Cucuana Fault

Cucuana Fault
Cucuana Fault
Falla Cucuana
Etymology	Cucuana River
Coordinates	04°04′21″N 75°23′19″W / 4.07250°N 75.38861°W
Country	Colombia
Region	Andean
State	Cundinamarca, Tolima
Characteristics
Range	Central & Eastern Ranges, Andes
Part of	Andean strike-slip faults
Length	141.4 km (87.9 mi)
Strike	067.9 ± 6
Dip	Vertical
Displacement	0.01–0.1 mm (0.00039–0.00394 in)/yr
Tectonics
Plate	North Andean
Status	Inactive
Type	Strike-slip fault
Movement	Dextral
Age	Quaternary
Orogeny	Andean

The Cucuana Fault (Spanish: Falla Cucuana) is a dextral strike-slip fault in the departments of Tolima and Cundinamarca in Colombia. The fault has a total length of 141.4 kilometres (87.9 mi) and runs along an average east-northeast to west-southwest strike of 067.9 ± 6 crossing the Middle Magdalena Valley from the Central towards the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes.

Etymology[edit]

The fault is named after the Cucuana River.^[1]

The Cucuana Fault is parallel to and south of the Ibagué Fault in the Central Ranges of the Colombian Andes, crossing Paleozoic metamorphic rocks, Mesozoic igneous rocks (Ibagué Batholith), and Tertiary beds. The fault extends into the Eastern Ranges across the Middle Magdalena Valley, cutting Cretaceous beds. The Quaternary 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.^[1]

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.

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.