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TECTONOPHYSICS
Tectonophysics 259 (1996) 185-200

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ELSEVIER

Cenozoic tectonics of the High Andes of west-central Argentina (30-36S latitude)

Victor A. Ramos *, Marcelo Cegarra, Ernesto Cristallini
Departamento de Geologla, Universidad de Buenos Aires, 1428 Buenos Aires, Argentina

Received 22 November 1994; accepted 1 June 1995

Abstract The structure of the Central Andes shows three distinctive segments characterized by different geometries. These geometries are superimposed on the present large-scale plate tectonic setting characterized by distinct subduction segments. The northern La Ramada segment is a thick-skinned fold and thrust belt formed by tectonic inversion of a Late Triassic rift. The central Aconcagua segment consists of a thin-skinned fold and thrust belt while the southern Malargiie segment like the first one is a thick-skinned fold and thrust belt developed by tectonic inversion of a Late Triassic-Early Jurassic rift system during late Cenozoic times. The amount of shortening gradually decreases from north to south, as indicated by the crustal roots of the Central Andes. The different geometries along the Principal Cordillera controlled the abrupt changes in the shortening among segments. The structure of Precordillera and Sierras Pampeanas has also been considered in order to account for the total shortening. In the La Ramada segment the main shortening occurred in the Precordillera; in the Aconcagua segment in the Principal Cordillera while in the Malargiie segment the shortening is widely distributed in a broader Principal Cordillera, because south of the flat-slab subduction segment the Precordillera and Sierras Pampeanas are missing.

I. Introduction Recent studies about the structure of the Central Andes of Argentina and Chile point out conspicuous changes along strike from a thin-skinned to a thickskinned fold and thrust belt style. These changes reflect the early Mesozoic history of the different segments. The purpose of this paper is to document the different styles of the Andean structures and their relationship with the early Mesozoic history. The interpretation o f the structure of the Central Andes has evolved in the last decades from a simple

* Corresponding author.

almost homoclinal structure controlled by high-angle thrusting as firstly described by Gonzfilez Bonorino (1950), to a more complex vertical tectonics, where orogenic shortening was almost absent or very limited (Zeil, 1979). Detailed examination of these concepts in some key areas started with the first section presented by Vicente (1972, 1974), followed by Yrigoyen (1976, 1979). These authors demonstrated the existence of important overthrusts in the thrust front. They presented a different structural style from the traditional high-angle faulting comntonly accepted (Gonzfilez Bonorino, 1950; Zeii, 1979). The first balanced cross sections of the Central Andes at these latitudes showed that orogenic shortening was considerable, up to 68% in the Aconcagua fold and

0040-1951/96/$15.00 1996 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved SSDI 0040-195 1(95)00064-X

186

V.A. Ramos et al. / Tectonophysics 259 (1996) 185-200

thrust belt (Ramos, 1985, 1988). These studies explained the apparent high-angle thrusting as a result of a piggy-back rotation of the different thrust sheets during their propagation towards the foreland. The cutoff angles of these faults are low, ranging from 25 to 30 in most of the thrust sheets. The acceptance of this thin-skinned style rapidly led to its application to different segments of the Central Andes along the Principal Cordillera. As an example, several areas of the fold and thrust belt of northern Neuqu~n and southern Mendoza have been interpreted as result of a thin-skinned thrusting (Ploszkiewicz, 1987; Ploszkiewicz and Gorrofio, 1988). However, the present revision of these structures shows that some of them in southern Mendoza and southern San Juan are the result of high-angle faulting controlled by previous early Mesozoic extensional faults (Cristallini and Cangini, 1993; Cristallini et al., 1995; Kozlowski et al., 1993; Manceda and Figueroa, 1993, 1995). The changes along strike between these two different tectonic styles seem to be related to local development of early extensional structures produced during Late Triassic and Early Jurassic rifting.

~ ..'

