doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3121.2007.00782.

Recycling of Proterozoic crust in the Andean Amazon foreland of Ecuador: implications for orogenic development of the Northern Andes
Nergui Martin-Gombojav and Wilfried Winkler
Department of Earth Sciences, Geological Institute HAD, Haldenbachstrasse 44, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland

ABSTRACT
The retro-arc foreland Andean Amazon Basin records sedimentary inll from the South American craton and the emerging Northern Andean chain from the middle Cretaceous until Present day. The U Pb ages of detrital zircons indicate signicant reworking of Archean-Proterozoic (max. 2.9 Ga) and Paleozoic crust and sediments, which were eroded on both sides. Heavy mineral associations show that the material derived from Proterozoic craton was supplied by Cretaceous reworking of non-metamorphosed (unannealed) Paleozoic and older sedimentary rocks, which cover the Amazon Craton. Following latest Cretaceous switch of the dominant sediment source to the Andean cordillera, the inux of Precambrian zircons persisted, and these zircons were derived from the metamorphosed basement and Paleozoic sediments of the Cordillera Real (Loja terrane). Re-evaluation of existing detrital zircon ssion-track record proves that the rise of the Cordillera Real at the Cretaceous-Tertiary transition was initiated by the collision of Caribbean Oceanic Plateau and associated arc elements from 7565 Ma. A further important exhumation event also occurred in the Late Oligocene, which is correlated with the break-up of the Farallon plate.

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Introduction
The at-lying Oriente Basin and proximal deformed belt of the Sub-Andean Zone (comprising the Cutucu and Napo structural highs) of Ecuador are collectively referred to as the Andean Amazon Basin. This composite retro-arc foreland basin system forms part of the larger PutumayoOriente-Maran on oil province in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru (Fig. 1; e.g. Campbell, 1970), which borders the Northern Andes. Similar to a majority of mature foreland basin settings, the Andean Amazon Basin is composed of a proximal stack of inverted sedimentary strata (the SubAndean Zone), and a nearly at lying outer sector to the east (the Oriente). The basin preserves a 120 Ma sedimentary record, which documents the development of the Ecuadorian Andes. For reconstructing the orogenic history, we evaluated the sediment routing into the basin by a detailed provenance analysis. U Pb dating of detrital zircons and associated heavy
Correspondence: N. Martin-Gombojav, Department of Earth Sciences, Geological Institute HAD, Haldenbachstrasse 44, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland. Tel: ++41 44 632 36 97; fax: ++41 44 632 14 22; e-mail: nergui.martin-gombojav@ erdw.ethz.ch 22

minerals were used to describe the age and rock types present in the supplying regions respectively. These data further enable us to re-evaluate published detrital ssion track results (Ruiz et al., 2004) for an improved modelling of the North Andean exhumation history.

Geological and stratigraphic framework

The Andean Amazon Basin sediment series has been developing since the Aptian-Albian, and unconformably overlies Jurassic and older rocks of the South American Plate. The Jurassic magmatic rocks are part of the Misahualli continental arc (e.g. Tschopp, 1953; Litherland et al., 1994; Romeuf et al., 1995; Spikings et al., 2001; Ruiz et al., 2004). The Cordillera Real, which borders the basin to the west, is composed of preCambrian basement and Paleozoic metamorphic rocks (Agoyan and Chiguinda units in the Loja terrane) that are exposed in sublinear, tectonostratigraphic belts (Aspden and Litherland, 1992; Litherland et al., 1994). Aspden and Litherland (1992) suggested that the tectonostratigraphic belts accreted together during several Mesozoic tectonic events. The oldest event, which occurred during the Permo-Triassic, was

