Orlando Álvarez

Late Oligocene–early Miocene submarine volcanism and deep-marine sedimentation in an extensional basin of southern Chile: Implications for the tectonic development of the North Patagonian Andes

The Chilean margin has been used as the model of an ocean-continent convergent system dominated by compression and active mountain building as a consequence of the strong mechanical coupling between the upper and the lower plates. The Andean Cordillera, however, shows evidence of alternating phases of compressional and extensional deformation. Volcano-sedimentary marine strata in the Aysen region of southern Chile contribute to an understanding of the causes of extensional tectonics and crustal thinning that occurred in the Andean orogeny because these deposits constitute the only reliable record of submarine suprasubduction volcanism during the Cenozoic in southern South America. In order to discern the age and tectono-sedimentary setting of these strata, referred to as the Traiguen Formation, we integrated sedimentology, ichnology, petrography, geochemistry, structural geology, foraminiferal micropaleontology, and U-Pb geochronology. Our results indicate that the Traiguen Formation was deposited in a deep-marine extensional basin during the late Oligocene–earliest Miocene. The geochemistry and petrography of the pillow basalts suggest that they formed in a convergent margin on a thinned crust rather than at an oceanic spreading center. We attribute the origin of the Traiguen Basin to a transient period of slab rollback and vigorous asthenospheric wedge circulation that was caused by an increase in trench-normal convergence rate at ca. 26–28 Ma and that resulted in a regional event of extension and widespread volcanism.

New insights into the Andean crustal structure between 32° and 34°S from GOCE satellite gravity data and EGM2008 model

Abstract The subduction of the Nazca oceanic plate under the South American plate in the south-central Andes region is characterized by the oblique collision of the Juan Fernandez Ridge against the continental margin. The upper plate is characterized by a broken foreland, a thrust-and-fold belt and eastward migration of the volcanic arc promoted by the flattening of the slab. Topographic load, thermal state and plate rheology determine the isostatic state of the continental plate. We calculated the vertical gravity gradient from GOCE satellite data in order to delineate the main tectonic features related to density variations resulting from internal and external loads. Then, using the Bouguer anomaly, we calculated the crust–mantle discontinuity and the elastic thickness in the frame of the isostatic lithospheric flexure model applying the convolution method approach. The results obtained show substantial variations in the structure of the continental lithosphere related to variations in the subduction angle of the Nazca plate. These variations are reflected in the varying Moho depths and in the plate rigidity, presenting a distinct behaviour in the southern zone, where the oceanic plate subducts with an approximate ‘normal’ angle with respect to the northern zone of the study area where the flat slab occurs.

Crustal structure and tectonic setting of the south central Andes from gravimetric analysis

Based on terrestrial gravity data, in this paper we prepared a map of Bouguer anomalies, which was filtered to separate shallow and deep gravity sources. Based on a density model and gravimetric inversion techniques, the discontinuous crust- mantle boundary and the top of crystalline basement were modeled. Subsequently, the equivalent elastic thickness (Te) was evaluated, considering information from the crust-mantle discontinuity and topographic load, finding high Te values in the eastern Andean foothills and west of the Velasco range. These results are consistent with the positive isostatic and residual Bouguer anomaly values, which suggest the presence of high-density rocks in the mid-to upper crust. In addition, petrographic and geochemical analysis conducted in surface outcrops suggest a mantle origin.

Density and Thermal Structure of the Southern Andes and Adjacent Foreland from 32° to 55°S Using Earth Gravity Field Models

GOCE satellite data and EGM2008 model are used to calculate the gravity anomaly and the vertical gravity gradient, both corrected by the topographic effect, in order to delineate main tectonic features related to density variations. In particular, using the Bouguer anomaly from GOCE, we calculated the crust–mantle discontinuity obtaining elastic thicknesses in the frame of the isostatic lithospheric flexure model applying the convolution method approach. Results show substantial variations in the density, compositional and thermal structure, and isostatic and flexural behavior of the continental lithosphere along the Southern Andes and adjacent foreland region.