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2. Plate tectonic setting of the Central Andes

After the early work of Barazangi and Isacks (1976), it became evident that the different structural provinces of the Central Andes were controlled by the Benioff-Wadati subduction geometry (Jordan et al., 1983a,b). A flat subduction segment without arc magmatism that underlies the Precordillera and Sierras Pampeanas structural provinces, is recognized north of 33030 ' with subduction angles between 5 and 10 (see Fig. 1). The segment to the south of this latitude has arc magmatism and an average dip of the oceanic slab beneath the continent of 30 . However, the foreland is not deformed, and neither Precordillera or Sierras Pampeanas provinces were developed, in spite of similar pre-Andean geology. The Principal and Frontal Cordilleras are developed in both segments (see Fig. 2), but changes in their structure do not seem to be related to these large-scale geotectonic boundaries. The important changes among the morphostructural provinces north and south of this first-order
Ng. 1. MNor geologicN provinces of ~ e CentrN Andes of ANenfina and Chile rel~ed to the flat subduction segment of the N ~ c a plate (based on J o r d ~ et N., 1983a). Note t ~ extensio~ of S i e ~ P ~ p e a n a s within the fla~-slab segment ~ d the locatio~ of Ng. 2.

Nazca plate boundary, have obliterated some other significant differences in structural styles of the Principal and Frontal Cordilleras along strike. Based on the degree of basement involvement, the fold and thrust belt of the Principal and Frontal Cordillera can be divided in three distinct segments: La Ramada, Aconcagua and Malargiie (see Fig. 2). The La Ramada fold and thrust belt in the north is the result of tectonic inversion of a Late Triassic rift system; the central Aconcagua fold and thrust belt is a thinskinned system with no basement involved, while to the south the Malargiie belt is also the result of tectonic inversion of a Late Triassic-Early Jurassic rift system. As a consequence, the Principal and Frontal Cordilleras in La Ramada and Malargiie

V.A. Ramos et al. / Tectonophysics 259 (1996) 185-200

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188

V.A. Ramos et a l . / Tectonophysics 259 (1996) 185-200

segments are similar. Blocks of the Permo-Triassic basement are included in both Cordilleras. In conWast, in the Aconcagua segment the Frontal Cordillera is a single, huge block of this Permo-Triassic basement, which is not exposed in the Principal Cordillera (Fig. 2).

3. The La Ramada fold and thrust belt This segment is located to north of Cerro Aconcagua, and consists of a series of basement uplifts such as the Cord6n del Espinacito, Cord6n de Ansilta, Cordillera de Santa Cruz and Cordillera del Lfmite. These basement blocks are composed of Permo-Triassic volcanics and granitoids included in the Choiyoi Group (Fig. 3). This sector of the Principal Cordillera differs from that of the central Aconcagua segment because the rocks of the Choiyoi Group are dissected by normal faults that originally bounded a series of oblique troughs. These troughs were filled by synrift deposits of the Rancho de Lata Formation of Middle Triassic to Early Jurassic age (Alvarez et al., 1995). These deposits are unconformably overlain by marine sediments of the Los Patillos and La Manga formations (Early Jurassic to early Late Jurassic). They represent widespread sag deposits which pass upwards into thick gypsum beds of the Auquilco Formation. The sequence continues with continental red beds of the Tordillo Formation and Tithoneocomian marine deposits of the Mendoza Group. Cretaceous continental and volcanic rocks cover most of the western areas and extend westward in the Chilean slope of the Cordillera (see Table 1). The Triassic normal faults are preserved in Cignaga del Gaucho, west of Cerro Mercedario. The faults still display a net normal throw, but kinematic indicators show reverse throw and therefore a partial inversion during Andean deformation (Ragona, 1993; Blengino, 1994). The major thrusts have relatively steep dips ( > 55), even those faults close to the foreland. The timing of tectonic inversion can be constrained by the Miocene volcanics, which unconformably overlie some major thrusts. This unconformity is exposed in the headwaters of Arroyo Las Fiores, at the southwestern border of the Macizo La

