Battle of Backbone Mountain

The Garrapatas Fault (Zone) (Spanish: (Zona de) Falla(s) de Garrapatas) is an inactive dextral oblique thrust fault in the departments of Chocó and Valle del Cauca in Colombia. The fault has a total length of 138 kilometres (86 mi) and is crescent-shaped, running along an average east-northeast to west-southwest strike of 060.8 ± 14 in the Western Ranges of the Colombian Andes.

Etymology

The fault is named after the Garrapatas River.^[1]

Description

The Garrapatas Fault runs between the axis of the Western Ranges of the Colombian Andes and the Serranía de Los Paraguas, to the west of the city of Buga. The fault displaces oceanic volcanic and sedimentary rocks and has a very well developed V-shaped valley along the upper parts of the Garrapatas and Las Vueltas Rivers and probably connects with the Argelia Fault. It causes alignment of drainage and parallel streams. Dextral movement in this fault is an exception to the common sinistral (left-lateral) movement of north-south trending faults in the region.^[1]

See also

• List of earthquakes in Colombia
• Romeral Fault System

References

Bibliography

• Paris, Gabriel; Michael N. Machette; Richard L. Dart, and Kathleen M. Haller. 2000a. Map and Database of Quaternary Faults and Folds in Colombia and its Offshore Regions, 1–66. USGS. Accessed 2017-09-18.

Maps

• Paris, Gabriel; Michael N. Machette; Richard L. Dart, and Kathleen M. Haller. 2000b. Map of Quaternary Faults and Folds of Colombia and Its Offshore Regions, 1. USGS. Accessed 2017-09-18.