GEOLOGICAL NOTE

U/Pb LA-MC-ICP-MS Zircon Geochronology and Geochemistry

from a Postcollisional Biotite Granite of the Baja Guajira
Basin, Colombia: Implications for Late Cretaceous
and Neogene Caribbean–South American Tectonics

A. Cardona, V. Valencia,1 G. Bayona,2 C. Jaramillo,3 G. Ojeda,4 and J. Ruiz1

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancón 0843-03092, Panama; and Instituto Colombiano
del Petróleo, Ecopetrol, Piedecuesta, Santander A.A. 4185, Colombia
(e-mail: cardonaa@si.edu)

ABSTRACT
U/Pb LA-MC-ICP-MS zircon ages and whole-rock geochemistry from a biotite granitoid, recovered at ∼2.1 km depth
from the Rancherı́a-2 well in the Baja Guajira basin, southern Caribbean region, reveal the existence of a ca. 70 Ma
silicic plutonic event. This granitoid intrudes ca. 76–80 Ma intraoceanic arc fragments and continental margin sed-
iments that experienced continental subduction and collision since ca. 76 Ma. The major compositional shift recorded
by this granitoid, including light rare earth element (LREE) enrichment ([La/Yb]N p 11.28 ), the increase in the arc
maturity and its postcollisional affinity, suggests that this magmatism may have been formed during the waning
stages of collision due to slab break-off that followed the end of the continental subduction. This interpretation would
constrain arc-continent collision of the allochthonous Caribbean plate with this segment of the continental margin
by ca. 70–76 Ma. Contemporaneous and slightly diachronous accretionary events are seen along most of the north-
western South American margin. We therefore suggest that the oblique geometry of the Caribbean–South American
plate interactions facilitates the accretion of the eastern and northern segments of the oceanic plate margins. Un-
conformable contact with Late Oligocene–Early Miocene sediments suggests that the granitoid and its host rocks
were uplifted and exhumed between the Late Maastrichtian and the Late Oligocene as a consequence of the major
changes on the Caribbean–South American convergence.

Online enhancement: appendix table.

Introduction
The Meso-Cenozoic tectonic evolution of northern plexes, and the creation and destruction of different
South America is controlled by the interactions of sedimentary basins (Gomez et al. 2005; Pindell et
the continental margin with the advancing front of al. 2005; Gorney et al. 2007; Cardona et al. 2008;
the allochthonous oceanic Caribbean plate (Burke Weber et al. 2009). Continuous eastward displace-
1988; Pindell 1993). The tectonic activity resulted ment of the Caribbean plate and northward move-
in the accretion of several oceanic terranes, the for- ment of the North Andean block have segmented
mation of subduction-accretion metamorphic com- once-coherent orogen. In order to test and refine
Caribbean paleogeographic models and understand
Manuscript received July 11, 2008; accepted June 1, 2009. the effects of ocean-continent interactions, data
1
Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, from scarcely studied areas such as hidden subsur-
Arizona 85721, U.S.A. face crystalline domains are extremely valuable
2
Corporación Geológica ARES, Bogotá, Colombia.
3
(Iturralde-Vinent and Lidiak 2006). In this note, we
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancón
0843-03092, Panama. present U/Pb LA-MC-ICP-MS zircon ages and
4
Instituto Colombiano del Petróleo, Ecopetrol, Piedecuesta, whole-rock geochemistry from a biotite tonalite
Santander A.A. 4185, Colombia. drilled at 2.1-km depth at the Rancherı́a-2 well
[The Journal of Geology, 2009, volume 117, p. 685–692] 䉷 2009 by The University of Chicago.
All rights reserved. 0022-1376/2009/11706-0007$15.00 DOI: 10.1086/605776

685
686 A. CARDONA ET AL.