Ramada (Fig. 3). The age of the andesitic volcanics is 10.7 ___0.7 Ma in Cerro Stelzner and 12.7 __+0.6 Ma in Cerro Schiller ( K / A r whole rock). A similar angular unconformity is seen at Cerro Pirfimides, where volcanic rocks of 9.2 ___0.3 Ma are lying on Mesozoic folded rocks (see Fig. 4). The westernmost faults are older than 12.7 Ma while the easternmost faults such as the one that uplifted the Cordones del Espinacito and Ansilta are not older than Pliocene as inferred from the unroofing sequence of the synorogenic deposits (PErez, 1994). The structural style is depicted in the cross section of Fig. 5 where two levels of detachment can be inferred. The lower one is controlled by Carboniferous shales which underlie 2 - 4 km of Choiyoi volcanics. The upper one lies in the gypsum of the Auquilco Formation (Late Jurassic). The deep vertical relief along the valleys exposes this detachment and clearly shows that beneath the gypsum beds are homoclinal and not disturbed while above the gypsum the strata are tightly folded. The wave lengths of the folds within the cover are small, contrasting with the regional blocks detached in the Carboniferous. Most of the main ranges at the Ramada fold and thrust belt are controlled by the lower detachment. The amount of orogenic shortening is minimal (about 40%) reaching no more than 18 km in the Principal Cordillera (Cristallini et al., 1995). Most of the Cenozoic contraction of the Andes is concentrated in this segment along the Precordillera of San Juan, with a shortening of 95 km (Allmendinger et al., 1990).

4. The Aconcagua fold and thrust belt Stratigraphy of this segment is similar to the northern segment, except for the fact that Triassic and Early-Middle Jurassic deposits are missing. The La Manga Formation (middle Callovian-Oxfordian) unconformably steps different units in the Choiyoi Group as well as older Paleozoic rocks. This fact was well known to Groeber (1918), who postulated the existence of a paleogeographic high for the Aconcagua area, known as Alto del Tigre (Tigre High). The thin limestone beds of the La Manga Formation were deposited as a result of thermal subsidence, being followed by rifting in the segments

V.A, Ramos et al. / Tectonophysics 259 (1996) 185-200

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190

V.A. R a m o s e t al. / T e c t o n o p h y s i c s

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V.A. Ratnos et al. / Tectonophysics 259 (1996) 185-200

191

Table 1 Stratigraphic correlation chart of the Principal Cordillera between 32 and 36S

LA RAMADA

AGONCAGUA

MALARGUE .,

TECTONICS Orogenic uplift

TERT IARY

SYNOROGENICDEPOSITS CONTINENTAL DEPOSITS M~'NDOZAGR.(l_imeslones~ shales)

Thermal so~

TORDILLO (Red beds) AUQUILCO ( Gypsum} LA MANGA (Limestones) JURASSIC ~ ~// TRESESQUI NAS LOS PATILLOS (Shales) [ Sandstones EtShoies PUESTOARA'YA " ~SondetonesI~, ,Shales ) EL FRENO TRIASSIC
RANCHO DE LATA [C,~~.,~rme~. Scmdsiones 8,Tuffs )

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CHOIYOI GROUP(Volcanlcs and 6ronites)

to the north and south. It is worth noting here that there is no evidence of Late Triassic rifting along the Principal and Frontal Cordilleras in the Aconcagua segment. The structural high existed into the Early Cretaceous during the deposition of the Mendoza Group, as demonstrated by the paleogeographic analysis of Lo Forte (1992). The slower rate of thermal subsidence of the retroarc basement in this segment during the Early Cretaceous could be an inherited feature controlled by the absence of previous rifting. Triassic rifting at these latitudes occurred east of the foothills of the Frontal Cordillera within the Cuyo basin (Fig. 2; Dellap6 and Hegedus, 1993). The structural style obtained from detailed mapping of the area shows low-angle thrusts and overthrusting along the thrust front (Figs. 3 and 6). The thrust front of the Principal Cordillera at these latitudes crops out at Cerro Penitentes (Fig. 3). The fault plane is clearly exposed along more than 1 km of vertical relief. The leading edge of the thrust above a footwall ramp dips less than 10-15 producing a

