares), we can sug-
gest an actual displacement increase along this
southern segment, of about 10 km.
Geometries, shortening and displacement
patterns in the new balanced cross sections
The northern portion of the foothills (i.e. the por-
tion which comprises the Tierranegra and Piedem-
onte segments; see Fig. 3) represents the transition
from a region to the south, generally lacking anti-
formal stacks and duplexes in the most frontal,
thin-skinned structures (Figs 3, 8 & 9) to an area
to the north, where the antiformal stacks are pre-
sent (e.g. in the western limb of the Nunchı́a Syn-
cline, Figs 3 & 10). The new cross sections are
based on available seismic and well data including
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198 L. JIMENEZ ET AL.

Fig. 5. Cross sections A –A′ and B– B′ are from the Ariari–Guatiquia segment. See location of the cross sections in
Figure 3.

the most recent exploratory wells. We report a
new shortening gradient for the Yopal Fault System
(see Table 1 and Fig. 11), which is much smoother
than the more jagged total shortening profile of
the Guaicaramo Fault System (see Table 1 and Fig.
11). The displacement gradient can be inferred in
the map view where an active monoclinal frontal
structure transitions towards a cylindrical synclinal
structure to the north (the Nunchı́a Syncline) with
increasing stratigraphic separation of the faults
(Fig. 4).
The evolution of the subthrust structures below
the Guaicaramo Fault can be modelled with the
available data. The frontal Yopal thin-skinned
thrust has been interpreted as the frontal escape
for shortening in subthrust structures to the west
below the Guaicaramo Fault (see e.g. cross section
M– M′ in Fig. 10). This is geometrically possible
taking into account the fact that in the northern-
most section of this study (section M–M′ in Fig.
10) the Yopal Fault displays maximum shortening
(Table 1), whereas the stacks reported in wells in
the western limb of the Nunchı́a Syncline are more
numerous than those reported in the footwall of the
Guaicaramo thrust in cross sections to the south
(e.g. section L–L′ in Fig. 10 or J–J′ and K –K′ in Fig.
9). Thus, the thrust stack creates the maximum
structural relief of the Nunchı́a Syncline compared
with the undeformed footwall of the Yopal Fault
(Fig. 10). This suggests that the greater shortening
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EASTERN FOOTHILLS THRUST-BELT, COLOMBIA 199

Fig. 6. Cross section C– C′ through the Ariari– Guatiquia segment. Sections D– D′ and E –E′ are through the Guavio
segment. See location of the cross sections in Figure 3.
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200 L. JIMENEZ ET AL.

Fig. 7. Cross sections F1 –F′1 (Mora et al. pers. comm.) and F2 – F′2 by Mora et al. (2010a, b) through the Guavio
segment. See location of the cross sections in Figure 3. Cross sections by Casero et al. (1997) and Rowan & Linares
(2000) are not located in Figure 3 but their locations are very close to the trace of cross section F– F′ .

along the Yopal thrust leads to an increase in the
stacked thrust sheets below the outcropping units
in the western limb of the syncline (see Figs 4, 9
& 10). This transition is evident in the cross sec-
tions. Section H –H′ (Fig. 8), which is the southern-
most section along the Tierranegra segment, has
been modelled as having almost no subthrust struc-
tures below the Guaicaramo thrust, while the short-
ening related to these subthrust structures increases
northwards, reaching a maxima in the Piedemonte
segment (Fig. 10). The result is a total shortening
minimum in the Tierranegra segment (Table 1 and
Fig. 11), between sections H–H′ and J–J′ (Figs 8 &
9). Therefore, most of the shortening and displace-
ment deficit in the Tierranegra segment comes
from the minimal shortening along subthrust struc-
tures, which is the most speculative part of the sec-
tions, whereas the more frontal sectors, coinciding
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EASTERN FOOTHILLS THRUST-BELT, COLOMBIA
Fig. 7. Continued.
with the Nunchı́a Syncline and Yopal Fault Sys-
tems, are well-imaged in seismic sections. Another
region with good control is the hanging wall of the
Guaicaramo Fault in the Guavio, Tierranegra and
Piedemonte segments, which can be reconstructed
in cross sections based on our new detailed surface
geological map (Fig. 4).
We have constructed alternative interpretations
of our cross sections G– G′ , H – H′ , I –I′ and J – J′
(see this interpretation in Fig. 12) increasing the
allochthony, that is, the displacement of the Guai-
caramo Fault (Table 1 and Fig. 11). This interpret-
ation removes the apparent jagged displacement
and shortening profiles and the consequent dis-
placement deficits in the southern portion of the
northernmost segment of the Guaicaramo Fault
(Table 1 and Fig. 11).
Buttress and interpreted location of inversion
faults v. shortcut segments
A focus of our analysis is to identify and classify the
style of inversion in the Llanos foothills. We iden-
tify a set of end-members using fault behaviours:
(a) Lower Cretaceous rift faults that were not
201
reactivated during Cenozoic orogenesis; (b) Lower
Cretaceous rift faults partially or totally inverted
during orogenesis; (c) footwall shortcuts that are
newly formed contractional structures branching
from the lower, reactivated part of the plane of a
Lower Cretaceous rift fault; and (d) thin-skinned
thrusts that detached from the sediment cover
associated with bedding plane detachments. In the
southern foothills, we mostly use the sections from
Mora & Parra (2008) and Mora et al. (2006, 2009,
2010a, b) to classify which faults correspond to
each one of the behaviours mentioned above. The
Servitá Fault described in Mora & Parra (2008)
and Mora et al. (2006, 2009), is a very typical
case of fault inversion with null points and remark-
able differences of overburden along each side of
the fault, as indicated by the ZFT (zircon fission
track) data and vitrinite reflectance data (Mora &
Parra 2008).
In the northern portions of the foothills, that is,
in the region where the new cross sections have
been presented, although inversion was not directly
detected, it can be inferred. Normal faulting of the
basement generated basement highs, some of which
have subsequently acted as buttresses against which
localized contractional folding in the hanging wall
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202 L. JIMENEZ ET AL.

