Recent investments in renewable energy infrastructure on a global scale have doubled that of new energy from nuclear power and fossil fuels (REN21, 2018), as the global energy focus is transitioning away from nonrenewable resources. This transition and the explosion of the electric vehicle industry has consequently led to an increased demand for lithium (Li) as one of the major components of batteries for electric vehicles with a projected compound annual growth rate of 18% until 2030 (Roskill, 2020). Lithium is primarily found in three main deposits: (a) pegmatites, (b) continental brines, and (c) clays (
The Cretaceous-Cenozoic evolution of the Patagonian broken foreland basin system at 42-43°S in the northern Chubut province of Argentina is associated with variable retroarc phases of fold-thrust belt shortening, extension, and basement uplift during changes in the dynamics of oceanic slab subduction. Basement inheritance and progressive shallowing of an east-dipping subducting slab are important mechanisms of foreland partitioning, as dictated by the preexisting (pre-Andean) structural architecture and forelandward (eastward) advance of Late Cretaceous arc magmatism. Previously recognized growth strata help define the timing of fold-thrust belt shortening and retroarc basement-involved uplift, but the precise consequences for sediment routing remain poorly understood, with uncertainties in patterns of basin evolution before, during, and after shallowing and resteepening of the subducting slab. In this study, distinctive sediment source regions and magmatic histories enable evaluation of the stratigraphic and tectonic evolution of the retroarc foreland basin using new provenance results, maximum depositional ages, and isotopic signatures from detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology and Lu-Hf geochemical analyses. A compilation of published bedrock crystallization ages and distributions of metamorphic and igneous basement rocks identify: a western source region defined by the Andean magmatic arc and associated pre-Andean basement; and an eastern source region consisting of intraplate magmatic units and the North Patagonian Massif. We demonstrate that Aptian-Cenomanian retroarc basin fill was derived principally from the basement massif and intraplate volcanic units to the east, followed by a Late Cretaceous
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