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J . geol. Soc. London, Vol. 141, 1984, pp. 511-519, 3 figs, 3 tables. Printed in Northern Ireland

Potassium-Argon ages from the Arequipa Segment of the

Coastal Batholith of Peru and their correlation with
regional tectonic events

N. D. Moore
SUMMARY: Detailed geologicalmapping of the Ica-Piscovalleysin southern Peru has
provideda strict control on K-Aragesobtainedfrom the plutonicrocks of the Arequipa
Segment of the Coastal Batholith of Peru. It isconcluded that although the batholith in the
Ica-Pisco region was emplaced over a total time span ofup to 26.5 Ma active plutonism was
confined to two relatively short lived episodes between 107-97 Ma and 82.5-80.5 Ma. This is in
contrast to the four main episodes of intrusion in the Lima Segment that spanned about 60 Ma.
Correlation of the K-Ar ages and mineral fabrics contained within the plutonic rocks of the
Arequipa Segmentindicates that emplacement wasassociatedwithperiods of regional
compressive tectonism which, in turn, may be linked to variable rates of subduction.

Theimmense multiple
intrusion
making up
the beendefined(Pitcher1978)butintheArequipa
Mesozoic-CenozoicCoastalBatholith of Perupro- Segment, as exemplified by the Ica-Pisco section, the
vides an excellent example of the plutonic aspect of early gabbros and only four granitoid super-units are
magmatism associated with a destructive plate margin. present. In order of emplacement the plutonic rocks of
ThebatholithparallelsthepresentdayPeru-Chile the Arequipa Segment are: (1) the early gabbros and
trench and its great linear extent, nearly 2000 km in diorites, (2) thePampahuasiSuper-unitnamedafter
Perualone,meansthatthelongitudinalvariationin itstypelocality E of Ica,(3)theLingaSuper-unit
magma type and emplacement history is of consider- named after the mapping of Stewart (1968, in Garcia)
able significance. intheArequiparegion of southernPeru, (4) the
Recent work has provided details of the batholith N Incahuasi Super-unit named after the type locality in
of Lima(Pitcher1974,1978;Cobbing et al. 1977, theMalaregion N of theRioPisco,and (5) the
1981)whereithasbeenfoundthatalthoughthe TiabayaSuper-unitnamedaccordingtotheoriginal
batholithasawholeisacompositebody of many mapping of Jenks (1948) and Jenks & Harris (1953)
hundreds of individual plutons, the number of specific again in the Arequipa region of southern Peru. Fig. 2
granitoidrock
types is very limited.
Thus,one illustratesthegeology of the Ica-Piscoregionand
granitoid rock type, defined as a unit, can occur in a shows the distribution of the various super-units, and
number of spatially separated plutons. It also became Table 1 summarizesthemaincharacteristics of each
clear that some units show a close association in time super-unit.
and space and are so obviouslyconsanguineousthat
groupings of units have
been termed super-units
(Pitcher1974;Cobbing et al. 1977).Recently,the Geochronology: aims, methods
study was extended southwards and it was discovered and analyses
that
the
super-unitswere of limitedgeographical
extentalongtheaxis of thebatholithandthatthe Thedetailedgeologicalmapping of the Ica-Pisco
batholithcouldbedividedintosegments,each of region,theidentification of componentunitsand
whicharecharacterized by auniqueassemblage of super-units and the construction of relative chronolo-
granitoid super-units. It is now known that there are at gical
relationshipsbased
on
cross-cuttingcontact
least three, and possibly five, segments in the Peruvian relationships provided a strict geological control to a
CoastalBatholith(Fig. 1) of whichthebestknown limited K-Ar age dating programme. The programme
is the 400 kmlongLimaSegmentwithinwhichthe wasdesignedtoestablishtheage of theArequipa
initial batholith studies were concentrated. The largest Segment, to allow comparisons to be made with the
segment of the batholith is, however, the 900 km long Lima Segment and
to
gain
an
insight
into
the
ArequipaSegmentwhichhasnowbeenextensively emplacement of the batholith as a whole.
mapped,rangingfromthedetailedmappinginthe Fifteen rock samples representing the major pluto-
Rios Pisco and Ica (Agar 1978; Moore 1979, respec- nic rock types present in the Ica region were collected
tively) (Fig. 2) to more reconnaissance style mapping (seeFig. 2 andTable 2). Inallbuttwo of these
covering the rest of the segment (E. J. Cobbing and samples, dates
wereobtainedfrom
twomineral
W. P. Taylor, pers. comm.). IntheLimaSegment fractions:hornblendeandbiotite.Intheremaining
earlygabbrosandsevengranitoidsuper-unitshave twosamplesonlysinglemineralageswerepossible.
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512

