The tropical Northern Andes of Colombia are one the world's most biodiverse places, offering an ideal location for unraveling the linkages between the geodynamic forces that build topography and the evolution of the biota that inhabit it. In this study, we utilize geomorphic analysis to characterize the topography of the Western and Central Cordilleras of the Northern Andes to identify what drives landscape evolution in the region. We supplement our topographic analysis with erosion rate estimates based on gauged suspended sediment loads and river incision rates from volcanic sequences. In the northern Central Cordillera, an elevated low-relief surface (2500 m in elevation, ~40 × 110 km in size) with quasi-uniform lithology and surrounded by knickpoints, indicates a recent increase in rock and surface uplift rate. Whereas the southern segment of the Central Cordillera shows substantially higher local relief and mostly well graded river profiles consistent with longer term uplift-rate stability. We also identify several areas of major drainage reorganization, including captures and divide migrations. These changes in the topography coincide with the proposed location of a slab tear and flat slab subduction under the northern Central Cordillera, as well as with a major transition in the channel slope of the Cauca River. We identify slab flattening as the most likely cause of strong and recent uplift in the Northern Andes leading to ~2 km of surface uplift since 8–4 Ma. Large scale drainage reorganization of major rivers is likely driven by changes in upper plate deformation in relation to development of the flat slab subduction geometry; however, south of the slab tear other factors, such as emplacement of volcanic rocks, also play an important role. Several biologic observations above the area of slab flattening suggest that surface uplift isolated former lowland species on the high elevation plateaus, and drainage reorganization may have influenced the distribution of aquatic species.

哥伦比亚的热带安第斯山脉北部是世界上生物多样性最丰富的地方之一，为解开构成地形的地球动力与栖息于其中的生物群演化之间的联系提供了理想的地点。在这项研究中，我们利用地貌分析来表征北安第斯山脉西部和中部山脉的地形，以确定是什么推动了该地区的景观演变。我们根据测量的悬浮泥沙负荷和火山序列的河流切割率，用侵蚀率估计来补充我们的地形分析。在中科迪勒拉北部，一个抬升的低地表（海拔 2500 米，大小约 40 × 110 公里）具有准均匀的岩性并被切点包围，表明最近岩石和地表隆起速率有所增加。而中科迪勒拉山脉的南段则显示出明显更高的局部地势，且大部分河流剖面均分级良好，与长期的抬升率稳定性相一致。我们还确定了主要排水系统重组的几个领域，包括捕获和分流迁移。地形的这些变化与中央山脉北部板片撕裂和平板俯冲的拟议位置以及考卡河河道坡度的主要过渡相吻合。我们认为板块变平是安第斯山脉北部近期强烈隆升的最可能原因，导致自 8-4 Ma 以来地表隆升约 2 公里。主要河流的大规模排水重组可能是由与平板俯冲几何形状发展相关的上板块变形变化驱动的；然而，南部板块撕裂的其他因素，如火山岩的就位，也起着重要作用。平板压扁区域上方的几项生物学观察表明，地表隆升隔离了高海拔高原上的前低地物种，排水系统重组可能影响了水生物种的分布。