The Suárez Fault () is a sinistral

oblique Oblique may refer to: * an alternative name for the character usually called a slash (punctuation) ( / ) *Oblique angle, in geometry * Oblique triangle, in geometry * Oblique lattice, in geometry * Oblique leaf base, a characteristic shape of the ...

thrust fault A thrust fault is a break in the Earth's crust, across which older rocks are pushed above younger rocks. Thrust geometry and nomenclature Reverse faults A thrust fault is a type of reverse fault that has a dip of 45 degrees or less. If ...

in the

department 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, ...

Santander Santander may refer to: Places * Santander, Spain, a port city and capital of the autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain * Santander Department, a department of Colombia * Santander State, former state of Colombia * Santander de Quilichao, a ...

in northeastern Colombia. The fault has a total length of and runs along an average north-northeast to south-southwest

strike Strike may refer to: People * Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...

of 021.1 ± 8 in the

Eastern Ranges The Eastern Ranges is an Australian rules football team in the NAB League, the Victorian statewide under-18s competition. The club is a founding member of the competition (1992) and has produced several players for the Australian Football Le ...

of the Colombian

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

from Barbosa in the south to

Bucaramanga Bucaramanga () is the capital and largest city of the department of Santander, Colombia. Bucaramanga has the fifth-largest economy by GDP in Colombia, has the lowest unemployment rate and has the ninth-largest population in the country, with ...

in the north, where it connects with the regional

Bucaramanga-Santa Marta Fault The Bucaramanga-Santa Marta Fault (BSMF, BSF) or Bucaramanga-Santa Marta Fault System ( es, (Sistema de) Falla(s) de Bucaramanga-Santa Marta) is a major oblique transpressional sinistral strike-slip fault (wrench fault) in the departments of Magda ...

Etymology

The fault is named after the

Suárez River The Suárez River, originally Saravita, is a river in the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes. The river originates in Lake Fúquene on the border of Cundinamarca and Boyacá and its mouth is the confluence with the Chicamocha River, formin ...

.Paris et al., 2000, p.34

Description

The Suárez Fault runs from Barbosa in the south,Mapa Geológico Santander, 1999 where it displaces the

Simití Formation Simiti is a town and municipality located in the Bolívar Department, northern Colombia. History Simití was founded in 1537 by Antonio de Lebrija and Juan Maldonado, two soldiers of the expedition from Santa Marta to the Muisca Confederati ...

,Plancha 170, 2009 and joins the Bucaramanga Fault a few kilometers to the north of the city of

. The Suárez Fault cuts

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...

(

Girón Formation The Girón Formation ( es, Formación Girón, Jg) is an extensive geological formation stretching across from the north in Teorama, Norte de Santander, across the Mesa de Los Santos and Chicamocha Canyon towards west of Nobsa, Boyacá in the nor ...

),Plancha 135, 2009 and

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...

sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particle ...

s (Simití, Rosablanca and

Paja Formation Paja may refer to: * Paja, Iran, a village in Sari County * Paja (given name), a Serbian masculine name * Paja (surname) * Paja Formation, geologic formation in Colombia * Paja Brava :''Paja Brava is also used in Spanish speaking countries to ref ...

s),Plancha 151, 2009 and Quaternary

alluvial Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Al ...

deposits and

mud flow A mudflow or mud flow is a form of mass wasting involving fast-moving flow of debris that has become liquified by the addition of water. Such flows can move at speeds ranging from 3 meters/minute to 5 meters/second. Mudflows contain a significa ...

s that form the "Bucaramanga Terrace".Plancha 120, 2010 The trace of the fault is well defined, controls linear drainages such as the

for several kilometers, has sag ponds, and locally dams alluvium. The fault vertically offsets

debris flow Debris flows are geological phenomena in which water-laden masses of soil and fragmented Rock (geology), rock rush down mountainsides, funnel into stream channels, entrain objects in their paths, and form thick, muddy deposits on valley floors. ...

s in the area of Girón and

La Fuente LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...

and displaces a Tertiary erosion surface. The slip rate is estimated at per year on the basis of displaced Quaternary deposits.

References

Bibliography

Maps

* * * * * *

Etymology

Description

See also

References

Bibliography

Maps

Further reading