TECTONICS, VOL. 7, NO.

1, PAGES 23-39,

ANDEAN-AGE

(PROVINCE
Dietricoh

STRUCTURE

OF

OF LA PAZ,

EASTERN

FEBRUARY1988

CORDILLERA

BOLIVIA)

Roeder

The Anschutz

Corporation,

Abstract.

A Moho

Denver,

root

Colorado

beneath

the

INTRODUCTION

Bolivian
Andes, 40 km deep, is consistent
with 230 km of overlap of Neogene age on a
single,
trenchward dipping transcrustal

contains

on

thrust

fault

with 10 of finite

marginal

fold-thrust

cutoff

(Main

Andean Thrust

10%

the

of

Andean

crustal

ascribable

to magmatic

is

within

full

located

thickness.

(MAT)).
volume

addition.

South

It

ramp
is

The MAT

American

intersects

Only

crust

the

of

basement

top 450 km inland from the Neogene crustal

margin.
It is not a collision
suture as
shown by persistent
pre-Neogene
facies
continuity.
Thrusting
is not accompanied
by terrane
accretion.
The present
bilaterally
symmetrical
thrust belt
responds to elastic
line loading and to
Coulomb rheology.
In the hanging wall of
the MAT, a deep high-stress
wedge base
builds
a steep critical
slope.
In the
footwall,
the foredeep
response is fast
subcritical
growth by progradation
and
blind thrusting
on a low-stress
decollement.
Interaction
is maintained
by
out-of-sequence
renewal of movement on the
MAT.

In orthern

by the American Geophysical

Paper number 7T0615.
0278-74 07 / 88 / 007T-0615510.

Union.

east

belt

flank

of Oligocene

to

Surface mapping and photogeology by the

Bolivian
state oil company Yacimientos
Petroliferos
Fiscales
Bolivia
(YPFB),
reflection
seismic data and sparse
drilling
by private
industry,
potentialfield

data,

and refraction

seismic

add quantitative
aspects
compressional
subduction
Andean by Dewey and Bird

Data available
have

been

for

condensed

semibalanced

the present

into

structure

data

to the puzzle of
systems termed
[1970].

study

three

sections

across

the

external
parts of the eastern
Cordillera
between 14S and 16S latitude.
These
sections
and their
support data show that
the retroarc
system is a nested,
conjugate,
bilaterally
symmetrical
thrust

single

1988

the Andean orogen

cratonic

Recent age [Jordan et al.,

1983].
In this
segment of the Andes, bedrock is not
covered by volcanics
and in part has
potential
for commercial hydrocarbons.
Therefore,
some information
is available.

complex, with
Copyright

Bolivia,

its

230 km of overlap

intracrustal

detachment.

on a
Modeled

a Coulomb plastic

wedge, the thrust

supports

that

the

view

the

as

system

Andean

topography is upheld largely by crustal

compression rather than by underpinning
00

and buoyancy

alone.

The cross

sections

are

24

Roeder: Andean-Age Structure

of Eastern Cordillera

xx MADRE
DIOS
4- DE
4- i ,..
k,.. BENI j

4-

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.....

-.

..;.
"'--.-'!".-';,,s,
..........
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"::-':':M.%'.:::!i!.

........

.............
is.i!.:=.;i!i.....;;-'-:.=-',s"
.....

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-r

===========================================
:':':'"':':':':':':':':''":':':'"':':':':':':':':'
:';rn::::::

.:.:...:.....v.......:..T:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.
'" ':'::
'. "-'.'-'.':.::::!.'.::iP?jli!:
:-':':.":"::::-':::.'::::".'::'
:::z:-'.":!
-...... "....

:::::';':'::
::::::

(O

-r

!:i:i.'.":!:.'::::'.:i.".:i:T
_':i:i:."-'.":M:!.'."
i:!."-'::
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
':':"":::::::
:::'

/ .

i:'.-'..'.-'..'ii.-.-':.%-.-':i.-.-?"-i:'?.'..':!
;i:i:::'-.-".-':'..'

t:

......;

500

KM

Fig. 1.
Tectonic map of Bolivian
Andes and adjacent areas, redrawn after
Martinez
and Tomasi [1978],
showing morphotectonic
strike
belts and location
of cross sections used in the present paper.

consistent with an elastically

flexed craton; they constrain

range of rigidities
gravity

loaded and
the wide

allowed by the Bouguer

data.

I cannot relate quantitatively

Andean structure to the bimodally
Peru-Chile

Benioff

architecture
large

zone.

recent
dipping

Intracrustal

is unknown except for a very

Moho root.

However,

70 to 90% of the

parallel

belts.

Reviews

of Bolivian

geology are by Ahlfeld

Martinez
[1980].

and Tomasi

and Branisa

[1978],

The western Cordillera,

largely on
Chilean territory,
is a plateau below 5000
m with widely spaced cones above 6000 m.
It is a Neogene to Recent magmatic arc
intruding and covering a poorly known
crustal slab which may be a southern
extension of the Arequipa basement massif.
It is the foreland of west vergent

crustal volume including root and inclined

slab can be accounted for by the crustal
overlap. About 20% may be Mesozoic to
Paleogene newly accreted crust, and 10%
may be additions by magmatism.
The present paper is an update of a
speculative
synthesis prior to the present
crop of data [Roeder, 1982a]o It results
from an early phase of hydrocarbon
exploration.
It is an example of what can

passive-margin

be

Cretaceous age with minor magmatic

done

in

techniques

overthrust

belts

and a moderate

with

modern

amount of data.

thrusting of Triassic

and Tertiary

the Altiplano

eastern

constituents,

Bolivian

series
all

fold-thrust

age in

Cordillera.

of Paleozoic

involved

belt

in

to late

a west

of mixed

late

Paleozoic and Andean kinematic ages. In

some areas,

Figure

and the

The Altiplano
is a Tertiary
and
Quaternary fluviatile
complex of internal
drainage at 4000 m elevation.
Interbasin
ridges and a few oil wells expose a

vergent
SETTING

[1960],

and Martinez

1 shows a zonation

of

the

Andes into topographically

and geologically

defined

enough pre-Tertiary

is exposed

to demonstrate the structural style. Ages

of thrusting, however, are in part based
on angular unconformities only and may, in

l--I

o
rll

u
.H

.,'4

"0
l

m [.....].1

c .,-!

