TECTONICS, VOL. 9, NO.

4, PAGES 789-809, AUGUST 1990

FORELAND SHORTENING AND CRUSTAL

BALANCING IN THE ANDES AT 30øS LATITUDE

R.W.Allmendinger,1
D.Figueroa,
2D.Snyder,1
J.Beer,
1C.Mpodozis,
3andB.L.Isacks
1

Abstract. Excellent surface exposures,known
Benioffzonegeometry,a dynamicmorphology,and the
availability of industry seismic reflection data all
make the Andes at 30øS an excellent transect
investigatingcrustal-scalebalancedsections. 150-170
km of horizontalshorteninghasoccurredin threemajor
belts located between the trench and the foreland.
thin-skinned, east-verging Precordillera of western
Argentinaaccountsfor 60-75%of the total shortening
and formedmostlysincemajorvolcanismceasedat -10
Ma. Industry seismicreflection data show that the
d(•collement of the Precordillera belt is located
malouslydeep at -15 km. The belt is dominatedby
fault propagationfoldsand containsseveralprominent
out-of-sequencethrust faults. Seismicstratigraphic
analysis shows that Miocene strata in the Iglesia
Valley, located between the Precordillera and the
crestof the Andes,accumulatedin a piggy-backbasin.
Onlap relationson the western side indicate that the
for High Cordillera was uplifted as a major fault bend
fold overa buriedramp. Thrustingin the two western
belts, both in the High Cordillera of Chile, formed
The during the waning stagesof arc volcanism,11-16Ma.
andaccountfor 2540% of theshortening.Theobserved
shorteningis probablygreaterthan can be accounted
for with reasonable crustalthicknesses,indicatingthe
possibilityof continentaltruncationor erosionalong
ano- the plate margin or an anomalouslythick root held
down by the nearly flat subductedNazca Plate. Our
preferred crustal geometryputs the ramp between
upperand lower crustaldeformationwestof the high
topography, requiringcrustalscaletectonicwedgingto
thicken the crust beneath the crest of the Andes. This
non-uniquemodelprovidesa simpleexplanationof the
first ordermorphologyof the Andesat this latitude.

1Department
of Geological
Sciences,
Cornell
Univer-
INTRODUCTION
sity, Ithaca,New York; Snydernow at BIRPS,Univer-
sity of Cambridge, Cambridge, U.K.; Beer now at Balancedcross-sectionshave provenvery powerful
PectenInternationalCompany,Houston,Texas. for understandingthat part of orogenicbeltsclosestto
the undeformed craton: foreland thrust belts. More
2yacimientosPetroliferosFiscales,BuenosAires, difficult, however, is the documentation of the kine-
Argentina. maticsof entire orogenicbeltsvia the sameapproach.
3Servicio
Nacional
deGeologia
y Mineria,
Santiago, Commonly, there are two limiting factors: (1)
Chile. magmatic addition to the crust is ;. "ild card" that
can seldom be quantified, and (2) the "boundary
conditions"pertainingto that end of the crosssection
Copyright 1990 which is not pinned to the craton are seldom known
by the AmericanGeophysicalUnion. because of cover, complex multiphase structures,
strike-slipfaulting and/or ductile deformation.
Papernumber89TC03487. In the Andes at 30øSlatitude (Figure 1), thesecon-
0278-7407/90/89TC-03487510.00 straintsare lessseriousthan elsewhere.This segment
790
12 ø i i
0 km
16 ø
20 ø
24 ø
28 ø
32 ø
78 ø 74 ø 70 ø 66 ø
Fig. 1. Regionalmorpho-tectonic map of the Central
Andes [from Isacks,1988],showingthe locationof the
studyarea in (depictedin Figure2). Contoursshow
depthto the BenioffZone,in km. Grayshadedareain
South America is that part of the Andes above3 km
elevation. Horizontal ruled pattern showsthe extent
of the SierrasPampeanasof westernArgentina.
of the Andes has been largely amagmaticfor the last
~9 Ma [Kay et al., 1988],althoughyounger,volumetri-
cally insignificantvolcanismis presentlocally. The
deformationaddressedherebeganat ~16 Ma and thus
overlapsin time with that magrnatism;the majority
of shorteningin thissegmentoccurredduringthe wan-
ing phasesor post-dates
themagrnatism
[Jordanet al.,
1988;Beerand Jordan,1989;Damanti and Jordan,1989].
Furtheradvantagesof the Andesat 30øSincludeexcel-
lent surfaceexposuresdue to the arid climate, the
availability of industry seismicreflectiondata (pre-
sented below), and well-known crustal and Benioff
zone seismicity. The latter is particularly important
becausethe subducted plate provides the ultimate
boundaryconditionfor any attempt at crustalscale
balancing. Finally,the orogenis relativelynarrow in
this segment with an antithetic thrust belt (the
Precordilleraof westernArgentina)locatedunusually
closeto the plateboundary(<350km horizontallyand
<120 km vertically). This narrownessseverelylimits
the geometryof the possiblelinksbetweenupperand
lower crustal deformation.
Allmendingeret al.: Shorteningin the Andesat 30øS
We presentboth local and orogenicscalebalanced
]000
cross-sectionsof the Andes at 30øS, showing the
distribution of crustal shortening and the probable
mechanismsof crustalthickening. The mostreasonable
crustal structural geometry places the ramp, which
links upper crustal deformation with deeper levels,
west of the high topography of the Andes. If so,
crustal thickening must be accomplishedby a lower
crustal thrust which is a mirror image of the upper
crustal ramp. This geometry results in crustal scale
tectonicwedging,much as describedby Price [1986].
This model, presented here along with the opposite
end memberof a family of non-uniquesolutions,pro-
vides the most reasonable framework for understan-
ding the orogen.
GENERAL GEOLOGY ALONG THE TRANSECT
Four physio-tectonic
provincescomprisethe Andean
orogenat 30øS(from eastto west,Figure2): the Sierras
Pampeanas,Precordillera,High Andes, and Coastal
Cordillera. These belts have been extensively des-
cribed in recent literature [Jordan et al., 1983; Ramos et
al., 1986; Herv(• et al., 1987; Mpodozis and Ramos,
1990]and are only briefly describedhere. All of the
provinceswere deformedduring the Andeanorogeny
62 ø (Jurassicto Recent). East of the international border
the deformation balanced below is probably mostly
youngerthan ~16 Ma; to the west it may alsoinclude
Incaic (Eocene) deformation. There are significant
north-southvariations in structureand, except where
noted, the following discussionapplies only to 30øS
latitude.
Sierras Pampeanas
The easternmargin of the Andeanorogenis a wide
province characterizedby broad basins which sepa-
rate block uplifts of Precambrianand early Paleozoic
metamorphic and igneous basement [Gonzfilez-
Bonorino, 1950; Caminos, 1979; Caminos et al., 1982].
The blocksare boundedby moderatelyto steeplydip-
ping reversefaults of classicthick-skinnedstyle and
have been uplifted mostly in the last 5 Ma [Reynolds
et al., 1987a]. They are analogousboth in structural
geometryand tectonicsetting to the Laramide Rocky
Mountain foreland of the western United States[Jordan
and Allmendinger,1986].
The transectdescribedhere includes only the ex-
treme western edge of the SierrasPampeanasin San
Juanprovinceof westernArgentina(Figure2). There,
structures within the eastern Precordillera are west-
verging and probably thick-skinned;they cut, but do
not expose,basement [Ortiz and Zambrano, 1981].
Thus, we treat the easternPrecordilleraas part of the
Sierras Pampeanas. The inference of thick-skinned
deformationis confirmedby localseismicnetworkdata
which demonstrate seismic slip beneath the eastern
Precordillera, as well as farther east, commonly at
depthsof 25 km or morewith localevidencefor crustal
Allmendingeret al.: Shorteningin the Andesat 30øS 791

71 ø 70 ø 69 ø 68 ø
....................................................................

h Cordilleras.;-;-;-;-;
Coa st
..Region............. ....... Precordillera
Pacific
' Sierras
OceaFl
Guanto + +
La Serena ..........
.......................

....... :.:.: ................ .

...........................