Fig. 8. Cross sections G –G′ , H– H′ and I– I′ through the Tierra Negra segment. See location in Figure 3.

has occurred during inversion in the Eastern Cor-
dillera of Colombia (Mora et al. 2006). It is inter-
esting to note how in sections G –G′ , H –H′ and
I– I′ (Fig. 8) the folding and contractional defor-
mation are focused in the hanging wall of the Guai-
caramo Fault, whereas the footwall is almost flat
lying. Based on these observations, we interpret the
Guaicaramo Fault plane in the Tierranegra seg-
ment (Figs 3 & 4) to correspond to an inverted
normal fault plane where the hanging wall subsided
during extension and later experienced contrac-
tional detachment folding during the Cenozoic oro-
genesis (see cross sections corresponding to this
segment in Fig. 8). However, along-strike to the
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EASTERN FOOTHILLS THRUST-BELT, COLOMBIA 203

Fig. 9. Cross sections J–J′ and K–K′ . See location in Figure 3.

north, between sections I –I′ and J –J′ (see Figs 3 & 4
for plan view location of the sections), there is a
short segment of the Guaicaramo Fault trace with
a conspicuously different trend. This could be
potentially associated with a short fault segment
that joins two different longer fault segments to
the north and to the south. North of this area, an
exploratory well shows overturned units and tight
folding in the hanging wall of the Guaicaramo
Fault (Fig. 9, cross section J –J′ ). Wherever these
overturned beds are observed (cross sections J – J′
and K –K′ in Fig. 9), it is concluded that it would
be geometrically unlikely to have a thick, Lower
Cretaceous sequence adjacent to (i.e. to the west
of) the Guaicaramo Fault plane in its hanging
wall, unlike cross sections G –G′ to I –I′ (Fig. 8).
We interpret, therefore, the portion of the Guaicar-
amo Fault bounding the overturned limb in section
J – J′ as a footwall shortcut. Therefore, in this
location the actual main inversion fault is located
west of the Guaicaramo Fault (see section J–J′ in
Fig. 9). Northwards in the Piedemonte segment
(Figs 3 & 4 for location) the Guaicaramo Fault
bounds the Monterralo anticline. In this area, the
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204 L. JIMENEZ ET AL.

Fig. 10. Structural balanced cross sections from the Piedemonte segment (see Figs 3 & 4 for location). In addition, we
show above cross section M – M′ two different thermal models for AFT samples located in different anticlines. However,
the thermal behaviour is similar even when the structural position is not the same. See text for discussion.

