Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Coastal Marine Ecosystems of Latin America pp 1–16Cite as

The Tectonic and Geological Environment of Coastal South America

  • Chapter

Part of the book series: Ecological Studies ((ECOLSTUD,volume 144))

Abstract

The tectonic history and geological factors, such as the present-day geomorphology and vertical motions of the coastline, influence the coastal and marine ecosystems of South America. The continent’s Phanerozoic tectonic history is dominated by its separation from Africa and the Mid-Miocene uplift of the Andes. Tectonically, South America is divided into two parts, the Andean chain to the west and a vast stable platform to the east, consisting of exposed Precambrian rocks and shallow sedimentary cover rocks. The Pacific Andean coastline is characterized by high relief, a relatively narrow shelf bordering a deep trench, small drainage basins, and rapid vertical motions of the coast. Low relief, a broad shelf, and extremely large drainage basins and alluvial fans characterize the Atlantic coastline. Today, approximately 93% of South America’s drainage is to the Caribbean and the Atlantic away from the Andes and provides the world’s best example of present-day continent-scale drainage control by plate tectonics (Inman and Nordstrom 1971; Hoorn et al. 1995; Potter 1997).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Allmendinger RW, Jordan TE, Kay SM, Isacks BL (1997) The evolution of the Altiplano-Puna Plateau of the Central Andes. Annu Rev Earth Planet Sci 25: 139–174

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Asmus HE, Baisch PR (1983) Geological evolution of the Brazilian continental margin. Episodes 4: 3–9

    Google Scholar 

  • Asmus HE, Ponte FC (1973) The Brazilian marginal basins. In: Nairn AEM, Stehili FG (eds) The ocean basins and margins, vol 1. The South Atlantic. Plenum Press, New York, pp 87–133

    Google Scholar 

  • Barazangi M, Isacks B (1976) Spatial distribution of earthquakes and subduction of the Nazca plate beneath South America. Geology 4: 686–692

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bourgois J, Calle B, Tournon J, Toussaint J-F (1982) The Andean ophiolitic megastructures on the Buga-Buenaventura transverse ( Western Cordillera-Valle Colombia ). Tectonophysics 82: 207–299

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowin C (1976) Caribbean gravity field and plate tectonics. Geol Soc Am Spec Pap 169 Lande SC, Leslie RB (1986) Late Cenozoic tectonics of the southern Chile trench. J Geophys Res 91 (B1): 471–496

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Case JE (1974) Oceanic crust forms basement of eastern Panama. Geol Soc Am Bull 85: 645–652

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chang HK, Kowsmann RO, Figueiredo AMF, Bender A (1992) Tectonics and stratigraphy of the East Brazil Rift System: an overview. Tectonophysics 213: 97–138

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cobbold PR, Szatmari P, Demercian LS, Coelho D, Rossello EA (1995) Seismic experimental evidence for thin-skinned horizontal shortening by convergent radial gliding on evaporites, deep-water Santos Basin. In: Jackson MPA, Roberts RG, Snelson S (eds) Salt tectonics: a global perspective. AAPG Mem 6: 305–321

    Google Scholar 

  • de Almeida LFG (1974) A drenagem festonada e seu significado fotogeologico. Socieda- de Brasileiro de Geologia. Anais de 38th Congresso, Porto Alegre, RS, 7: 175–197

    Google Scholar 

  • Demercian LS, Szatmari P, Cobbold PR (1993) Style and pattern of salt diapirs due to thin-skinned gravitational gliding, Campos and Santos basins, offshore Brazil. Tectonophysics 228: 393–433

    Google Scholar 

  • Dengo C, Covey M (1993) Structure of the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia: implications for trap styles and regional tectonics. Bull Am Assoc Petrol Geol 77 (8): 135–137

    Google Scholar 

  • Dewey JF, Lamb SH (1992) Active tectonics of the Andes. Tectonophysics 205: 79–95

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duncan RA, Hargraves RB (1984) Plate tectonic evolution of the Caribbean region in the mantle reference frame. In: Bonini WE, Hargraves RB, Shagam R (eds) Caribbean-South American Plate boundary and regional tectonics. Geol Soc Am Mem 162: 81–93

    Google Scholar 

  • Duque-Caro H (1979) Major structural elements of northern Colombia. AAPG Mem 29: 329–351

    Google Scholar 

  • Duque-Caro H (1990) The Choco Block in the northwestern corner of South America: structural, tectonostratigraphic, and paleogeographic implications. J South Am Earth Sci 3 (1): 71–84

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gamboa LAP, Rabinowitz PD (1981) The Rio Grande fracture zone in the western South Atlantic and its tectonic implications. Earth Planet Sci Lett 52: 410–418

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gohrbandt KHA (1992) Paleozoic paleogeographic depositional developments on the central proto-Pacific margin of Gondwana: their importance for hydrocarbon accumulation. J South Am Earth Sci 6: 267–287