synchronous with the construction and subsequent disassembly of Pangea and the separation of the North America and South America plates (Vinasco et al., 2006). S-type granitoids (the Tres Lagunas unit), which yield a zircon U Pb age of 227.3 2.2 Ma (Noble et al., 1997), intruded Paleozoic rocks of the Loja terrane. During the Jurassic, I-type granitoids were emplaced as part of the Misahualli continental arc, which currently crops out in the SubAndean Zone. Finally, Litherland et al. (1994) suggest that the units of the Cordillera Real, together with a Jurassic-Cretaceous island arc sequence (Alao terrane) accreted against the continental margin during the Peltetec event (c. 140120 Ma). A contrasting autochthonous model is proposed by Pratt et al. (2005) according to which, the Cordillera Real comprises tectono-stratigraphic elements belonging to the western margin of the South America craton. However, there is general consensus that during the later Cretaceous, the Caribbean Oceanic Plateau and island arc sequences collided against the continental margin, which coincides with the Campanian-Maastrichtian (Spikings et al., 2005; Luzieux et al., 2006; Vallejo et al., 2006) and elevated rates of exhumation in the Cordillera Real until 55 Ma.
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N. Martin-Gombojav and W. Winkler Multiple recycling of Proterozoic crust in the Northern Andes

(a)

(b)

Fig. 1 Tectonic sketch map (a) and section (b) to illustrate the geological setting of the Andean Amazon Basin in Ecuador and adjacent regions. The basin complex comprises the outer Oriente Basin and the proximal Sub-Andean Zone. Compiled from Campbell (1970), Spikings et al. (2001), Ruiz (2002) and Winkler et al. (2005). The regions of borehole samples for clay mineral analysis are labelled: Pungarayacu 1; Rio Aguarico 2.

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Early stages of Andean Amazon Basin development include shallow marine and marginal marine sandstone and limestone facies (Hollin and Napo units). The sand-rich Aptian-Albian Hollin Fm. is a transgressive sequence from alluvial to shallow marine conditions (e.g. White et al., 1995; Shanmugam et al., 2000). The overlying Middle Albian to Campanian Napo Group was deposited in a restricted paralic-neritic sea (Mello et al., 1995; Jaillard, 1997; Vallejo n et al., 2004). et al., 2002; Barraga Continental deposition has largely prevailed in the Andean Amazon Basin since the latest Cretaceous (Maastrichtian), with two brief marine ingressions during the Oligocene and Late Miocene. Sedimentary detritus was mainly supplied from the uplifting Andean orogen located to the west (Tschopp, 1953; Christophoul et al., 2002; Ruiz, 2002; Ruiz et al., 2004). The Andean Amazon Basin has developed a triangular, eastward pinching foreland basin prole since the Maastrichtian. The Maastrichtian-Paleocene Tena Fm. is a low-energy uvial red-bed series. In the unconformably overlying Eocene, conglomeratic Tiyuyacu Fm., an eastward shift of the sedimentary depocentres away from the Andean chain is observed (Christophoul et al., 2002). The marginal marine deposits of the Oligocene Orteguaza Fm. paraconformably overlie the Tiyuyacu Fm., which in turn are overlain by the continental, low-energy uvial Arajuno and Chambira fms. (Miocene-Pliocene). Miocene and younger formations formed in the Pastaza Depression, which was the main outlet draining the Cordillera Real and the InterAndean region (Fig. 1a). The timing of shortening events in the proximal Andean Amazon Basin is constrained by the partial stratigraphic record preserved in fault slices in the Sub-Andean Zone. Steep west-dipping slices of Jurassic volcanic (Misahualli Fm.) and intrusive (Abitagua and Zamora batholith) rocks, and sedimentary rocks of the Hollin, Napo and Tena fms. record a Paleocene shortening event. Rock uplift of the Napo and Cutucu fault blocks since the Miocene is recorded by erosion, and the transport of sediment towards the Pastaza Depression.
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Results
Source rock analysis The heavy mineral study was performed on samples collected from the Napo and Cutucu structures, and adjacent outcrops in the Oriente and Pastaza Depression. Both regions yield similar heavy mineral assemblages (Fig. 2). The Hollin and Napo units are dominated by zircon (4080%), associated with small to moderate amounts of tourmaline and titanium-bearing phases such as rutile, brookite, anatase and sphene. Cassiterite is a minor constituent, whereas monazite occasionally reaches 210%.