footwall of the Guaicaramo Fault is composed of
multiple stacked sheets (see cross section M–M′
in Fig. 10 and published interpretations by other
authors in Fig. 13). We define a structural domain
of breached tight folds in the Piedemonte segment
(Figs 10 & 13). This domain includes the Monter-
ralo anticline in the hanging wall of the Guaicaramo
Fault and the stacks in the footwall. Drawing an
analogy with observations to the south (see e.g. sec-
tions G –G′ to I –I′ in Fig. 8), we interpret this
domain of tight folds to be bounded by former,
Lower Cretaceous, normal faults to the east and
west (Fig. 10). Therefore, we interpret the Piede-
monte segment of the Guaicaramo Fault, with the
Monterralo anticline in the hanging wall, as a short-
cut. In this context, the boundary of the tight fold-
ing domain to the east of the antiformal stacks
would be related to another normal fault that acted
as stress riser during the initial stages of folding
and now is below the antiformal stack (see cross
section M– M′ in Fig. 10). Notice that this interpreta-
tion differs from the one by previous authors in the
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EASTERN FOOTHILLS THRUST-BELT, COLOMBIA
same area (Fig. 13). In the latter interpretations
(Fig. 13; Martinez 2006; Egbue & Kellogg 2012)
deformation was also focused in antiformal stacks.
However, no explanation was provided to account
for either the focused deformation in this location
or for the dramatic thickness changes between the
outcropping Cretaceous section and the coeval
section in the subsurface.
The Pajarito Fault located west of sections J –J′ ,
K–K′ , L –L′ and M– M′ (Figs 8 –10) contains
Lower Cretaceous intrusions (Vasquez & Altenber-
ger 2005), which indicate that the fault plane is an
inverted Lower Cretaceous normal fault. In a more
frontal (eastern) location of the eastern foothills
belt, a structural style has been identified where
the more external marginal synclines are associated
with a ramp formed above a normal fault which has
not been inverted (e.g. see the subsurface structural
style below the Guaicaramo Fault in all the cross
sections in Figs 8 & 9). Similar observations in
the Middle Magdalena Valley foothill belt (see
Moreno et al. this volume, in press) reinforce this
interpretation. The documented dramatic thickness
changes between the Cretaceous units in the
surface west of the Guaicaramo Fault and in the sub-
surface to the east also support this interpretation. In
this context, the non-inverted normal faults would
act as stress risers focusing the location of faulting
and folding and forcing the fault trajectories to
branch from the syn-rift fill through the Cenozoic
fill. By analogy, we suggest that the Nunchı́a Syn-
cline is nucleated above frontal normal faults and,
like the Magdalena foothill example, occurs above
a non-reactivated normal fault, which should lie
between the reactivated Guaicaramo Fault and the
emergent thin-skinned Yopal Fault (e.g. Fig. 10
cross section M–M′ ). This position is therefore
inferred to be below the Guaicaramo Fault in a
subthrust position in the Tierranegra and Piede-
monte segments (see sections G –G′ to M–M in
Figs 8–10). Finally, seismic evidence allows inter-
pretion of the Cusiana Fault (Figs 3, 4 & 8) as an
inverted normal fault and the Yopal Fault (Figs 3,
4, 9 & 10) as a thin-skinned fault detaching in the
Cenozoic sedimentary units.
Summary of shortening and displacement
estimates based on the new sections and
compared with previous assessments
We use published and our new cross sections to
calculate shortening and displacement along the
Llanos foothills. The most evident pattern is what
we will refer to as ‘repetitive patterns in the short-
ening gradients’. This is illustrated by the Ariari–
Guatiquı́a and Guavio segments (Figs 3 & 4
for location) which together have a shortening
205
behaviour that is similar and also repeated in the
Tierranegra and Piedemonte segments (Figs 3 & 4;
Table 1 and Fig. 11). The repetitive patterns in the
shortening gradients in the Ariari –Guatiquı́a and
Guavio segments include shortening by basement-
involved faulting, which increases to the north (i.e.
shortening along the Tesalia– Lengupa system)
and then decreases in favour of the shortening by
thin-skinned faulting along the Guaicaramo thrust
(see Fig. 11, the pattern of the blue and red cur-
ves between the Ariari –Guatiquı́a and Guavio seg-
ments). In the transition between the Guavio and
the Tierranegra segments, the Guaicaramo thrust
becomes thick-skinned, more precisely between
sections F –F′ and G –G′ . In the Tierranegra and
Piedemonte segments the basement-involved struc-
tures on the Guaicaramo thrust repeat the same
shortening pattern observed between the Ariari –
Guatiquı́a and Guavio segments. This pattern
relates to northwards-decreasing basement-involved
deformation v. northwards-increasing basement-
detached deformation (Fig. 11). In section M –M′
the shortening accommodated by thrusting along
the Guaicaramo Fault System reaches a local
minimum at the point where the Yopal thrust
increases shortening compared with sections K –
K′ and L–L′ to the south. However, total shortening
between sections K –K′ and L –L′ remains constant
(Fig. 11a). A similar relationship exists between
sections E –E′ and F–F′ in the Guavio segment
where shortening by basement-involved faulting
(i.e. on the Tesalia –Lengupa system) and shorten-
ing by basement-detached shortening (i.e. on the
Guaicaramo thrust sheet) yields near-constant val-
ues (Fig. 11a). Similar patterns are observed in the
displacement profiles (Table 2). To summarize, the
basement-involved Tesalia –Servitá and Guaicar-
amo fault systems decrease their associated shorten-
ing northwards in favour of shortening associated
with the basement-detached Guaicaramo Fault and
Yopal Fault, respectively (Fig. 11).
The evident shortening minimum in the Tierra-
negra segment, Figure 3 (see total shortening pur-
ple curve in Fig. 11) can be almost erased if the
Guaicaramo Fault is given a very low dip angle and
if the shortening across it is increased by about
10 km (Fig. 12). If this is not the case, then the Tier-
ranegra segment of the Guaicaramo Fault would
also have a significant displacement profile with a
conspicuous peak at the centre (Tierranegra seg-
ment; Figs 3, 4 & 11) and two shortening and dis-
placement minima at the extremes (see red curve
in Fig. 11). Such a pattern would clearly define the
Tierranegra sector as containing a distinct Guai-
caramo Fault segment that was later linked to the
others. The Ariari– Guatiquı́a and Tierranegra seg-
ments of the deformation front are characterized by
dominant basement-involved deformation whereas
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206 L. JIMENEZ ET AL.