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gonzalez-Ferran 0 (1985) Preliminary neotectonic map of South America. Prepared by Regional Seismological Center for South America (Ceresis), scale 1:5, 000, 000

    Google Scholar 

  • Greene HG, Wong FL (1989) Ridge collisions along the plate margins of South America compared with those in the Southwest Pacific. In: Ericksen GE, Canas Pinochet MT, Reinemund JA (eds) Geology of the Andes and its relation to hydrocarbon and mineral resources, Circum-Pacific Council for Energy and Mineral Resources Earth Sciences Series, vol 11. Houston, Texas, pp 39–57

    Google Scholar 

  • Gutscher MA, Malavieille J, Lallemand S, Collot JY (1999a) Tectonic segmentation of the North Andean margin: impact of the Carnegie Ridge collision. Earth Planet Sci Lett 168: 255–270

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gutscher MA, Olivet JL,Aslanian D, Eissen JP, Maury R (1999b) The “lost Inca Plateau”: cause of flat subduction beneath Peru? Earth Planet Sci Lett 171: 335–341

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hoorn C, Guerrero J, Sarmiento GA, Lorente MA (1995) Andean tectonics as a cause for changing drainage patterns in Miocene South America. Geology 23: 237–240

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Inman DL, Nordstrom CE (1971) The tectonic and morphologic classification of coasts. J Geol 79: 1–21

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keigwin L (1982) Isotopic paleoceanography of the Caribbean and east Pacific; role of Panama uplift in late Neogene time. Science 217: 350–353

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Keller G, Zenker CE, Stone SM (1989) Late Neogene history of the Pacific-Caribbean gateway. J South Am Earth Sci 2 (1): 73–108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kellogg JN (1984) Cenozoic tectonic history of the Sierra de Perijâ and adjacent basins. In: Bonini WE, Hargraves RB, Shagam R (eds) Caribbean-South American Plate boundary and regional tectonics. Geol Soc Am Mem 162: 239–261

    Google Scholar 

  • Kellogg JN, Vega V (1995) Tectonic development of Panama, Costa Rica, and the Colombian Andes: constraints from global positioning system geodetic studies and gravity. In: Mann P (ed) Geologic and tectonic development of the Caribbean Plate Boundary in southern Central America. Geol Soc Am Spec Pap 295, Boulder, Colorado, pp 75–90

    Google Scholar 

  • Kroonenberg SB, Bakker JGM, van der Wiel AM (1990) Late Cenozoic uplift and paleogeography of the Colombian Andes: constraints on the development of high Andean biotas. Geol Mijnbouw, Spec Issue, 69: 279–290

    Google Scholar 

  • Ladd JW, Truchan M, Talwani M, Stoffa PL, Buhl P, Houtz R, Mauffret A, Westbrook G (1984) Seismic reflection profiles across the southern margin of the Caribbean. In: Bonini WE, Hargraves RB, Shagam R (eds) Caribbean-South American Plate boundary and regional tectonics. Geol Soc Am Mem 162: 153–159

    Google Scholar 

  • Lu RS, McMillen KJ (1982) Multichannel seismic survey of the Colombia Basin and adjacent margins. In: Watkins JS, Drake CL (eds) Studies in continental margin geology. AAPG Mem 34: 95–410

    Google Scholar 

  • Macharé J, Ortlieb L (1992) Plio-Quaternary vertical motions and the subduction of the Nazca Ridge, central coast of Peru. Tectonophysics 205: 97–108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matos RMD (1992) The Northeastern Brazilian Rift System. Tectonics 11 (4): 766–791

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milani EJ (1992) Intraplate tectonics and the evolution of the Parana Basin, Brazil. In: de Wit MJ, Ransome IGD (eds) Inversion tectonics of the Cape Fold Belt, Karoo and Cretaceous basins of southern Africa. Proceedings of the Conference on Inversion tectonics of the Cape Fold Belt Capetown/South Africa. Balkema, Rotterdam, pp 101–108

    Google Scholar 

  • Mizusaki AMP, Mohriak WU (1992) Sequências vulcano-sedimentares na regiäo da plataforma continental de Cabo Frio, RJ. Anais do XXXVII Congresso Brasileiro de Geologia–Resumos Expandidos, Sao Paulo, SP, vol 2, pp 468–469

    Google Scholar 

  • Mohriak WU, Macedo JM, Castellani RT, Rangel HD, Barros AZN, Latgé MAL, Ricci JA, Misuzaki AMP, Szatmari P, Demercian LS, Rizzo JG,Aires JR (1995) Salt tectonics and structural styles in the deep-water province of the Cabo Frio region, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In: Jackson MPA, Roberts DG, Snelson S (eds) Salt tectonics: a global perspective. AAPG Mem 65: 273–304