The assemblage of ultrastable minerals, referred to as the zircon-tourmaline-rutile (ZTR) association (Fig. 2), is indicative of sediment supply from shallow continental, granitic crust, and in particular, the reworking of overlying sedimentary rocks (Mange and Maurer, 1992). The Tena Fm. is not only characterized by abundant apatite associated with ZTR minerals, but also contains garnet, chloritoid, epidote and clinozoisite (Fig. 3), indicating the erosion of medium-grade, pelitic metamorphic source rocks in the Cordillera Real. The abundance of the metamorphic minerals increases in the Eocene to Miocene formations,

Fig. 2 Simplied graph of heavy mineral frequencies observed in sandstones (total 55 samples) from the Napo and Cutucu uplift structures respectively, and contiguous areas. For comparison, see also the heavy mineral distribution in Modern river sands (Rio Napo and Rio Pastaza). ZTR = zircon, monazite, tourmaline, rutile, brookite, anatase and sphene; A = apatite; M = pumpellyite (rare) chloritoid, garnet, epidote, clinozoisite, zoisite, staurolite (rare), kyanite, sillimanite (rare), blue hornblende (rare); V = green and brown hornblende, tremolite (rare), diopsidic augite, olivine, chromian spinel. The complete table of heavy mineral frequencies is a data repository item.
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blages extracted from the Cretaceous to Middle Eocene sedimentary rocks yield prominent U Pb age peaks between 1.0 and 1.8 Ga, with a few ages ranging between 1.8 and 2.9 Ga. In the upper Tiyuyacu and the Chalcana fms., the number of Paleozoic and Mesozoic detrital zircons increases at the expense of Proterozoic zircons. A higher proportion of volcanic-derived, contemporaneous zircons have been identied in the Tertiary formations. The zircon age distribution shows similar Proterozoic and Paleozoic ages (Fig. 3) in sedimentary rocks derived from the craton to the east (Hollin and Napo fms.), and the evolving Andean cordilleras to the west (Tena Fm. and younger). However, proven Precambrian rocks in the Northern Andes adjacent to the Andean Aman zon Basin, such as those in the Garzo Massif in the southern Colombia (e.g. nez Mej a et al., 2006) are scarce Jime and we suggest that these older zircons were derived from the Loja terrane, which outcrops over large areas of the Cordillera Real (Litherland et al., 1994). It therefore follows that the Proterozoic and Archean zircons were supplied via multiple recycling events as is also supported by their impoverished ZTR heavy mineral associations. Conspicuous magmatic reworking of Amazon Craton zircons in Triassic and Jurassic intrusions of the Cordillera Real (Noble et al., 1997) presumably has also contributed. The primary source of Proterozoic and Archean zircons can be correlated with the six geochronological provinces of the Amazon Craton (Fig. 4; e.g. Cordani et al., 2000; Ramos and Aleman, 2000). The limited amount of detrital zircons older than 2.3 Ga were derived from the Central Amazonia Province. The 2.21.95 Ga old Maroni-Itacaiu nas Province (Gibbs, 1980) provided a small amount of detritus to the Napo and Tiyuyacu fms. (Fig. 3). The 1.951.80 Ga old Ventuari s Province supplied a minor Tapajo quantity of detrital zircons from the Cretaceous to Miocene, with a higher pulse during Tena time. The Rio Negro-Juruena Province bounds against the western side of the Ventu s Province and is almost ari-Tapajo entirely composed of 1.801.55 Ga gneisses and granitoids (Tassinari
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N. Martin-Gombojav and W. Winkler Multiple recycling of Proterozoic crust in the Northern Andes

Fig. 3 ICP-MS laser ablation U Pb age-frequency distribution of detrital zircons in various Cretaceous and Tertiary formations of the Andean Amazon Basin in Ecuador. Histograms and relative probability curves are compared with ages of Amazon Craton provinces, and Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic tectonic events respectively.