FIG. 1. The segments of the Coastal Batholith of Peru.

Potassiumanalysesweredoneinduplicateonan samples, the results of which are listed in Table3. The

EEL 170flamephotometerandtheaverageresults ages were calculated using the decay constants recom-
used
in
theage
calculations. All
samples
were mended by Steiger & Jager (1977)
and all the
carefully examined both in the field and in thin section analytical results are listed in Table 3.
priortodatingtoavoidsampleswithsignificant
alteration. The lack of significant alteration is verified Depth of emplacement
by the generally high levelsof potassium in most of the
biotites. Of the two biotites that have noticeably less According to Krummenacher et al. (1975) the inter-
potassium (samples 10 and 21) both are above the 4% pretation of K-Ar results will vary depending on the
K minimum suggested by Obradovich & Cobban depth of emplacement of the plutons. The Arequipa
(1976) and both produced results that are geologically Segment of the Coastal Batholith is thought to have
reasonable. The Ar analyses were performed using the been emplaced at very shallow levels in the crust for a
stable isotope dilution technique and the MS-l0 mass number of reasons. Firstly the plutons are ‘cut-out’ of
spectrometeratthe IGS laboratoriesinLondon. thecrustinthatthey all haveverticalorsteeply
Duplicateargonanalyseswereperformed on two dipping walls and, where seen, flat roofs. This implies
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J
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514 N . D. Moore

TABLE1: The main characteristics of the super-units of the Arequipa Segment

Associated
minor
al AgeSuper-unit range* intrusives Mineral fabrics Mineralization

The early Albian olivine-pyroxene gabbro mafic dykes and localized

deforma-
copper
gabbros younger than two pyroxene gabbro sheets belts
iron
tion
and
107 f 1Ma augite-hornblende gabbrot (syn-plutonic) shear banding
hornblende gabbrot
hornblende diorite

Pampahuasi post-Gabbros quartz

dioritet none well-developed none
pre-Linga tonalitet mineral fabrics,
localized shear
banding

Linga 97.0 f 3.0 Ma monzogabbro aplogranite sheets, weak,localized copper

(K-Ar isochron monzodioritet tuffisitic
dykes
fabrics
only
age) monzonitet and pipes
granodioritet
monzogranitet

Incahuasi 82.5 f 1.4 Ma quartz diorite mafic dykes moderately well- hydrothermal veins
(K-Ar isochron quartz monzodioritet (syn- to late developed copper
age) hornblende-biotite grano- plutonic) fabrics, localized lead
dioritet shear banding zinc
porphyritic monzonite (rare) gold
monzogranite

Tiabaya 80.5 f 1.4 Ma tonalite hornblende- weak fabrics, hydrothermal veins

(K-Ar isochron hornblende-biotite grano- porphyry dykes, locally well- copper
age) dioritet partially tuffisitic developed in lead
monzogranite (syn- to contact zones, zinc
late plutonic) localized shear gold
banding (rare)
* Defined according to Streckeisen (1976).
t Denotes most common (volumetrically) units.

