@article{CrucesZabalaRitterWeckmannetal.2022,
  author    = {Cruces-Zabala, Jos{\´e} Alejandro and Ritter, Oliver and Weckmann, Ute and Tietze, Kristina and Meqbel, Naser M. and Audemard, Franck and Schmitz, Michael},
  title     = {Three-dimensional magnetotelluric imaging of the Merida Andes, Venezuela},
  series = {Journal of South American earth sciences},
  volume    = {114},
  journal   = {Journal of South American earth sciences},
  publisher = {Elsevier},
  address   = {Oxford},
  issn      = {0895-9811},
  doi       = {10.1016/j.jsames.2022.103711},
  pages     = {17},
  year      = {2022},
  abstract  = {The 100 km wide Merida Andes extend from the Colombian/Venezuelan border to the Coastal Cordillera. The mountain chain and its associated major strike-slip fault systems in western Venezuela formed due to oblique convergence of the Caribbean with the South American Plates and the north-eastwards expulsion of the North Andean Block. Due to the limited knowledge of lithospheric structures related to the formation of the Merida Andes research projects have been developed to illuminate this zone with deep geophysical data. In this study, we present three-dimensional inversion of broadband magnetotelluric data, collected along a 240 km long profile crossing the Merida Andes and the Maracaibo and Barinas-Apure foreland basins. The distribution of the stations limits resolution of the model to off-profile features. Combining 3D inversion of synthetic data sets derived from 3D modelling with 3D inversion of measured data, we could derive a 10 to 15 km wide corridor with good lateral resolution to develop hypotheses about the origin of deep-reaching anomalies of high electrical conductivity. The Merida Andes appear generally as electrically resistive structures, separated by anomalies associated with the most important fault systems of the region, the Bocono and Valera faults. Sensitivity tests suggest that the Valera Fault reaches to depths of up to 12 km and the Bocono Fault to more than 35 km depth. Both structures are connected to a sizeable conductor located east of the profile at 12-15 km depth. We propose that the high conductivity associated with this off-profile conductor may be related to the detachment of the Trujillo Block. We also identified a conductive zone that correlates spatially with the location of a gravity low, possibly representing a SE tilt of the Maracaibo Triangular Block under the mountain chain to great depths (>30 km). The relevance of these tectonic blocks in our models at crustal depths seems to be consistent with proposed theories that describe the geodynamics of western Venezuela as dominated by floating blocks or orogens. Our results stress the importance of the Trujillo Block for the current tectonic evolution of western Venezuela and confirm the relevance of the Bocono Fault carrying deformation to the lower crust and upper mantle. The Barinas-Apure and the Maracaibo sedimentary basins are imaged as electrically conductive with depths of 4 to 5 km and 5 to 10 km, respectively. The Barinas-Apure basin is imaged as a simple 1D structure, in contrast to the Maracaibo Basin, where a series of conductive and resistive bodies could be related to active deformation causing the juxtaposition of older geological formations and younger basin sediments.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{KirbyHarkins2013,
  author    = {Kirby, Eric and Harkins, Nathan},
  title     = {Distributed deformation around the eastern tip of the Kunlun fault},
  series = {INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EARTH SCIENCES},
  volume    = {102},
  journal   = {INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EARTH SCIENCES},
  number    = {7},
  publisher = {SPRINGER},
  address   = {NEW YORK},
  issn      = {1437-3254},
  doi       = {10.1007/s00531-013-0872-x},
  pages     = {1759 -- 1772},
  year      = {2013},
  abstract  = {Whether active strain within the Indo-Asian collision zone is primarily localized along major strike-slip fault systems or is distributed throughout the intervening crust between faults remains uncertain. Despite refined estimates of slip rates along many of the major fault zones, relatively little is known about how displacement along these structures is accommodated at fault terminations. Here, we show that a systematic decrease in left-lateral slip rates along the eastern similar to 200 km of the Kunlun fault, from > 10 mm/year to < 1 mm/year, is coincident with high topography in the Anyemaqen Shan and with a broad zone of distributed shear and clockwise vorticity within the Tibetan Plateau. Geomorphic analysis of river longitudinal profiles, coupled with inventories of cosmogenic radionuclides in fluvial sediment, reveal correlated variations in fluvial relief and erosion rate across the Anyemaqen Shan that reflect ongoing differential rock uplift across the range. Our results imply that the termination of the Kunlun fault system is accommodated by a combination of distributed crustal thickening and by clockwise rotation of the eastern fault segments.},
  language  = {en}
}