New fission-track age constraints on the exhumation of the central Santander Massif: Implications for the tectonic evolution of the Northern Andes, Colombia

The Late Cretaceous to late Neogene exhumation history of the central Santander Massif in the Northern Andes of Colombia is controlled by the geodynamic interactions between the Caribbean, South American and Nazca plates, as well as the Neogene collision and accretion of the Panama arc. Slab-breakoff of the Caribbean plate, with the tip of the slab tear presently being located beneath Bucaramanga, and the east-west oriented Caldas tear are the main structures relating seismic activity and Late Miocene to Pleistocene magmatic/hydrothermal activity and associated gold mineralization in the central Santander Massif.