TABLE2: K-Ar sample locations

Latitude (S) Longitude (' W
Sample no. Unit Deg.
Min.
Sec. Deg. Min. Sec.
~

2 Tiabaya granodiorite 13 43 2824 75 50

4 Incahuasi granodiorite 13 49 2016 75 06
5 Incahuasi granodiorite 13 49 3018 75 21
7 Incahuasi monzogranite 13 52 0117 75 57
8 Tiabaya porphyry 13 57 3021 75 27
10 Quartz diorite 13 57 3321 75 31
11 Incahuasi granodiorite 13 57 46 75 18 17
12 Incahuasi qtz. monzodiorite 13 58 4019 75 25
13 Pampahuasi tonalite 13 57 52 75 21 27
15 Pampahuasi tonalite 14 03 09 75 25 00
18 Tiabaya granodiorite 13 48 16 75 30 38
19 Tiabaya granodiorite 13 50 04 75 33 20
20 Pampahuasi leuco-tonalite 13 50 01 75 33 34
21 Linga, Humay monzonite 13 52 02 75 39 40
22 Linga, Rinconada monzogranite 13 55 06 75 40 41
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K-Ar ages from the Coastal Batholith of Peru 5 15

3: Results of K-Ar analyses
TABLE
Sample Isochron
Unit Super-unit %K nllgm Rg4'Ar %Atm "'Ar Age ( M u ) age (Mu)
Coarse grained 2 H 0.311 0.999 f 2.4% 52.2 80.9 f 4.1
granodiorite 18 H 0.431 1.315 f 2.1% 61.O 76.9 f 3.4
18 B 6.812 21.36 f 1.4% 10.2 78.9 f 2.6
Porphyritic 8 H 0.474 1.488 f 1.6% 37.6 79.0 f 2.9
Tiabaya granodiorite 8 B 5.964 19.54 f 1.4% 7.4 82.3 f 2.7 *
8 B 5.964 20.23 f 1.4%D 19.1 85.2 f 2.81
Medium grained 19 H 0.728 2.467 f 1.5% 27.9 85.1 f 3.01-
granodiorite 19 B 7.180 22.88 f 1.4% 9.8 80.2 f 2.7

Monzogranite 7 B 6.752 21.73 f 1.4% 7.2 80.9 f 2.7

Biotite 4 H 0.389 1.279 f 1.8% 37.5 82.7 f 3.2
granodiorite 4 B 6.310 19.98 f 1.4% 15.2 79.7 f 2.7
Biotite 5 H 0.414 1.332 f 1.6% 37.9
granodiorite 5 H 0.414 1.400 f 2.2%D 58.7
Incahuasi 5 B 6.482 21.54 f 1.4% 14.7
Biotite 11 H 0.462 1.513 f 1.7% 38.4 82.3 f 3.1
granodiorite 11 B 6.474 21.53 f 1.4% 8.0 83.6 f 2.8
Quartz 12 H 0.590 1.940 f 1.S% 31.6 82.7 f 2.9
rnonzodiorite 12 B 6.956 23.37 f 1.4% 9.7 84.4 f 2.8
Rinconada 22 H 1.065 4.007 f 1.5% 23.5 94.2 f 3.3
rnonzogranite 22 B 7.174 27.78 f 1.4% 8.2 96.9 f 3.2
Linga Humay
monzonite
21
21
H
B
1.430
5.474
5.541 f 1.5%
20.94 f 1.4%
16.3
8.0
97.0 f 3.3
95.8 f 3.2
97'0 * 3'0
Leuco-tonalite 20 H 0.563 2.155 f 2.1% 36.6 95.9 f 4.2
20 B 7.259 23.88 f 1.4% 9.5 82.7 f 2.7
Pampa- Tonalite 15 H 0.685 2.542 f 1.6% 41.2 93.0 f 3.3
huasi 15 B 7.214 26.23 f 1.4% 9.3 91.2 f 3.0
Tonalite 13 H 0.669 2.264 f 1.8% 33.0 85.0 f 3.4
13 B 7.066 23.01 f 1.4% 7.2 81.9 f 2.7