very irregular surface trace (Figs. 3 and 6). However, some of the westernmost thrusts have steeper dips, as a result of subsequent rotation during an eastward migration of the thrust front. Younger low-angle thrusts are known along the trailing edge of the fold and thrust belt that cuts previous deformed structures. These faults, almost along the border between Argentina and Chile, have been interpreted as out of sequence break-back thrusts by different authors (Ramos and Aguirre-Urreta, 1991; Mosquera and Zapata, 1991). Another outstanding feature is the diapiric emplacement of gypsum domes observed close to the termination surface of the thrust sheets. Rocks above the domes are extremely deformed and most commonly overturned. The diapirs are composed of gypsum with a sheath of shales interbedded with some thin layers of carbonates. They range in diameter from a few hundred meters to more than 2 km. The gypsum bed also controlled the inception of the detachment surfaces which produced antiformal

Fig. 4. Geologic map of a sector of the La Ramada fold and thrust belt with location of structural cross section of Fig. 5 (modified from Cristallini et al., 1995).

192

V.A. Ramos et al. /Tectonophysics 259 (1996) 185-200

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V.A. Ramos et al. / Tectonophysics 259 (1996) 185-200

193

stacked duplexes as seen in several sections (Ramos, 1988; Ploszkiewicz and Gorrofio, 1988). Palinspastic restoration of the sections using limited thickness control and assuming negligible volume changes due to plastic flow of gypsum indicates minimum shortening ranging from 65 to 68% (Ramos, 1988; Cegarra et al., 1993). These values are within the range observed by V~squez and Gorrofio (1980) for the sub-Andean fold-thrust belt of Argentina which varies from 50 to 72%. The shortening obtained, although representative of the Aconcagua fold and thrust belt (Fig. 7) is higher than the value obtained further south in the Malargiie fold

and thrust belt. This surface shortening is restricted to the Principal Cordillera, as the Frontal Cordillera has been uplifted almost as a single block, and the Cuyo rift basin has less contraction (Fig. 8). The new data constrain the main period of shortening of the Principal Cordillera between the beginning of the Early Miocene (approximately 22 Ma) and 8.1 Ma. The Frontal Cordillera was uplifted later during the Pliocene, while the Precordillera is presently being uplifted (Ramos and Cortrs, 1993). The shift of the thrust front to the east was associated with the migration of the magmatic activity, related to the shallowing of the subduction zone

Fig. 6. Geologicmap of a sector of the thin-skinned Aconcaguafold and thrust belt with location of structural cross section B-B' of Fig. 7 (based on Cegarra et al., 1993). Figures between brackets are elevation in meters above sea level. Map units in Fig. 7.

194
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V.A. Ramos et al. /Tectonophysics 259 (1996) 185-200

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(Kay et al., 1987). This tectonic activity was episodic and discontinuous as recorded by the synorogenic deposits. The shortening could be linked to an increase of the convergence rate as previously proposed by several authors (Pilger, 1984; Ramos, 1988). This increase in convergent rate was due to the break-up of the Farallon plate and the formation of the Nazca and Cocos plates about 25 million years ago.

5. The Malargiie fold and thrust belt

This segment, identified south of Rio Diamante by Kozlowski et al. (1993), represents a different structural style when compared with the Aconcagua segment to the north (see Fig. 9). In spite of different formal names, there is a remarkable match between the stratigraphy of this segment and the La Ramada segment (see Table 1).