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EASTERN FOOTHILLS THRUST-BELT, COLOMBIA 207

in the Guavio and Piedemonte segments the base-
ment-involved deformation decreases in favour
of basement-detached deformation, although both
have similar shortening values (Figs 3 & 11). If
the main fault systems in the basement-involved
Ariari –Guatiquı́a and Tierranegra segments include
either direct inversion or basement shortcuts, then
the two segments can be also defined as inversion-
dominated segments. In the Tierranegra segment,
the deformation is mostly absorbed by direct inver-
sion and not by shortcuts branching from the main
inversion fault, as in the Ariari –Guatiquı́a and
Guavio segments (Figs 5 –7; and Tables 1 & 2).
Timing of fault movement, new data and
comparison with previous datasets
The chronology of deformation for the faults in the
southern Llanos foothills (Ariari –Guatiquı́a and
Guavio segments) has been characterized by Mora
& Parra (2008), Parra et al. (2009a, b) and Mora
et al. (2008, 2010a, b) and also along the Tierrane-
gra and Piedemonte segments by Mora et al.
(2010a, b), Bande et al. (2012) and Ramirez-Arias
et al. (2012).
In the southern Ariari –Guatiquı́a and Guavio
segments (see location of the segments in Figs 3 &
4) Parra et al. (2009a) suggested an Oligocene to
Early Miocene inversion of the basement faults
like the Tesalia –Servitá Fault (Figs 3 & 4). In con-
trast, Mora & Parra (2008) suggest that basement
shortcuts like the Mirador–Agualinda, Boa and
Villavicencio faults are Late Miocene to Pliocene
faults (see location in Fig. 3 to the south). In the
Tierranegra and Piedemonte segments similar con-
clusions have been suggested by Mora et al.
(2010a, b) and Ramirez-Arias et al. (2012), where
thermo-chronology and provenance suggest that
inversion on the main fault in this segment, the
Pajarito Fault (Fig. 3 to the north), started during
the Oligocene and most definitively by earliest
Miocene. In this area Mora et al. (2010a, b) docu-
ment faster exhumation during the latest Miocene
of the Monterralo anticline situated on top of the
Piedemonte antiformal stack (see Figs 3 & 10).
We interpret the stack and the Monterralo anticline
as folds related to footwall shortcuts of the Pajarito
Fault.
Mora & Parra (2008) suggest that the folds
breached by faults are observed in the hanging wall
of footwall shortcuts of the Ariari –Guatiquı́a
segment (these are for instance folds in the
hanging wall of the Monserrate, Boa and Mirador
faults, which are the footwall shortcuts interpreted
by Mora & Parra 2008; see Figs 3 & 5), indicating
a folding event which pre-dates the main Pliocene
thrust-induced denudation. Martinez et al. (2006);
Mora et al. (2010a, b) and Egbue & Kellogg (2012)
note that the records left by growth strata and uncon-
formities indicate clearly that this earlier folding
was of very low amplitude.
Two different lines of evidence reinforce and
refine the rapid shortening and exhumation along
shortcuts during the Pliocene and the early low-
amplitude folding in the Oligocene. First, recent
data in Delgado et al. (2012) based on AFT (apa-
tite fission track) ages and seismic data show that
the upper half of the Neogene Guayabo Formation
has a Pleistocene or younger age (see the Guayabo
Formation in cross section in Fig. 10, where it is
defined as Neogen Molasse). The Yopal thrust cuts
through the Upper Guayabo sediments and the
Yopal thrust sheet is cut by the Guaicaramo Fault.
Thus, we can date the latest fault movements as
younger than Pleistocene. The fault displacement
of that age is at least similar to the thickness of the
upper half of the Guayabo Formation (c. 2 km).
Second, an AFT sample (AM-02) from Mora
et al. (2010a, b) from the Monterralo anticline
shows that, for the last 15 Ma, this anticline has
been exhumed from about 80 8C and experienced
a previous reheating event after initial minor exhu-
mation during the Oligocene (see the tempera-
ture –time plots in Fig. 10). Geometrically it could
be argued that this is indicative of out-of-sequence
deformation along the Guaicaramo thrust cutting
the underlying antiformal stack (see section M –M′
in Fig. 10). However, AFT sample MP-85 comes
from the same unit in the Rio Tocarı́a anticline,
located northwards in an ‘en-echelon’ position with
respect to the Monterralo anticline, and shows a
similar thermal history but with a more pronoun-
ced reheating and with cooling starting later (c.
10 Ma; Fig. 10 and Table 3). Recent seismic assess-
ments show the Rio Tocarı́a anticline constitutes
the same outcropping structure as in the El Morro
anticline below the Monterralo anticline (see sec-
tion M–M′ in Fig. 10). Therefore, AFT sample
MP-85 can be projected to section M–M′ . This indi-
cates that both structures have parallel exhumation
histories (see the thermal histories above cross
section M– M′ in Fig. 10). Therefore, most of the
Monterralo antiformal stack and the entire duplex

Fig. 11. Summary plot with the shortening and displacement profiles for the different fault systems analysed in this
study. The letters on top of each plot correspond to the cross sections in Figure 3. The vertical axis is the shortening or
displacement value in kilometres and the horizontal axis is the distance from cross section A –A′ . The zones with
different colours correspond to the different structural segments discussed in the text and shown in Figure 3.
 208

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L. JIMENEZ ET AL.
Fig. 12. Alternative interpretation of cross sections G– G′ , H– H′ , I–I′ , J–J′ , from the Tierranegra segment, including a much longer footwall flat in a zone that is unconstrained
by the seismic resolution. This interpretation attempts to include an amount of shortening that makes the total shortening in the Tierranegra segment similar to that in cross
sections to the north and south in this study.
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EASTERN FOOTHILLS THRUST-BELT, COLOMBIA 209
Fig. 12. Continued.
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210 L. JIMENEZ ET AL.

