Cenozoic uplift of the Central Andes in northern Chile and Bolivia—reconciling paleoaltimetry with the geological evolution

Lamb, Simon

doi:10.1139/cjes-2015-0071

Cited by 27 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 119 publications

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“…Prior to ~16–13 Ma, the southern Altiplano and EC were apparently at low elevation, possibly <1 km (Cadena et al, ; Garzione et al, ; Gregory‐Wodzicki et al, ), despite ~65% of the total shortening of the retroarc thrust belt being accomplished by this time (Figure a). This shortening should have resulted in isostatic surface uplift due to crustal thickening (e.g., Hoke et al, ; Lamb, ). However, growth of an eclogitic root beneath the arc and hinterland may have induced a regional isostatic depression of surface elevation that resulted in stalling of the deformation front by promoting increased internal shortening (DeCelles et al, , ; Garzione et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Orogenic Wedge Evolution of the Central Andes, Bolivia (21°S): Implications for Cordilleran Cyclicity

et al. 2018

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The Andes are an ideal setting to explore orogenic wedge evolution and the cyclical tectonic processes in Cordilleran convergent-margin systems. Paleoaltimetry data suggest that the hinterland plateau in southern Bolivia underwent rapid surface uplift at~16-9 Ma, which is predicted to have induced rapid thrust belt propagation. We integrate fission track and (U-Th)/He ages from zircon and apatite with a sequentially restored cross section to quantify the timing and rates of thrust belt propagation in southern Bolivia for the last~43 Myr. These data show that retroarc shortening in the Eastern Cordillera propagated westward from~43 to 27 Ma as the wedge grew to attain critical taper and steady state. The thrust front then advanced rapidly eastward from~25 to 17 Ma across the western Interandean zone, where a weak decollement modified the critical taper angle. The thrust front stalled for~6 Myr but resumed eastward advance into the eastern Interandean zone and Subandean zone by~11-8 Ma, which we interpret as a response to increased accretionary influx and rapid orogenic wedge expansion induced by eclogitic delamination and corresponding hinterland surface uplift at~13 Ma. Development of an orographic barrier and wetter climatic conditions resulted in relatively steady state wedge conditions from~8.5 to 1.5 Ma. Rapid wedge growth after~1.5 Ma may be attributed to mass accumulation in the orogen interior or a weakened decollement. Our data reveal space-time variations in orogenic wedge evolution consistent with models of Cordilleran cyclicity and lithospheric removal, with important additional influences of erosion, climate, and rock rheology.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Orogenic Wedge Evolution of the Central Andes, Bolivia (21°S): Implications for Cordilleran Cyclicity

et al. 2018

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“…Delamination has been proposed to account for the composition, timing, and volume of ignimbrite and mafic volcanism (e.g., Kay & Mahlburg Kay, ), the Helium isotope ratios of hydrothermal fluids (Hoke & Lamb, ), and the possible rapid Miocene‐recent uplift of the central Andes (e.g., Garzione et al, , , ). However, the relationship between crustal thickening and uplift rates in the Bolivian Altiplano (Lamb, , ), and inconsistent seismic models that independently infer thick, thin, and variable thickness lithospheric mantle beneath the Andes (e.g., Beck & Zandt, ; Phillips et al, ; Priestley & McKenzie, ; Ward et al, ; Whitman et al, ), calls into question whether delamination beneath the central Andes coeval with extension actually occurred.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extension and Dynamics of the Andes Inferred From the 2016 Parina (Huarichancara) Earthquake

et al. 2018

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The Mw 6.1 2016 Parina earthquake led to extension of the south Peruvian Andes along a normal fault with evidence of Holocene slip. We use interferometric synthetic aperture radar, seismology, and field mapping to determine a source model for this event and show that extension at Parina is oriented NE‐SW, which is parallel to the shortening direction in the adjacent sub‐Andean lowlands. In addition, we use earthquake source models and GPS data to demonstrate that shortening within the sub‐Andes is parallel to topographic gradients. Both observations imply that forces resulting from spatial variations in gravitational potential energy are important in controlling the geometry of the deformation in the Andes. We calculate the horizontal forces per unit length acting between the Andes and South America due to these potential energy contrasts to be 4–8 ×1012 N/m along strike of the mountain range. Normal faulting at Parina implies that the Andes in south Peru have reached the maximum elevation that can be supported by the forces transmitted across the adjacent foreland, which requires that the foreland faults have an effective coefficient of friction ≲0.2. Additionally, the onset of extension in parts of the central Andes following orogen‐wide compression in the late Miocene suggests that there has been a change in the force balance within the mountains. We propose that shortening on weak detachment faults within the Andean foreland since ∼5–9 Ma reduced the shear tractions acting along the base of the upper crust in the eastern Andes, leading to extension in the highest parts of the range.

