Andrés Cuesta

The Pre-Andean Phases of Construction of the Southern Andes Basement in Neoproterozoic–Paleozoic Times

During the late Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic times, the southern Andes of Argentina and Chile (21o–55o S) formed part of the southwestern margin of Gondwana. During this period of time, a set of continental fragments of variable extent and allochtony was successively accreted to that margin, resulting in six Paleozoic orogenies of different temporal and spatial extension: Pampean (Ediacaran–early Cambrian), Famatinian (Middle Ordovician–Silurian), Ocloyic (Middle Ordovician–Devonian), Chanic (Middle Devonian–early Carboniferous), Gondwanan (Middle Devonian–middle Permian), and Tabarin (late Permian–Triassic). All these orogenies culminate with collisional events, with the exception of the Tabarin and a part of the Gondwanan orogenies that are subduction-related.