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The Las Chacras-Potrerillos batholith (Pampean Ranges, Argentina): structural evidences, emplacement and timing of the intrusion

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Abstract

Within the southern part of the Sierra Pampeanas (the Sierra de San Luis, Argentina), a series of extensive intrusive bodies are regarded to post-date the Famatinian cycle but were emplaced during the Achalian, a period of heterogeneous deformation along crustal scale fault zones. The largest of those is the Las Chacras-Potrerillos batholith that is situated at the northern end of the transpressive, sinistral Guzmán shear zone. This composite pluton exhibits three sub-domains that comprise two granitoid sub-units each: The southern Potrerillos stock (muscovite-bearing red granite and biotite-bearing red granite) and the central (biotite porphyritic granite and giant porphyritic granite) and northern domain (equigranular granite and porphyritic granite) of the Las Chacras stock. The crystallisation ages of the biotite porphyritic granite is around 381 Ma (U/Pb on zircons and Pb/Pb on sphene), while the host rock was already cooled below 350 °C at 420 Ma. Thermal modelling approaches favour a pulsed intrusion with a duration of 1.5 Ma. The emplacement was followed by rapid cooling below the muscovite cooling temperature. Biotite cooling ages in different sub-units reflect either a long-lasting cooling history of approximately 30 Ma (which is supported by the modelling) or a reheating effect at around 350 Ma. Devonian-age determinations on the fault rocks and granitoids point to a syn-tectonic emplacement of the batholith. The pluton is interpreted to be positioned at the crossover of sinistral shear zones. The origin of this NNE directed extensional setting in a transpressive regime seems to be related to the transfer of displacement along a secondary set of NNW-trending sinistral faults. The final emplacement is due to a subsequent ballooning of the batholith following the direction of space creation. This model is based on the relative timing of the emplacement sequence and macroscopically visible planar fabrics in the field as well as magnetic fabric data. Our results indicate that the emplacement is syn-kinematic with respect to the Achalian deformation event.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to the DAAD – ANTORCHAS program and the DFG (Si 438/16–1) for the financial support. Fruitful discussion concerning the interpretation of the ages with B. Hansen and S. Pawlig is highly acknowledged. Preparation of thin sections and AMS samples was kindly performed by E. Llambias and the laboratory staff at the INGEIS (Buenos Aires). The paper has been improved by the helpful advice of the reviewer H. Miller (Munich). A. St. thanks the DFG for the research scholarship STE 1036/1–1.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geoscience Centre Of The University Of Göttingen (GZG), Goldschmidtstr. 3, 37077, Göttingen, Germany

    S. Siegesmund, A. Steenken, K. Wemmer, A. Hoffmann & S. Mosch

  2. Instituto De Geocronologia Y Geologia Isotopica (Ingeis), Ciudad Universitaria, 1428, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    M. G. López de Luchi

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  1. S. Siegesmund
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  2. A. Steenken
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  3. M. G. López de Luchi
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  6. S. Mosch
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Correspondence to S. Siegesmund.

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Siegesmund, S., Steenken, A., López de Luchi, M.G. et al. The Las Chacras-Potrerillos batholith (Pampean Ranges, Argentina): structural evidences, emplacement and timing of the intrusion. Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 93, 23–43 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-003-0363-6

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