and the successive appearance of kyanite and sillimanite suggests that progressively deeper, high-grade metamorphic rocks were being exposed in the supplying Cordillera Real. The heavy mineral assemblages in the Late Oligocene and younger formations (Chalcana, Arajuno, Mesa and Mera Fms.) also include diopsidic augite, hypersthene, green and brown hornblende, olivine and chrome spinel, which depict erosion of basic and intermediate volcanomagmatic rocks. Whereas hornblende may be partly derived from volcanic
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activity in the contemporaneous Andean arc, the other minerals presumably were sourced in accreted oceanic plateau and arc rocks exposed in the Cordillera Occidental (Vallejo et al., 2006). Age of the source rocks Laser ablation ICP-MS measurements of detrital zircons yield a large range of U Pb ages (Fig. 3). Statistically reliable numbers of zircon grains were obtained from the Hollin, Napo, Tena, Tiyuyacu and Chalcana fms. A majority of detrital zircon assem-

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Fig. 4 Tectonic map of northern South America depicting the geographic relationships of the Amazon Craton provinces with the Neoproterozoic tectonic provinces, and the Mesozoic-Tertiary Andean belt (simplied from Cordani et al., 2000).

and Macambira, 1999). A majority of detrital zircons of this age were supplied between the Late Cretaceous and Paleocene (Napo and Tena fms., up to 8.5%), while the amount decreases towards the younger Tiyuyacu and Chalcana formations (0.65%). The adjacent Rondonian-San Igna cio Province is 1.551.3 Ga old. Similar zircon populations frequently occur in the Cretaceous Hollin Fm. (23% of total zircons), with a trend of decreasing abundance during the Late Cretaceous and Paleocene from 13% to 6% in the Napo and Tena fms. The s Province (1.30.9 Ga) is the Sunsa youngest tectonic unit of the Amazon Craton, and abundant exposures occur in the south-west. Approximately 2731% of the total detrital zircons in the Late Cretaceous Hollin and Napo formations yield similar ages that suggest that they originally were derived from this province. However, their abundance decreases with time, amounting 16% in the Eocene Tiyuyacu Fm., and 8% in the Oligocene Chalcana Fm. Both provinces cio Province (Rondonian-San Igna s Province) almost certainly and Sunsa extend towards the NW under the sedimentary rocks of the Oriente Basin in Ecuador (Fig. 4). The fre26

quent occurrence of 1.55 and 0.90 Ma Ga old zircons in the Cretaceous sediments, coupled with their decreasing abundance during the Tertiary, suggests that during Cretaceous, there was direct reworking of this basement into the Andean Amazon Basin from the east. However, a Tertiary derivation from Grenvillian basement blocks in the Northern Andes (Ramos and Aleman, 2000) is likely. Zircon populations with ages between 0.90 and 0.65 Ga are relatively rare. The identity of the source is mainly unconstrained, although the age range approximately correlates with the disassembly of western Rodinia and the amalgamation of the East and West Gondwana cratons (Homan, 1991; Dalziel, 1997; Cawood, 2005). Similar observation was made by Chew et al. (2007) in Paleozoic sediments in the Cordillera Real of Ecuador. Obviously, because of repeated reworking, this trend stratigraphically traces up into the Late Cretaceous-Tertiary series. Considerable proportions of detrital zircons, which yield U Pb ages between 0.65 and 0.45 Ga show a decline from 21% (Hollin Fm.) to 12% in the Tiyuyacu Fm, and 2% in the Oligocene Chalcana Fm. These