.,-!

mr-.!

r'4

.r-! .,-4

rO

26

Roeder: Andean-Age Structure

part,
block

refer
to precompressional
tilting.

The

eastern

Cordillera

is

faulta belt

m) and Illimani

(6882

m).

of

may suggest

wide

sub-Andean

zone

and continues

eastward

and

is

the

below

50

m,

100

foreland

of

the

km

slope

Bedrock

zone

is

the Amazon River

than 500 m. This

drainage area at less

area is vaguely specified

as Madre

basin

de Dios

and Beni

basin;

it

contains
fluviatile
Neogene above a gently
truncated
and SW-dipping pre-Eocene
series.
A zero edge of pre-Neogene
sediments

forms

outcropping
shield

the

or subcropping

somewhere

sub-Andean

southwest

100

east

topographic

to

front.

rise

limit

of

the

Brazilian

200

km NE

There

associated

is

of

STRATIGRAPHY

involved

thrusting
consists
crust,
a Paleozoic
thin

late

in

Andean

to

Eocene

interarc

or

cratonic
deposits,
and an Oligocene to
Recent foredeep fill.
In the following,
the stratigraphic
sequence is summarized
as a narrative
legend to the cross
sections
(Figures
2 to 5).
PC,

basement

with

Andean

and

late

Proterozoic
ages, is documented on the
Brazilian
Shield and in the Pampas
foreland massifs of Argentina
as a thin
sliver
in the frontal
thrust of the study
area,

in

Altiplano
western

a basement

well,

core

turbiditic

m) from

an

in the

Cordillera.

COS D, an Ordovician
series,

(1750

and in exposures

to deltaic
may reach

through

Devonian

passive-margin

15 km in thickness

Permo-

sub-Andean.
redbeds, shallow

marine sandstones and shales, locally

intercalated
with South American preAtlantic
from

basalt
to

2.5

to

Altiplano

flows,
Eocene

less

and the

an Oligocene

spans late
and

than

thins

eastward

1 km between

the

sub-Andean.

TM-QD and TM-C,

with

is

a series

conformable

to mid-Pliocene

fluviatile
foredeep fill.
The correlatable
formations Quendeque and Charqui,
preserved
in synclines
and strike
belts
the sub-Andean,
are 4 km thick at the
frontal

thrust

outcrops.

and 6 km in

the

of

westernmost

The youngest preserved layers

are estimated to be early to mid-Pliocene

in age. There is no net foredeep
sedimentation

into

of South Anerican
passive-margin
prism,

Paleozoic

1-km-thick

a zero edge within

the
K, TE, volcanogenic

Cordillera,
material

and

of subductive

at

present.

If the Andean orogeny is defined in

time to the age of its foredeep fill,
it
becomes critical
to distinguish Andean
deformation
and pre-Andean deformation.
In the high core of the eastern

the

shield.

The

a product

OROGENY, METAMORPHISM, AND MAGMATISM

the

no

with

the western

Carboniferous series, grades upward from

Gondwana deposits into tropical-marine
carbonates [Helwig, 1972]. The top of the
series is gradually
truncated eastward to

Cretaceous

sub-Andean

in

erosion.

consists of Paleozoic
sediments largely
conformable with overlying
Mesozoics and
Tertiary.
The post-Paleozoic
series are
preserved
in flat-bottomed
synclines
and
on the back limbs of ridge-forming
eastvergent thrust
fronts.
The

crust

P C, disconformable,

east-Andean

1000

thin

is a pre-Andean carry-over

not exclusively

It

to

that

Cordillera

contains
a 20- to 50-km-wide west slope
underlain
by a major post-Miocene
thrust,
and a 100-km-wide east slope down to 1000
m of elevation.
Easterly
drainage dissects
this slope and, in the La Paz river,
has
retrograded
into the Neogene lake beds of
the Altiplano.
The

Cordillera

[McBride et al.,
1983]. Now located in the
eastern Cordillera,
this depocenter may
reflect a Paleozoic continental edge and

folded Paleozoic
sediments intruded by
groups of late Triassic
and Neogene
granitoid
plutons.
It forms a continuous
ridge above 5000 m peaking in Illampu
(7010

of Eastern

the

0.01-

to

Paleozoic

1-km-size

series
kink

is

folds

folded
at

or

past locking position,

with axial plane
spaced cleavage and with upright axial
planes. With few local exceptions, the
strike

of

these

folds

is

consistent

with

clearly
Andean strike
directions.
Folding in the eastern Cordillera

dated by infolded
synclines

several
present

is

unconformable septa and

as pre-late

Cretaceous.

In

modern syntheses but not in the

report,
the folding is ascribed to

early and late Paleozoic "Hercynian"

phases [Martinez and Tomasi, 1978;
Martinez, 1980; Dalmayrac et al., 1980].
In

the

sub-Andean,

Neogene and are clearly

strike

belts

Their Paleozoic portions

show folds
same style as in the high core.
Stratigraphic
persistence
of

disconformable

involve

Andean in age.
of the

contacts suggests that the

Roeder: Andean-Age Structure

of Eastern

Cordillera

27

!
2O KM

Fig. 4.
Madidi

Semi balanced structure cross section of sub-Andeanbelt in the

area

of northern

to Westfalian
stratigraphic

folds
in

affecting

Bolivia,

located

the Paleozoics

are Andean

age.

In the high core of the eastern

Cordillera,
metamorphism ranging from
undetectable
to lower greenschist
facies
[Martinez
and Tomasi, 1978] can be
ascribed

to burial

within

the

passive-

margin series at a Barrovian gradient.

Tin-tungsten
bearing granitoids
occur
in two nearly coincident
trends of
plutons.
Synkinematic monzogranites with
K-Ar dates of 225-202 m.y. [McBride et
al.,
1983] and with contact aureoles
in
the

andalusite-sillimanite

fields

A12 SiO5 polymorph point

of

the

[Bard et al.,

1974] date the pre-Cretaceous

folding
late Triassic
and probably subduction

as

related.

Post-kinematic

plutons

K-Ar dates
al.,
1983]
the

discordant

without

main

retroarc

contact

subvulcanic

aureoles

and with

of 28 to 19 m.y. [McBride et
suggest arc magmatism during

event

of

on Figure

1. Solid

Andean

intracrustal

or

Three

CROSS

The

series

of

northwesterly
number

of

are

sections

decrease

structural

sub-Andean

shows

in width
units

of,

within,

and
the

belt.