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“…Neogene evolution of retroarc regions involved continued eastward advance of deformation and foreland basin evolution, with large‐scale shortening accommodated in the frontal thrust belt (Subandean/Santa Bárbara zone) and minor shortening across most of the orogenic interior (Barnes et al, , ; Echavarria et al, ; Ege et al, ; Gubbels et al, ; Kley & Monaldi, ; Lamb, ; Lamb & Hoke, ; Lease et al, ; McQuarrie et al, ; Uba et al, ). Basin evolution was concentrated in foreland regions east of the thrust front, with topographically isolated basins in intermontane settings and the hinterland plateau (Capaldi et al, ; Carrapa et al, ; Coutand et al, ; Horton, , , , ; Horton et al, ; Jordan & Alonso, ; Levina et al, ; Mosolf et al, ; Murray et al, ; Sempere et al, ; Siks & Horton, ; Sobel et al, ; Strecker et al, ; Streit et al, ).…”

Section: Central Andes (23°s)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Stable isotope data and geomorphic surfaces suggest that major surface uplift of the hinterland plateau at 18–22°S was accomplished from middle Miocene to present (Garzione et al, , ; Hoke et al, ; Jordan et al, ), with a possibility of much earlier surface uplift in the Puna plateau at 24–26°S (Canavan et al, ; Quade et al, ). Plateau uplift has been attributed to episodes of lithospheric removal and/or intensified thrust belt shortening (Barnes & Ehlers, ; Garzione et al, ; Gubbels et al, ; Lamb & Hoke, ; Lamb, ).…”

Section: Central Andes (23°s)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Tectonic Regimes of the Central and Southern Andes: Responses to Variations in Plate Coupling During Subduction

2018

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Construction of the Andes has been governed largely by fluctuating contractional, neutral, and extensional tectonic regimes during differing degrees of mechanical coupling along the convergent plate boundary. These three contrasting regimes are likely regulated by geodynamic variations in absolute trenchward motion of South America and episodic regional shifts in the geometry of the subducting oceanic slab. Alternations among these three modes are revealed in syntheses of Mesozoic‐Cenozoic crustal deformation, basin evolution, and arc magmatism along orogen‐perpendicular transects across the central and southern Andes at 23°S, 35°S, and 43°S. Despite considerable along‐strike dissimilarities in the magnitude of deformation, a comparable tectonic regime typified the early Andean history, as defined by a transition from Late Jurassic‐Early Cretaceous postrift thermal subsidence to Late Cretaceous retroarc shortening. A key contradiction is expressed for the late middle Eocene to earliest Miocene, when neutral to extensional conditions affected retroarc to forearc regions, except in parts of the central Andes, which experienced retroarc shortening with only localized forearc extension. This mixed‐mode scenario during Paleogene time may reflect decoupling along the plate boundary (possibly during slab rollback within a retreating subduction system) in which widespread stasis or low‐magnitude extension dominated the southern Andes but was inhibited in the strongly shortened central Andes at 15–25°S where shallow subduction and/or high topography boosted plate coupling. Comparable temporal and spatial shifts in tectonic regime along the Andes and other convergent margins can be related to variable degrees of coupling during first‐order plate‐scale changes in convergence and second‐order regional cycles of slab shallowing and steepening.

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Cenozoic uplift of the Central Andes in northern Chile and Bolivia—reconciling paleoaltimetry with the geological evolution

Cited by 27 publications

References 119 publications

Orogenic Wedge Evolution of the Central Andes, Bolivia (21°S): Implications for Cordilleran Cyclicity

Orogenic Wedge Evolution of the Central Andes, Bolivia (21°S): Implications for Cordilleran Cyclicity

Extension and Dynamics of the Andes Inferred From the 2016 Parina (Huarichancara) Earthquake

Tectonic Regimes of the Central and Southern Andes: Responses to Variations in Plate Coupling During Subduction

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