.i.'1'
.i.'1'
.i.'1'
.i.'1'
.i.'1'
.i.'1'
d

oro•, •, •, •, •, + •, •, •, •::::)
lilt .i..i..i..i..i..i..i..i..i. •:::.-,
Bermejo
++
.•..•. :Argentina :.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.;.:.;.:.:..
Basin

Fig. 2. Generalizedtectonicmap of the Andesat 30øSlatitude, showingthe majorbeltsand

structuresdescribedin the text. The diagonalline showsthe locationof the cross-sections
in
Figures 3, 15, 16, and 17. Light gray boxes show the location of seismicreflection data
available for this study (Figures5, 6, and 10). White, Quaternarybasins;dashes,Sierras
Pampeanas; stipple, outcrop of upper Cenozoic strata; tilted "bricks" (limestone),
Precordillerastructuralprovince;small pluses,Permo-Carboniferousstrata and intrusionsof
the Argentine Frontal Cordillera; "v's",Miocene volcanicsalong the international border;
large pluses, Permo-Carboniferouscrystalline core of the Chilean High Cordillera; gray
shade,Mesozoicand lower Tertiary rocksof the ChileanCoastRanges.

seismicityto about40 km [Kadinsky-Cade

et al., 1985; part of the belt at 14-16Ma. Approximately100 km to
Smalleyet al., 1988]. the north, thrusting probably began at -16 Ma
[Reynoldset al., 1987b;Damanti, 1989]and new geo-
Precordillera chronologyindicatessimilar antiquity at 30øS[Beeret
al., 1990].
The Precordillera is a thin-skinned thrust belt The westernmargin of the Precordillerais formed
which forms the "foothills" of the physiographic by the IglesiaValley (Figure 2), which is underlainby
Andesbetween29øand 33øS(Figure2). Typically,four a 4-km-thick basin of upper Tertiary strata (~ 15 Ma
to six major west-dipping thrust faults comprisethe and younger;Beeret al., [1990]). As shownbelow,the
Precordillera accounts for -65-70 % of the total shor-
belt dependingon latitude. Most of the thrustsappa-
rently have their dEcollement level in a Cambro- tening in this segmentof the Andes. The structureof
Ordovician limestone sequence[Baldis and Chebli, the Precordilleraand Iglesiabasintogethercomprisea
1969; Ortiz and Zambrano, 1981]. The westernmost majorfocusof this paper.
thrustsexposeOrdovicianto Devonianflysch,a slope
facies at least partly equivalent in age to the lime- High Andes
stone[Baldiset al., 1982]. AlthoughPaleozoicthrusts
and fold axesin the west part of the belt dip eastward, West of the Iglesia basin, the Andes rise to eleva-
Andean-agedthrustsconsistentlydip to the west. tionsof -6 km along the internationalborderbetween
The age of Precordillerathrustinghas recentlybeen Chile and Argentina. Farther south, the High
constrainedby extensivechronologicaland geological Cordillera can be divided into the Frontal Cordillera
studies of foreland basin strata east of and within the to the east and the Principal Cordillera to the west.
belt [Jordan et al., 1988; Beer and Jordan, 1989]. At The thick sequenceof Mesozoicand Tertiary volcanic
30øS,these data indicate that thrusting began in the and sedimentary strata that characterizes and is
limestonepart of the belt at -9 Ma and in the western restrictedto the latter, however, cropsout discontinu-
792
ously northward and there is no clear physical
boundarybetweenthe two beltsat the latitudeof the
transect. On the easternslope (Figure 2), the High
Cordillera exposes gently-dipping, openly-folded
Carboniferous-Lower Permian marine strata, Late
Paleozoic-Triassicgranitoid batholiths,and Permo-
Triassicignimbritesof the ChoiyoiGroup [Caminos,
1979;Ortiz and Zambrano, 1981; Llambias et al., 1987].
No major belts of Andean shorteningare present
betweenthe IglesiaValley and the internationalbor-
der. An imbricate belt of thrust faults has been
mapped immediatelynorth of the northerntermina-
tion of the Iglesia Valley [Marin and Nullo, 1988].
The fact that none of these structures are observed to
cut the Neogenedepositsof the Iglesiabasinsuggests
either that they are older than mid-Miocenein age or
that a major,presentlyundocumented east-weststruc-
ture at the northern end of the valley has produced
north-south segmentation of the Andes at these
latitudes.
A belt of east- and west-dipping thrust faults,
known as the E1 Indio belt, straddles the international
border [Maksaev et al., 1984; Ramos et al., 1990]; at
30øSit is almostentirelywithin Chile but to the north
and southit passesinto Argentina(Figure2). These
structuresdeformMesozoicand Tertiaryvolcanicunits
and were active until --16 Ma (a major unconformity
exists between the Dofia Ana Formation, 29 - 18 Ma,
and the Cerro de las T6rtolas Formation, 16.6 - 11 Ma).
In Argentina northwest of the Iglesia Valley, the
Cerro de las T6rtolas Formation locally is also tilted
up to 35ø and is unconformablyoverlainby the unde-
formed 6 Ma VacasHeladasignimbrite[Ramoset al.,
1990];the regional importanceof this deformationis
unknown but is interpreted here to be small. The
westernborder of the E1Indio belt is the west-dipping
Bariosdel Toro fault which uplifts the easternside of
the Paleozoicplutonic nucleusof the Chilean High
Cordillera. The easternborder is formed by an east-
dipping thrust system in the Valle del Cura of
Argentina[Marin and Nullo, 1988].
The plutonic nucleusof the Chilean High Cordil-
lera is a 40-60 km wide belt of Late Paleozoic-Triassic
compositebatholithswhich extendsfor morethan 350
km along strikebetween31ø and 28øS[Cornejoet al.,
1984; Nasi et al., 1985]. A substantial amount of
shortening,mainly pre-LateMiocenein age, is record-
ed in this region particularly north of 30øS. Several
"gh-angle" reversefaultscanbe tracedfor more than
80 km alongstrikeand basementcoredanticlinesattest
to distributed deformation within the major fault
blocks [Moscosoand Mpodozis, 1988]. Many fewer
faults have been mapped at 30ø but this may be due
solelyto the deeper erosionand lack of supracrustal
strata which farther north facilitate the identifi-
cation of structures. Alternatively, there may be
north-southchangesin the distributionof shortening,
as suggestedearlier.
The westernside of this plutonicnucleusis formed
by the Vicufia thrust fault (Figure 2). This structure
dips 25-45ø eastand canbe tracedfor a strikelengthof
Allmendingeret al.: Shorteningin the Andesat 30øS
230 km [Dedi6s,1967;Moscosoand Mpodozis,1988].
Throughout this distance,the thrust juxtaposesthe
Paleozoicplutonic belt againstCretaceousand lower
Tertiary volcaniclasticstrata of the Coastal Cordil-
lera province. In fact, this fault may be localized
along the the old eastern margin of the Cretaceous
volcano-tectonic rift of the Chilean coastalregion. In
the hanging wall, a 15-km-wide belt of Mesozoic
volcaniclasticstrata (Figure 2) are deformed into an
open syncline(the Guanto syncline,[Mpodozisand
Cornejo,1988])which parallelsthe traceof the thrust.
The Vicufia fault clearly correlateswith a distinct,
first-orderbreak in the regionaltopographybut it is
unclearwhetherthisstepresultsfrom recentmovement
or simply different erodabilityof lithologicunits on
either sideof the fault. The ageof the last and largest
movementof the thrust fault is constrainedstratigra-
phically only to be younger than early Tertiary.
Cross-cuttingrelations between early Tertiary intru-
sionsand cleavedlimestonesin the Hurtado region
suggestthat the fault-synclinecouple may actually
havebegunto form in LateCretaceous time.
Coastal Region
To the west of the Vicufia fault, the topographyis
much more subdued. More than 5 km of Cretaceous
volcaniclasticrocks,coveredlocallyby lower Tertiary
volcanicsand intruded in the west by a long belt of
Cretaceousbatholiths,occur in this region [Thomas,
1967; Moscoso et al., 1982]. The Cretaceous section
representsthe infill of a volcano-tectonicextensional
depressionwhich may have formedimmediatelyprior
to the modern compressionalhistory of the Andes
[Mpodozisand Ramos,1990]. There is little evidence
of significantshorteningin the CoastalRegion; Creta-
ceous strata generally dip gently eastward with a
singlebroad anticlineat the centerof the belt [Aguire
and Egert,1965]. Major strike-slipfaultshavenotbeen
identified in this transect of the Chilean Cordillera
althoughthey are knownboth to the northand south.
FIRST ORDER BOUNDARY CONDITIONS
Topography
In an active mountainbelt, topographyis a dyna-
mically evolving feature which directly reflectsfirst-
order tectonicprocesses [e.g.,Isacks,1988]. On casual
inspection,the Andes at 30øSappearto rise smoothly
from the trench to the crest (Figure 3). East of the
crest, the gradual reduction in topographyis inter-
rupted by the IglesiaBasin-Precordillera couple. Sig-
nificantly more detail can be gleanedfrom a hypso-
metric curve along the same transect (Figure 4a)
because1:1or even5:1 topographicprofilesof an entire
mountainbelt, reducedto pagesize(e.g.,Figures3, 4b)
show virtually none of the detail of the originaldata
set. The differentialhypsometriccurve,in particular,
identifies an important surface at --4 km elevation,
which is also clearly visible in a profile of maximum
Allmendingeret al.- Shortening
in theAndesat 30øS
High Cordillera
Coastal
Region
Average
raphyi'
5o km
Fig. 3. Outline sketchof lithospheric-scale boundary conditionsas describedin the text.
Stippledarea on the eastside is the Bermejoforelandbasin. BenioffZone is from Cahill and
Isacks [1985] and Isacks [1988].
elevations(Figure 4b). Thus the crestof the Andes at
this latitude constitute a narrow plateau, approxi-
mately -80 km wide. Peaksrise abovethis surfaceto
elevationsof 6.0 km and the surfaceis alsodissectedby
canyons,particularlyon the westside(Figure4b).
The timing of uplift of the Andeanedificeis a con-
tinuingcontroversy, and no directevidencebearson the
ageof morphological developmentat 30øS.On a more
regional scale, the present Andean morphology is
thoughtto be largely the result of mid-Mioceneand
younger uplift [Pascualand Odreman Rivas, 1973].
Since the mid-Miocene, the High Cordillera appears
to have been regionally uplifted without significant
internal shortening, whereas the Precordillera has
experiencedactive shortening. This result matches
well with the unroofing history as recorded in the
upper Cenozoic basins at 30øS [Beer et al., 1990;
Damanti, 1989] and with the timing of crustal thick-
ening inferred from geochemicalstudies[Kay et al.,
1988]. We use the narrow plateausurfacein our inter-
pretation of the structure beneath the High Cordil-
lera. The model presentedbelow suggests, but doesnot
prove, beginning of uplift of the High Cordillera at
12-16 Ma.
BenioffZone
Justas the form of the free surfaceprovidesan upper
boundary condition,the subductedNazca plate must
ultimately provide both the lower and the western
limits to a crustal-scalebalancedsection(Figure 3).
Considerable data from both local and world-wide
networksconstrainthe geometryof the subductedplate
[Barazangiand Isacks, 1976; Bevis and Isacks, 1984;
Cahill and Isacks, 1985; Smalley and Isacks, 1987;
Isacks, 1988]. These data clearly show that the
Benioff zone has a normal, 30ø east dip in the
793
Iglesia
Basin Precordillera
Sierras Pampeanas
•11ement level ........................
interplatezonebut at depthsbelow 75-100km it hasan
unusuallylow dip (-5ø).
The low dip has two important, related effects: a
full thicknessof lithosphereis missingbeneathChile
and westernArgentina,and moreimportantly,thereis
little or no asthenosphericwedge between the two
plates. The shallowingof the plate between10-15Ma
[Kay et al., 1988] cut off significantmagmatismat
about that time and thus removedit as a major factor
in subsequentcrustalvolume change. The lack of a
significant asthenosphericwedge means that the
presenttopographyof the region probably does not
havea strongthermalcomponent[Isacks,1988].
Crustal Seismicity
Although crustal seismicity does not provide a
physicalboundarycondition,it doesshed somelight
on both crustal rheology and depth distribution of
brittle shortening. Crustal earthquakesin the west-
ernmostSierrasPampeanasoccurto 40 km depth,only
70 km above the Benioff zone and <300 km from the
trench [Kadinsky-Cadeet al., 1985; Smalley, 1988;
Smalleyet al., 1988]. Theseobservationsindicatethat
the crust exhibits a significantelastic componentto
unusually deep levels and thus could be abnormally
cold or mafic. Given the lack of an asthenospheric
wedge, we favor the former interpretation,although
gravity anomaliesin the foreland 200 km to the south
along strikealsocanbe interpretedin termsof a mafic
lowercrust[Introcaso, 1980;Snyder,1988].
The spatial distribution of earthquakes shows
little activity within or beneath the Precordillera,
Iglesia Basin, and High Cordillera. Thus, the
activity has either ceasedin that part of the crust or
the thin-skinned deformation of the Precordillera and
its westward extension is aseismic.
794 Allmendinger
et al.: Shortening
in theAndesat 30øS