As the amount of transport

on the Main
Andean Thrust is not constrained,
this may
or may not reflect
a decrease in Andean
eastward thrusting.
However, the
geological
map of Peru shows a western
termination
of this sub-Andean segment
near

the

Urubamba

river

at

7330vW

longitude.
EXTERNAL

PORTION

OF

SUBANDEAN

sections,

Their

67 km, 85 km, and 116

Caquiahuaca.
They rise from a regional
decollement
at estimated
ramp angles of

to

eastern
the

area

extent

is

Cordillera;
where

data

about

they
are

available
and where Cretaceous and younger
rocks are preserved
from erosion and
clearly
define Andean structure.

en echelon,

20 to 23 . Slivers

the

two major

thrusts:

cross-strike

of the

confined

segment contains

SECTIONS

km long, cross the Subandean zone, between

the Main Andean Thrust and the orogenic
front,
at strike
spacings of 57 and 130
km. Their locations
are shown in Figure 1.
The sections
are shown in Figures 2, 3,
one half

are

The sections
are constructed
by hand
and by honoring stratigraphic
thicknesses,
dip attitudes,
and normal ranges of ramp
cutoff
angles.
No systematic
attempt at
line-length
balancing
other than
restoration
to the depositional
state
(Figure 5) has been made. No attempt has
been made to adapt ramp cutoff
angles to
modification
by folding.

An external

4.

are Eocene

Letters

thrusting.

SEMIBALANCED

and

areas

sandy units. Dotted areas are foredeep fill.

units explained in the text.

Eva-Eva

and the

of Precambrian gneiss

at the base of the Caquiahuaca thrust

sheet [Davila
et al.,
1965] show that
basal

decollement

orogenic

front

shallower
The

sheets

toe
bodies

rise

extends

without

clear

to

the

any step-up

or

the

additions.
of

with

the

external

steep

thrust

to vertical

dips

above flat
or synclinally
folded frontal
segments in thrust
contact.
This may suggest that the external

28

Roeder:

thrusts

evolved

from blind

thrusts

soling

Andean-Age

frontal
2,

Structure

thrust,

requires

of Eastern

as constructed

that

the

out upward at an estimated depth of 2 km

below the synkinematic surface. Footwall

beneath

imbrications

composed of the late

below

the

as assumed in Figure
documented

in

sheets.

tend

at the upper fault

Section

wide

Seismic

that

zone,

Caranavi

preference

over

the

the basal

50-km-

decollement

anticline

are

Paleozoic

to Tertiary

the

3,

sub-Andean
of

the

internal

contains
the

shows

a half-window

rocks

beneath

the

with

Miocene
of

thrust

construction,

in the

unit,

to

Quiquibeycito,

footwall
structures

imbrications

attributed

of

folded-thrust

to

the

portion of the sub-Andean.

Quiquibeycito
thrust front
anticline

with

an

limb,

overlying

thrust.

This

The
is a tight

overturned

and other,

Thrust

internal

faulted

a west-dipping

east

sole

similar,

fronts cannot be geometrically

with ease. They may represent

thrust

restored
either

Suppean second-mode folds [Suppe, 1983] or

polyphase tightly
folded-thrust
structures
(Do Roeder, in preparation).
Both
interpretations
suggest an origin from
earlier
former
INTERNAL

blind
land

thrusts

at

2 or

3 km below

surface.

PORTION

OF

footwall

Miocene

The

appears only in Figure 2. Farther

northwest,
its space is occupied by the

SUBANDEAN

controlled

anticline,

the

well-

controlled
Alto Beni syncline,
and a
complex frontal
anticlinorium
of the
Marimonos range. Seismic control
at
Marimonos (industry,
unpublished)
suggests, but not clearly
outlines,
footwall

frontal

imbrication

thrust

beneath

which juxtaposes

onto Miocene.
The footwall
therefore,
are composed of
Paleozoic

to

The steep
anticline

the

Miocene

east

contains

north

extension

(MAT)

is

Devonian

of the

a backthrust

Caranavi
near

the

base of the Devonian. This suggests a ramp

top in the Marimonos frontal
thrust.
West
dips in the west flank of the Caranavi
anticline
constrain
the depth extent
of
this ramp and leave room for one or two
duplex-type
footwall
imbrications.
The ramp geometry of the Marimonos

folded-

in

Paleozoic

of

traceable

the

Main

Andean

on detailed

This MAT dip panel suggests a major

ramp through much more sedimentary
thickness
of early Paleozoics
than is
documented in the sub-Andean zone. Only
east

half

of

the

MAT

is

included

does not
nor

the

in

section

show the

structure

dip
in

2.

extent

its

foreland.
The depth extent
of the
backthrusts
in the MAT dip panel is also
unknown but most likely
is confined to the
above

Marimonos

series.

limb

imbrications

the

MAT.

The ramped footwall

imbrications,
the late

are

complex and poorly

backthrusts.

zone

Marimonos

older

eastern

By section

anticlines

with

and

the

mapping into an imbrication

of Paleozoic
series with seemingly small displacement.
As mapped, the trace of the MAT shows
progressive
down-section
truncation
through several thrust sheets, suggesting
major out-of-sequence
thrusting
in the
sense of Boyer and Elliot
[1982] or less
likely,
considerable
mapping errors.
The
northwesterly
continuity
of the MAT thrust
mass is supported by a 20- to 30-km-wide
belt of east dips with east-dipping

its

1, the footwall
of the Main
contains
the poorly

Caranavi

sheet

rocks.

The section
In section
Andean Thrust

both

structures

known

series.

imbricate

thrust

Devonian

achieved by stratigraphic
A third

of

north

Marimonos

one of the two anticlines.

Paleozoic

position

the

ramps up in two mappable steps about 3.5

km. Part of this step-up,
however, is

thinning

imbrications

with two open faulted

anticlines
with
regional
southeasterly
axial plunge.
Mapping by YPFB [Davila
et al.,
1965]

bend of a ramp.