(72⬚52⬘45.94⬙ N and 11⬚34⬘1.43⬙ W), in the Baja Baja Guajira basin is separated from the Santa
Guajira basin (fig. 1A) in northern Colombia. The Marta, Perijá Range, and Guajira Serranias crystal-
spatiotemporal and compositional features of this line uplifted massifs by several right lateral faults
granitoid, when integrated with the Late Creta- (Kellogg 1984; Macellari 1995). The northern limit
ceous Caribbean record of surrounding coastal up- overlaps with the south Caribbean deformed belt,
lifted regions (Cardona et al. 2008; Weber et al., which represents an Eocene to recent sedimentary
forthcoming), allows us to establish the timing and wedge produced by underthrusting of the Carib-
evolution of the collision between the Caribbean bean plate against the South American margin (Van
and South American plates. der Hilst and Mann 1994). Seismic data and drilling
activities have shown the existence of normal fault-
ing of the basement, characteristic of an exten-
Geological Setting sional origin of the Baja Guajira basin (Thery 1982;
In northern Colombia, the continuity of the An- Escalante 2005; Ramirez 2006; Vence 2008). Crys-
dean Cordillera is replaced by a discontinuous se- talline rocks recovered from oil wells include var-
ries of uplifted massifs surrounded by thick Ce- ious igneous (volcanoplutonic) and metamorphic
nozoic basins that extend toward the Caribbean Sea units (fig. 1B). Available geochronological data from
(fig. 1A). These basins were formed as a pull-apart- these rocks are K-Ar ages of ca. 115 Ma and 136
type system associated with the migration of the Ma from felsic and mafic volcanites and a 120 Ma
Caribbean plate and the northern extrusion of the age from an amphibolitic schist (Tschanz et al.
Andean block, events that also promoted the 1974; Thery 1982). These compositional and tem-
growth of coastal topography (Muessig 1984; Ma- poral constraints are comparable with those of the
cellari 1995; Pindell et al. 2005; Gorney et al. 2007) adjacent massifs (Tschanz et al. 1974; Maze 1984).
and the lateral disruption of formerly coherent The formation and sedimentary filling of this basin
crustal domains (Priem et al. 1986; Montes et al. began in the Late Oligocene–Miocene (Wach and
2005; Sisson et al. 2005). One of these basins, the Shaughnessy 2002; Ramirez 2006).
Baja Guajira, underlies a flat topography that ex- The Santa Marta and Guajira Serranias massifs
tends offshore into the Caribbean Sea (fig. 1). The include three lithostratigraphic domains (fig. 1B).

Figure 1. A, Topography of northern South America after Smith and Sandwell (1997), including the major physio-
graphic domains of northwestern South America. BGB p Baja Guajira basin, GS p Guajira Serranias, MB p Maracaibo
basin, PR p Perija Range, RB p Rancherı́a basin, SDB p south Caribbean deformed belt, SM p Sierra Nevada de
Santa Marta. B, Geological map of northern Colombia and location of major wells with their lithological affinity
(modified from Gómez et al. 2007).
Journal of Geology CARIBBEAN POSTCOLLISIONAL GRANITOID 687

Figure 2. U/Pb concordia and weighted mean average age of the Rancherı́a-2 biotite granite.

Two major Grenvillian and Paleozoic metamorphic Analytical Techniques

belts are intruded by Jurassic granitoids and vol-
U/Pb analyses were carried out at the Arizona
canic rocks that represent the para-autochthonous
LaserChron Center by Laser Ablation–Multi-
South American margin (Tschanz et al. 1974;
Collector–ICP–Mass Spectrometry (LAM-ICP-MS).
Cardona-Molina et al. 2006). The northwestern
Details of the analytical procedures and a descrip-
coastal segment includes both metamorphosed and
tion of the method are provided by Valencia et al.
unmetamorphosed Late Cretaceous volcanic and
(2005) and Gehrels et al. (2008). Whole-rock geo-
sedimentary rocks of arc and continental margin
chemical analysis was carried out by ICP-MS at
affinity linked to the Caribbean–South America in-
ACME Analytical Laboratories in Canada, follow-
teractions (Alvarez 1967; Tschanz et al. 1974; Car-
ing standard procedures. Analytical results are pre-
dona et al. 2008; Weber et al., forthcoming). Paleo-
sented in table A1, available in the online edition
gene granitoids (ca. 65–50 Ma) intrude this segment
or from the Journal of Geology office.
(Lockwood 1965; Tschanz et al. 1974; Cardona et
al. 2007, 2008). Palinspastic restoration has shown
that these two massifs were once contiguous and Results
were linked to the Central Cordillera of the Co-
Forty-six analyses were done in tips and cores of
lombian Andes at least until the Eocene (Pindell et
zircon crystals. A single zircon population of long
al. 1998; Gomez et al. 2005; Montes et al. 2005).
prismatic crystals was recognized. Cathodolumi-
nescence images revealed a single oscillatory zon-
Rancherı́a-2 Well Granitoid ing pattern characteristic of igneous zircons (Vabra
et al. 1999), and their U/Th ratios below 10 are also
The Rancherı́a-2 well is located in the Caribbean indicative of magmatic environments (Rubatto
coastal region at 72⬚52⬘45.94⬙ N and 11⬚34⬘1.43⬙ W, 2002). Results are concordant with a 206Pb/238U
near the city of Rioacha (fig. 1A). This well bot- weighted mean average age of 70.3 Ⳳ 1 Ma
tomed at ∼2.1 km in a very well-preserved inequi- (MSWD p 0.99; fig. 2); older inherited zircons ages
granular biotite granite that was recovered as a core were not evident in the 46 crystals analyzed. This
during oil drilling. As previously mentioned, rocks age represents a Late Cretaceous magmatic crys-
from surrounding wells include schists, amphibo- tallization of the granitoid. According to the SiO2
lites, and gabbros (fig. 1B). An extensive siliciclastic and K2O ⫹ Na2O concentrations (73.07% and
succession was deposited unconformably over this 12.01%), this rock can be classified as a granite.
granitoid. The presence of the foraminifera Glo- The ACNK values of 1.06 are within the field of
bigerinoides obliquus and Globorotalia pseudom- peraluminous granitoids; however, the value is be-
iocenica suggests that sedimentation was active low the values for S-type granitoids (11.1) proposed
during the Miocene (Duque-Caro and Reyes 1999). by White and Chappell (1988) and may be related
688 A. CARDONA ET AL.