A. [ [ [ ] [ I [ [ [ [ [ I
200 100 I 100 200 300

- WEST
Area
/km 6'0
i•!•.•?...•....••
Area
/km EAST
-

Cummulative
Area(kin) I Cummulafive
Area(kin2) /

B. maxtopo ½
continental
divide
plateausurface
• •
/
ave
topo\
' Iglesia
•

Fig.4. (a) Hypsometric

curvesof theAndesat 30-32øS.Irregularcurvewith grayshadedarea
(top axis) is the incremental(differential) curve which showsthe amount of surfacearea at
any particularelevation.Note the maximumin areaat 4 km elevation. The smoothgray
curve(bottomaxis)is the cumulativecurvewhichshowsthe total areaabovea particular
elevation. It is the integralof the incrementalcurve. Comparethe form of thesecurvesto
thoseshownin Figure2 of Isacks[1988]for the Altiplanosegmentof the centralAndes. (b)
Topographic cross-section of the Andesalongtheline of sectionin Figure2, with elevations
20
km on either sideof the line of sectionprojectedontothe line. The "max", "ave",and "min
topo"have5x verticalexaggeration. Sectionis generalized
due to bothprojectionof a swath
of data and the very reducedscaleof the displayon a baseshowingthe curvatureof the
Earth. The plateausurfaceis bestseenon the maximumtopographycurve,the incisionof
riverson the minimumcurve. Thedifferencebetweenthe two showsthe degreeof erosion.
Note the much more extensive erosion on the west (Chilean) side of the Andes. This is also
reflectedin the hypsometriccurves.

Inferred Crustal Thickness
The mostpoorlyconstrained
part of thisanalysisis
the lack of any directmeasureof crustalthickness.No
crustalscalerefractionsurveysexistanywherein wes-
tern Argentina,and extremelylimited deepreflection
datado not imagethe baseof thecrust. Evengravity
data are not available. The only gravity surveysthat
cross the orogen are located >250 km to the south
[Introcaso, 1980] and >500 km to the north. Thus, we
can make only simple isostatic models which are
consistentwith the topography(Figure 3). Unfortu-
nately, even the degree of local versus flexural com-
pensationis unknown. The extentto which our crustal
Allmendinger
et al.' Shortening
in theAndesat 30øS
thicknessmodelsare reasonablecanbe gaugedby how
closelyobservedsurfaceshorteningmatchesthat pre-
dictedusingcrustalscaleareabalancing.Thissortof
reasoningcannotbe pushedtoo far, however,without
encountering
its inherentcircularity.
Depth to the D•collement
One of the most fundamental controls on the bulk
shortening
in a thin-skinneddeformationsystemsuch
as the Precordillerais the depth to the d(•collement.
Industry seismicreflection data and the surface
geologyin western
Argentinaprovideverygoodcontrol
on this vital datum. It has long been noted that the
Cambro-Ordovicianlimestoneor flyschsequence occurs
at the base of each major thrust plate in the Precor-
dillera; older rocks are never exposed [Baldis and
Chebli, 1969;Ortiz and Zambrano,1981]. This strongly
suggeststhat the regionald(•collementlies within
that sequenceand abovebasement.Thepre-Cenozoic
stratigraphic thickness above that level varies
considerablydue to a complex,pre-Andeanstructural
history.In generalit is about4 km on the eastsideof
the Precordilleraand 6 km in the middle [Furque,1979;
W
out-of-sequence
thrust
Fig. 5. YPF seismicreflectiondata from the Niquivil thrust(arrows),showingthe depth to
d(•collement(i.e. top of basement)and the out of sequencethrust. Seetext for discussion.
Seismicsectionis --13km long. Locationshownin Figures8 and 13.
795
Fielding and Jordan,1988](also seebelow). Farther
west, the original thicknessof the Cambro-Ordovician
flyschin unknownbecauseof the intense,pre-Andean
folding of that part of the sequence.
Recentseismicreflectionprofilescollectedfor Yaci-
mientos Petolfferos Fiscales (YPF) cross the front of the
easternmostwest-dipping thrust (referred to below as
the Niquivil thrust). Those data (Figure 5) show
dipping reflectors within the thrust plate overlying
prominent flat lying reflectorsat 4.5 and 5.1 s (two-
way time). The flat reflectorscannotbe multiples and
the line geometry with respect to all known three
dimensional features argues strongly against a side-
swipe interpretation. Given what is known of the
velocity structure from the stacking velocities, we
calculate that the two horizontal reflectors lie at
and --15 km depth. Given the vertical separationof
these reflectorsand their continuity, we suggestthat
they correspondto the top of the Cambro-Ordovician
limestonesequenceand the top of basement,respec-
tively. These depths are also consistentwith the
km thicknessof Mioceneand youngersynorogenic strata
in the foreland basin directly east of the easternmost
thrust (Figure 6). Thus, the basal d(•collementat the
E
Niquivil
thrus
796 Allmendinger
et al.- Shortening
in theAndesat 30øS