2 shows

external

with

in Figure

footwall

section.

extension

data

suggest that

to occur

the

In Figure

the bodies of the

unpublished)

backthrusts

but not

data.

affects

thrust

(industry,

thrusts,

3, are likely

available

Backthrusting
external

external

Cordillera

thrust

in

unit

below

section

northwestward by axial
Uchupiamonas anticline

the

rises

plunge to form the

of Figure 4, with

Devonian exposed in the core.

Seismic
data, depicted as depth-converted
line

tracings,
clearly
outline,
by ramp cutoffs
and bed-parallel
tread seqments, two
thrust faults and geometrically
imply a
third
thrust.
Ramping in the surface
thrust sheet is supported by two
backthrusts,

northeast
anticline.

labeled

Madidi,

in

the

limb of the Uchupiamonas

The

sole

fault

of

the

surface

unit can be traced across the adjacent

Tuichi
syncline
and tied into the
Caquiahuaca thrust complex. This thrust

29

'"1

i!

- I,

:-'['
'"'"I

E-'.::.-:::::.-:::
....

n- o

:i{i
i

<

, ',

i->!
"'
,,.:..i'il',,!
/
.:a,
'o---.:..--i,, ,

z_,,,
,

o'

""1

cc

',

!
%..

I
,1

,,'',l

;111:

':'-':
'P.2.

',,

1 II
o'-!t
o

-.I Iil

% 'i,

:ilil

Ill

,.,-,I

,.,.. o

(,

z,,,.-:-:-.--..

' ,%:o,
o o\

U j,

't

E4 .

I
;l',i

'

I ,

0'

'.

il

"

"1.["
i

' I

II

"'

'

q_ .
0 q..4,
o.

r r oO

.
-r

o .o

a o o

g)

30

Roeder:

has the sigmoidal

shape of a duplex

structure,
with a cross-strike
succession
of an anticline
and a syncline.
At depth, the Uchupiamonas duplex
structure
shows major repetition
at
footwall

imbrications.

imbrications

However,

affect

the

older

these
Paleozoics

not present in the external

zone. The
Tuichi syncline is too deep to allow the
southwesterly extension of late Paleozoic
to

Eocene

rocks

imbrications

into

of

the

footwall

the Uchupiamonas

Internal
to the Uchupiamonas structure,
a tightly
folded and backthrusted
belt
represents
the combined Marimonos unit and
the front of the out-of-sequence
thrust
identified
with the MAT. Some of the tight
folds expose half-windows
and suggest in-

emplacement

after

OF

CROSS

of Eastern

similar

dynamic setting

belt

northern

of

Cordillera

to the sub-Andean

Bolivia.

In

front

of

basement-involving
thrust
(Blue Ridge
Front or Stanley thrust explored by the
southern Appalachian
COCORPline),
a large
thrust
sheet covers 2/3 or more of the
width

of

the

central

decollement

and

the

external

located

synkinematic

to

belt.

The

sole

of

is bed-parallel

6 km below

surface.

out of sequence.
[1981]

the

The frontal

belt

However, Witherspoon

and Woodward [1985]

discordant

MEDIAN

the out-of-sequence

PANEL

OF EASTERN

Andean Thrust

SECTIONS

describe

its

attitude.

An 80-km-wide

of the MAT mass.

RESTORATION

Structure

contains
two simple thrust
sheets with a
blind
thrust
at the front.
The Blue Ridge
Front thrust has not yet been described as

structure.

place folding

Andean-Age

panel

west of the Main

contains

backbone

of

the

consists

of flat

CORDILLERA

the orographic

eastern

Cordillera.

lying

It

and/or mildly

cross sections
to the depositional
state.
Figure 5d shows a restored
structure
section from the Appalachian
fold-thrust

folded early Paleozoics with basement at

shallow depth, and with greenschist-facies
metamorphism in its deepest parts.
It
contains
the depocenter
of the Paleozoic
passive-margin
prism and most of the
Andean plutonic
bodies known in the

belt

eastern

Figure
and

5a,

5b, and 5c show

small-scale

in

the

restorations

United

simplified

of

the

three

States.

In spite of the palinspastic

uncertainty
at the footwall
of the out-ofsequence MAT, the restoration
suggests a
constant bulk thrust overlap of 137 km.
Expressed as negative
elongation,
the bulk
strains
E vary between -0.60 and -0.67 for
the

three

cross

sections.

The restoration
poorly

understood

includes
through

also suggests that

the

Main Andean Thrust

a major ramp in its hanging wall

10 km or more of rock thickness.

This is suggested in the field

panels

of east-

dipping Paleozoic strata in the hanging

wall of the MAT. The ramp angle is not
documented

but

has

been

Part

or

most

of

the

than

all

of

the

sub-Andean

structure

described in the foregoing.

The vaguely known fold pattern,
mappable along the highway from La Paz to
Caranavi,
suggests some degree of
conformity of folding between the basement
top and the bedding within the Paleozoic
series.

by the

sudden appearance of Cambro-Ordovician

quartzites
in a thickness
of 5 km, and

also by the extensive

Cordillera.

open, locally
tight-folding
in this panel
is dated by late Triassic cooling ages in
synkinematic plutons; it is clearly older

assumed

at

about

ALTIPLANO

THRUST

BELT

In the footwall
west-vergent

of an east-dipping

thrust

in the west

slope

of

the high (eastern)

Cordillera,
a poorly
known, mostly covered, partly
grabenoffset,
partly
plutonized
thrust belt
extends to the west edge of the Altiplano.
It is west-vergent
and perhaps 60 km wide.

16 for the MAT and about 10 for the

internal
part of the Marimonos thrust.
The restoration
(Figure 5d) pertains to
a structure
cross section by Roeder
[1982b] which is not reproduced in the
present paper but which is located near,
and is structurally
similar
to, cross
section 1 by Mitra [1986] and cross
section 3 by Kulander and Dean [1986].
The restoration
(Figure 5d) shows a

Precambrian

basement

Andres well

at 2744 m of depth

similar
similar

1980]. Hills emerging from the Pleistocene

lake beds show style elements of a common

amount of thrust overlap,

structure,
and, possibly,

a
a

elevation)
the

in

the

below an undisturbed

and Cretaceous
marks

cored

western

series

[Lehmann,

San

(+1184

Tertiary
1978]

foreland.