The early Hornblende-biotite 10 H 0.377 1.346 f 1.7% 48.6 89.6 f 3.4

gabbros diorite 10 B 4.634 14.65 f 1.4% 14.1 79.6 f 2.6
* H = hornblende, B = Biotite. K results f 1% (1 SD). Ages & isochron ages f 2SD.
t Age discounted for isochron calculation. Ar rad results f 1SD. D = duplicate Ar analysis result.

strong
a brittlefracturecontrolonemplacement. Table3.TheconcordantresultsfromtheTiabaya,
Secondly,fromfluidinclusionstudies,thedepth of Incahuasi
and
Linga
Super-unitsenable
K-40Ar
emplacement for the Linga Super-unit from the Rio isochron ages for each super-unit to be derived from
Piscohasbeencalculatedtobebetween2.9and least squares regression of the analytical data. These
3.2km(Agar1981).TheLimaSegmentshowsthe are interpreted as emplacement ages.
samehighlevelbrittlefracturecontrolonemplace- For theTiabayaSuper-unitanisochronage of
ment and studies on the envelope there show that the 81.1 f 1.7 Ma is obtained using all the results. This
aureole was heated rapidly and cooled quickly with no regression has however a high MSWD of 3.45. If the
time for equilibration. The P-T conditionsindicated relatively
old
hornblende agefrom
sample 19 is
by themetamorphicassemblagesare 53MOO"C at discounted (see Table 3) a similar age of 80.5 f 1.4 Ma
1-2 kb (3.5-7 km) (Atherton & Brenchley 1972). The is obtainedwithamuchimprovedMSWD of 1.44.
evidence for a shallow level of emplacement for the This is thepreferredK-AragefortheTiabaya
entirebatholith is suchthatconcordanthornblende- Super-unitin
the
Ica
region.
Sanchez Fernandez
biotite ages should give an accurate age of emplace- (1982) reports Rb-Sr ages from the Tiabaya Super-unit
ment. of 82.9 f 9.1 Ma and 77.6 f 1.0 Ma from the Rio Ica
Results and interpretation and 71.2 f 4.9 Ma from the Rio Mala. In the Cerro
Verde region near Arequipa at the southern end of the
Theresults of theK-Aranalysesarepresentedin Arequipa Segment L. Le Be1 (pers. cornrn.) reports an
 Downloaded from http://jgs.lyellcollection.org/ at Duke University on June 1, 2016
516 N . D.Moore
Rb-Sr age of 77 Ma for the Tiabaya. The closeness of
theseagessuggeststhattheTiabayaSuper-unitwas
emplacedatabout80Maalongtheentire 900 km
length of the Arequipa Segment.
TheIncahuasiSuper-unitintheRioIca givesa
K-Ar isochron age of 82.5 f 1.4 Ma with an MSWDof
1.4. The Rb-Sr ages by Sanchez Fernandez (1982) in
the Rio Ica of 94.7 f 11.7 Ma and in the Rio Caneteof
90.8 f 18.0Ma both have a large range of associated
errors.TheK-Arisochronagereportedhere
82.5 f 1.4 Ma is the preferred age of emplacement
due to the very good concordancyof all nine ages with
the resulting low range of associated errors.
TheLingaSuper-unithas a K-Arisochronage of
97.0 f 3.0 Ma with an MSWD of 0.62. Rb-Sr ages for
the Linga Super-unit by Sanchez Fernandez (1982) are
96.0 f 2.8 Ma in the Rio Ica and 98.9 f 5.8 Ma in the
RioYauca.Themarkedconcordancy of all these
results givesa verygoodcontrolonthetiming
emplacement of the Linga Super-unit in the northern
half of the Arequipa Segment.
SamplesfromthePampahuasiSuper-unitandthe
early gabbros however give discordant K-Ar results.
Theseunitswereemplacedearlyinthebatholith
history and, based on contact relationships in the Rio
Ica, both pre-date the Linga Super-unit. It is therefore
clearthatnotonlyaretheapparentagesobtained
from these samples discordant but they are also too
young and are interpreted as having been re-set by the
emplacement of theyounger,moreextensiveIn-
cahuasi
and
Tiabaya
Super-units.
The
oldest
ageobtainedfromthePampahuasiSuper-unit
95.9 f 4.2 Ma(hornblende,sample20)represents
theminimumageforthesuper-unitderiveddirectly
from the K-Ar dating. As no definitive ages for the
earlygabbrosandthePampahuasiSuper-unitwere
obtainedtheirmaximumemplacementagesarede-
fined by theAlbianage of thevolcani-sedimentary
enveloperocks(107 f 1 MafortheAptianiAlbian
boundary;Odin1982)andtheirminimumemplace-
ment ages
are
definedby
theLinga
Super-unit
(97.0 f 3.0 Ma) which intrudes both of them.
Porphyrycopperintrusionsnearthe city of Are-
quipa and further S have been dated at approximately
60Ma(R. D. Beckinsale, p e n . comm.) andmay
represent a younger phase of intrusion related to the
southerly end of the Arequipa Segment. Itis probable,
however, that the porphyry coppers are related to the