w E
O- Bermejo
Basin

2-

8-

Fig.6. YPFseismic
reflection
datafromtheBermejo
Basin(Figure2),showing thedeformed
thickness
of pre-Mesozoic
strataandtheunusual
depthto thetopof inferredbasement.Pz-
pC(?), deformedPaleozoic(?) and/or Precambrianstrata;CO(?), Cambrian-Ordovician(?)
limestone. Note that the Cenozoicfold is detachedabovethe reflectorat ~7 s (~18 km).
Seismicsection
isabout24km long.

easternedgeof the thin-skinned thrustbeltliesa..t~15- unconformities

doexistandunitthicknessesvaryconsi-
km depth. This unusuallydeepd•ollement and the derablyfromplateto plateandevenwithina single
thicknessof the stratigraphicsectioninvolvedin the plate[Furque,1979].Thislackof a simplelayercake
thrustingto thewestprovidesimportantconstraints on stratigraphy
rendersimpossiblea strictapplication
of
theamountof shortening in thePrecordillera,
regard- Suppe'smethod [1983;Woodward et al., 1985]. It also
lessof thespecific
structural
geometries
chosen. negatesmanyof Dahlstrom's [1970]rules,particularly
thoseconcerning thrustfaultscuttingup sectionin the
BALANCE OF PRECORDILLERA SHORTENING directionof translation
and thejuxtapositionof older
rocksoveryoungerrocks.
Notablefeaturesof the Precordillera YPFseismic reflection
datashowthatpre-Tertiary
units beneaththe BermejoBasin(Figures2, 6) are
The Precordillera
presents
manychallenges
to the deformedand that their presentthicknessis much
applicationof the classicaltechniquesof balanced greaterthan that of probablycorrelativeunitsin the
cross-section
construction.Here, we brieflydescribe easternmost thrustplate. The changein vergence of
several notable features of both the Precordillera and Cenozoic structures,fromthewest-dipping thrustsof
the easternpart of the IglesiaBasin. the Precordillerato the east-dippingthrustsof the
Beddingthicknessvariationand localizationof westernmost SierrasPampeanas, was probablycon-
the front of the thrust belt. Substantial Paleozoic trolledby thereversalin taperof thewedge-shaped
tectonicactivity severelymodified this margin of stratalpackages(Figure7) and by the pre-existing
SouthAmerica [Baldiset al., 1982;Ramoset al., 1986]. structuresbeneaththe BermejoBasin. Figure6 also
Significant
angularunconformities
and tightlyfolded shows that Andean structures in the foreland basin are
rocksunderlieupper Paleozoicand Mesozoicstratain detached above a reflector at 7 s (-17 km).
both the morphologicaleasternPrecordillera(here Steepcutupangles.Beddingdips in the Precordil-
includedin theSierrasPampeanas
structural
province) leraareconsistently steep;the shallowest
(exceptfor
and westernpart of the belt. The easterntwo thrust localfold crestsand troughs)are ~30øandarelocated
platesof the thin-skinnedbelt do not showevidenceof at the eastern side of the thin-skinned belt. In the
this strongpre-Cenozoic
foldingbut subtleangular westernpart of thebelt,thismaybe due to bothpre-
Allmendingeret al.: Shorteningin the Andesat 30øS 797

.......base of Tertiary ........... base of Terti.ary

ß
......
?-•":'"'
..........
•••---'::.-'-'-•--'•
"''''''
-""-''''
-:":•'•-•'•'
''''''
'•t;---
'----- '-" :••• ....... •••''"''
'-•••....;•4.;.•
'"'"
'""'"•'
•'"••'"¾•...
.•..-'•:•-•-•-•:--':x-'.•-:."•?'":v'""•:':'"'•'••:•':'•
•'"'"'>•'•:•:':•• ...........
•'•""
' •.
,..•.-':•'•.•
.........................
•'-•
••:.••
••.
'--
•'•"•"'•'••'":'"•••..•.,
'.-:•i"
•- •• •............
........
"•-•'--'--':•-:.'•:4
.•:•••:.-'•:-•.':::::-':-':::::-':::.•:.-.::•:•.•:•c•--•
;-•
-.-"c.• :.
.-:'"t•"1•-1I I I I • • • • • • • • • • •...!.-...•......-:.-...-c.-.-.-,---,
"• • I • • • • I • • • • • • ........................ .•:.:..::,.•...,.-. ,.::E.•:<.•.?g:•...•..•E•.•
.
........
........
, .........................................
-.-.-,---,
.., ..................
.•-.---•-• • • •...:.....:....:.:.-.-.-._-:-:-:-•---'-•'"•
'l"• • • • , • • • • • • • • • • •
,--- ........
""•"•
"'%•'"' •' ••ø*••'••••1

0 • •0 .....
km

Silurian-Devonian Cambro-Ordovician
-'"'"
"-•
'" Mesozoic
strata clastic strata limestone

Fig. 7. Detail of restoredsection(post-Mesozoic,pre-late Tertiary) of the Niquivil plate and

the Bermejobasin,showingthe basementarch and taperreversalcoincidentwith the change
in Neogene-Quaternary thrustvergence.Westernhalf of sectionalso seenin Figure 13. No
vertical exaggeration.

Tertiary deformation and stackingof Cenozoicfoot- cratonwardmigrationof the locusof deformationwith

wall ramps, but in the eastern half it is more likely
due to relativelysteepfundamentalcutoffangles.Our
balanced cross-section of the Precordillera
employs30ø footwall ramps. This is both closeto the
shallowest regional dips observed and the steepest
allowable dip for fault-bend folds that preserve
volume on the forelimbsof the hangingwall anticlines
[Suppe,1983].
Fault propagationfolds. The prevalenceof large
asymmetricanticlinesat the tiplines of many of the
large thrust faults within the belt indicatesthat fault
propagationfolding is an important, if not the domi-
nant, mechanismwithin the belt. This would explain
the steepdips and steepinferredcutoffangles,because
fault propagationfolds preserveforelimb volume for
cutoffanglesas steepas 60ø [Woodwardet al., 1985]. It
probablyalso explainsthe suddenapparentchangein
stratigraphicthrow along strikeof someof the thrusts
as a simple function of the positionof the tip line with
respectto the ground surface. For example,the east-
ernmostfault, the Niquivil thrust, apparentlychanges
from placing Ordovician over Tertiary (with a dis-
placementof >20 km constrainedby seismicreflection
data, Figure 5) to the unbroken Cuesta de Huaco
anticline in a distance of--20 km (Figure 8). It is
possible that the main fault continues northward
beneathyoung basin fill whereasthe fold corresponds
to the tip line of a minor imbricate. However, the
rapid northward loss of displacement may be real,
given that many faults display elliptical, rather than
linear, displacementfunctions(Walsh and Watterson,
1989).
Out-of-sequence thrusts. Because of the
widespreadinterestin the self-similarCoulombwedge
model of thrust belts [Davis et al., 1983], out-of-
sequencethrust faults have recently received consi-
derable attention. The wedge model requirescontin-
uous thrusting and thickening throughout, whereas
several classical field studies
time [Geiserand Boyer,1987;Woodward, 1987;Arm-
strong and Oriel, 1965]. Furthermore,Dahlstrom's
(see below) [1970] "family" of thrust belt structures does not
emphasizeout-of-sequencethrusts, which violate the
basicrulesof thrust geometries.
The Precordillerahas several prominent examples
of out-of-sequencethrustsin both its easternand wes-
tern sides. One thrust, particularly well displayed in
the field and on seismicdata, deformed part of the
Niquivil plate after the strata of the plate were
rotated to their presentdip (Figures5, 8, and 9). Far-
ther west, the Iglesia Basin was filled during move-
ment on the major thrustswithin the Precordillera(see
tb.efollowing section)and the basin stratawere subse-
quently deformed by several well-imaged out-of-
sequencethrust faults (Figure 10). The westernmost
fault within the Precordillera, the Rfo Las Trancas
thrust, overrides westerly derived upper Cenozoic
units which onlap (with an angle as large as 40ø)
Paleozoic strata within the next thrust plate to the
east (Figure 11). This relationship indicates that the
thruststo the easthad moved and createdtopography
prior to the depositionof the upper Cenozoicstrata.
Thus,the Rfo Las Trancasthrustis alsoa majorout-of-
sequencethrust; it has a much gentler dip (--25-30ø)
than the thruststo the eastand may have as much as
5-10 km of displacement.
Quaternary(?)extensionaltectonics.Although not
the main focus of this paper, it is interestingto note
that Iglesia Basin,as well as its southernextensionin
the Calingasta Valley, contain a record of young
extensionaldeformation. Whitney and Bastfas[1984]
first showedthat the north-strikingE1Tigre fault has
an easterly dip in shallow trenches;the 50 m high
Quaternary scarpis up on the west side, indicatinga
normal componentof displacement. Our studies of
arraysof minor faultsin naturalexposuresof the youn-
gest Tertiary strata also show dominantly normal
have demonstrated the faulting with east-northeast horizontal extension
798 Allmendingeret al.: Shorteningin the Andesat 30øS