to the presence of biotite. Multielement patterns Weber et al. 2009, forthcoming), suggesting that
normalized to ocean ridge granitoid show enrich- they represent a coherent host rock terrane for the
ment of large ion lithophile elements (K, Rb, Ba, Rancherı́a granitoid. These host rocks have proto-
and Th), depletion in high field strength elements, liths with intraoceanic arc and continental related
and a negative anomaly in Nb (fig. 3A), which are sediments formed between 90 Ma and 76 Ma that
characteristic of convergent margin granitoids during the Maastrichtian underwent significant
(Pearce et al. 1984). Rare earth element (REE) pat- metamorphism linked to the evolving stages of
terns (fig. 3A) are characterized by enrichment in continental subduction and arc-continent collision
the LREE (La/SmN p 4.33) and a slight fractiona- (Weber et al. 2007, 2009; Cardona et al. 2008). Im-
tion between middle REE and heavy REE mediately before this deformational event, sedi-
(Gd/Yb N) p 1.48). Within the tectonic discrimi- mentation within the continental margin was char-
nation diagram of Pearce et al. (1984), the granite acterized by tectonic quiescence and passive
plots in the overlapping field of postcollisional margin sedimentation conditions (Martinez and
granitoids, isolated from typical Caribbean arc Hernandez 1992). This suggests that an allochtho-
granitoids (fig. 3B). Brown et al. (1984) have shown nous intraoceanic arc at the front of the Caribbean
that Nb versus Rb/Zr elemental ratios are markers plate (Pindell et al. 2005; Pindell and Kennan, forth-
of arc maturity and the involvement of a more in- coming) was approaching the passive continental
traplate mantle component. When plotted within margin of South America (fig. 4A). The lack of de-
this diagram (fig. 3C), the Rancherı́a granitoid plots formation and metamorphic overprint in the
within mature arc and shows a well-defined con- Rancherı́a granitoid indicates that this intrusion
trast with other circum-Caribbean Cretaceous to postdates the major metamorphic overprint. The
Paleogene intraoceanic arc granitoids (White et al. felsic composition contrasts with the previously
1999; Rojas-Agramonte et al. 2004; Proenza et al. formed mafic volcanic arc rocks from Santa Marta
2006; Marchesi et al. 2007; Wörner et al. 2009). and Guajira (Cardona et al. 2008; Weber et al., forth-
coming), and the strong LREE enrichment (higher
than continental crust) and mature arc affinity also
differ from granitoid formed at intraoceanic arcs
Tectonic Constraints
(fig. 3). Major changes in the composition and na-
The new U/Pb zircon age from the biotite grano- ture of magmatic products are common in the final
diorite of the Rancherı́a-2 well reveals the existence stages of arc-continent settings and reflect either
of Late Cretaceous (70 Ma) silicic plutonism under the increase in the input of continental crust and
the Baja Guajira basin. The adjacent rocks from sediments as the former is entering the subduction
Santa Marta and Guajira Serranias are widely dis- channel or the participation of astenospheric man-
tributed and temporally and geologically correlated tle as slab break-off takes place (Davies and von
with the drilled rocks that surround Rancherı́a-2 Blanckenburg 1995; Draut and Clift 2001; Elburg
(fig. 1; Tschanz et al. 1974; Cardona et al. 2008; et al. 2005). In the later case, temperature increase

Figure 3. A, Multielement plot normalized and rare earth element diagram of the biotite granite from the Rancherı́a-
2 well. B, Tectonic discrimination diagram (Pearce et al. 1984), including field from selected Caribbean granit-
oids (White et al. 1999; Rojas-Agramonte et al. 2004; Proenza et al. 2006; Marchesi et al. 2007; Wörner et al. 2009).
ORG p ocean ridge granites, Syn-COLG p syn-collisional granites, VAG p volcanic arc granites, WPG p within-
plate granites. C, Arc maturity trend (Brown et al. 1984), field of selected Caribbean granitoids included (White et
al. 1999; Rojas-Agramonte et al. 2004; Proenza et al. 2006; Marchesi et al. 2007; Wörner et al. 2009).
Journal of Geology CARIBBEAN POSTCOLLISIONAL GRANITOID 689

