The Cucuana Fault ( es, Falla Cucuana) is a dextral

strike-slip fault In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic ...

in the

departments Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

of Tolima and Cundinamarca in

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

. The fault has a total length of and runs along an average east-northeast to west-southwest strike of 067.9 ± 6 crossing the

Middle Magdalena Valley The Middle Magdalena Valley, Middle Magdalena Basin or Middle Magdalena Valley Basin ( es, Valle Medio del Magdalena, commonly abbreviated to VMM) is an intermontane basin, located in north-central Colombia between the Central and Eastern Ranges of ...

from the

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

towards the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes.

Etymology

The fault is named after the Cucuana River.Paris et al., 2000a, p.49

Description

The Cucuana Fault is parallel to and south of the

Ibagué Fault The Ibagué Fault ( es, Falla de Ibagué) is a major dextral slightly thrust fault, oblique strike-slip fault in the departments of Colombia, department of Tolima Department, Tolima in central Colombia. The fault has a total length of and runs al ...

in the

Central Ranges Central Ranges (code CER) is an Australian bioregion, with an area of 101,640.44 square kilometres (39,244 sq mi) spreading across two states and one territory: South Australia, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory.Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

n Andes, crossing Paleozoic metamorphic rocks, Mesozoic igneous rocks (

Ibagué Batholith Ibagué () (referred to as San Bonifacio de Ibagué del Valle de las Lanzas during the Spanish period) is the capital of Tolima, one of the 32 departments that make up the Republic of Colombia. The city is located in the center of the country ...

), and Tertiary beds. The fault extends into the Eastern Ranges across the

, cutting Cretaceous beds. The

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ...

sedimentary and volcanic fill of the Magdalena River valley is not reported as having been deformed by the fault. This fault has a prominent trace on satellite images. It has displaced drainages, spurs, fault saddles, and formed triangular facets, and appears to structurally control the course of the Cucuana River.

References

Bibliography

Maps

* {{Tectonism in Colombia Seismic faults of Colombia Strike-slip faults Inactive faults Faults Faults

Etymology

Description

See also

References

Bibliography

Maps