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Cenozoic tectonic evolution in the Central Andes in northern Chile and west central Bolivia: implications for paleogeographic, magmatic and mountain building evolution

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Abstract

A review of available stratigraphic, structural, and magmatic evolution in northernmost Chile, and adjacent Peru and Bolivia shows that in this region: (1) compression on the Paleogene intra-arc during the middle Eocene Incaic phase formed the NNE-SSW-oriented Incaic range along the present-day Precordillera and Western Cordillera, and (2) post-Incaic tectonic conditions remained compressive until present, contrasting with other regions of the Andes, where extensional episodes occurred during part of this time lapse. A late Oligocene–early Miocene peak of deformation caused further uplift. The Incaic range formed a pop-up structure bounded by two thrusts systems of diverging vergencies; it represented a major paleogeographic feature that separated two domains with different tectonic and paleogeographic evolutions, and probably formed the Andean water divide. This range has been affected by intense erosion and was symmetrically flanked by two major basins, the Pampa del Tamarugal and the Altiplano. Magmatic activity remained located along the previous Late Cretaceous–early Eocene arc with slight eastward shift. Further compression caused westvergent thrusting and uplift along the western Eastern Cordillera bounding the Altiplano basin to the east by another pop-up shaped ridge. Eastward progression of deformation caused eastvergent thrusting of the Eastern Cordillera and Subandean zone.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the French Institute for Collaborative Research (IRD) and Departamento de Geología, Facultad de Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas, Universidad de Chile for their research facilities, and projects Fondecyt No. 1030965, and Anillo ACT No. 18 (Programa Bicentenario de Ciencia y Tecnología-CONICYT) for financial support. The authors wish to thank Drs. Cathy Busby and Brian Horton for their very constructive and stimulating comments.

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  1. Gérard Hérail

    Present address: IRD Mission in Peru, Casilla 18-1209, Lima 18, Peru

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Geología, Facultad de Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 13518, Correo 21, Santiago, Chile

    Reynaldo Charrier, Luisa Pinto, Marcelo García & Marcelo Farías

  2. Escuela de Ciencias de la Tierra, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Andres Bello, Santiago, Chile

    Reynaldo Charrier

  3. Advanced Mining Technology Center (AMTC), Facultad de Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Reynaldo Charrier, Luisa Pinto, Marcelo García & Marcelo Farías

  4. Institut Français pour la Recherche en Developement (IRD), LMTG, 14 Avenue Edouard Belin, 31400, Toulouse, France

    Gérard Hérail

  5. Agreement IRD-Departamento de Geología, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Reynaldo Charrier, Gérard Hérail, Luisa Pinto, Marcelo García, Rodrigo Riquelme & Marcelo Farías

  6. Departamento de Geociencias, Universidad Católica del Norte, Avenida Angamos 0610, Antofagasta, Chile

    Rodrigo Riquelme

  7. Origin Energy, Isidora Goyenechea 3000, Floor 13, Santiago, Chile

    Nelson Muñoz

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Charrier, R., Hérail, G., Pinto, L. et al. Cenozoic tectonic evolution in the Central Andes in northern Chile and west central Bolivia: implications for paleogeographic, magmatic and mountain building evolution. Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 102, 235–264 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-012-0801-4

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