@article{551b13c091e74cb1a410eaf4be2ae8ad,
title = "The Case for Tectonic Control on Erosional Exhumation on the Tropical Northern Andes Based on Thermochronology Data",
abstract = "The tropical Northern Andes constitutes a great area to explore the interaction of tectonics and climate on the evolution of orogenic topography, as they are tectonically active, have steep gradients in relief and precipitation, and were less affected by Quaternary glaciations than high-latitude mountains. This study combines new and published thermochronology along ∼500 km of the Eastern Cordillera in Colombia to explore what controls the rates of Miocene and Pliocene exhumation, including: (1) variations in late Cenozoic paleoclimate, (2) orographic precipitation or (3) variation in rock uplift associated with structural heterogeneities along the eastern flank of the range. New thermochronology data consists of 27 apatite and seven zircon (U-Th)/He ages and five apatite fission track ages. Thermal history models show that rock cooling as a result of erosional exhumation has occurred everywhere in the Eastern Cordillera since at least the Miocene at spatially and temporally variable rates. Exhumation rates vary by an order of magnitude between various fault-bounded blocks and there is no evidence for a spatially uniform increase in exhumation rates during the past ∼4–5 Ma that would indicate uniform climatic driven exhumation. The west (dry) to east (wet) gradient in precipitation rates across the Garzon Massif is not a major factor controlling the exhumation rates, as the exhumation rates are highest on the western drier flank. The greatest rates of exhumation of the Eastern Cordillera occur in the blocks associated with vigorous Cenozoic reactivation of inherited faults that had focused extension during Early Cretaceous rifting.",
keywords = "Colombia, Mesozoic rift, geomorphology, rock uplift, south America, tropics",
author = "N. P{\'e}rez-Consuegra and Hoke, {G. D.} and A. Mora and P. Fitzgerald and Sobel, {E. R.} and Sandoval, {J. R.} and J. Glodny and V. Valencia and M. Parra and S. Zapata",
note = "Funding Information: Thanks to P. Forero, J. P. Marin, J. P. Arias, R. A. G{\'o}mez, H. Schneider and J. Forero for assistance in the field; to L. Salazar from ARCADUDA and the community from the Duda River Canyon (Colombia) for their guidance and hospitality; to R. Campana for guidance in the Putumayo region (Colombia); to J. Rembe for his hospitality in Potsdam (Germany). B. Wilkinson, A. Fernandez, I. Klonowska, F. Moreno and J. Rosenthal provided feedback on an earlier version of the paper. This work was financed by the 2018 National Geographic Early Career Grant (EC‐51182R‐18), a 2018 AAPG Grants in Aid, a 2019 GSA Graduate Student Grant, the Geo.X Travel Grant, the K.D. Nelson Fund from the Department of Earth Sciences, a Syracuse University Graduate Student Fellowship and REDF Graduate Student Fellowship at Syracuse University. K. Gallagher helped with questions regarding the use of the QTQt software. The authors thank J. Arkle and J. Saylor for thorough reviews that helped focus the ideas presented here. Funding Information: Thanks to P. Forero, J. P. Marin, J. P. Arias, R. A. G?mez, H. Schneider and J. Forero for assistance in the field; to L. Salazar from ARCADUDA and the community from the Duda River Canyon (Colombia) for their guidance and hospitality; to R. Campana for guidance in the Putumayo region (Colombia); to J. Rembe for his hospitality in Potsdam (Germany). B. Wilkinson, A. Fernandez, I. Klonowska, F. Moreno and J. Rosenthal provided feedback on an earlier version of the paper. This work was financed by the 2018 National Geographic Early Career Grant (EC-51182R-18), a 2018 AAPG Grants in Aid, a 2019 GSA Graduate Student Grant, the Geo.X Travel Grant, the K.D. Nelson Fund from the Department of Earth Sciences, a Syracuse University Graduate Student Fellowship and REDF Graduate Student Fellowship at Syracuse University. K. Gallagher helped with questions regarding the use of the QTQt software. The authors thank J. Arkle and J. Saylor for thorough reviews that helped focus the ideas presented here. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.",
year = "2021",
month = apr,
doi = "10.1029/2020TC006652",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "40",
journal = "Tectonics",
issn = "0278-7407",
publisher = "American Geophysical Union",
number = "4",
}