Toquepala Segment of the batholith (Fig. 1) and that
majorplutonismintheArequipaSegmentceased
following the intrusion of the Tiabaya Super-unit.
The K-Ar results from the Ica-Pisco region and the
published Rb-Sr ages indicate that the emplacementof
theArequipasegmenttookplace in twoseparate
phases. The first phase, between 107 and 97Ma saw
theemplacement of theearly basic rocksandthe
granitoids of the Pampahuasi and Linga Super-units,
and the second phase, between 82.5 and 80.5 Ma saw
theemplacement of thegranitoids of theIncahuasi
andTiabayaSuper-units.Thus,althoughtheentire
ArequipaSegmentwasemplacedover a maximum
period of 107-80.5 Ma, a total span of 26.5 Ma, active
plutonismwasconfinedtotworelativelyshort lived
episodes lasting up to only 10 and 2 Ma, respectively.
of Discussion: the Lima and
Arequipa Segments compared
In
contrast to
the
two well defined episodes of
plutonism in the Arequipa Segment the interpretation
of thecurrentlyavailableradiometricdatafromthe
Lima Segment isless clear (Wilson 1975; Cobbing et
al. 1981; R. D. Beckinsale andS. Mukasa,pers.comm.).
DatafromtheArequipaandLimaSegmentsare
of shown graphically in Fig. 3. It seems that intrusion of
large volumes of magma occurred first in the Arequipa
Segment (107-97 Ma) with the gabbros, the Pampa-
huasiandtheLingaSuper-units.Between97and
82.5 Ma the Arequipa Segment appears to have been
plutonically inactive but it was during this period that
theemplacement of largevolumes of magmacom-
menced in the Lima Segment with the intrusion of the
early gabbros and the early Santa Rosa units. There is
still uncertainty with regard to the exact timing and
duration of the intrusion of the Santa Rosa Super-unit
(R. D. Beckinsale, p e n . comm.) andthisphase of
emplacement in the Lima Segment may have overlap-
of ped with the second phase of intrusion in the Arequipa
Segment (82.5-80.5 Ma) which saw the emplacement
of theIncahuasiandTiabayaSuper-units.Following
the intrusion of the Tiabaya all major plutonicactivity
in the Arequipa Segment ceasedin marked contrast to
the Lima Segment where intrusion continued with the
emplacement of the Santa Rosa dyke swarm (70Ma),
the younger units of the Santa Rosa (70-63 Ma), the
centred ring complexes (6662Ma),the Pativilca
monzogranite(37Ma)and finally a line of stocks
emplacedalongtheeasternmargin of thebatholith
(32-12Ma) before plutonism switched further E with
the emplacement of the Cordillera Blanca Batholith
(12-9 Ma).
One of the major uncertainties about the batholith
priortoanyradiometricdatingwaswhetherthe
intrusion was a continuous or episodic process. If each
of thesegments is consideredseparatelythen,as
shown in Fig. 3, intrusion was episodic. However, if
the
two
segments are
considered
together
then
emplacement appears
have
to been
continuous
throughout much of the Upper Cretaceous and early
Tertiary.Thisobservationechoestheexperience of
Crowder et al. (1973)in thewesternU.S.A.where,
although they recognized discrete intrusion intervals in
localareas,theregionalsum of themapproaches a
continuum.
 Downloaded from http://jgs.lyellcollection.org/ at Duke University on June 1, 2016
K-Ar ages from
the Coastal
Batholith of Peru 517
0
passive intrusion (Pitcher 1978; Cobbing et al. 1981).
However,mostunits in theArequipaSegmentand
some in the Lima Segment have planar mineral fabrics
1c and
localizedshear
banding
predominantly of
Andean-trend. In plutonswherethefoliationsare
most intensely developed the enclosed xenoliths have
2c EASTERN alsobeenflattened,alignedandthemselvescontain
mineral fabrics parallel to those in the host rock. This
STOCKS is clear evidence of considerable strain and of regional
Andean-normal compression.
3c Thus, there appears to be a paradox in that cauldron
subsidence requires an extensional tectonic regime but
that
the
mineral fabrics
described
aboverequire
4c compressivestrains. A possible explanation (adapted
from Bussell 1976) is that high subduction rates
resulted firstly in periods of Andean-normal regional
compression and secondly in the generation at depth
-2 5c
E of granitic magma. As this magma rose into the upper
Y
crustitimposed a verticalcompressiongreater in
l
3
Q
strength than the regional Andean-normal compress-
6( ion and may even have caused slight updoming of the