ages are typical of the Bras lian PanAfrican orogenic cycle, which temporally overlaps with early Paleozoic metamorphism and subductionrelated magmatism along the western margin of Gondwana in the Eastern Cordillera of Peru (Chew et al., 2007), and the Caparo Arc in Venezuela (Bellizzia and Pimentel, 1994) and Colombia (Boinet et al., 1985). Permian and Triassic detrital zircons become important components in the Tertiary basin ll (Tiyuyacu and Chalcana fms.). Such age ranges are reported from both the Cordillera Real in Ecuador (Aspden and Litherland, 1992; Aspden et al., 1992; Noble et al., 1997) and the Cordillera Central in Colombia (e.g. Vinasco et al., 2006). According to the latter authors, during collision and agglutination of the Pangea supercontinent in Permian, these cordilleras formed the leading edge of the western margin of Gondwana. The subsequent disassembly of Pangea generated S-type granitoids that intruded Paleozoic rocks of the Loja terrane of the Cordillera Real (Noble et al., 1997). Minor quantities of Triassic to Jurassic zircons are also found in the Cretaceous formations (Hollin and Napo), which suggest that an incipient Cordillera Real existed during the Cretaceous. During the Jurassic, I-type granitoids of the Zamora belt (Litherland et al., 1994) were emplaced along the South American Plate margin, which includes the Abitagua Batholith and volcanic rocks of the Misahualli Fm. Both magmatic events may have produced source regions for Mesozoic detrital zircons in the Eocene and Oligocene formations (Fig. 3). According to ssion-track and (U-Th) He thermochronological analyses of the Cordillera Real and Sub-Andean Zone (Spikings et al., 2001, 2005; Spikings and Crowhurst, 2004), the rocks of the Cordillera were exhuming at high rates (>1 km Myr)1) at 7355 and 43 30 Ma. Thus, Mesozoic plutonic and volcanic rocks contributed increasing amounts of detritus into the Cenozoic system of the Andean Amazon Basin. The appearance of Neogene detrital zircons in the Chalcana Formation can be related to widespread contemporaneous volcanic activity in the Andean cordilleras of Ecuador (e.g. Litherland et al., 1994; Hungerbu hler et al., 2002).
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Paleoclimate and tectonics Pelitic rock samples from drillhole cores and surface outcrops along the Sub-Andean Zone (Fig. 1a) were analysed and the main clay minerals identied in the clay-sized (2 lm) fraction (Fig. 5). Mixed-layer clays of illite-smectite type were too scarce to be quantied. Illite crystallinity measurements (Fig. 5c) reveal the presence of diagenetic illites in the older formations (Hollin Fm., Napo Group), which alternate with layers containing source rock inherited epizonal grade illites of detrital origin. The trend of decreasing crystallinity of diagenetic illites within the lower part of the Napo Group (T, B, and U units) documents the upward decrease in diagenetic overprint (Fig. 5c). The high abundance of kaolinite in the oldest basin formation (Hollin Fm.), and the lack of smectite illite mixedlayer minerals prove that the rocks remained in a low to middle diagenetic stage (Ku bler and Jaboyedo, 2000). The high abundance of detrital kaolinite in the older sedimentary rocks of the Hollin and Napo fms. (Fig. 5a) reects the prevailing equatorial, perennially humid climatic conditions of the area (Chamley, 1989). Kaolinite-rich layers document direct input from the South America lowlands to the east. However, episodic input of detrital micas suggests the coeval contribution from epizonal metamorphic source rocks (Fig. 5c). Signicant changes of clay mineral proportions are observed at the transition from the Napo Group to the Tena Fm. (Fig. 5a, b). According to plate reconstructions (e.g. Ross and Scotese, 1988), the northern part of the South American Plate remained in an equatorial position during the Mesozoic and Tertiary, and hence the measured modications since Tena time (Maastrichtian) is attributable to other causes such as source rock variations or tectono-morphological changes of the drainage regions (Chamley, 1989). Increasing trends of illite and chlorite (Fig. 5b) and smectite (Fig. 5a) since the lower Tena Fm., which are accompanied by almost exclusive reworking of epizonal detrital micas (Fig. 5c) reect an increasing supply from metamorphic source rocks in the rising Cordillera Real, and tectonic steepening of topographic gradients hampering advanced chemical maturation (i.e. kaolinite formation). This trend clearly shows a relationship with the coeval increase in the proportion of metamorphic heavy minerals. Therefore, progressive surface uplift and exhumation of deeper crustal levels in the Cordillera Real was synchronous with deposition of the Tena Fm. The gradual augmentation in smectite relative to kaolinite from Tiyuyacu time (Fig. 5a) is the result of increased input of smectites from the Andean volcanic arc since the Late Eocene, and the increasing contribution of sediment from altered basic rocks exposed in the Cordillera Occidental since the Oligocene.