Neogene Growth of the Patagonian Andes

After a Late Cretaceous to Paleocene stage of mountain building, the North Patagonian Andes were extensionally reactivated leading to a period of crustal attenuation. The result was the marine Traiguen Basin characterized by submarine volcanism and deep-marine sedimentation over a quasi-oceanic basement floor that spread between 27 and 22 Ma and closed by 20 Ma, age of syndeformational granitoids that cut the basin infill. As a result of basin closure, accretion of the Upper Triassic metamorphic Chonos Archipelago took place against the Chilean margin, overthrusting a stripe of high-density (mafic) rocks on the upper crust, traced by gravity data through the Chonos Archipielago. After this, contractional deformation had a rapid propagation between 19 and 14.8 Ma rebuilding the Patagonian Andes and producing a wide broken foreland zone. This rapid advance of the deformational front, registered in synorogenic sedimentation, was accompanied at the latitudes of the North Patagonian Andes by an expansion of the arc magmatism between 19 and 14 Ma, suggesting a change in the subduction geometry at that time. Then a sudden retraction of the contractional activity took place around 13.5–11.3 Ma, accompanied by a retraction of magmatism and an extensional reactivation of the Andean zone that controlled retroarc volcanism up to 7.3–(4.6?) Ma. This particular evolution is explained by a shallow subduction regime in the northernmost Patagonian Andes, probably facilitated by the presence of the North Patagonian massif lithospheric anchor that would have blocked drag basal forces creating low-pressure conditions for slab shallowing. Contrastingly, to the south, the accretion of the Chonos Archipelago explains rapid propagation of the deformation across the retroarc zone. These processes occurred at the time of rather orthogonal to the margin convergence between Nazca and South American plates after a long period of high oblique convergence. Finally, convergence deceleration in the last 10 My could have led to extensional relaxation of the orogen.

The Peru-Chile Margin from Global Gravity Field Derivatives

Deformation along the 3,500 km subduction Pacific margin of the Peru-Chile trench is partially controlled by ocean bathymetric heterogeneities and sediments. Oceanic highs (e.g. ridges, fracture zones, plateaus) influence deformation in the fore-arc zone where collision occurs, and control turbiditic flow dispersal and consequently the amount of sediments accreted at the frontal accretionary prism and subduction channel, compartmentalizing the trench into segments linked to seismic segmentation. Recent satellite missions (CHAMP, GRACE and GOCE) have introduced an extraordinary improvement in the reconstruction of the global gravity field. Earth gravity field models, mainly derived from satellite measurements, reflect mass inhomogeneities of the earth. This chapter focuses on the determination of mass heterogeneities over the oceanic plate and their relation to general distribution of sediments over the Peru-Chilean margin, seismic segmentation along the margin, and the relationship between trench sediment thickness and the variable Andean orogenic volume, by means of a gravimetric analysis. Using the gravity potential model EGM2008 and satellite GOCE data we calculated two functionals of the geopotential: the Bouguer anomaly and the vertical gravity gradient, both corrected for the topographic effect. The vertical gravity gradient field is of special interest as it highlights main geological features, and allows unraveling unknown structures that are concealed by sediments. From these, different features can be clearly depicted such as the contact between the Pacific oceanic crust and the South American plate, the Nazca Ridge, the Juan Fernandez Ridge and the Chile Rise, among others. The segmentation between a filled trench south of Juan Fernandez Ridge, a partially filled trench to the north up to the Copiapo Ridge, and a completely starved trench north of this latitude is depicted. Finally, the relationship between gravity derived fields, high oceanic features and seismic segmentation is discussed for the last megathrust earthquakes that affected this subductive plate boundary.

Geophysical characterization of the upper crust in the transitional zone between the Pampean flat slab and the normal subduction segment to the south (32–34°S): Andes of the Frontal Cordillera to the Sierras Pampeanas

Abstract The Nazca Plate subducting beneath the South American Plate has strongly influenced Cenozoic mountain growth in western Argentina and Chile sectors (32–34°S; 70–66°W). At these latitudes, the Pampean flat slab has induced the development of prominent mountain systems such as the Frontal Cordillera, the Precordillera, and the associated Sierras Pampeanas in the eastwards foreland region. Through a gravity study from the Frontal Cordillera to the Sierras Pampeanas region between 32 and 34°S, we delimit a series of geological structures that are accommodating shortening in the upper crust and others of regional and subsurface development, without any clearly defined mechanics of deformation. Additionally, through an isostatic residual anomaly map based on the Airy-Heiskanen local compensation model, we obtain a decompensative gravity anomaly map that highlights anomalous gravity sources emplaced in the upper crust, related to known geological structures. In particular, by applying the Tilt method which enhances the gravity anomalies, the NW-trending Tunuyan Lineament is depicted south of 33.4°S following previous proposals. Using the decompensative gravity anomaly, two profiles were modelled through the northern sector of the study area using deep seismic refraction lines, borehole data and geological information as constraints. These density models of the upper crust of this structurally complex area accurately represent basin geometries and basement topography and constitute a framework for future geological analysis.