R
CENTRED
envelope. Thus,during
the
emplacement of the
COMPLEXES
magmas the principal axesof stress were switched such
thatrelativeAndean-normalextensiontookplace
7( DYKES
enabling large portions of the crust to founder along
? Q 7 the regional Andean, Andean-normal fault system to
I Bi provide space for the final emplacement of the granitic
magmas. After the magma ceased to rise the vertical
8( ? Z ?
l-[ compressive forces declined and the latter stages of the
regionalAndean-normalcompressiveeventreturned
9(
as
the
dominant tectonic
force
imposing aligned
mineral fabrics on the still coolingplutons.The
intensity of the mineral fabrics reflect the strength of
? + ? the regional Andean-normal compression at the time

U
L INGA
1 O( PAMPAHUASI of final pluton emplacement. Thus, plutons intruded at
GABBROS the end of a compressional phase will have weak or
absent mineral fabrics while those intruded earlier will
Ill have more intense mineral fabrics. The availability of
K-Aragesfromtheplutonicrocksenablessome
LIMA AREQU IPA control to be gained on the timing of these regional
SEGMENT SEGMENT
compressional events.
FIG3. Timing of plutonic activity in the Lima and
Arequipa Segments. Data from the Lima Segment From the time constraints imposed by the age of the
afterWilson (1975), S. Cobbing et al. (1981), envelopeandtheage of theLingaSuper-unitthe
R . D. Beckinsale and S. Mukasa, p e n . comm. intrusion of theearlygabbroscannotlonghave
‘Gabbros’refer to theearlybasic rocks of both post-dated the deposition of the Albian volcaniclastics
segments formerly known as the Patap Super-unit. so thatthedeformationrecorded in themcanbe
reasonably correlated with the late stages of the well
Plutonism and tectonism documented mid-Cretaceous fold episode (Cobbing et
al. 1981). The strongly foliated Pampahuasi intrusions
Theepisodicnature of magmaemplacementestab- followed almostimmediatelyandthe
decrease in
lished by theK-ArdatingintheIcaregioncanbe intensity of the mineral fabrics from the Pampahuasi
correlatedwiththeknownregionaltectonichistory to the Linga fits well with a history of the declining
using the mineral fabrics of variable intensity that are strength of thisphase of compression.TheK-Ar
found within the different units and super-units (see dating of the Linga Super-unit permits the dating of
Table 1). In general terms it has long been accepted the end of this tectonic episode to 97.0f3.0 Ma.
that the dominant mechanisms of emplacement of the The Andean-normal compressive stress system was
entireCoastalBatholithwerebrittlecauldronsubsi- rejuvenated prior to the emplacement of the Incahuasi
denceandpiecemealstoping,both ofwhich imply Super-unit at 82.5 f 1.4 Ma, and the moderately well
 Downloaded from http://jgs.lyellcollection.org/ at Duke University on June 1, 2016
518 N . D.Moore
developed mineral fabrics of the Incahuasi units give corresponds to the emplacement of the greater part of
way tothegenerallymuchweakerfabricsinthe the Lima Segment and the entire Arequipa Segment in