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V.A. Ramos et a l . / Tectonophysics 259 (1996) 185-200

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o f the M a l a r g f i e seg-

1993).

The active rifling that affected the Choiyoi basement produced the coarse-grained Remoredo and lower E1 Freno formations (Manceda and Figueroa, 1993, 1995). Fault-controlled subsidence decreases up to the Puesto Araya Formation when a general sag subsidence took place. A new period of thermal subsidence started during Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous times associated with the development of the retroarc basin (Fig. 10). This new period of subsidence is recognized in the three segments but with different intensity.

The structural style of the Malargiie fold and thrust belt between 3430 ' and 38S latitude is dominated by folding, associated with subordinate thrusts, with a small magnitude of shortening (Kozlowski, 1984). The vergence of the structure changes because of the change in dip of the normal faults (Fig. 11). The Permo-Triassic basement is involved in the hinterland as well as in the foothills adjacent to the foreland areas. The principal basin forming faults of the half grabens were reactivated and inverted during the Andean compression. The amount of shortening averages only 32% (Manceda and Figueroa, 1993), less than half of the shortening recorded further north. The history of synorogenic deposits of this segment is not well dated, and therefore titning of deformation is not well known as in the other segments.

6. Concluding

remarks

In order to develop a comprehensive understanding of the changes in the orogenic shortening, thermal subsidence, and structural styles among the three different segments, it is necessary to consider their broader regional setting.

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V.A. Ramos et al. / Tectonophysics 259 (1996) 185-200

197

6.1. Segmentation of the Benioff-Wadati zone

The distribution of the large morphostructural units of the Central Andes as depicted in Fig. 1 is heavily controlled by the first-order segmentation of the Nazca plate at the Benioff-Wadati zone (Jordan et al., 1983a,b). The lack of an active volcanic arc, the development of Precordillera and the basement block uplifts of Sierras Pampeanas are the consequence of the shallowing of the subduction zone in the Nazca fiat-slab segment during post-Late Miocene times (Jordan and Allmendinger, 1986; Kay et al., 1987; Ramos, 1988). The existence of an active volcanic arc south of Cerro Tupungato (Fig. 2) is related to the normal subduction angle (ca. 30) in the southern segment. This correlates with the northern boundary of the unbroken foreland and the truncation of Sierras Pampeanas south of 33030 ' (see for discussion Isacks et al., 1982; Jordan et al., 1983a,b; Ramos et al., 1991). Several authors have proposed different mechanisms and processes for this firstorder segmentation (Pilger, 1984; Isacks, 1988). However, a series of morphostructural changes are not correlated with the Benioff-Wadati zone geometry. In Fig. 2 is shown that the southern end of the Frontal Cordillera, as well as the change from thin- to thick-skinned thrusting in the Principal Cordillera are not controlled by the first-order segmentation of the Nazca plate.

6.2. Orogenic shortening

Basement involvement in the crustal roots of the Principal and Frontal Cordilleras shows a continuous decrease in thickness towards the south as evidenced by the crustal balance based on gravity and limited seismic refraction data (Introcaso et al., 1992). The thickness of Andean crustal roots is correlated with the amount of surface shortening in the upper crust, as proposed by Roeder (1988) and Allmendinger et al. (1990). The Andean shortening based on present topography and gravity data in the La Ramada segment is about 150 km; in the Aconcagua segment about 130 kin, and in the Malargiie segment only 90 km (Introcaso et al., 1992). The northern segment has a shortening of less than 30 km in the Principal Cordillera, 95 km in the Precordillera (Allmendinger et al., 1990), 10-20 km

