We propose an integrated kinematic model with mechanical constrains of the Maipo–Tunuyán transect (33°40′S) across the Andes. The model describes the relation between horizontal shortening, uplift, crustal thickening and activity of the magmatic arc, while accounting for the main deep processes that have shaped the Andes since Early Miocene time. We construct a conceptual model of the mechanical interplay between deep and shallow deformational processes, which considers a locked subduction interface cyclically released during megathrust earthquakes. During the coupling phase, long-term deformation is confined to the thermally and mechanically weakened Andean strip, where plastic deformation is achieved by movement along a main décollement located at the base of the upper brittle crust. The model proposes a passive surface uplift in the Coastal Range as the master décollement decreases its slip eastwards, transferring shortening to a broad area above a theoretical point S where the master detachment touches the Moho horizon. When the crustal root achieves its actual thickness of 50 km between 12 and 10 Ma, it resists further thickening and gravity-driven forces and thrusting shifts eastwards into the lowlands achieving a total Miocene–Holocene shortening of 71 km.

Vertical slab-tearing has been widely reported in modern convergent settings profoundly influencing subduction and mantle dynamics. However, evaluating a similar impact in ancient convergent settings, where oceanic plates have been subducted and the geological record is limited, remains challenging. In this study, we correlate the lower mantle structure, which retained the past subduction configuration, with the upper-plate geological record to show a deep slab rupture interpreted as a large-scale tearing event in the early Mesozoic beneath southwestern Gondwana. For this purpose, we integrated geochronological and geological datasets with P-wave global seismic tomography and plate-kinematic reconstructions. The development of a Late Triassic-Early Jurassic slab-tearing episode supports (i) a slab gap at lower mantle depths, (ii) a contrasting spatiotemporal magmatic evolution, (iii) a lull in arc activity, and (iv) intraplate extension and magmatism in the Neuquén and Colorado basins. This finding not only has implications for identifying past examples of a fundamental process that shapes subduction zones, but also illustrates an additional mechanism to trigger slab-tearing in which plate rupture is caused by opposite rotation of slab segments.

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In order to understand the response of the stress field state to intrinsic processes during the construction of the Andes, such as thickening of the continental crust, lithospheric delamination, and/or thermal weakening, we investigate the stress field evolution of the arc region since the last 20 Myr, in the central Andes (22–26.5°S). The 43 reduced paleostress tensors derived from inversion of 682 fault slip data reveal a complex pattern of stress states during the last episode of orogenic construction and topographic uplift. We identify two geodynamic stages: the first stage corresponds to the construction of the Altiplano/Puna plateau and the second one to its gravitational collapse. Four stress states that have prevailed in the Altiplano/Puna plateau since middle Miocene times characterize the transition from one stage to the other. Along the study latitudes, a spatiotemporal change in stress state is clearly observed, which led to an understanding that a change in the stress field may be related not only to the boundary conditions but also to intrinsic factors associated with the construction of the Andean orogeny. Our results suggest that approximately at 13–10 Ma and approximately 8–5 Ma, in the southern Altiplano and northern Puna, and in the southern Puna, respectively, regional elevation and crustal thicknesses reached threshold values necessary to generate the orogenic collapse.