N. Martin-Gombojav and W. Winkler Multiple recycling of Proterozoic crust in the Northern Andes

Fig. 5 Clay mineral ratios measured in the 2lm fraction of pelitic rocks of the Andean Amazon Basin in Ecuador. Samples are derived from surface outcrops in the larger Sub-Andean Zone and boreholes in the Pungarayacu and Rio Aguarico regions (see Fig. 1a). Samples are derived from the following boreholes: Auca 30, 20, 48; Cononaco 4; Lago Agrio 41; Pan acocho 01; Pungarayacu 30; Sansahuari 07; Sasha 132; Secoya 24; Shionayacu 01; Shushundi 68, 74.
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Discussion of modes of recycling

The observed age variation in detrital zircon grains of the Andean Amazon
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Basin closely reects various tectonic and magmatic events occurring in the northern South America continent. However, the clear correlation with the (reworked) ZTR heavy mineral association indicates that a proportion of Precambrian detrital material has passed through several sedimentary cycles. Such material has been reworked into Paleozoic sedimentary rocks that currently drape the Amazon Craton and has also been tectonically included within the Loja terrane of the Cordillera Real to the west. Tentative indications for the timing of erosion cycles exhumation can be derived from detrital zircon ssiontrack dating (DZFT). In Fig. 6, DZFT ages are plotted against the stratigraphic age (data set of Ruiz, 2002). The statistically determined populations P1 to P3 are ranked according to increasing mean population ages (Ruiz et al., 2004). Population P1 includes zircons with exhumation ages that are closest to their sedimentation ages. Consequently, this population is a function of exhumation of the source region, and the lagtime concept (Zeitler et al., 1986; Brandon et al., 1998) can be applied (e.g. Ruiz et al., 2004, 2007). In contrast, older detrital DZFT age populations (e.g. P2 and P3 in Fig. 6) potentially reect cooling and exhumation of the original crystalline source terrane, as well as additional partial resetting in subsequent sedimentary basins during reworking. However, temporary storage in sedimentary basins that remain colder than the ZPAZ (e.g. ca. < 200C) will not inuence the DZFT record of the grains, and hence those sedimentary reservoirs will remain invisible to the method. Consequently, the lagtime concept has not been applied to age populations older than P1. No clear relationship can be dened between the zircon ssion track and stratigraphic age of population P1 during the Cretaceous (Hollin and Napo units) (Fig. 6). The large scatter of lagtimes (between 60 and 0 Myr) may reect two causes: (1) rapid cooling and exhumation of the continental crust during the Peltetec tectonic event during c. 140120 Ma (Aspden et al., 1992), and (2) reworking of non-reset zircons from the

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Misahualli continental arc (c. 170 130 Ma; Litherland et al., 1994; Spikings et al., 2001). However, with the general presence of relatively short lagtimes, derivation of the material from the Amazon Craton and nonmetamorphic Paleozoic cover can be excluded. Aspden et al. (1992) and Ruiz et al. (2004) suggested that during the Peltetec event, an incipient Cordillera Real was created from which shallow, granitic continental crust and cover rocks were eroded and reworked. Between 80 and 70 Ma, the P1 population shows a continuous but variable trend, starting with almost zero lagtimes during late Napo and Tena time (Fig. 6). Heavy mineral and clay mineral analyses corroborate the appearance of medium-grade metamorphic material from the Cordillera Real. Simultaneously, old exhumation ages (c. 580480 and 430300 Ma) depicted by populations P3 and P2a disappear (see discussion below). These drastic changes coincide with the collision of the Caribbean Plateau with the Ecuadorian forearc (Cordillera Occidental and Coast) between