Thrusting
is polyphase and dated as
early Oligocene to Pliocene
[Martinez,

Roeder: Andean-Age Structure

of Eastern

Cordillera

supracrustal,
detached
fold- thrust
belt.
One of the best exposed and described
areas of the Altiplano
thrust
belt
extends
along the east shore of Lake Titicaca
[Rivas,
1968].
Basement may be involved
in some of the

Altiplano
intersect
east-

thrusts.
At depth they may
in a conjugate fashion with

vetgent

NESTED

ANDEAN

Seen

as

the

Andean thrusts.
FOLD-THRUST

a unit

in

section,

the

sub-Andean belt,
the median panel,
and the
Altiplano
fold-thrust
belt together
form a
conjugate,
nested,
bilaterally
symmetrical
complex with 137 km shortening
in the subAndean part,
an estimated
30 to 50 km
transport
on the Main Andean Thrust,
perhaps 10 km of shortening
in the median

panel, and, as a vague guess by style

analogy,
perhaps 40 km in the Altiplano
fold-thrust

belt.

The

Andean shortening
bulk

strain

is

is

about

total

derived

from

present width of the orogen of 240 km.

Available
data pertaining
to the strain
rate of this orogeny suggest a low finite
bulk strain
rate and at least one major
spike;
vague.
If

to

constraints
all

the

on both

Andean

time

data

deformation

interval

of

sets

is

the

Quechua phases from early

mid-Pliocene.
one obtains

are

attributed

Inca

and

Oligocene to
a transport
rate

T of 2.1x10 cms-1 or 0.66 cm/yr,anda

intertidal

or

east

to bathyal

or deeper

in

This

remarkable

structure

must

ELASTIC

have

achieved

Structure

seismic
suggest

As in the classical
geosynclinal
theory
[e.g.
Press and Siever 1978],
the nested
thrust
belt pair of the eastern
Cordillera
is laterally
confined by foredeeps with
coreward dipping basement.
It coincides
with a major Phanerozoic
depocenter,
and
it has synkinematic
calc-alkali
intrusions
its

core.

It

The

does

not

entire

mark

Phanerozoic

the

site

of

sediment

series is continuous across the orogen,

disregarding
thickness
changes and Neogene
to

Recent

erosion.

All

known

sediments

in

the

the west.
have

formed

the

on pre-Tertiary

sub-Andean

data (industry,
a foredeep with

foreland

and

unpublished)
a bottom that

Following

a common practice
(reviews by Turcotte
[1979] and by Karner and Watts [1983]),
the sub-Andean foredeep is interpreted
as
an elastic
response to the Andan load
(Figure 6). A quantitative
approach [LyonCaen et

al.,

1985]

defines

the shape of the deflected

the

load

foreland

and

by

their
Bouquer expression
and searches for
appropriate
flexural
rigidities.
A
geometric
approach
[Turcotte
and Schubert,
1982; Roeder, 1980],
applied
in the
present study,
iteratively
varies
rigidities,
amounts of deflection,
and
locations

of

line

loads

to structural

define

those

to

fit

deflection

data.

crustal

modeling

is first,

conditions

that

produce the available,

incomplete,
set of
supracrustal
data. Secondly, a definition
of the foreland
slope and the base of

deformation is needed in constructing

structure
cross sections.
Thirdly,
the
slope

8.56x10-8 cms-1 or 2.7 cm/yr, anda bulk

suture.

contours

in

at

constituent

elongation rate of-4.1x10 -15 s-1.

in

subtidal

FLEXURE

The purpose of this

135 km of overlap in 5 million

years or
less. This conclusion
requires,
in the
sub-Andean only, a transport
rate T of

shallow

compression essentially

FORELAND

horizons

to

must

of

during the latest,

shortest
span of its
geological
history.
It is the task of the second part of
this paper to attempt a geodynamic
definition
of this compression.

Seismic stratigraphy
of the foredeep
fill
(industry,
unpublished)
suggests that
all of the Quendeque and Charqui is
prekinematic
to all thrusting
in the subtherefore

continental

on crust

from

bulk
rate
elongation
of
-4.48x10
-16ofs_ngative
.

which

these

cratonic
thickness.
The only facies change
of significance
is that the
paleobathymetry
of the Paleozoics
changes

shapes

Andean,

on Precambrian

and much of

slopes mountainward at 2 to 3

estimated

217 to 237 km; the

50%

were deposited
crust,

by intracrustal

BELT

cross

31

the

base
of

the

of

deformation

thrust

is

mechanics.

A downwarp produced by Andean thrusting

is depicted by the foredeep sediments
deposited during Andean thrusting,
that
is, by the base of the Quendeque formation
in

the

undisturbed

parautochthonous

foreland

external

and

in

sub-Andean

the

zone.

Mountainward beyond the point where thrust

dislocations
displace the foredeep base
vertically,
the downwarp continues only as
a theoretical
"regional"
horizon.
The
regional
is defined
as the locus of a
stratigraphic
pick influenced
by its
subsidence history
but not by thrust
dislocations.
The regional
is a concept

32

Roeder'

Andean-Age Structure

of Eastern

Cordillera

well known to thrust-belt

explorationists
[Shaw, 1963; Keating,
1966; Dahlstrom,
1970],
and it is an essential
part in
constructing
balanced cross sections.
Elastic
load modeling of fold-thrust

belts can be seen as an effort

the regional.

to quantify

The elastic
downwarp of a foredeep
is
an effect
of crustal
mechanics,
but the

basement top does not follow

the downwarp,
because its position
is the sum of all
downwarps, many of them elastic.
Nonforedeep
events of downwarp include
the
development
of the Paleozoic
passive
margin,
the late Triassic
folding
episode,
and the telescoping
of the preforedeep
section
during Andean thrusting.
Anelastic
and viscous elements of foredeep
downwarp,
essential
in the modeling of basin
stratigraphy,
are comparatively
small and
hence neglected
in the present analysis.
The

deflection

(poorly
the

South

root

of

controlled)
American

[James,

the

Moho

regional
craton

1971]

also

from

its

depth beneath

to

the

Andean

contains

percentage
of elastic
foredeep downwarp
and Andean thrust
overlap.
In addition,
it
is expected
to contain
the adiabatic
downwarp and sediment loading of the
Paleozoic
passive margin, the westward
rise due to prePaleozoic
or early
Paleozoic
extension
and margin formation,
the effect
of Triassic
compression,
and an
unknown

but

controversial

amount

of

magmatic addition
to crustal
thickness.
In constructing
a flexural-load
model
for the sub-Andean of northwest
Bolivia,
three

variables

have

been

considered.