    Google Scholar 

  • Mohriak WU, Bassetto M, Vieira IS (1998) Crustal architecture and tectonic evolution of the Sergipe - Alagoas and Jacuipe Basins, Offshore Northeastern Brazil. Tectonophysics 288: 199–220

    Google Scholar 

  • Mpodozis C, Ramos V (1989) The Andes of Chile and Argentina. In: Ericksen GE, Canas Pinochet MT, Reinemund JA (eds) Geology of the Andes and its relation to hydrocarbon and mineral resources. Circum-Pacific Council for Energy and Mineral Resources Earth Sciences Series, vol 11. Houston, Texas, pp 59–90

    Google Scholar 

  • Norabuena E, Leffler-Griffin L, Mao A, Dixon T, Stein S, Sacks IS, Ocola L, Ellis M (1998) Space geodetic observations of Nazca-South America convergence across the central Andes. Science 279: 358–362

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ojeda HAO (1982) Structural framework, stratigraphy, and evolution of Brazilian marginal basins. AAPG Bull 66: 732–749

    Google Scholar 

  • Pennington WD (1981) Subduction of the eastern Panama basin and the seismotectonics of northwestern South America. J Geophys Res 86: 10753–10770

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pindell JL, Higgs R, Dewey JF (1998) Cenozoic Palinspastic reconstruction, paleogeographic evolution and hydrocarbon setting of the Northern Margin of South America. In: Paleogeographic evolution and non-glacial eustasy, Northern South America. SEPM Spec Publ 58: 45–85

    Google Scholar 

  • Ponte FC, Asmus HE (1978) Geological framework of the Brazilian continental margin. Geol Rundsch 67: 201–235

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Potter PE (1997) The Mesozoic and Cenozoic paleodrainage of South America: a natural history. J South Am Earth Sci 10 (5/6): 331–344

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rabinowitz PD, LaBrecque J (1979) The Mesozoic South Atlantic Ocean and evolution of its continental margins. J Geophys Res 84: 5973–6002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rangel HD, Martins FAL, Esteves FR, Feij6 FJ (1994) Bacia de Campos. Bol Geocienc Petrobras 8: 203–218

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmitz M (1994) A balanced model of the southern central Andes. Tectonics 13:484–492 Sheffels BM (1990) Lower bound on the amount of crustal shortening in the central Bolivian Andes. Geology 18 (9): 812–815

    Google Scholar 

  • Souza KG, Fontana RL, Mascle J, Macedo JM, Mohriak WU, Hinz K (1993) The southern Brazilian margin: an example of a South Atlantic volcanic margin. 3rd international congress of the Brazilian Geophysical Society, Rio de Janeiro 2: 1336–1341

    Google Scholar 

  • Toto EA, Kellogg IN (1992) Structure of the Sinu-San Jacinto fold belt–an active accretionary prism in northern Colombia. J South Am Earth Sci 5 (1): 211–222

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vicente JC (1989) Early Late Cretaceous overthrusting in the Western Cordillera of Southern Peru. In: Ericksen GE, Canas Pinochet MT, Reinemund JA (eds) Geology of the Andes and its relation to hydrocarbon and mineral resources. Circum-Pacific Council for Energy and Mineral Resources Earth Sciences Series, vol 11. Houston, Texas, pp 91–117

    Google Scholar 

  • von Huene R (1989) Structure of the Andean convergent margin and some implications for hydrocarbon resources. In: Ericksen GE, Canas Pinochet MT, Reinemund JA (eds) Geology of the Andes and its relation to hydrocarbon and mineral resources. CircumPacific Council for Energy and Mineral Resources Earth Sciences Series, vol 11. Houston, Texas, pp 119–129

    Google Scholar 

  • Zalân PV (1991) Influence of pre-Andean orogenies on the Paleozoic intracratonic basins of South America. IV Simposio Bolivariano, Exploracion Petrolera en Cuencas Subandinas, Memorias, Bogota, Colombia 7

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. J. N. Kellogg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. W. U. Mohriak
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Depto. de Oceanografia, Universidade do Rio Grande, Av. Italia km 8, 96201-900, Rio Grande, RS, Brazil

    Ulrich Seeliger

  2. Marine Science Program, Department of Geological Sciences, and the Belle W. Baruch Institute for Marine and Coastal Research, University of South Carolina, Earth and Water Sciences Building 508 a, 29208, Columbia, SC, USA

    Björn Kjerfve

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2001 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Kellogg, J.N., Mohriak, W.U. (2001). The Tectonic and Geological Environment of Coastal South America. In: Seeliger, U., Kjerfve, B. (eds) Coastal Marine Ecosystems of Latin America. Ecological Studies, vol 144. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-04482-7_1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-04482-7_1

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-08657-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-04482-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation