The role of tectonic, volcanic, and fluvial processes as controls of Neogene intermontane basin evolution in the western Colombian Andes

The sediment dispersal patterns at active orogens are highly sensitive to changes in the landscape configuration triggered by the combined effects of deformation, volcanism, and geomorphological processes. Hence, reconstructing source-to-sink systems provides valuable insights into the interplay between deep-seated and surface processes as controls of the coupled development of mountain ranges and intermontane sedimentary basins.

The Oligocene-Miocene evolution of the Colombian Andes has been shaped by subduction tectonics and the collision of an oceanic terrane, which are linked to changes in the kinematics of crustal deformation and the tectono-magmatic history of continental arcs. Nevertheless, the combined effect of such processes on the growth of the Western and Central Cordilleras and the associated intermontane basins remains elusive.

Here, we use a large dataset of detrital zircon U-Pb ages from Oligocene-Pliocene strata of intermontane basins of western Colombia, and available (bio)stratigraphic and structural constraints to reconstruct: i) the regional-scale configuration of source areas and accumulation settings, ii) the sediment routing systems, and iii) the history of basin connectivity. We interpret the sediment dispersal patterns as controlled by the pulsed uplift of the Central and Western Cordilleras linked to a syn- to post-collisional transpressional tectonic regime, and to changes in the drainage network driven by intra-basinal arc-related magmatic activity