Armenia Fault

Armenia Fault
Armenia Fault
Falla de Armenia
Age	Quaternary
Orogeny	Andean

The Armenia Fault (

strike of 023.2 ± 11 in the Central Ranges of the Colombian Andes. The fault shows Holocene activity with a surface rupture

produced in 2001.

Etymology

The fault is named after Armenia, the capital of Quindío.^[1]

Description

The Armenia Fault is part of the Romeral Fault System on the western slope of the Central Ranges of the Colombian Andes. The fault crosses the city of Armenia and displaces Pliocene to Pleistocene volcanic and volcano-sedimentary deposits of the Quindío Fan (Spanish: Abanico del Quindío), which covers about 400 square kilometres (150 sq mi). The geometric and neotectonic features of the Montenegro and Armenia Faults are very similar.^[1]

The fault forms well-developed fault scarp as much as 50 metres (160 ft) high, characterised by beheaded streams, ponded alluvium, aligned and offset drainages, soil and rock slides on the face of the scarp, and localised tilting of terrain. The Armenia Fault deforms Quaternary volcano-sedimentary debris flow and pyroclastic flow deposits.^[1] The valley of the Quindío River follows the strike of the Armenia Fault.^[2]

Activity

The fault is considered active with

Circasia, about 20 kilometres (12 mi) north of Armenia,^[3] indicating that the fault last movement is younger than 4,820 years (and probably less than 3,000 years) based on a previously dated bed of lapilli that was erupted by the Machín volcano.^[4] A maximum moment magnitude of 6.5 to 6.8 and a recurrence interval of 1000 years is estimated for this fault, based on the length of Quaternary rupture and displacement of topographic features at the fault.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Paris et al., 2000a, p.21
^ Mapa Geológico de Quindío, 2000
^ Paris et al., 2000b
^ Paris et al., 2000a, p.22

Bibliography

Paris, Gabriel; Michael N. Machette; Richard L. Dart, and Kathleen M. Haller. 2000a. Map and Database of Quaternary Faults and Folds in Colombia and its Offshore Regions, 1–66. USGS. Accessed 2017-09-18.

Maps

Paris, Gabriel; Michael N. Machette; Richard L. Dart, and Kathleen M. Haller. 2000b. Map of Quaternary Faults and Folds of Colombia and Its Offshore Regions, 1. USGS. Accessed 2017-09-18.
Mosquera, D. 2000. Mapa Geológico de Quindío 1:100,000, 1.
INGEOMINAS
. Accessed 2017-09-21.