J--"• Quaternary alluvium

Quaternaryalluvial
fans
"."•..,'"-•
TertiaryHuaco
section
'".'•.'..•'..'••
Tertiary'Mogna"
Fm.
ß T,aio
• Permo-Carboniferous
'•....
•'•.
•, Devonian
• Cambro-Ordovician
• liimestone out-of-
seq
• exposed'•j• thrust 15'

• coveredJ
faults
0 km 10

hal

Figure 9

Niquivil

Fig. 8. (Opposite)Geologicmap of the easternpart of the Precordillerathrustbelt, showing

the three easternmosteast-vergingthrustsin the belt. Basedon Furque [1979],Fielding and
Jordan[1988],and field observations by the authors. Note the tip line of the Niquivil thrust,
southwestof Huaco, and the tip line of the unnamedthrustsouthwestof J•chal. Seismicline
in Figure5 crossesthroughthe gap in the Cambro-Ordovician block •-8 km northof Niquivil.
Note the out-of-sequencethrustin the Niquivil thrustplate betweenNiquivil and J•chal.
Allmendingeret al.: Shortening
in theAndesat 30øS 799

...

...... ' "....,,2•?..

•,'•*"
',%...,.,...,.
. ..;...... -'%::-i.'
....*•;•':'":::'"'•E:'i
';'"
."' .
..
.

.......
ß , .-:

....... :'-?:z..•.4..
. '
.:.:i:
':::.,..!(
'-"- - :...,•'*•:
';'.'-
"-:"."
.:
,.,'';'"--"'.
--".
i'.•i•-",.;.-
"•;½•.-.'
'":::•
......
'"".i::':'-":
:'::'
':;•'.:::':
:'.
•,:..--
.-.: :. ....... . --•:•...'..•,:.¾•:• ..
ß ....

Fig. 9. ThematicMapper image showingdetail of the anticlineassociatedwith the out-of-

sequencethrust in the Niquivil thrustplate. Note broad anticlinein late Cenozoicstrataand
underlyingunconformitywith Paleozoicrocks.Imageis 15 km across.SeeFigure8 for location.

(Figure12). The tectonicoriginof this episodeof young
extensionis not known. It seemsunlikely to be related
to developmentof the high topography[e.g., Dewey,
1988; Burchfiel and Royden, 1985] because,though
oriented perpendicularto the topography,it occursat
elevationsas low as 1600m. It appears equally un-
likely that it is related to over steepeningand spread-
ing of the Precordillerathrustwedge.
Amountof Shorteningin the Precordillera
The cross-section
in Figure13wasconstructedusinga
combination of line length and area balancing
methods. The hanging wall cutoffs are eroded from
every major thrust plate; the gaps between restored
thrust plates have been kept to a minimum. This
assumptionis probablyacceptable,at leastfor several
of the easternthrusts,becauseof the proximity of the
sectionline to tip line folds. The sectionpredicts95 km
of shorteningof an original 135 km wide belt, or about
70% shortening. Stated another way, the structural
thickening has resulted in a tripling of the strati-
graphic section.
This unusually large percentageof shortening--
most thrust belts have -50% -- is a direct result of the
original thicknessof the stratigraphicsectionand the
depth to the dScollement.The constraintsimposedby
these two features can be investigated by an area
balanceof the entire deformedpackagewhich doesnot
take into account the structures within it. One can
visualize this change in area as being accommodated
by a seriesof vertical-sidedpolygonsthat get taller
and thinner during the deformation. This unrealistic
structural geometry gives the absolute minimum
800 Allmendingeret al.: Shorteningin the Andesat 30øS

W
LINE
5323 E
2 ELEVATION,KM
SP700 500 300 100
I I I ! I I !

45

Fig. 10. A representativeseismicline showing the overall geometryof the Iglesia Basin
(Figure2). Stationspacingis 50 m. Note the out-of-sequence thrustson the east side of the
basin and lack of evidencefor any fault bounding the west side of the basin. The seismic
sequencesin the Tertiary strata onlap a --12ø east-dippingbasementsurface;they are
described in detail in Beer et al. [1990].

amount of shortening; more realisticgeometrieswill determined in the detailed cross-sectionis probably

give larger values.
Assumingthat the originalwedge was 4 km thick at
its east side and 6 km thick at its west, it must have
been 86 km long to match the area of the 37 km wide
deformed package(see inset in Figure 13). This esti-
mate is too small because it does not take into account
the area of material eroded from the thrust platesand
now residing mostly in the foreland basin (Bermejo
basin) to the east. Adding the area of the erosional
gaps in the actual restored section(which are mini-
mums) and subtracting the area of Tertiary rocks
within the thrust plates (Figure 13, bottom), we esti-
mate the pre-erosionalarea of the deformed package
to havebeen--488
km2. Thisareawouldrequirethat
theundeformedwedgewas98km long,producing61km
of shortening.
Neither of the resulting values for internal shor-
tening,49 or 61 km, includesthe amountby which the
entire package has been translated over the autoch-
thon by the easternmost thrust. That horizontal
shortening,--23 km, is relatively well constrainedby
the seismic data. Adding the internal shortening
togetherwith the translationgives a total of 72 or 84
km of shortening. Thus, the 95 km of shorteninlg
close to the absolute minimum value for the belt. The
actualshorteningcouldbe largeralthough,as we show
below,it cannotbe toomuchlargerwithoutresultingin
an unrealisticallythick crust or necessitatingtectonic
erosionat the plate boundary.
WestwardProjectionof the Flat dEcollement
Balancedcross-sections not only facilitatecalcula-
tion of the amount of shortening,but they alsoenable
predictionsof how far beneaththe mountain belt the
d(•collementmust project. In the presentexample,if
there are no hidden duplexes of basementmaterial
beneath the Precordillera, then the d(•collement must
be flat beneaththe IglesiaBasinand extendto a point
beneath, or west of the international border.
Although,a large amount of seismicreflectiondata in
the Iglesia Basinis availablefor inspection the two-
way travel timesare not sufficientlylong to imagethe
d(•collementat its predicted 16-18 km depth. We
cannotrule out the possibilityof basementduplexesbut
a variety of circumstantialevidence,describedbelow,
indicates that they may only be present west of the
Iglesia basin.
Allmendingeret al.: Shorteningin the Andes at 30øS 801

•2

'•o

no vertical exaggeration

Tertiary Tertiary
Ordovician
Ordovician
flysch
pillow basalt

Fig. 11. Cross-sectionof the Rio Las Trancasthrust showing the unconformablerelations
documentingits out-of-sequence nature. Detail views show the onlap of Tertiary strata (in
white) on the back of the Rio de Caracolplate and in the Iglesiabasinon the back side of the
Rio las Trancasthrust plate. Seetext for discussion.