1.
The rigidity
D has a geometric
expression Xo as the distance between the
zero edge of foredeep sedimentation
and
the center of the load depression.
The
zero edge of foredeep sedimentation
is
poorly defined as the edge of Brazilian
shield

rocks

Pleistocene

for

buried

locating

minimalist
center

beneath

beds.

the
or

would

There

load

fixist
be

are

thin

two

depression.
model,

located

at

the
the

coat

of

choices

In a
load
divide

between eastward Andean thrusting

and
westward Andean thrusting,
about 135 km SW
of the frontal
thrust
of Figure 2. In a
mobilistic
model,
the load center
would be
located at the trough of the Andean Moho
root below the Altiplano,
about 300 km SW
of

.the

frontal

thrust.

2.
The load as a force has a geometric
expression as a maximum deflection
Yo in
the trough of the line-loaded
downwarp.
There

are

no independent

constraints

for

Roeder' Andean-Age Structure

the

maximum

fixist
the

deflection

model.
Andean

in

the

The mobilist

Moho

root

as

of Eastern Cordillera
minimalist-

model
a

Eva-Eva

explains

load-deflected

crustal
overlap.
The deflection,
therefore,
should be in the same order of
magnitude as the Moho root,
about 30 km.
3.

The

relative

location

to

of

structural

the

flexure

data

is

variable

horizontally
along the line of cross
section.
There is no morphologically
or
geologically
expressed flexural
bulge
beyond the line of zero deflection,
possibly
because of interference
by
undefined

subsidence

extensional

above

cratonic

features.

For the present

study, the horizontal
location
of the flexure
has been fixed by
prosecting
linearly
the base of the
Quendeque beyond a foreland
seismic line
(industry,
unpublished)
to the northeast.
This projection
yields
a zero edge of
foredeep
subsidence
100 km NE of the subAndean

thrust

front.

A continuous

section

of

the

southwest

flank
of the Eva-Eva thrust
sheet [Davila
et alo,
1965] furnishes
a located
depth to
the regional
base of the Quendeque (for
method, see Roeder et al.
[1978]).
Successful
geometric
deflection
models are
simply those that meet the zero edge of
foredeep
depression,
the regional
base
foredeep near the Eva-Eva thrust
and one
of the two arbitrarily
placed locations
of
maximum

deflection.

There are large differences

in the
overall
geometry of the successful
models,
but they coincide
reasonably within
the
area

of

control,

and in the

that

external

is,

part

in

the

of the

foreland

sub-

Andean.

control

fitting

minimalist

flexure

foreland
300

beneath

km

in

corresponding
to an effective
elastic
thickness
of 33 km, and corresponding

slab
to a

of 4 km if

its

this

the

eastern

Cordillera

is

model.

No attempt has been made to quantify

the deflecting
load. Therefore,
it is
interesting
to compare the adopted models
to the gravity-derived
models [Lyon-Caen
et al.,
1985] applied to an Andean segment
700 km further
south. The range of
rigidities
considered
reasonable
is about
the same in both approaches.
The minimum
downdip extent of the foreland
plate
required
to transmit
the load as a
deflection,
of 150 to 200 km [Lyon-Caen et
al.,
1985] would favor
the mobilistic
model of the present study.
MECHANICS

OF

THRUSTING

Fold-thrust
wedges based on a variety
of flow laws describe and quantify the
geological mechanism known as gravity
spreading

[Bucher,

1956;

Elliott,

1976;

Chappie, 1978], with tectonic

transport up
an inclined
decollement
in response to a
wedge shape, to a forward topographic
slope, and to a compressive push from the
rear.

A rigid-plastic
flow law applied to a
moving fold-thrust
wedge assumes a state
of impending Coulomb-Navier
failure
and a
geometry of critical
taper [Davis et al.,
1983],

that

is,

topographic

a critical

slope

sum of

and decollement

dip.

interplay
of internal
deformation,
growth by added thrusts,
foreland
described

modelhas a rigidity D of 1.9x1023Nm,

depth

maximum deflection,
located
beneath
the
Altiplano,
is 27.5 km.
The downdip extent
of the deflected

sedimentation,

The best

flexural

33

as

and erosion
causes

and

The

frontal

can be

effects

accompanying a wedge that must maintain

its critical
taper in order to move and to
transmit crustal
convergence to the
surface.

length Xo of 230 km, or a

flexural parameter of 9.7615x106or A

of 1.0244x10-7. It meetsthe control depth

In the theory

of critical

Coulomb fold-

overlaphas a rigidity D of 1.8x1024Nm,

thrust wedges, shortening within emplaced

thrust sheets indicates
adjustment to a
subcritical
state. Frontal growth and,
possibly, some forms of normal faulting
indicate
adjustment to a supercritical
state. The taper is reduced by erosion,
foreland sedimentation,
and lithospheric
deflection
under the orogenic load. The
taper is increased by tectonic thickening,

corresponding
to an effective
elastic
thickness
of 70 km, and corresponding

by thrust
imbrication
below the axial
panel, and by transport
onto outer,
less

at

the

Eva-Eva

deflection
of

the

thrust

beneath
eastern

thrust

beneath

belt

The best

flexural

extent

is

fitting

is

of the

the

130

if

sub-Andean

km

its

structural

Cordillera

The downdip
foreland

sheet
the

in

this

maximum
divide

11.4

km.

deflected
fold-

model.

model of crustal
slab
to a

length Xo of 400 km, or a

flexur_l
of
1.7x107
and
A
8.parameter
The flexed
surface
meets
theof
5.85xl

deflected

foreland

Material

actual

areas.

properties

that

angles of the critical

determine

taper

the

34

Roeder: Andean-Age Structure

of Eastern Cordillera

include the shear strength of the wedge

material,
the shear strength
of the base
of deformation,
and the ratio
of pore
fluid
pressure
to lithostatic
pressure.
In
the sub-Andean belt these properties
are
unknown, but open to analysis
and
speculation.

input into the critical

taper equation and
the topographic slope predicted
for the
state of critical
taper. Although the rock
properties
of the wedge segments are

STATE

bracket

involved
foothills

in an average
setting.

