Geology of Colombia

Geology of Colombia refers to the

Nazca plate

.

Geologic history

As in the rest of South America, a combination of external and internal tectonic, volcanic, and glacial forces over the eons formed Colombia's present-day geology.

Cenozoic Era, which began about 66 million years ago, the seas withdrew from most of Colombia's territory, and enormous granite masses formed along the Cordillera Occidental.^[1] The three cordilleras began to take shape 12 million years ago.^[1] The Cordillera Occidental and the Cordillera Central form the western and eastern sides of a massive crystalline arch, which extends from the Caribbean lowlands to the southern border of Ecuador.^[1] The Cordillera Oriental, however, is composed of folded stratified rocks overlying a crystalline core.^[1]

Seismic activity

Richter magnitude scale.^[1] Recent earthquakes that struck Colombia's Pacific coast areas have included one accompanied by a tsunami in Tumaco, Nariño Department, on December 12, 1979, measuring 7.9 on the Richter magnitude scale, the largest in northwestern South America since 1942; another on November 15, 2004, with a magnitude of 6.7; and one on September 10, 2007, measuring 6.8.^[1] Although construction standards are high for new buildings in the main cities, smaller cities and rural zones are particularly vulnerable to earthquakes.^[1]

Emerged and submerged zones

Colombia is formed by two great territorial zones, one submerged in the

Caribbean sea covering a total area of 828,660 km² and the second is the emerged land which is formed by the Andes mountain range and the Llanos plains that are shared with Venezuela

and cover an area of some 1'143,748 km².

Emerged zone

In the emerged zone the region is washed by numerous rivers that include the

Caquetá River, Putumayo River and Apaporis River

. This Llanos region is also divided into three subregions;

Northern plains

The northern area characterized by its wavy plains similar to a savanna and located between the Andes mountain range and the Guiana Shield formed during the Tertiary mostly covered with sand and clay, while the rivers contributed with sedimentary elements from the Andes during the Quaternary.

Macarena Mountains area

The second region is located in the central area of the Llanos with a more wavy topography and formations elevated like the

Guyana Shield

.

Southern area

The southern area is made up by most of the Putumayo and

Amazon Region of Colombia

.

The Andean region

The

Caribbean plate that created volcanic islands off the Pacific coast off Colombia and the isthmus of Panama. The Colombian Massif, near the border with Ecuador formed and split into three mountain ranges: Cordillera Central (central mountain range), Cordillera Oriental (Eastern mountain range) and the Cordillera Occidental

(Western mountain range), each product of three different formation processes and divided from one another by valleys.

The Cordillera Oriental was the most recently formed mountain range of the three, developing by the end of the

pelagic sediments with Precambrian and Paleozoic metamorphic rocks bases. The area of the Bogotá Savanna and the highland of Cundinamarca and Boyacá tableland. To the northeast the volcanic metamorphic formed massif in Santander and Norte de Santander formed the Andes in Venezuela and the mountain ranges of Perijá and Motilones

, between the border of Colombia and Venezuela during the Pleistocene and added sedimentary rocks during the Mesozoic.

The Cordillera Central formed from the

Baudó Mountains

to the west of the country.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p Bushnell, David and Rex A. Hudson. "Geology". In Colombia: A Country Study (Rex A. Hudson, ed.), pp. 70-71. Library of Congress Federal Research Division (2010). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

External links

(in Spanish) Colombian Institute of Geology and Mining

[loc-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p Bushnell, David and Rex A. Hudson. "Geology". In Colombia: A Country Study (Rex A. Hudson, ed.), pp. 70-71. Library of Congress Federal Research Division (2010). This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

[1]

Geology of South America
Sovereign states	Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Ecuador Guyana Paraguay Peru Suriname Uruguay Venezuela
Dependencies and other territories	Falkland Islands French Guiana South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

v t e Mining in Colombia
Gold	Acandí El Bagre La Ye Barbacoas Buriticá Buriticá Cáceres Cajamarca La Colosa Caramanta Caramanta El Carmen de Atrato El Roble Cisneros Cisneros Condoto Guapi Jericó Quebradona Lloró Magüí Marmato Marmato Nechí Quibdó Quinchía Quinchía Remedios Segovia-Remedios Río Quito San Roque Gramalote Santa Bárbara Santa Rosa de Osos San Ramón Segovia Segovia-Remedios Simití Tadó Timbiquí Tumaco Unión Panamericana Venecia La Mina Zaragoza El Limón
Silver	Amalfi El Bagre Buriticá Cáceres El Carmen de Atrato El Roble Cisneros Cisneros Jericó Nuevo Chaquiro Líbano Marmato Marmato Nechí Puerto Berrío Remedios Segovia Zaragoza
Platinum	Atrato El Cantón de San Pablo Cértegui Condoto Istmina Marmato Marmato Medio Atrato Nóvita Quibdó Río Quito Tadó Unión Panamericana
Nickel	Medellín Morro Pelón Montelíbano Cerro Matoso Planeta Rica Uré
Coltan	Inírida Vaupés Vichada
Emeralds	Muzo Briceño Coper Maripí La Pita Muzo Muzo Otanche Pauna Quípama Las Pavas San Pablo de Borbur Coscuez Yacopí Chivor Chivor Chivor Gachalá Guateque Macanal Somondoco Ubalá
Coal	Agustín Codazzi Barrancas Cerrejón Becerril Chiriguaná Cucunubá Cúcuta Guachetá Hatonuevo La Jagua de Ibirico El Paso La Francia Puerto Libertador Samacá Sardinata
Salt	Zipaquirá Zipaquirá mine Nemocón Nemocón mine Manaure Restrepo Upín Santa Catalina Sesquilé
Sources	Gold • Silver • Platinum • Nickel • Coltan • Emeralds • Coal • Salt
Category • Images

v t e Volcanoes of Colombia
Western Ranges	Azufral Cerro Negro de Mayasquer Chiles Cumbal
Central Ranges	Alto Mellizos Las Ánimas Bordoncillo Cerro Bravo Cerro Machín Doña Juana El Escondido Galeras Morasurco Nevado El Cisne Nevado del Huila Nevado del Quindío Nevado del Ruiz Armero tragedy Nevado de Santa Isabel Nevado del Tolima Patascoy Petacas Puracé Romeral San Diego Sotará
Eastern Ranges	Paipa-Iza volcanic complex
Other	Providencia El Totumo (mud volcano)
Source	• "Observatorios Vulcanológicos". Servicio Geológico de Colombia .
Category • Images