Fig. 6 Detrital zircon ssion-track age populations (P1)n) plotted vs. the stratigraphic age of the hosting sediments in the Napo uplift and adjacent area. Label 1 1 depicts the stratigraphic correlation line. Modied and simplied from Ruiz et al. (2004). For analytical procedures and results the reader is referred to table 1 in Ruiz et al. (2004).
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c. 75 and 65 Ma (Luzieux et al., 2006; Vallejo et al., 2006). From the base of the Eocene Tiyuyacu Fm., the heavy mineral spectra imply frequent changes in source terranes, which correlate with uctuations in lagtimes derived from P1, and the reworking of high-grade metamorphic mineral grains (kyanite and sillimanite), thus implying the exhumation of deeper crustal levels in the Cordillera Real. Furthermore, this trend correlates with the appearance of a zircon population with a short lagtime (P2 in Fig. 6). The two sub-parallel curves suggest that similar hinterland blocks were simultaneously and rapidly exhumed during that time. From the Miocene to Present, detrital zircons within the Arajuno, Chambira, Mesa and Mera fms., and the modern Napo River sand, population P1 yields a constant lagtime of c. 30 40 Myr (Fig. 6), which suggests that the entire hinterland had reached a level close to the zircon partial annealing zone and steady state exhumation prevailed since the Oligocene (Ruiz et al., 2007). There is an obvious time correlation with the break-up of the Farallon plate at c. 2725 Ma (e.g. Pardo-Casas and Molnar, 1987) and rapid eastward subduction of the Nazca plate under the North Andean margin since then (Daly, 1989). Population 3, which has only been identied in Cretaceous rocks, is characterized by extremely old zircon exhumation ages of 580480 Ma correlating with the Cambrian-Ordovician (Ruiz et al., 2004). The supply of this population stops abruptly at the end of the Cretaceous when the major switch to supply from metamorphic rocks in the Cordillera Real is manifested in the heavy and clay mineral assemblages. Therefore, these early exhumed zircon grains presumably record direct (from e.g. the Rondo s provinces) nia-San Ignacio and Sunsa or indirect input (via unannealed Paleozoic sediments) from the Amazon Craton, as suggested by the ICPMS U Pb age data. Population 2 in the Late Cretaceous to Eocene section (up to 40 Ma) has two main characteristics: 1 One group of exhumation ages in the range 430300 Ma (P2a in Fig. 6) is interpreted to be inherited from an earlier orogenic cycle. The general abundance of Precambrian zircons suggests rapid exhumation of the Proterozoic source rocks during the Devonian-Carboniferous and incorporation into Paleozoic sediments of the South American continent. Subsequently, these sediments, which experienced no signicant post-depositional thermal overprinting, were reworked from the east into the Cretaceous Andean Amazon Basin. Support for this interpretation comes from the observation that this thermochronometric signal is almost lost in the Tertiary when the Cordillera Real becomes the main source of clastics. The timing of their early exhumation during the Carboniferous and Early Permian correlates well with the Hercynian Alleghanian orogeny deforming the western Gondwanian margin from 360 to 265 Ma (e.g. Ramos and Aleman, 2000). A later re-occurrence of the same detrital exhumation age in the Tertiary may be because of younger, minor input from the cratonic side. 2 The other group of population 2 zircons shows a constant vertical distribution of exhumation ages in the range of 270225 Ma (Late Permian-Triassic). This suggests a common source rock with a homogeneous cooling history (type path 2 in Ruiz et al., 2004), providing similar zircons at dierent Cretaceous to Neogene stratigraphic levels. Such situation is acquired when large volumes of crustal material are rapidly exhumed during an event, and then their cooling age is constantly transferred into the basin. The zircon ssion track ages correlate with a period of postAlleghanian transtension or extension because of orogenic collapse (290225 Ma) in the Northern Andean basement and cover (McCourt and Feininger, 1984; Ramos and Aleman, 2000; Vinasco et al., 2006), resulting in crustal anatexis and granitic intrusions, e.g. the Tres Lagunas granite in the Loja terrane of the Cordillera Real dated at 228 3 and 227.3 2.2 Ma (U Pb; Litherland et al., 1994; Noble et al., 1997). Thus, PermoTriassic granites in the Cordillera Real were rapidly exhumed to temperatures colder than the zircon partial annealing zone soon after their formation. This Permian-Triassic exhumation signal, which is preserved in the entire sedimentary record of the Andean Amazon Basin, provides further evidence for the existence of an incipient Cordillera Real during the Cretaceous. This also explains the presence of blue quartz grains as typical for the Tres Lagunas granite (Litherland et al., 1994) in the Hollin Fm. (Ruiz, 2002). The Late Eocene to Present (40 0 Ma) deposits also show a series of non-ranked zircon populations (Fig. 6) with DZFT ages ranging between 325 and 75 Ma. Their relevance is uncertain, although they are probably a consequence of complete and partial resetting during Hercynian-Alleghanian exhumation of Precambrian rocks, and the exhumation and cooling of Permo-Triassic crustal anatectites. Others may be because of reactivation of tectonic blocks in the Cordillera Real, which have experienced earlier, Cretaceous exhumation above the zircon annealing zone. The frequent change of source rocks as seen in the heavy mineral associations would corroborate this assumption.