Table

1 shows

unknown,
EAST

OF

TAPER

IN

CORDILLERAN

SLOPE

A numerical

look

at

the

to

and

the

still
thrust

subcritical
sheet
above

observed

I believe

that

the actual

and

the

values,

and

assumed

assumed values

and that

the

difference
between observed and predicted
slope does permit a dynamic interpretation
of Andean thrusting.

thrust-belt

data presented here follows the concepts

and procedures by Davis et al.
[1983].
Somewhat blurry
results
suggest that the
main range of the eastern Cordillera
is
being tilted
eastward above a "sticky,"
probably basement-involving
western thrust
belt.
The results
also suggest that the
external
portion
of the sub-Andean belt
is
a new

foredeep

toe
addition
the Main Andean

Thrust. This segment is now undercritical

but may have been higher,
steeper,
and
overcritical
in the recent past.
The topographic
profile
can be divided
into an internal
segment sloping eastward

Based on the data

internides

are

on Table

undercritical

1,

the

if

there

is

no effective detachment at the wedge base.

The model of crustal overlap does require
an active low-angle
internides,
but its

thrust below the

assumed depth of 14 to

24 km may be below the validity

of Coulomb
mechanics and in the viscous realm [Platt,

1987]. A weak base in one of the early

Paleozoic slates would make the east slope
of the axial

zone overcritical,

but

probably its basement-involved fold style

keeps it

in place.

The externides
with a weak base.

are undercritical
This is consistent

even
with

at m = 3.5 and into an external segment

the structural

with

external sub-Andean belt, where folding

and backthrusting appears to be thickening

m--0.6

. The sole

wedge, depicted
(Figures
2, 3,

of

the

thrust

on the cross sections

and 4) as a decollement

near the base of the sediments,

= 4.8 under the internal

= 3.8 under the external

emplaced

wedge segments are 75 and 100 km long,

respectively,
and sufficient
to satisfy
the size requirement.
The MAT may serve as

the boundary between a weakly deformed,

basement-involving,
strongly eroded, but
steeply sloping segment and a typical
fold-thrust
belt segment with style
indicators
of active thickening,
subcritical
state,
and very low
topographic
slope.
Following
the consensus for fractured
rock complexes, Byerlee's
law of an

thrust

in part

of the

sheets.

Other parts of the externides suggest

dips at

segmentand at
segment. The

style

quiet
to

toe addition,

an overcritical

presumably a reaction
state.

The

introduction

of cohesion into the wedge modeling may

help to explain this contradiction
[Dahlen
et al., 1984]. The flat and possibly
blind-thrusted toe ends of cohesive wedges
are

described

failure

is building
Based

to

move

without

Coulomb

while the more internal

up to critical

on measured

assumptions

made to

data

wedge part

taper.
and

describe

the

the

same

state

of

throughout the thrust wedge segments. For

the basal friction
b, a range has been

taper, the maximum length of an undeformed

but transported
toe slab is about 70 km
[Dahlen et al. 1984, Equation 25]. This is
in the same order of magnitude as the
restored
length of the thrust units shown
in Figure 2:
Eva- Eva
50 km

considered

Caquiahuaca, 35 km' Quiquibeycito,

internal

friction

= 0.85

between

0.7

for

is

an

assumed

attached

and

possibly basement-involving
sole and 0.2
for a detached sole, floating
on a
through-going
glide plane.
The ratio
of fluid pressure to
geostatic

pressure

A has

also

been

considered
at a range of between 0.3
0.8. This range spans the conditions

body of granite

and quartzite

and
of a

with strong

erosion and bleed-off

of any overpressure
to conditions
of a sedimentary series

and

Marimonos

70

70 km;

km.

These numbers suggest that cohesive

prefailure transport and blind thrusting

mayhave been the persistent thrust style
in the sub-Andean belt since deposition of
the Neogene clastics,
perhaps similar to
the mechanismsuggested by Seely [1977].

The poorly knownwestern thrust wedge

involves sedimentary rocks up to the
Neogene as well as probably the basement.

Roeder: Andean-Age Structure

of Eastern

Cordillera

Table 1. Showing Data and Results

Eas tenon

Model Setting

Internides,

3.5

4.8

po/p

0.37

35
of Coulomb-Wedge Models for

Cordillera

a crit

0.85

0.7

0.5

3.19

i
State

7.23

Very
undercritical

dry wedge,
attached

2.4

Internides,

4.7

0.37

0.85

0.45

0.5

3.51

4.29

Near

weak
3

critical,

undercritical

dry wedge,
base

Internides

3.5

4.8

0.37

0.85

0.45

0.8

3.51

2.09

Overcri

3.5

4.8

0.37

0.85

0.3

0.8

3.60

0.77

Very

tical

we t wedge,
weak

base

Internides,

overcritical

we t wedge,
decollement

0.6

Externides,

3.8

0.46

0.85

0.45

0.8

3.51

2.40

Very
undercritical

we t wedge,
weak

base

0.6

Externides,
we t wedge,

3.8

0.46

0.85

0.3

0.8

3.60

0.97

Near

critical,

undercritical

decollement

Topographic

Semibalanced

c
d
e
f
g
h
i

Assumed [Turcotte
and Schubert,
1982].
Assumed (Byerlee vs Law) .
Assumed [Jaeger and Cook, 1969].
Assumed [Davis et al.,
1983, Table 1].
Calculated
[Davis et al.,
1983, Equation
(28)].
Calculated
[Davis et al.,
1983, Equation (22)].
Conclusion
(preferred
settings
are underscored).

An attached

maps are

1:250,000.

section.

state

would

allow

hanging

slope

steepening of up to 5 , but above a weak

base,

critical

failure

taper

conditions

and transport

would

be

below

reached

already at a slope of 1.5 .

PRESENT

THRUST

WEDGE

units

In its

Pleistocene

eastern

Cordillera

vergent

thin-skinned

back
critical

tilting
belts

to back with
or

fold-thrust

belt

it,

subcritical

or

the
east-

and,

belt

commonto both

eastward.

Most

of

of a major

thrust

ramp on the

in

the

foreland

no ramp top suggested

of

the

in the

MAT.