Figure 4. Maastrichtian model for Caribbean–South American interactions (Pindell 1993; Pindell et al. 2005). A,
Approach of the allochthonous Caribbean arc to the continental margin. B, Arc-continent collision (formation of the
Rancherı́a granitoid); contemporaneous accretion along the entire northern Andean margin and slab break-off.

allows melting of the asthenosphere, the overlying rocks unconformably overlie crystalline rocks of
lithosphere, and crustal anatexis (Davies and von the Baja Guajira basin, indicating that during this
Blanckenburg 1995; van de Zedde and Wortel 2001). time frame the Maastrichtian granitoid and sur-
Eclogites and high-pressure metapelites from the rounding host rocks had already been uplifted and
Guajira region have demonstrated the existence of exhumed. Although it is outside the scope of this
continental subduction since ca. 76 Ma (Weber et note, we note that in the adjacent Santa Marta and
al. 2007, 2009), whereas, in Santa Marta, collision Guajira massifs, the correlative Cretaceous meta-
tectonics ends at ca. 65 Ma (Cardona et al. 2009). morphics are intruded by granitoids as young as 50
This regional temporal restriction suggests that Ma (Tschanz et al. 1974; Cardona et al. 2007, 2008).
this transient condition of slab detachment appar- We therefore suggest that this domain experienced
ently occurred in less than 10 Ma, which is similar at least two exhumation phases, an older one dur-
to what is predicted by thermomechanical models ing the Late Maastrichtian to the Eocene, linked to
(van de Zedde and Wortel 2001; Gerya et al. 2004). the collisional stages, and a younger one that ended
We therefore suggest that the Rancherı́a granitoid in the Early Miocene and probably recorded the es-
records a magmatic switch linked to the advanced tablishment of a new convergence system (Müller
stages of collision, probably related to the slab et al. 1999; Cardona et al. 2007).
break-off associated with the arc-continent colli-
sion (fig. 4B; Davies and von Blanckenburg 1995;
van de Zedde and Wortel 2001; Draut et al. 2002).
Caribbean Orogeny
Beginning of subsidence within the adjacent
Rancherı́a basin (fig. 1; Bayona et al. 2008) is prob- Regional paleogeographic reconstructions suggest
ably associated with this major event (Davies and that the allochthonous Caribbean plate obliquely
von Blanckenburg 1995; Draut et al. 2002). Sub- approached the northwestern South American con-
sequent flipping of subduction polarity gave way tinental margin from a Pacific position by ca. 100
to a Paleogene continental arc in the margin (Car- Ma (Pindell et al. 2005; fig. 4). This approach re-
dona et al. 2007, 2008). sulted in a series of transpressive deformation belts
Late Oligocene–Early Miocene sedimentary and high-pressure metamorphic complexes that
690 A. CARDONA ET AL.

caused segmentation and northeastern displace- of the margins to the South American continent
ment (Pindell and Kennan, forthcoming). Recent (fig. 4B).
tectonostratigraphic and temporal constraints from
the Ecuadorian and Colombian Andes have shown ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
the existence of a contemporaneous 75–65 Ma oro-
genic event linked to the accretion of a Caribbean Support from Ecopetrol-ICP is highly appreciated.
oceanic plateau (Vinasco et al. 2003; Gomez et al. The staff of the Litoteca Nacional of the Agencia
2005; Kerr and Tarney 2005; Vallejo et al. 2006; Nacional de Hidrocarburos is acknowledged for
Jaillard et al. 2008; Villagómez et al. 2008). These their help during sampling. Discussions and sup-
port from M. Weber, O. Mantilla, and V. Torres are
findings, when integrated with the results pre-
also greatly appreciated. Thorough and clear re-
sented here, indicate that most of the northern An-
views and suggestions by J. Pindell and an anony-
dean continental margin experienced a relatively mous reviewer and the editorial care of D. Rowley
synchronous Late Cretaceous–Paleocene regional are gratefully acknowledged. This research has re-
event along the northern Andes. We suggest that ceived support from a grant of the Banco de la Re-
this regional orogeny reflects the lateral and pública de Colombia, project 2289. Funding for the
oblique displacement of the allochthonous Carib- Arizona LaserChron Center is provided partially by
bean oceanic plate (Pindell et al. 2005; Pindell and grant EAR-0443387 from the National Science
Kennan, forthcoming) that caused the continuous Foundation. This is a contribution to project IGCP-
and simultaneous accretion of different segments 546, “Subduction Zones of the Caribbean.”

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