Fig. 13. Cross sections showing different interpretations of the Piedemonte antiformal stack in the Piedemonte segment
of this study. The cross sections above (I–III) are from Egbue & Kellogg (2012) and the cross section below is from
Martinez (2006). Notice the pure thin-skinned interpretation in all the structural sections. See location of Egbue &
Kellogg (2012) cross sections in Figure 3. The location of the cross section by Martinez (2006) is similar to that of
section II by Egbue & Kellogg (2012).

structure has formed since the Late Miocene with a
conspicuous Oligocene cooling event which coin-
cides with the reported unconformities (Marti-
nez et al. 2006; Mora et al. 2010a, b; Egbue &
Kellogg 2012), which we also detect in our cross
section (Figs 10 & 13).
Currently we are unable to date the earlier, low-
amplitude folds in the southern Guavio and Ariari –
Guatiquı́a segments of the study area. We know
that the uppermost reset ZFT (zircon fission track)
ages range between the Late Oligocene to Early
Miocene (Fig. 14, also see Parra et al. 2009), which
coincide with important granulometric, proven-
ance and subsidence changes in the Medina Basin
(Parra et al. 2009). These changes are considered
to represent the onset of inversion at that time. In
contrast, the ZFT ages (Table 3 and Fig. 14) are
not reset in the adjacent Mirador and Villavicencio
shortcuts (Fig. 14), whereas the AFT ages are reset
and mostly Pliocene (c. 3 Ma, see Fig. 14 and Mora
et al. 2008, for more detail about the AFT ages). We
present here new ZHe (zircon uranium–thorium/
helium) dates from the hanging-wall block of the
same structures, which are Oligocene in age. Ro
data suggest that the ages have been reset and there-
fore the ages indicate that exhumation between
c. 180 and c. 120 8C started in the Oligocene and
continued during the Pliocene. Reset ZFT in the
hanging wall of the Servitá Fault documents an
exhumation from c. 280 and 120 8C over the same
time interval. If this is compared with the pres-
ence of Oligocene growth strata in the Piede-
monte segment antiformal stacks (Figs 10 & 13)
v. coeval exhumation of the inversion faults to the
west, the following important relationships can
be deduced: the authors argue that collectively one
can generalize from the observations discussed
above, that in all segments of the study area the
shortcuts and inversion faults are coeval but the
shortcuts move at slower rates during the Oligo-
cene and Miocene, allowing either the preserva-
tion of growth strata or slower cooling. It is also
evident that the Oligocene and Miocene shorten-
ing rates were slower compared with Miocene to
recent rates. These faster rates could be the result
of either faster cooling (120 8C in 3 Ma as repor-
ted by Mora et al. 2008 in the Ariari –Guatiquı́a
shortcuts) or cross cutting relationships involving
larger, Late Miocene to recent displacements. We
summarize in two kinematic restorations these
observations, which are based on the data presen-
ted here (see Figs 14 & 15). In addition, given the
above-mentioned constraints, another map can be
built that relates the types of faults with the timing
of the faults in the foothills (Fig. 16).
Isopach maps of Oligocene to Neogene units
Oligocene to Neogene units represent the units,
which would act as backstops to the Neogene
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Table 3. AFT, ZFT and ZHe data

Field code Longitude Latitude Elevation Unit Stratigraphic No. Gr* U Rho-S Rho-I Rho-D P(x2) Age +1 s Dpar
(8W) (8N) (m) age (Ma) (ppm) (NS)† (NI)† (ND)‡ (%)§ (Ma) Error

AFT data
72815′ 37.91′′ 5840′ 11.50′′

EASTERN FOOTHILLS THRUST-BELT, COLOMBIA

MP85 564 Los Cuervos 59 + 3 40 2.27 15.94 39.69 10.9 2.1 2.65
(195) (1367) (4075)
′ ′′ ′ ′′
AM-02 72828 26.72 5828 1.92 639 Los Cuervos 58 + 3 38 1.76 10.33 38.27 12.7 2.4 1.75
(269) (1575) (4064)
′ ′′ ′ ′′
BV-196 73847 0.2395 4817 33 2954 Quetame Pre-Devonian 20 26.8 3.05 2.61 1.21 86 2.6 1.1 1.89
BV-277 73840′ 12.7181′′ 4809′ 41.0401′′ 838.1 Quetame .416 30 35.4 4.303 3.403 1.202 76.1 2.7 0.3 3.22
Group (118) (9334) (4926)

Field code Longitude Latitude Elevation Unit Stratigraphic No.Gr* U Rho-S Rho-I Rho-D P(x2) Age +1 s
(8W) (8N) (m) age (Ma) (ppm) (NS)**† (NI)**† (ND)†‡ (%)†† (Ma) Error