in the Sierras Pampeanas, and an unknown amount in the foothills of the Frontal Cordillera. Andean shortening in the Chilean side is minimum at these latitudes. The central segment has the largest shortening in the Principal Cordillera, of 55-60 km including the Chilean side of the Aconcagua fold and thrust belt (Kozlowski et al., 1993); the Frontal Cordillera records about 18 km (Fig. 8), and the remaining contraction has taken place either in the Precordillera (less than 30 km), or by inversion in the Cuyo basin, and less than 6.6 km in the Sierras Pampeanas of San Luis (Costa, 1992). The southern segment has 32% shortening but widely distributed across the Principal Cordillera, which is the widest of the three segments. Shortening along the Salado river is 35 km, in Cerro Campanario about 38 km, and in the foothills at Palauco only 7 km (Fig. 9; Kozlowski et al., 1993; Manceda and Figueroa, 1993). As the Frontal Cordillera and the Sierras Pampeanas are not developed in this segment, east of the foothills, contraction only affected the San Rafael block, which has a minimum shortening estimated at less than 10 kin. In total this segment has a shortening, even including the Chilean sector, of less than 60 km, which is substantially smaller than the 90 km estimated by geophysical methods (Introcaso et al., 1992). Generally, it is clear that the orogenic shortening is mainly accommodated in upper crustal levels: in the northern segment in the Precordillera; in the central segment in the Principal Cordillera; and in the southern segment distributed across the Andes and the foothills. Although there is not a precise correlation between the tectonic shortening and the values derived from the crustal roots, it is evident that there is a continuous trend to less contraction southwards.

6.3. Rifting and thermal subsidence

The northern and southern segments depict a net thermal subsidence related to the early Mesozoic rifting, but the subsidence recorded in the three segments during the Early Cretaceous has not yet been explained. The retroarc subsidence seen in most of the Andean basins on the Argentine side during the Early Cretaceous could be related to crustal

198
Introorc ~

V.A. Ramos et al. / Tectonophysics 259 (1996) 185-200

extension (Chile)
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extension along the main magmatic axis. At these latitudes the magmatic axis is covered by a thick pile of younger volcanics, However, important Cretaceous extensional detachments are exposed further north, near Copiap6 in Chile (Mpodozis and Allmendinger, 1993). A possible explanation for the subsidence in the Argentine side is that Late Jurassic extensional E-dipping detachments are developed in Chile similar in age to the extension recorded in Copiapr. An E-dipping extensional simple shear system, such as the one depicted in Fig. 12, predicts that thermal decay and subsidence will also occur on the Argentine side. This large extensional simple shear active during continuous subduction was explained by a negative trench roll-back velocity (Ramos, 1989; Mpodozis and Ramos, 1990). The subsidence curve of Fig. 10 shows two periods of thermal subsidence; the first is related to the Late Triassic-Early Jurassic rifting on the Argentine side, while the second could be related to Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous rifting mainly on the Chilean side. Tectonic inversion was produced in Chile at these latitudes as early as 94 Ma, as inferred from the subsidence curve (Fig. 10).
6.4. Structural styles

Cordillera. The thin-skinned belt of the Principal Cordillera in the central segment has an unbroken basement, while the adjacent Frontal Cordillera has been uplifted as a single block. Shortening among the different segments was accommodated through a basal detachment that transferred the horizontal displacement from the Principal Cordillera to the Precordillera. Where the Precordillera contains older Mesozoic rifts there is a minimum shortening as in Mendoza, while thinskinned thrusting and maximum shortening are developed where the basement was not rifted such as in the northern Precordillera of San Juan (Fig. 2). Therefore, the Principal Cordillera of the Central Andes is characterized by both low-angle thrusting and thin-skinned tectonics, as well as high-angle reverse faulting and basement involvement as a consequence of early Mesozoic rift history.

Acknowledgements
The authors want to express their gratitude to A N T O R C H A S Foundation for logistic support. This research was supported by C O N I C E T grant PID 3 0 8 3 / 9 2 and U B A C Y T Ex-132. The authors are particularly grateful to Dr. P. Gayer and Dr. C. Burchfiel for their constructive comments on the manuscript.

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