Caño Tomás Fault

Caño Tomás Fault
Caño Tomás Fault
Falla de Caño Tomás
Etymology	Caño Tomás
Named by	Page
Year defined	1986
Coordinates	8°26′N 73°17′W / 8.433°N 73.283°W
Country	Colombia
Region	Andean
State	Norte de Santander
Characteristics
Range	Eastern Ranges, Andes
Part of	Andean thrust faults
Length	81.6 km (50.7 mi)
Strike	011.4 ± 8
Dip	West
Dip angle	High
Displacement	<0.2 mm (0.0079 in)/yr
Tectonics
Plate	North Andean
Status	Inactive
Type	Thrust fault
Movement	Reverse
Age	Quaternary
Orogeny	Andean

The Caño Tomás Fault (Spanish: Falla de Caño Tomás) is a thrust fault in the department of Norte de Santander in northern Colombia. The fault has a total length of 81.6 kilometres (50.7 mi) and runs along an average north-northeast to south-southwest strike of 011.4 ± 8 in the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes.

Etymology

The fault is named after Caño Tomás a vereda of Teorama.^[1]

Description

The fault with a total length of 81.6 kilometres (50.7 mi) is located about 50 kilometres (31 mi) to the west of the town of Tibú, Norte de Santander, along the eastern base of the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes. In the northern part, the fault places agglomerates and breccias of Jurassic to Triassic age against shales and sandstones of Cretaceous age. Farther south, it places Precambrian gneisses and migmatites against Cretaceous and Jurassic to Triassic rocks. The thrust fault, with an approximate strike of 011.4 ± 8 and dipping to the west, displaces the erosion surface of the Eastern Ranges about 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) vertically according to a topographic survey that was done along the fault. This indicates that the fault has been active. However no displacement of Quaternary deposits were observed during aerial and land reconnaissance work by Page (1986). The slip rate has been estimated at less than 0.2 millimetres (0.0079 in) per year.^[1]