ZFT data
BV-196 73847′ 0.2395′′ 4817′ 33′′ 2954 Quetame Pre-Devonian 38 420 26.636 57.880 4.3073 0 11.4 1.1
(1705) (3705) (3924)
BV-279 73840′ 8.3995′′ 4809′ 45′′ 831 Buenavista 144 + 2 20 204 185.783 235.65 3.6288 0 165.9 12.9
(6244) (792) (2766)

Field code Longitude Latitude Elevation Unit Stratigraphic Age + (Ma) U Th Sm Th/U He mass Ft
(8W) (8N) (m) age (Ma) (Ma) 8% (ppm) (ppm) (ppm) (ncc mg21) (mg)

ZHe data
BV-277 73840′ 13′′ 4809′ 41′′ 846 Quetame Pre-Devonian 12.6 1.0 345.2 68.4 4.0 0.2 19.68 9.6 0.80

*
No. Gr., The number of apatite grains counted.
†
Rho-S and Rho-I are the spontaneous and induced track density measured, respectively (×105 tracks cm22). NS and NI are the number of spontaneous and induced tracks counted for estimating Rho-S and
Rho-I, respectively.
‡
Rho-D is the induced track density measured in the external mica detector attached to the CN2 dosimetry glass (×105 tracks cm22). ND is the number of induced tracks counted in the mica for estimating
Rho-D.
§ 2
x (%) (Galbraith, 1981; Green, 1981). Values greater than 5% are considered to pass this test and represent a single population of ages.

211
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212 L. JIMENEZ ET AL.

Fig. 14. Kinematic restoration of cross section N– N′ , based on the AFT, ZFT and ZHe data and on data in Table 3.
See the location of cross section N– N′ in Figure 3.

deformation front and therefore stop its advance Discussion

once a certain threshold thickness is reached (Baby
et al. 1992; Shaw et al. 1999). Therefore, we com-
piled well data and seismic interpretations to deter-
mine the thickness of the Oligocene to Neogene
interval (i.e. the Carbonera, León and Guayabo For-
mations) to see if there is a correlation between
structural style and thickness.
The area with maximum thickness of the Carbo-
nera, León and Guayabo Formations coincides with
the well-developed antiformal stacks in the Piede-
monte segment of the Llanos foothills. The stacks
are absent to the south where there is no well-
defined depocentre (Fig. 17).
Shortening/displacement patterns
It is important to analyse shortening and fault dis-
placement together because fault displacement rep-
resents only the slip along the fault plane, whereas
shortening includes all the deformation. Two key
points are evident in the shortening and displace-
ment profiles. One is what we have called in previ-
ous sections the ‘repetitive pattern of shortening/
displacement gradients’ and the other is the dis-
placement/shortening minima related to the Tierra-
negra segment (Fig. 11). The repetitive pattern of
 Downloaded from http://sp.lyellcollection.org/ at University of Toronto on August 10, 2014
EASTERN FOOTHILLS THRUST-BELT, COLOMBIA
Fig. 14. Continued.
shortening/displacement gradients shows how, in
two different segments of the deformation front,
shortening starts with thick-skinned thrusts to the
south in each segment and is transferred to thin-
skinned thrusts to the north (Fig. 11). This idea
contrasts with the hypothesis suggested by Mora
et al. (2010a, b) based on cross sections A –A′
to F –F′ (see Fig. 4 for location). In that paper,
Mora et al. (2010a, b) suggest that the observed
shortening gradient is related to the change from
a transpression-dominated front to a contraction
dominated front as one traverses from south to
north. However, our new documentation of a
‘repetitive pattern of shortening/displacement gra-
dients’ shows that the shortening gradient from
south to north between cross sections A –A′ and
F– F′ (Fig. 3) is probably not the result of the
change from a transpression-dominated front to
one dominated by contraction. Its repetitive charac-
ter demonstrates that it is not just a question of
kinematics. In the following section an attempt is
made to explain the ‘repetition of displacement
213
patterns’ as a result of segment linkage of different
fault segments.
The second point relating to the shortening
and displacement profiles shown in Figure 11 is
whether or not the Tierranegra segment (Fig. 3)
involves a zone of shortening and displacement
minima. Based on our new cross sections and the
compilation of previous ones, we propose that the
shortening/displacement minimum is real and not
an artefact resulting from a missinterpretation of
the sections. Field and seismic evidence on fault
displacement v. length ratios have shown that
these range between 0.005 and 0.1 with an average
value of 0.03 being documented in most normal
fault networks. The presence of different exten-
sional fault segments for inferred Neocomian mas-
ter faults has been identified by Mora et al. (2009;
see Fig. 16) in the Guavio and Ariari –Guatiquı́a
structural domains (Fig. 3). The individual segments
identified as the Servitá and Lengupa ancestral
normal faults (Fig. 3) have lengths of about 60 km
with calculated extensional displacements of
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214 L. JIMENEZ ET AL.

