This book provides a comprehensive overview of the geological evolution of the Northern Andes
and contiguous shield areas with a focus upon Colombia. Updated geological interpretations are
supported by modern lithogeochemical seismic gravity and magnetic data and radiogenic isotope
and radiometric age determinations. The composite data permits a detailed interpretation of the
tectono-magmatic history of the Northern Andean Block including the Andes of Colombia
northern Ecuador western Venezuela and eastern Panamá. Tectonic reconstructions based upon
characterization of more than thirty litho-tectonic and morpho-structural units terrane
assemblages and tectonic realms and their bounding suture and fault systems highlight the
intimate and complementary Mesozoic-Cenozoic history of the Northern Andean Block and the
Pacific and Caribbean Plates. The complex nature of Northern Andean assembly contrasts with
''classical'' Central Andean ''Cordilleran-type'' orogenic models. Differences render the
application of typical Cordilleran-type models inappropriate for the Colombian Andes. The
importance of underlying Proterozoic through mid-Mesozoic elements in the development of
Meso-Cenozoic Northern Andean orogeny-phase tectonic configurations is analyzed in the light of
spatial-temporal studies and reconstructions related to basin formation sedimentation
deformation uplift mechanisms structural style and magmatic evolution. The pre-Andean
architecture of north western South America has played a pre-determinative role in the
development of the Northern Andean orogenic system. 16 contributions analyze key stratigraphic
structural metamorphic magmatic and tectonic questions and provide solutions as far as the
most recent published field-based studies permit. The volume provides geological
interpretations and tectonic models which contrast with repetitive theoretical proposals
frequently found in the available literature.