There

is

stratigraphic

record.

a west-vergent
thrust

the hinterland
clockwise

configuration,

shows a major

wall

MAT. However,
the present
rotation
is not
caused by thrust
movement over a ramp top
in the MAT, but by the stacking
of thrust
sheets at the Altiplano
foot of the axial
mountain chain. This is suggested by the
palinspastics
of the sub-Andean thrust

about

15 km of uplift
and part of the eastward
tilt
are a carryover
of east dip in the

The steepening
of the axial
panel is
still
undercritical,
pinned by basementinvolved
folds.
The Cordillera
is building
a large volume of critical
slope material
to push the accumulated low-dip,
weak-base
material
of the sub-Andean. It is being
counteracted
by erosion in the high

36

Roeder: Andean-Age Structure

TRENCH

COAST

MISTI

TITICACA

of Eastern

MURURATO

M.A.T.

,11,

EVA-EVA

... ;,.' .

Cordillera

100
KM

'"'""".::."9"'.
=.
:Fig. 7.
Crustal
sketch cross section of Andes in northern Bolivia,
located on
:Figure l, showing a possible
distribution
of crustal
domains, based on
structural
geology of eastern Cordillera,
and on Moho root after
data by Tames
[1971].
Solid areas are ?hanerozoic
sedLments in eastern Cordillera,
Neogene
voltanits,
and Neogene accretionary
wedge of ?eru-Chile
trench.
Dotted area is
area of possible
magmatic crustal
addition
during Oligocene and Neogene.
Dashed

lines

are

faults.

Dashed-dotted

[ines

are

boundaries

between

crustal

domains with letter

labels.
Solid circles
are earthquake
foci gathered by
Grange et al.
[1984] into their
section 2. A; Phanerozoic sediments of eastern
Cordillera
and Altiplano;
B; crust of Andean foreland,
footwall
of Main Andean
Thrust;
C; crust of hanging wall of MAT, Precambrian continental
crust.
D;
Triassicto Paleogene-age
crust accreted and deformed at innerwall
of PeruChile trench;
E; Neogene accretionary
wedge; F volumetrically
void space,
possibly
occupied by Neogene to Recent magmatic addition
and M, Moho.

Cordillera,
but not, at present,
foredeep
deposition
The need for an out-of-sequence
as

late

surface

branch

of

the

by

root
thrust

MAT

is

not

clear.
It may be blocking
and overriding
the sub-Andean thrusts,
thereby
terminating
the era of thrust-belt
growth
by cohesive slab push. Alternatively,
it
may be part of the thickening
by conjugate
thrusting
and more efficient
than a lowangle thrust.
The need for a west-facing
thrust belt
is also not clear.
However, development
of
the western belt
is essential
for building
critical
taper and enough high mass in the
median panel.
There are many examples of
backthrusting
on the rear ends of thrust
wedges [Roeder, 1973; Karig et al.,
1979;
Davis et al.,
1983 Figure 10; Platt,

[James,

1971]

and to the outlines

of

an area of low-strength rocks or magmatic

melts

beneath

the western

[Wigget, 1986].
A velocity
inversion

Cordillera

within

the rooted

part of the crust [Ocola and Meyer, 1972J

had been interpreted as crustal overlap
[Roeder, 1982] but has been rejected in
newer refraction-seismic work [Wigget,
1986].

There

cratonic

are no Moho data

crustal

on the

thickness and, hence, no

crustal support of the foredeep slope. Any

attempt to combine thrust-belt

geometry

with crustal geometry, therefore, can only

be made based on the thrust-belt

data.

This is done in the following way.

The east

Cordilleran

fold-thrust

suggests crustal thrust

hanging wall at surface

belt

overlap between a
and a footwall

downwarped to 25 or 30 km.
CRUSTAL

The leading edge of the hanging-wall

Moho may be located, by coincidence, near

BALANCING

the footwall

ramp top, with a Moho

The Andean Moho root in Bolivia

[James,
1971] area-balances
against a crustal

extending
toward the Peru-Chile
trench.
However, no such surface is known there.

overlap
(Figure

over crust,

of 230 km with an excess of 10%

7). This excess is located beneath

the Recent magmatic arc and may represent

magmatic

addition

of material

with

densities

and velocities.

is poorly

supported by the history

This

crustal

conclusion

of the

continental
margin as it is understood
present,
and it is not supported by
intracrustal

Crustal

data.

data

are

limited

to

the

Moho

at

To maintain

transcrustal

thrust

contact

the dip length

with

crust

of the

ramp must be at

least

190 km

at a ramp angle of 10 or 11. This ramp

geometry
and with

is consistent
with
the elastic
flexure

the Moho root

data of the

foreland. A shorter ramp and a steeper

cutoff angle do not produce a reasonably
balanced cross section. A void space
between the hanging-wall crust and the

Roeder: Andean-Age Structure

of Eastern

Cordill

beveled footwall
crust is assumed to be
filled
with material
of crustal
velocity
and composition.
The size of this space
can be estimated volumetrically
or by
cross-sectional

area.

granite

root.

Paleozoic
lithofacies
suggests that the
pre-Andean edge of the continental
crust
was located perhaps 200 km further
inboard
than today, with the pre-Paleozoic
crust
thinning to 15 km or less at a distance of
180 km west of the Paleozoic
depocenter
and the Triassic
magmatic arc. In this
model, an additional
17 to 20% of the Moho
root area is not original
South American
cratonic
crust.
This area is the present
western Cordillera.
It has reported
outcrops of Precambrian basement, but it
may consist either
of magmatic arc or of
deformed and plutonized
accretionary
wedge
of Triassic
to Cretaceous age, with minor
lumps of Precambrian basement.
The Andean model suggested by crustal
balancing,
with a single large crustal
overlap,
differs
from the Peruvian model
crustal

imbrication

[Suarez

et

al.,

1983]. However, it is similar

to a
configuration
that the Appalachians may
have had before Atlantic
peripheral
bulging uplifted
and flattened
the crustal
root

and the

crustal

overlap.

Acknowledgments.
I have received help
from colleagues
and friends
at Yacimientos
Petroliferos

Fiscales

Paz and Santa

and La Paz,

Cruz,

and at

Bolivia

at

Shell

Anschutz

(YPFB)

in

La

in The Hague
in

Denver.

The

paper is published by permission of Shell

in The Hague and of Anschutz in Denver. It
has benefited
much from reviews by David
James and Albert
Bally,
and from editorial
work by Annamarie Argandona.
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