Fig. 15. Kinematic restoration of cross section M –M′ , based on the AFT data shown in Figure 10 (see raw data in
Table 3).

c. 3–4 km, yielding fault displacement ratios of c. them have individual lengths of about 60 km,
0.08. Other segments of ancestral normal faults being consistent in length with the well-documented
have been inferred in this paper (Fig. 16). All of Servitá and Lengupá type examples. An inspection
 Downloaded from http://sp.lyellcollection.org/ at University of Toronto on August 10, 2014
EASTERN FOOTHILLS THRUST-BELT, COLOMBIA
Fig. 16. Summary map showing the different types of faults identified in the study area. See discussion in the text.
of the Neocomian map (Fig. 16) indicates that the
Tierranegra segment of the Guaicaramo Fault
acted as an isolated segment interacting with the
adjacent segments via ‘soft linkages’. This kind of
interaction involves displacement minima in the
zone of reduced strain where the extensional seg-
ments do not interact.
We next attempt to understand the kind of inter-
action between faults in a contractional tectonic
setting. Bergen & Shaw (2010) defined an additional
term for thrust fault interaction, namely ‘detach-
ment linkage’. This is equivalent to a ‘hard link’
between faults (i.e. an actual connection of seg-
ments by connecting faults, which cut the relay
ramps; e.g. Cowie et al. 2007). In ‘detachment lin-
kages’ the linkage is not evident at the surface but
is apparent in a vertical section as a subsurface con-
necting plane. In thrust sequences the splay faults
branching from the older fault have less total and
maximum displacement than the older fault in the
hinterland as shown by Bergen & Shaw (2010).
Our cross sections and those of Mora et al.
(2010a, b) illustrate that in contraction the Guavio
thin-skinned segment of the Guaicaramo Fault
is connected via a ‘detachment linkage’ with the
main inversion fault (Tesalia system; see Fig. 3
for location). The Tierranegra segment of the
Guaicaramo Fault is never connected through
an obvious hard link with the inversion systems
towards the hinterland, nor with documented
215
detachments to the west. In addition, it is located
in front of an evident displacement minima in the
Tesalia –Lengupa system. We believe that the Guai-
caramo Fault in the Tierranegra segment remains
mainly disconnected from the rest of the inversion
faults and only interacts towards the end of its evo-
lution with the southern thin-skinned Guaicaramo
segment and the shortcuts to the north. Otherwise,
it is difficult to account for these displacement
minima in fully hard-linked systems. The fault
length/displacement ratio reinforces this point of
view. The fully linked Servitá –Lengupá inversion
fault (see Figs 3 & 16 for location) has a length of
277 km and a maximum displacement of 21.5 km,
giving it a length/displacement ratio of 0.077
(Table 4). If the Guaicaramo Fault in the Tierrane-
gra segment had enough displacement to eliminate
the displacement minima, it would require at least
25 km of displacement. Therefore, with a total
length of 240 km in the fully linked Guaicaramo
Fault (from the Guavio to the Piedemonte seg-
ments) the length/displacement ratio would be lar-
ger than that determined for the Tesalia system
and already larger than the boundary reported in
the literature for length/displacement relationships
(e.g. Cowie et al. 2007; Table 4 and Fig. 11b).
Another idea that reinforces this point of view
is the fact that, in the study area, displacement and
structural relief associated with inversion faults
tend to be proportional (Mora et al. 2009). This
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216 L. JIMENEZ ET AL.

Table 4. Calculated length/displacement relationships for the main faults in the

eastern foothills based on the maximum length of their map trace and the
maximum measured displacement from balanced cross sections in this work

