Zircons from 15 crystal-rich monotonous intermediate ignimbrites and 1 crystal-poor rhyolite ignimbrite erupted during the 11-1 Ma Altiplano-PunaVolcanic Complex (APVC) ignimbrite flare-up record multiscale episodicity in the magmatic history of the shallowest levels (5-10 km beneath the surface) of the Altiplano-Puna Magma Body (APMB). This record reveals the construction of a subvolcanic batholith and its magmatic and eruptive tempo.More than 750 U-Pb ages of zircon rims and interiors of polished grains determined by secondary ion mass spectrometry define complex age spectra for each ignimbrite with a dominant peak of autocrysts and subsidiary antecryst peaks. Xenocrysts are rare. Weighted averages obtained by pooling the youngest analytically indistinguishable zircon ages mostly correspond to the dominant crystallization ages for zircons in the magma. These magmatic ages are consistent with eruptive stratigraphy, and fall into four groups defining distinct pulses (from older to younger, pulses 1 through 4) of magmatism that correlate with eruptive pulses, but indicate that magmatic construction in each pulse initiated at least 1 m.y. before eruptions began. Magmatism was initially distributed diffusely on the eastern and western flanks of the APVC, but spread out over much of the APVC as activity waxed before focusing in the central part during the peak of the flare-up. Each pulse consists of spatially distinct but temporally sequenced subpulses of magma that represent the construction of pre-eruptive magma reservoirs. Three nested calderas were the main eruptive loci during the peak of the flare-up from ca. 6 to 2.5 Ma. These show broadly synchronous magmatic development but some discordance in their later eruptive histories. These relations are interpreted to indicate that eruptive tempo is controlled locally from the top down, while magmatic tempo is a more systemic, deeper, bottom-up feature. Synchroneity in magmatic history at distinct upper crustal magmatic foci implicates a shared connection deeper within the APMB.Each ignimbrite records the development of a discrete magma. Zircon age distributions of individual ignimbrites become more complex with time, reflecting the carryover of antecrysts in successively younger magmas and attesting to upper crustal assimilation in the APVC. Although present, xenocrysts are rare, suggesting that inheritance is limited. This is attributed to basement assimilation under zircon-undersaturated conditions deeper in the APMB than the pre-eruptive levels, where antecrysts were incorporated in zircon-saturated conditions. Magmatic ages for individual ignimbrites are older than the 40 Ar/ 39 Ar eruption ages. This difference is interpreted as the average minimum Zr-saturated melt-present lifetime for APVC magmas, the magmatic duration or Δ age. The average Δ age of ca. 0.4 Ma indicates that thermochemical conditions for zircon saturation were maintained for several hundreds of thousands of years prior to eruption of APVC magmas. This is consistent with a narrow range of zirc...

The Huayna Potosi, Zongo and Taquesi are Triassic plutons located at the core of the Real Cordillera of Bolivia. In this paper, several Rb-Sr and K-Ar ages obtained in the past at the São Paulo Geochronology Laboratory, yet unpublished, will be presented, along with newer U-Pb Sensitive High-Resolution Ion Microprobe (SHRIMP) determinations made in the same laboratory, allowing us to redefine the geologic history of this part of the Central Andes. Rb/Sr analyses of some low grade metapelitic country rocks of the early Paleozoic (Amutara and Cancañiri Formations) yielded a Rb-Sr isochron age of 344 ± 38 Ma, indicating the action of an early Gondwanide regional event. A five-point Rb-Sr isochron from a granite outcrop of the Huayna Potosi pluton yielded an age of 224 ± 28 Ma. In addition, an important Ar loss in micas was detected in the Zongo granitoids and their country rocks, recording a thermal event that opened this isotopic system in the Oligocene. Newer U-Pb SHRIMP zircon ages of ca. 221 Ma were obtained in two other granitic outcrops of the Huayna Potosi granite. They confirmed its Triassic crystallization age, and a similar U-Pb SHRIMP age of 221.9 ± 1.5 Ma was obtained for one sample of the Taquesi pluton. For the Zongo pluton, many of the zircon grains obtained from one sample of its Kuticucho facies yielded extremely high uranium content, which produced reverse discordant apparent ages. However, due to the fair alignment of the analytical points in the Concordia diagram, possibly corresponding to a linear correlation, we made a regression calculation and the interception of the Concordia curve resulted in a rather imprecise age of 220 ± 20 Ma. Our conclusion was that the final magmatic crystallization and the intrusion of plutons in the central part of the Cordillera Real of Bolivia have occurred close to 221.5 ± 2.0 Ma, in late Triassic times. Finally, the U-Pb SHRIMP ages obtained in inherited zircon xenocrysts from the four available granitic rocks yielded very different ages, and many of them are related to previous magmatic episodes of the Andean Tectonic System. A few other age measurements indicated sources related to much older Proterozoic magmatic events associated with rocks from the Andean basement.

The Real Cordillera granitoids are a suite of Triassic and Oligocene plutons located at the core of the Eastern Cordillera of the Central Andes of Bolivia. Its geotectonical setting, chemical and ore composition make them part of the so called “Inner Magmatic Arc” which differs from the actual “Magmatic Arc” located immediately to the west. U-Pb SHRIMP ages were obtained in order to constrain their crystallization ages. The Triassic group yielded the following results: 240 ± 2 Ma for the Huato granite, 230.7 ± 1.3 Ma for the Illampu granodiorite, 222.2 ± 2.4 Ma for the Huayna Potosí granite and 221.9 ± 1.5 Ma for the Taquesi granodiorite. For the Oligocene group we obtained two ages of 26.87 ± 0.26 and 26.88 ± 0.21 Ma both for the Quimsa Cruz granite. Mafic enclaves from the Illampu and Taquesi granodiorites report ages that were older than their respective granitoid hosts, yielding 234.1 ± 1.3 Ma and 227 ± 1.3 Ma, respectively. Secondary processes related to regional thermal anomalies and magmatic melt-enrichment, reset the K/Ar and U/Pb isotopic systems, producing: a) younger ages by Ar loss and b) older ages by U/Pb isotopic ratios reorganization. As noted in previous studies, the Zongo/Kuticucho Triassic granite yielded extremely high U enrichment in most zircon analysed, producing reset of U/Pb ratios, wide span in age ranges and reverse discordia curves that obscure its actual crystallization age. Relatively abundant zircon inheritance was found in these “cold” and inheritance-rich granitoids, with ages suggesting provenance from early Paleozoic metapelites that also recycled older sources. This relatively abundant xenocrystic inheritance records the influence of the Gondwanide orogeny (336-205 Ma) as an overall subduction arc environment, punctuated at its final stage with the imprint of a continental rifting (245-220 Ma).

U/Pb ages of detrital zircon from two samples of Ordovician sediments were determined and, based on similar published data, were compared with xenocrystal inheritance of Triassic and Oligocene granitoids of the Cordillera Real in order to better understand their genetic relationship and sources. The results show that the detrital zircon in the Ordovician sandstone and the inherited zircon cores in granitoids are statistically correlated. This correlation suggests assimilation of these sedimentary units by the felsic melts. Ages ranging from 300 to 2300 Ma are recorded in these inherited zircons. A high peak of Cambrian to late Neoproterozoic ages (500-750 Ma) is observed throughout metasedimentary units of the entire belt. Candidates for the main sources of these zircons include: Brasiliano or Pampean belts and/or an "in situ" hidden belt within the Central Andes or via recycling of detrital zircons in pre-existing sedimentary rocks. It is also possible that the sources lie below modern sedimentary covers but, at the time, formed high relief structures supplying recycled material into the Ordovician basins.