Geology of Colombia

As in the rest of South America, a combination of external and internal tectonic, volcanic, and glacial forces over the eons formed Colombia's present-day geology.

During the 289-million-year-long Paleozoic Era, which began 539 million years ago, the ocean invaded the area which is exposed in Colombia's Andean zone, as subterranean volcanic eruptions in the western part of the country spouted lava.

[1] In the Triassic Period of the 186-million-year-long Mesozoic Era, which began 252 million years ago, the sea that occupied the Andean zone separated into two parts after the Cordillera Central rose.

[1] During the Cenozoic Era, which began about 66 million years ago, the seas withdrew from most of Colombia's territory, and enormous granite masses formed along the Cordillera Occidental.

The second region is located in the central area of the Llanos with a more wavy topography and formations elevated like the Alto del Vaupés or the Serranía de la Macarena mountain range, isolated in the middle of the plains and towards the Guyana Shield.

The Cordillera Oriental was the most recently formed mountain range of the three, developing by the end of the Tertiary period and consisting mostly of sedimentary elements.

The formation of the Cordillera Oriental covered the continental platform with pelagic sediments with Precambrian and Paleozoic metamorphic rocks bases.

Gómez Tapias, Jorge; Montes Ramírez, Nohora E.; Almanza Meléndez, María F.; Alcárcel Gutiérrez, Fernando A.; Madrid Montoya, César A.; Diederix, Hans (2015).