Fault system Maximum trace Maximum Length/

length (km) displacement (km) displacement

Tesalia – Lengupa 276.78 21.5 0.0777

Guaicaramo 240.68 13.88 0.0577
Yopal 92.78 9.2 0.0992

Fig. 17. Isopach map of Oligocene to Neogene Units based on well and seismic data. The map also shows the location
of the different cross sections and structural segments defined in the text.
 Downloaded from http://sp.lyellcollection.org/ at University of Toronto on August 10, 2014
EASTERN FOOTHILLS THRUST-BELT, COLOMBIA
is well documented in the literature (e.g. Yamada &
McClay 2004). The Tierranegra segment is a struc-
tural low associated with an inversion fault. Folds
occur to the SW and NE of the segment but tend
to die out as they approach it (see in Fig. 3 the
Santa Marı́a anticline plunging to the NE and the
Tierranegra anticline plunging to the SW). Thus,
the shortening in the Tierranegra segment will be
less than that in the adjacent segments. We therefore
conclude that the early formed extensional zones of
displacement deficit are inherited and thus still
present in the contractional deformation front.
Displacement profiles and fault interactions
show a mix of tectonically inherited structural
styles as well as pure thin-skinned independent
behaviour. The observation of pure thick-skinned
inversion and thin-skinned detachments occurring
along-strike can be explained with our results. It
appears that, instead of propagating along-strike
during inversion, the early formed normal fault seg-
ments transfer displacement up-dip to a higher
detachment wherever there is enough sedimentary
cover to allow this behaviour. We propose this as
a new interaction that here we define as ‘inversion
linkage’.
Controls on the changes in structural style and
how different styles accommodate shortening
In this section we discuss two observations from
the study area. First we discuss the coincidence
of the maximum thickness of Cenozoic sediments
with the presence of antiformal stacks (see Fig. 17
and location of cross sections L–L′ and M –M′ ).
Second we discuss the absence of a northwards
total shortening gradient. The foreland adjacent to
the Ariari Guatiquı́a segment, located in the
southern part of the study area (Fig. 3), has thinner
sedimentary cover and a lower basement dip than
the Guavio segment located to the NE (Figs 3 &
17). This results in more basement-involved defor-
mation occurring in the Ariari –Guatiquı́a segment
in order to build the critical taper necessary to
advance (Boyer 1995; Mora et al. 2010a, b).
Instead, the thicker sedimentary cover in the
Guavio segment results in the formation and propa-
gation of a thin-skinned thrust sheet (Fig. 17).
However, the thicker cover and higher basement
dip values do not always result in a more pro-
nounced forelandward advance of the deformation
front. We also detect a change in the structural
style that is related to the presence of antiformal
stacks in the northern Piedemonte segment. Appar-
ently, a threshold thickness of Cenozoic sediments
and the presence of two detachments cause the
deformation to generate antiformal stacks rather
than the migration of the deformation front toward
217
the foreland, as shown in analogue models (see
e.g. Couzens-Shultz et al. 2003). It is worth noting
that the key surface evidence of the presence of anti-
formal stacks in the Piedemonte segment is rep-
resented by the two limbs of the Nunchı́a Syncline
(Fig. 4). The Nunchı́a Syncline is absent in the
Tierranegra segment and the structural relief along
strike of the Nunchı́a Syncline, in the Tierranegra
segment, is much less (Fig. 4). This suggests the
absence of antiformal stacks in the Tierranegra
segment. We hypothesize that this interpreted
absence is related to the fact that this segment is a
zone not fully linked with the deformation front,
thus generating, as discussed above, a zone of
displacement minima, and therefore a zone where
very little deformation is focused. The antiformal
stacking and faulted detachment folds have shifted
to the Piedemonte segment, where not only does a
massive, syntectonic, sedimentation sequence act
as a backstop but also the inversion system is fully
linked to other faults.
An additional feature of the deformation belt that
parallels the NE –SW trending Llanos foothills is
the absence of any gradients in either the shortening
or displacement values, along this direction. Com-
pared with the Piedemonte segment, the south
Ariari –Guatiquı́a segment has a completely differ-
ent structural style and exhumation is much higher.
However, the total shortening values are similar.
Therefore, except for a local minimum in the Tierra-
negra segment, shortening appears to be roughly
constant along-strike, although accommodated in
different ways.
Timing of deformation and how this causes
different behaviours through time
Another key finding is that footwall edge shortcut
faults and inverted normal faults are coeval.
However, during the earlier stages, the inversion
faults move faster and then slower during the
latest stages. Henk & Nemcok (2008) showed that
this behaviour is a mechanical requirement of the
system and Bergen & Shaw (2010) proposed the
‘detachment linkage’ mechanism, which provides
an explanation as to why, in the initial stages, move-
ment on shortcut thrusts is slower. This is control-
led by the fact that thrust faults branching from
previous thrusts accumulate less displacement than
the main fault. However, under higher far-field
shortening rates (Mora et al. 2013) and where the
inversion faults had generated high topography by
the Pliocene, the normal stresses on the inversion
planes eventually prevent further slip and inver-
sion stops. Displacement is transferred to footwall
edge shortcut thrusts, resulting in an increase in
slip-rate. The refined chronology of movement
 Downloaded from http://sp.lyellcollection.org/ at University of Toronto on August 10, 2014
218 L. JIMENEZ ET AL.
presented in this study agrees with this model and
indicates faster rates of shortenings and the transfer
of displacement to faster shortcuts, by 3 Ma.
Conclusions
An integrated analysis of shortening gradients,
timing and geometries allows us to demonstrate
that displacement in the foothill belt is partly con-
trolled by tectonic inheritance where ancestral
places with soft linkage relationships remain as
zones of displacement minima. Apart from those
local minima, various factors control structural
styles along-strike, but they do not cause a steady
trend of decreasing or increasing shortening gradi-
ents in this direction. Apparently structural styles
change, but shortening is constant, although it is
accommodated in different ways. We document
ancestral faults, footwall-edge shortcuts faults and
bedding plane detachment faults with different
amounts of displacement. Most of the faults are
coeval but the majority of the shortening along foot-
wall edge shortcuts and detachment faults is associ-
ated with faster Pliocene shortening rates.
Our new findings on the fault segmentation, the
temporal behaviour of the structures and the spa-
tial variations of shortening and structural styles
make the Llanos foothills of the Eastern Cordillera
an ideal type location for the characterization of a
‘frontal belt’ that forms in front of an inversion-
related orogen. The large dataset and multiple
studies described in this article provide a model to
explain the thick-skinned v. thin-skinned inter-
actions in such a belt from the initial inversion to
the active propagation of the deformation front,
which leads to the advance of the foothill belt as
a whole.
This research was supported by Ecopetrol-ICP as part of
the project ‘Cronologı́a de la deformación en las Cuencas
Subandinas’. The authors are very grateful to the editors
M. Nemčok and J. Cosgrove. Furthermore, J. Cosgrove
revised in detail the English of the paper. M. L. Arboleya
and S. Schamel provided thorough reviews that improved
the manuscript.
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