The Andean orogeny, represented by the tectonic uplift of the Colombian Eastern Ranges and its northern extension, the Serranía del Perijá, caused tilting and uplift in the Cocinetas Basin in the Late Miocene and Early Pliocene, when the Neogene hiatus separates the Castilletes Formation from the Ware Formation. The end of the Neogene corresponded to a marine platform setting, interrupted by the presence of a series of highs; the present-day mountain ranges of the region. Between these elevated areas, reefal limestones were deposited in a relatively quiet marine environment. During the Andean orogenic phase, the paleotemperatures in the basin dropped considerably; in the Baja Guajira area from in the Early Miocene to in the Late Miocene. In the Late Miocene to Pliocene, the major faults to the southwest of the Cocinetas Basin, the Oca and Bucaramanga-Santa Marta Faults were tectonically active.