Unraveling the exhumation history of the Northern Andes in Colombia and Venezuela: a zircon fission-track thermochronology perspective

Low-temperature thermochronology is a widely used approach for studying the thermal and exhumation histories of orogens. Here we focus on the zircon fission-track method for studying the Northern Andes of Colombia and Venezuela, by reviewing published zircon fission-track data and providing new data from 31 bedrock and 7 detrital river samples collected from the Central and Eastern Cordilleras, the Santander Massif, the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the Guajira peninsula of Colombia and the Mérida Andes of Venezuela. The data are summarized in a data table and presented in a series of maps. The observed cooling age patterns reflect the established tectonic history of the Northern Andes in Colombia and Venezuela, together with the global climatic changes since the Eocene. Tectonics and related erosion are recognized as the main drivers for exhumation of the Santander Massif and Eastern Cordillera during the late Oligocene and the middle Miocene respectively, whereas the Central Cordillera and parts of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta were strongly affected by Late Cretaceous and/or Paleogene magmatism, as well as parts of the Western Cordillera by Miocene intrusions. Future research may be guided by this compilation, as many areas in the Northern Andes warrant detailed thermochronological research.