STRUCTURAL INSIGHTS FROM SEISMIC rocks,Permiangranitoids,and Permo-Triassic ignim-

STRATIGRAPHY OF THE IGLESIA BASIN
The geochronologyof the Iglesia basin, in concert
with the subsidencehistory of the Bermejoforeland
basin to the east, clearly shows that the Tertiary
strataof the Iglesiaarea accumulatedduring thrusting
in the Precordillera [Johnsonet al., 1987; Jordan et al.,
1988;Beerand Jordan,1989;Beeret al., 1990]. The geo-
metryof thosestratalpackagescontainsa recordof the
topographicdevelopmenton the marginsof the Iglesia
basinas well as the natureof the structurescontrolling
that development. The seismic stratigraphy of the
>350 line kilometers of reflection data collected in the
Iglesia Basin has been describedin detail in a com-
panion paper by Beer et al. [1990]. Here, we briefly
review only thoseaspectswhich bear on our structural
model.
The most strikingobservationfrom the seismicdata
is that, along the western margin, the Tertiary strata
onlap onto a basement surface that dips ~12ø east
(Figure 10). "Basement"here refersto all sub-Tertiary
lithologies,which include Carboniferoussedimentary
brites. Thus,although,thereis an importantchangein
topographicslope between the High Cordillerasand
the Iglesiabasin (e.g., Figure 3), no surface-breaking
fault uplifts the former with respectto the latter. The
Tertiary strata accumulatedagainsta pre-existing,or
synchronouslydeveloped, topographicedifice. This
fact, the synchronismof the Iglesia and Bermejo
basins,and the inferencesaboutthe westwardprojec-
tion of the d(•collement, strongly suggest that the
IglesiaBasinis a "piggyback"basindevelopedwithin
a singlemajorthrustsheet[Snyder,1988].
The simplestgeometry for producing a piggyback
basinis to localizeit betweentwo ramps. Rampsto the
east in the Precordillera are readily available (e.g.,
Figure 13). The lack of an exposedthrust on the west
side of the Iglesiabasin suggeststhat the uplift of the
High Cordillera must be associated with a buried
hanging wall ramp; its footwall counterpartmust be
located still farther west. The observedonlap on the
westernside of the Iglesiabasin is very similar to that
describedby Medwedeff[1989]for the onlapof syntec-
tonic strata onto the forelimb of a growing fault-bend
fold anticline("growth fault-bendfolding").
802 Allmendingeret al.: Shorteningin the Andesat 30øS

Equal Equal
Area Area 2

n3

N= 57 C.I. = 2.0 sigma N = 57 C.I. = 2.0 sigma

extension
shortening

Fig. 12. Equal area lower hemisphereprojectionsof kinematicanalysesof minor faults from
the Tudcfimregionof the IglesiaValley. All faultscollectedfrom stratayoungerthan •-7 Ma.
Note the dominanceof vertical shorteningand horizontal,east-westextension.Numbers and
black squaresshow the resultsof a uniformly weightedmoment tensorsolutionto the fault
kinematics (1 is the shorteningaxis and 3 is the extensionaxis). Method is describedin
Marrett and Allmendinger[1990].

Iglesia
Basin Precordillera Bermejo
Basin
:•.• Tertiary ß

•.............
Paleozoic
Cambro-Ordovician Area = 420 sq. kin. Area = 420 sq. kin.
Limestone
Width = 86 kin. Width = 37 kin.
0 km 20
==============================
........
::::-.:::::::.-::
...............................
Generic t '"'""::":':':•
........
Area Balance

Fig. 13. Balancedand restored sectionof the Precordillera. Inset shows at generic area
balance of the thrust belt, which is not dependent on the structural geometry within the
deformedpackageand doesnot includeerosion.The scaleof the genericareabalanceis not the
sameas the structuresection.Locationsof the seismiclinesand profilesin Figures5, 10, and 11
are shown for reference.
Allmendingeret al.: Shorteningin the Andesat 30øS
Thus, we suggestthat the easternside of the High
Cordillera is the forelimb of a fault-bend
cline. The 12ø eastdip of the basementsurfaceallows
us to predict the hanging wall cutoff (13-14ø if the
dEcollementdips 1-2øW)and by implication the foot-
wall cutoff (12-13øW)of the ramp responsiblefor the
uplift of the Andesat 30øS. Thesecalculationsassume
that the rules of fault-bend folding [Suppe, 1983]
apply to the rocks of the High Cordillera. These
assumptionsare impossibleto prove but seemsreason-
able in light of the successfulapplicationof the tech-
nique to basementrockselsewhere[e.g.,Namsonand
Davis, 1988].
DISTRIBUTION OF SHORTENING IN THE
CORDILLERA
Argentine Side
The Argentine side of the High Cordillera west of
the Iglesia basin at the latitude of the cross-section
(Figure 2), is characterizedby gentle open folding of
the Paleozoicstrata and apparently minor high-angle
faulting (in contrast with observationsfrom farther
north [Marin and Nullo, 1988]). Dips in Carboniferous
sandstone and quartzite average 12ø east-southeast
(Figure 14), in rough accordancewith the dip of the
basementsurfaceseenon the seismicdata. The region
lacks evidence of significant horizontal shortening
(the E1Indio belt, both Argentineand Chileanparts,is
describedbelow), althoughregionalgeologicalstudies
are not completeenoughto rule out the possibilityof
strike-slipmotion along the high-anglefaults.
Chilean Side
Three important belts of shorteningare presentin
the High Cordillera: the E1 Indio belt which strad-
dles the internationalborder, faulting in the plutonic
nucleus, and the Vicufia fault area to the west. Unfor-
tunately, there has been no quantitative assessmentof
the amount of shorteningin any of thesebelts. In the
absenceof any more definitive measure,we use a sta-
tistical relationship between displacementand fault
width (in this case, fault surface trace) to make a
rough first order estimateof shortening. Data on 366
faultspresentedby Walsh and Watterson[1988]shows
a log-lineartrend of displacementvs. width which can
be fit with a straight line with a slope of 1.58. Note
that, to convert to horizontal shorteningthe dips of
the faults must also be known.
Because faults in the E1 Indio belt cross the interna-
tional border, they have been mapped by different
workers and their total lengths are difficult to deter-
mine. The minimum lengthof the Bariosdel Toro fault,
~100 km, indicates5-10 km of slip. The easternboun-
dary fault is apparently about half that length and
other faults within that belt are much
Assumingthat the fault dips in this belt averageabout
45 ø, we estimate about 7-15 km of horizontal shorten-
ing. North of 30øS,at least4 majorreversefaultsoccur
803
Equal Area
fold anti-
o
.,Average
Bedding:
040 ø,
12 ø E
HIGH
N = 28 C.I. = 2.0 sigma
Fig. 14. Equal area, lower hemisphereprojectionof
poles to bedding in Carboniferousstrata from the road
up the Agua Negra Passin the FrontalCordillera.Note
the similarityin dip betweenthe averagebeddingand
thedip of thebasementsurfaceseenin the Iglesiabasin
seismicreflectiondata (Figure 10).
in the plutonic core of the Chilean High Cordillera
[Reutter, 1974; Nasi et al., 1989]. Reutter [1974] esti-
mated shorteningat 29øSto be on the order of 19 km.
This figure is in good general agreementwith an esti-
mate basedon fault surfacetracelength, derived from
data in Nasi et al. [1989]. Thus, in these two belts,
there is probably ~30-40 km of horizontalshortening;
this calculation does not include distributed deforma-
tion within the major fault blocks(e.g., folding, pene-
trative strain, etc.). Most of this shorteningprobably
occurredprior to 11-16.6Ma [Maksaevet al., 1984;Kay
et al., 1988;Moscosoand Mpodozis,1988].
The Vicufia fault is 230 km long, which gives
between 15 and 30 km slip for a reasonablerange of
shearmoduli;usingan averagedip of 30ø,we estimate
13 to 26 km of horizontalshortening. The amountof
this shorteningwhich occurredduring Incaicdeforma-
tion is unknown. The shorteningin the CoastalRegion
is very small, probablyno more than 2-3 km. In total,
then, the likely amount of horizontal shorteningon
the Chilean side of the Cordillera is --45-65 km,
although the very primitive nature of this calculation
must be taken into account.
CRUSTAL-SCALE BALANCE
A whole-crustareabalancerequiresa knowledgeof
the thicknessof the crustprior to the deformation. As
neither this figure nor the presentday crustal thick-
nessis well known, a virtually unlimited number of
modelsis possible. We make no effort to presentall
smaller. variants below; instead we present one reasonable
model which is consistent with the first order boun-
dary conditionsdescribedabove, but is designed to
maximize shortening.Further refinementof the model
804 Allmendingeret al.: Shortening
in theAndesat 30øS