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Conclusions on the Northern Andean orogenic development

1 A conspicuous feature of the Andean Amazon Basin ll series is the intense recycling of stable mineral grains of Proterozoic and Paleozoic age as revealed by ICPMS U Pb dating of detrital zircons. 2 Detrital zircon ages show a wide variation but they can often be correlated with distinct events of South American geology from elsewhere. Rare Archean grains correlate with the oldest rocks of the Central Amazon Province. Proterozoic zircon ages (2.20.9) are common and were derived from younger provinces of the Amazon Craton, and from Grenvillian basement in the Andean proto-Cordilleras. The Brasilian Pan African orogenic cycle and subsequent subduction related magmatism, involving the western Gondwana margin of South America is documented by

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the presence of latest Proterozoic and Early Paleozoic zircon grains (0.650.45 Ga). Middle and Late Paleozoic (Hercynian Alleghanian), Mesozoic and Tertiary zircons are also present and are increasingly common in the Tertiary formations of the Andean Amazon Basin. 3 The Cretaceous Hollin and Napo units were sourced from both east and west. The input from the east is indicated by zircon populations depicting very early rock exhumation in the Cambrian and Ordovician, and from Silurian to Carboniferous, which presumably were reworked from non-metamorphic Paleozoic cover into the Andean Amazon Basin. Coeval derivation from the incipient Cordillera Real is indicated by zircons with younger (Permian-Triassic and Jurassic-Cretaceous) exhumation ages inherited from the c. 140 120 Ma Peltetec tectonic event. 4 From the late Cretaceous (85 75 Ma), the coherent path of young exhumation ages conrms the start of rapid uplift of the Cordillera Real, which led to the Tertiary unroong of medium-grade metamorphic source rocks. The initiation of the change to Andean sediment sourcing coincides with the collision of Caribbean Oceanic Plateau with the Northern Andean margin between 75 and 65 Ma. 5 An important exhumation event can also be inferred for the Late Oligocene, because of the coeval appearance of a second short lagtime exhumation population, together with the reworking of high-grade metamorphic rocks in the Cordillera Real and mac rocks in the Cordillera Occidental. Subsequent constant lagtimes (also recorded from present day Napo River alluvium) constrain rapid, steady state uplift of the entire Andean cordillera from the Miocene until Present. The onset of this stage can be correlated with the break-up of the Farallon plate at 2725 Ma.
early version of the manuscript. The Ecuadorian Government Oil Production Company PETROPRODUCCION, Quito, is acknowledged for making available samples from various drillholes in the SubAndean Zone and Oriente. We appreciate the help of Thierry Adatte (Neucha tel) for the ecient help in the clay mineral analysis. The journal reviewers John Aspden and Victor Ramos are thanked for many constructive comments, which improved the manuscript.

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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Swiss Science Foundation project nos 2-77536-02 and 2-72058-05. We thank Richard Spikings (Geneva) for the rst reading of an

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