New SHRIMP zircon and monazite 206 Pb/ 238 U and 208 Pb/ 232 Th ages on structurally controlled units and 40 Ar- 39 Ar step-heating ages from shear fabrics, define three distinct regional tectonic events in the southern Sierras Pampeanas. The first, the Pampean orogeny, involved closure of a late Neoproterozoic basin on the western margin of Gondwana. New rims on detrital zircons and concurrent monazite growth suggest that the metamorphic peak was attained by c. 530 Ma. The second event, the Famatinian orogeny, marks the initiation of eastward-dipping subduction on the western Gondwana margin, and may represent a continuation of the earlier Pampean event. Metasedimentary rocks from the Sierras de San Luis have zircons with a predominantly Early Cambrian detrital age, indicating a Pampean source. The metamorphic peak in these rocks was contemporaneous with the emplacement of felsic, mafic and ultramafic rocks at c. 480 Ma in a collisional setting. Monazite ages and limited new zircon growth in the metasedimentary rocks suggest that the Famatinian orogeny had ceased by about 450 Ma. This correlates well with a 450–460 Ma Ar-Ar age for late shearing in the southern sierras of La Rioja province. The third tectonic event, the Achalian orogeny, involved W-directed compression and emplacement of multiple, voluminous, granite intrusions. Deformation during this event was partitioned between discrete shear-zones and regions of open to tight folding. The shear zones alternate between W-directed thrusts and NNW-trending, sinistral shear-zones. Ar-Ar data from the low-grade shear fabrics indicate that transpressional deformation continued through most of the Devonian.

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Metamorphic and plutonic basement rocks and cover sequences of the Eastern Sierras Pampeanas, Argentina, have undergone multiple episodes of fault reactivation. Faults take advantage of mid-to late Cambrian, NW-SE-striking, steeply east-dipping foliations in Vendian-aged accretionary prism metasedimentary rocks. Foliations in peraluminous schists, paragneisses and migmatites are deflected into late Cambrian amphibolite-grade high-strain zones. Greenschist-grade mylonite zones and thick retrogressed ultramylonite zones with mainly NNW strikes, easterly dips, and east-over-west movement, affect the metasedimentary rocks and Ordovician-aged intrusive rocks and are presumably related to early Devonian accretion of terranes to the west of Gondwana. pseudotachylyte veins occur in nearly all mylonite zones. Brittle deformation during Carboniferous to Triassic time produced major pull-apart basins located above terrane boundaries. Outcrop patterns of Triassic to Cretaceous sedimentary rocks are consistent with transtensional pull-apart basins followed by Andean transpressional deformation. The theoretical basis for fault reactivation and production of 'short cuts' is examined in the context of Tertiary to Recent basin inversion faults. The inversion faults follow the Palaeozoic trends and produce the present-day NNW-oriented, deep sedimentary basins and intervening ranges of basement rocks.

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