must await a more accurate measure
thickness.
Generic Area Balance and Tectonic Erosion/Truncation
Presentcross-sectionalarea. The pin line for these
calculations is located at the eastern tip of the
Niquivil thrust. Thispositioncorresponds to theboun-
dary betweenthe west-dipping,thin-skinnedPrecor-
dillera thrust belt and the east-dippingthick-skinned
faults of the westernmostSierrasPampeanas(Figures
2, 15). Althoughshorteningin the SierrasPampeanas
is importantto the overallcalculation
of crustalshor-
tening,we lack sufficientseismicreflectiondata to
definethe fault geometries.Jordanand Allmendinger
[1986] estimatedshorteningin the provinceat < 5%.
However, because most faults in the western Sierras
Pampeanasdip to the east, they do not thickenthe
crustbeneaththe orogen,which is the main focusof
this paper.
The crustal thicknessesare taken to be those pre-
sentedabove. Basedon gravitydata locatedsouthof
the transect,it is likely that the presentcrustalthick-
ness beneath the foreland east of the thrust belt is ~45
km [Introcaso, 1980; Snyder, 1988]. The thickness
beneath the crest of the Andes is taken to be 65 km, cor-
respondingto nearlycompletelocalcompensation,
and
that beneath the Coastal Cordilleras 45 km.
numbers,admittedlypoorlyconstrained,give a cross-
sectional
areaof-17,120kr•2.
The amount of material eroded from the mountain
belt and depositedeastof the pin line during defor-
of crustal mationmustbe accountedfor. Althoughthe structural
geometriesin this part of the orogen are relatively
two-dimensional,sedimentdispersalpatterns are in-
herently three-dimensional.Lackingany other mea-
sure of erosion,we simply use the cross-sectional
area
of theBermejo
Basin(460km2),whichis welldeter-
mined because of the excellent seismic coverage
(Figures2, 6, and 15). Adding this value to that above
yields
a deformed
cross-sectional
areaof17,580
km2for
the presentwidth of 380 km (Figure15, top). This area
calculation does not take into account the material
eroded from the Chilean side of the orogenbut may
over-estimate the erosion on the east side because
drainage patters show longitudinal transport of
material and its concentration in the Bermejo Basin
[e.g.,Damanti,1989].
Initial crustal thickness. The upper part of the
crustin the Bermejoforelandbasinis composedof ~7
km of upper Tertiary strata. These rocks were
depositedmostlycoincidentwith the deformationdes-
cribedhere (with the possibleexceptionof the Vicufia
fault). Thus, assuming a present 45 km crustal
thickness and thatthe Mohohasnotchangedposition
in the last ~15 Ma, crustal thickness in the foreland
prior to the onset of deformation was -38 km. The
surfaceat high elevations(Figure4) is suggestive
of,
but doesnot require,low reliefpriorto uplift.
These No similar reasoningcan be made for the internal
parts of the orogen,which experiencedmagmatism
prior to ~10 Ma. Accordingto Kay et al. [1987],trace
elementpatternsare compatiblewith the presenceof
garnetin the sourceareaof 16.6-11Ma lavas(the Cerro

= 458sq.

;a- 17117 sq. km

Width = 383 km
%%%%%%%%%%%%

0 50 km
0 ••'•'•

50 km

'•• ß ......
o:..-'.:::.'.--'..•.!!•!•.?.x::s:::::.'.:i:.v;i:-:-
•:,•.•!
,v .. v ,, --.':'•!:•t:
•i•'.-•
-:st<:::
• .. .• >:. :-:• '-'--'-:-

.... ....._,,.............
..• ,,.. , .,.....
................

Fig.15. Generic
crustal
scale
balance
of theAndesat 30øS.A specific
crustal
shortening
distri-
butionis not assumed.Thisliberalconstruction
wasdevisedto maximizeshorteningbecauseit
probablyover-estimates
the presentthicknessof thecrustbeneaththeHigh Cordillera,it
may underestimatethe startingthickness
of the the crust,and it neglectsany magmatic
component
priorto ~10Ma. Totalshortening
is 137kmor36%.
Allmendingeret al.: Shorteningin the Andesat 30øS
de las Tortolas Formation) indicating that the crust
had attained significantthicknessby the time of their
eruption. This age range correlateswith shortening
due to reversefaults in the plutonic core and E1Indio
belt of the High Cordillera [Moscosoand Mpodozis,
1988] and is coincident with the onset of Precordillera
thrusting. Older lavas (the Dofia Ana Formation)
show little geochemicalevidenceof crustalthickening
althoughit is likely that somecrustalroot was present
beneaththis older arc [Kay et al., 1987]. The Dofia
Ana Formationis geochemicallysimilar to the modern
lavas of the Southern Volcanic Zone south of 36øS and
thus the crustalthicknessduring the early Mioceneat
30øSmay have been similar to the present, poorly
known crustal thickness farther south [Kay et al.,
1989].
To maximizethe amountof crustalshorteningbased
on the geneticarea balance,we showthe crustprior to
--15 Ma with a relatively uniform thicknessacrossthe
entireorogen,with the exceptionof a taperededgecor-
respondingto the mid-Mioceneplateboundary(Figure
15, bottom). The existence of a mid-Miocene crustal
root would reduce the difference in area between
initial and final sections and reduce the overall shor-
tening. Thus our starting assumption is probably
unrealistically liberal but it does provide one end
member possibility.
Calculationand comparisonof shortening.Given
the geometry shown in the bottom of Figure 15, the
starting width must have been 520 km to match the
area calculated above. The difference between
number and the presentwidth of 383 km suggests137
km of horizontal shortening. This number is, if any-
thing, an over-estimatebecausewe have assumeda
maximum reasonable value for the present crustal
thicknessand have neglectedany magmaticinput even
though the agesof the volcanicrocksoverlap in time
with the age rangeof at least30% of the shortening.
The probablevalue of shorteningdeterminedin the
previoussectionof the paperliesbetween130and 170
km. If we comparethisobservedstructuralshortening,
determinedfrom outcroppingstructuresin the Andesat
30øS,it is somewhatlarger than what canbe accounted
for by a reasonableestimationof the presentcrustal
cross-sectional area. However, the observed structural
shorteningwas calculatedconservativelyand the crus-
tal area balance was a liberal estimate (i.e. our as-
sumptionswere designedto maximizeshorteningin the
genericarea balance). Thus it is likely that the struc-
tural shorteningis largerthan canbe accountedfor by
the predictedcrustalcross-sectional area for the pre-
sent. Two explanationsare likely. First,many authors
have suggestedthat the plate margin hasbeeneroded
or truncated,basedon the anomalouslyshortdistance
betweenthe presentday trenchand the Mesozoicmag-
matic arc along the coastof north-centralChile [e.g.,
Rutland, 1971]. Truncation or erosion of crustal
materialduring the Neogenewould reducethe area of
the presentcrustalcross-section
relative to the amount
predictedby surfaceshortening. A problem with this
is the fate of the removedmaterial:if eroded,it might
well be underplatedbecauseof its buoyancy,and trun-
805
cation seemsunlikely becauseof lack of field evidence
for significantNeogenestrike-slipfaulting. The other
possibility is that the crustal root is much thicker
than we have predicted, but the topographyis "held
down" by the nearly flat subducted Nazca Plate.
Given the myriad of unknowns,any attemptsat more
precisemodelswould be a fruitlessexercise.
Distributionof Shorteningin the Crust
The surfaceloci of shorteningare well established:
the Precordillera accounts for --60-75% of the total
shorteningof the upper crustlocatedbetweenthe plate
boundary and the Sierras Pampeanas craton. The
Precordillera also includes nearly all of the post-
middle Mioceneshortening.In this section,we explore
two end member geometriesfor the link betweenthis
upper crustal deformation and the shortening and
thickeningin the lower crust. We only considerthe
post 11-16.6 Ma deformation and make no effort to
accountfor older deformationin the High Cordilleras
or along the Vicufia fault (as would be necessaryin a
more completemodel). Only the first explainsthree
major observations:(1) the inferred westernprojection
of the Precordillera d(•collement, (2) the width of the
"lateau" surfaceon the top of the High Cordillera
shown by the hypsometriccurve (Figure 4b), and (3)
the anglebetweenonlappingupper Tertiary strataand
the dipping basementsurfaceat the westernmargin of
the Iglesia basin.
this
Wedgemodel. The width of the High Cordillera
plateauis about 80 km and the amountof shortening
determinedfor the Precordillerais 95+ km (Figures4b
and 13). Furthermore,we noted abovethat the Iglesia
basin onlap geometry resembledsyntectonicsedimen-
tation on the forelimb of a major fault bend anticline.
Thus,we suggestthat the easternand westernslopesof
the plateau define the eroded forelimb and backlimb
kink-bands,respectively,of what amountsto a major
hanging wall anticline (the uneroded forelimb is
present only beneath the western Iglesia basin). The
angle of the hanging wall ramp, measuredfrom the
dip of the basementsurfacebeneaththe Iglesia basin
is 12ø, predictingand 11ø footwall ramp. If that ramp
is --23km long and thrustingover the adjacentfootwall
flat is 95 km, the resulting flat-crestedanticline will
be 80 km wide and have a structural relief of--5 km,
preciselywhat is observedin the morphology(Figures
4b, 16). In this interpretation,the break in slopealong
the westernsideof the High Cordillerais producedby
the western kink band arising from the deep footwall
ramp and is unrelated to the Vicufia fault. Thus, a
criticalunresolvedproblemis the ageof lastmovement
of the fault.
This geometryappearsto fit the observedmorpho-
logy and shorteningof the Andesat 30øSexceptionally
well (Figure16). It does,however,raisea majorprob-
lem: the ramp which connectsupper and lower crustal
shorteninglies entirely west of the high topography
and,by inference,the zoneof lower crustalthickening.
The plate boundary provides the western limit to the
displacement of upper crustwith respectto lower crust.
806 Allmendingeret al.: Shorteningin the Andesat 30øS