Tiabaya Super-unit (80.5 f 1.4 Ma) indicating another the Ica region. However, the K-Ar data from the Ica
progressivedeclineintheintensity of deformation. regionpresented in this paperindicatesthatwhere
Thesedatescorrelate wellwith theSantoniancom- enoughcontrol is available it is possibletolocally
pressive phase described by Megard (1978). sub-dividethisepisodeintomuchmoretightlycon-
Thus, itseemsthattheArequipaSegmentinthe strained time periods of active tectonism and pluton-
Ica-Piscoregion representstwophases of magma ism, e.g. 107-97 Ma and 82.5-80.5 Ma.
emplacementeach of whichwasassociatedwitha The differences in timing of the episodic phases of
period of regional compression and that the mineral plutonismineachsegment, as shown in
Fig.
3,
fabrics in the plutons are a record of the compressional suggests that at any one time subduction rates in one
events.
The
fact
that
magma emplacement and regionmayhavebeenhigherthanthoseinother
compressive tectonic events are closely linked and are regions.Thisfurtherimpliesthepresence of lateral
both locally episodic implies that the driving force, the discontinuitiesintheNazcaPlateduringtheUpper
easterlysubduction of theNazcaPlate,was itself Cretaceous and early Tertiary across which different
episodic with periods of faster subduction alternating parts of thedescendingplatewereabletomove
with slower or even stationary periods. independently from one another.
Similar conclusions regarding the episodic nature of
subduction,regionaltectoniceventsandthegenera-
tion and emplacement of batholithic magmas along the ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. The author acknowledgesthefinan-
Pacific
coast of Peru and
Chile
are
nowwell cial support provided by grant a from
the
Overseas
Development Ministry during the field and research stage of
documented, notably Larson & Pitman (1972), Aguir-
this project. I wish to record my gratitude to W. S. Pitcher
re et al. (1974),Clark et al. (1976), LaBreque et al. forhisactivesupervisionduring my research and to N. J.
(1977),Pitcher(1979),
Frutos(1981)and
Bussell Snelling and R. D. Beckinsale of the IGS forallowingme
(1983). One of the most widely recognized periods of access to the K-Ar equipment and for their guidance. R. D.
rapidsea-floorspreadingwithassociatedtectonic- Beckinsale and W. S. Pitcher are furtheracknowledgedfor
plutonicactivityoccurredbetween 108-80 Ma.This their critical reading of this manuscript.

References
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monzonitic rocks and their related mineralisation. Thesis MCCOURT,W. & SNELLING, N. J. 1981. The geology of
Ph.D. Univ. Liverpool (unpubl.). the WesternCordillera of Northern Peru. Overseas
- 1981. Copper mineralisation and magmatichydrother- Mern. Inst. Geol. Soc., No. 5.
malbrines in the RioPiscoSectionof the Peruvian CROWDER,D. F.. MCKEE, E. H., Ross, D. C. &
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Received 18 July 1983; revised typescript received 20 December 1983.

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