The Garzon fault: active southwestern boundary of the Caribbean plate in Colombia

We propose active right-lateral strike-slip motion on the Garzon fault zone of the Neiva basin, Colombia, based on the identification of two active right-stepping releasing bend basins along the fault using stereoscopic analysis of 1/250000 SPOT images. The Garzon fault connects the Bocono-Pamplona-Guaicaramo fault zones of Venezuela and Colombia with the Romeral, Dolores and Guayaquil faults of Colombia. Together these faults form a continuous, active right-lateral fault between accreted terranes in northwestern South America and a more stable South America plate. We infer 5-km right-lateral offset of the Garzon fault based on the width of the Algeciras releasing bend basin.