Fig. 16. Crustalwedge model with IglesiaBasinonlap onto forelimbof major anticline. The
plateausurfaceis definedby the profile of maximumelevations(top curve);dotted curve is
the averageelevation(both at 5x vertical exaggeration)Note that the westernslopeof the
Andes, which coincideswith the Vicufia fault, can be explained as a kink band over the
footwall ramp.

Thus the displacementtransferto lower crustalshor- a zoneof morehomogeneous plasticdeformation.

teningand thickeningmustbe via a ramp which is the
mirror imageof the upper crustalramp. Thisgeometry
(Figure 16) is similar to a crustal-scaletriangle zone
andhasbeennamed"tectonicwedging"by Price[1986].
We have depictedthe lower crustaldeformationto be
geometrically identical to the upper crust for
simplicity'ssake;shorteningcould be accomplished
completely by crystal plastic mechanismsand be
kinematically,though not geometrically,identical.
Duplexmodel.An alternativemeansto accountfor
the shorteningand thickeningis with a duplexzoneor
zone of distributed ductile thickening beneath the
High Cordillera (Figure 17), similar to the model
proposedby Isacks [1988] for the Altiplano farther
north. It would be difficult to predict the number of
horseswithin the duplex; we arbitrarily assumethat
they equal the number of major thrustsin the thrust
belt. To link lower and upper crustalshorteningwhile
using•'easonable
rampangles,
thefootwall
rampof the
frontalhorsemustbe locateddirectlybeneath,or even
eastof, the IglesiaBasin. As in the previousmodel,
the duplexshowncould,kinematically,be replacedby
Evaluationof models.There are, of course,an infi-
nite range of possibilitieslying between these two
extremes. Both models account for the uplift of the
HighCordillera
withouta surface
breaking
thruston
the west sideof the Iglesiabasin. We lean toward the
wedgemodel becauseit is simplerto relateto the first
order featuresof the topographyand in additionpro-
vides a simple explanation for the onlap of Iglesia
basin strata onto the titled basement surface. It would
be possible,but more difficult, to constructa duplex
model which accommodatedthe topographyand the
piggy back geometryof the Iglesia basin. In particu-
lar, it is difficult to reconcile the necessityof the
frontal ramp beneath or east of the Iglesia basin
(Figure 17) with the surface geology and available
seismicreflectiondata which indicate a hanging wall
ramp-over-footwallflat only west of the basin. The
duplex model or somevariant works very well where
there is a broad region of high topography in the
orogenbehind the thrust belt. It shouldbe noted that
neither model providesan adequatespecificexplana-
tion for the observedzonesof shorteningin the Chilean

%%%%%%%%%%

'duplex' +++++++

0 50 km
0

50 krn

Fig. 17. Crustalduplexend membermodel. Numberof horsesarbitrarilychosento matchthe

number of faults in the Precordillera. This model would be kinematically identical to a
distributedductileshorteningmodelsuchasthat presentedby Isacks[1988].
Allmendinger
et al.: Shortening
in theAndesat 30øS
Cordillera. Additional study, especiallydeep seismic
reflection profiles, would undoubtedly show both
models presentedhere to be incorrect to a greater or
lesserdegree.
CONCLUSIONS
Despitethe remainingunknowns,the Andesat 30øS
representone of the best opportunitiesto constructa
cross-sectionthroughan entire orogenicbelt. The sur-
facefeaturesare extremelywell exposedand generally
adequately(though not completely)documented,the
plate geometryis known, and the dynamictopography
probablyreflectsfirst-ordercrustalstructure. Further-
more, the lack of magmatismduring the main phaseof
shorteningreducesthe significance of one of the major
unknownscommonto mostorogens.A majorbarrierto a
completecrustalbalancedcross-section is the lack of
crustal thickness information. This should constitute
major targetfor future investigation.
The shorteningat the surfacein the Precordilleraof
westernArgentinaaccountsfor ~60-75%of the total of
~130-170km. The 95 km of Precordillerashortening
occurredduring the last 10-15 m.y. Even though this
magnitude is large, the shortening rate, 0.63 - 0.95
cm/yr, is lessthan 10% of the plate convergencerate.
This ratio is in closeagreementwith other antithetic
thrust belts [Allmendinger,1989]. It is likely that this
surfaceshorteningis greaterthan can be accountedfor
by presentday crustalthicknesses and thus raisesthe
prospectof plate margin erosionor truncationduring
the Neogene. Alternatively, crustalthicknessmay be
significantly greater than predicted by simple iso-
static models;this thicknessmay not be reflected in
the topographydue to the influenceof flat subduction
of the Nazca Plate.
The occurrenceof antithetic shorteningso closeto
the trenchplacessomeconstraintson the number of
alternative possibilities for distributing the shorten-
ing on a crustalscale.Althoughnot unique,we favor a
wedge model in which the main ramp linking upper
and lower crustal deformation are located between the
plate boundaryand the high topography. This model
thus differs from that publishedby Isacks[1988]for
the Altiplano of the Andes farther north, where the
orogenis much wider. Equallyviable is a crustalscale
duplex kinematicallysimilar to Isacks'[1988]ductile
shorteningmodel. This alternative, however, cannot
explain as simply the first order features of the
presentmorphologyor the seismicstratigraphyof the
Iglesia basin.
Finally, the data presentedhere bear on models of
thrust belt mechanicsin both small and large ways.
The critical wedge model of Davis and others [1983]
requiresthickeningin the rear of the wedge to main-
tain its taper. Out-of-sequencethrustsare commonin
the Precordillera, although whether their shortening
is sufficient to maintain a constanttaper is unknown
[e.g., Woodward, 1987]. The surface slope of the
Precordillera (2.25ø) is anomalouslylow for subaerial
thrust belts [Davis et al., 1983]. This might be
explained if crystal plastic deformation mechanisms
807
are dominating or competingwith frictional mechan-
isms along the anomalouslydeep d6collement. More
importantly, however, it appears that major topo-
graphic variations can be simply explained by first
order ramps and flats in the basald6collement,a geo-
metry not specificallyaddressedin the critical taper
model. Finally, in the caseof the Andes at 30øS,the
"snow plow" can be nothing other than the plate
boundary itself.
Acknowledgments.We are indebted to numerous
Argentine,Chileanand North Americancolleagues
for
discussionsof theseissues. Foremostamong them are
the participantsin the JointYPF-Cornellexpeditionto
the Iglesia Basin and Precordillera in June 1988: L.
Alvarez, R. Gorrofio, A. Gutierrez, J. C. Idiart, T.
Jordan,E. Kozlowski,and S. Miniti. Further exchanges
with V. A. Ramos,T. Jordan,S. Kay have considerably
a clarified the ideas presented in this report. S.E.
Boyer, B.C. Burchfiel, and an anonymousreviewer
also provided many helpful commentsalthoughthey
do not necessarilysupport our conclusions.We are
grateful to Yacimientos Petrolfferos Fiscales for
permissionto publish the seismicreflectiondata and
to the Donors to the Petroleum Research Fund of the
American Chemical Societyand the National Science
Foundation(Grant EAR-8607468)for support.
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(Received June 20, 1989;
revised October 31, 1989;
acceptedOctober31, 1989.)