@article{MonteroLopezStreckerSchildgenetal.2014, author = {Montero-Lopez, Carolina and Strecker, Manfred and Schildgen, Taylor F. and Hongn, Fernando D. and Guzman, Silvina and Bookhagen, Bodo and Sudo, Masafumi}, title = {Local high relief at the southern margin of the Andean plateau by 9 Ma: evidence from ignimbritic valley fills and river incision}, series = {Terra nova}, volume = {26}, journal = {Terra nova}, number = {6}, publisher = {Wiley-Blackwell}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {0954-4879}, doi = {10.1111/ter.12120}, pages = {454 -- 460}, year = {2014}, abstract = {A valley-filling ignimbrite re-exposed through subsequent river incision at the southern margin of the Andean (Puna) plateau preserves pristine geological evidence of pre-late Miocene palaeotopography in the north western Argentine Andes. Our new Ar-40/(39) Ar dating of the Las Papas Ignimbrites yields a plateau age of 9.24 +/- 0.03 Ma, indicating valley-relief and orographic-barrier conditions comparable to the present-day. A later infill of Plio-Pleistocene coarse conglomerates has been linked to wetter conditions, but resulted in no additional net incision of the Las Papas valley, considering that the base of the ignimbrite remains unexposed in the valley bottom. Our observations indicate that at least 550 m of local plateau margin relief (and likely > 2 km) existed by 9 Ma at the southern Puna margin, which likely aided the efficiency of the orographic barrier to rainfall along the eastern and south eastern flanks of the Puna and causes aridity in the plateau interior.}, language = {en} } @article{MonteroLopezHongnLopezSteinmetzetal.2020, author = {Montero-Lopez, Carolina and Hongn, Fernando D. and Lopez Steinmetz, Romina L. and Aramayo, Alejandro and Pingel, Heiko and Strecker, Manfred and Cottle, John and Bianchi, Carlos}, title = {Development of an incipient Paleogene topography between the present-day Eastern Andean Plateau (Puna) and the Eastern Cordillera, southern Central Andes, NW Argentina}, series = {Basin research / publ. in conjunction with the European Association of Geoscientists \& Engineers and the International Association of Sedimentologists}, volume = {33}, journal = {Basin research / publ. in conjunction with the European Association of Geoscientists \& Engineers and the International Association of Sedimentologists}, number = {2}, publisher = {Wiley-Blackwell}, address = {Oxford}, issn = {0950-091X}, doi = {10.1111/bre.12510}, pages = {1194 -- 1217}, year = {2020}, abstract = {The structural and topographic evolution of orogenic plateaus is an important research topic because of its impact on atmospheric circulation patterns, the amount and distribution of rainfall, and resulting changes in surface processes. The Puna region in the north-western Argentina (between 13 degrees S and 27 degrees S) is part of the Andean Plateau, which is the world's second largest orogenic plateau. In order to investigate the deformational events responsible for the initial growth of this part of the Andean plateau, we carried out structural and stratigraphic investigations within the present-day transition zone between the northern Puna and the adjacent Eastern Cordillera to the east. This transition zone is characterized by ubiquitous exposures of continental middle Eocene redbeds of the Casa Grande Formation. Our structural mapping, together with a sedimentological analysis of these units and their relationships with the adjacent mountain ranges, has revealed growth structures and unconformities that are indicative of syntectonic deposition. These findings support the notion that tectonic shortening in this part of the Central Andes was already active during the middle Paleogene, and that early Cenozoic deformation in the region that now constitutes the Puna occurred in a spatially irregular manner. The patterns of Paleogene deformation and uplift along the eastern margin of the present-day plateau correspond to an approximately north-south oriented swath of reactivated basement heterogeneities (i.e. zones of mechanical weakness) stemming from regional Paleozoic mountain building that may have led to local concentration of deformation belts.}, language = {en} } @misc{MonteroLopezdelPapaHongnetal.2018, author = {Montero-Lopez, Carolina and del Papa, Cecilia and Hongn, Fernando D. and Strecker, Manfred and Aramayo, Alejandro}, title = {Synsedimentary broken-foreland tectonics during the Paleogene in the Andes of NW Argentine}, series = {Basin research}, volume = {30}, journal = {Basin research}, publisher = {Wiley}, address = {Hoboken}, issn = {0950-091X}, doi = {10.1111/bre.12212}, pages = {142 -- 159}, year = {2018}, abstract = {Unravelling the spatiotemporal evolution of the Cenozoic Andean (Altiplano-Puna) plateau has been one of the most intriguing problems of South American geology. Despite a number of investigations, the early deformation and uplift history of this area remained largely enigmatic. This paper analyses the Paleogene tectono-sedimentary history of the Casa Grande Basin, in the present-day transition zone between the northern sector of the Puna Plateau and the northern part of the Argentine Eastern Cordillera. Our detailed mapping of synsedimentary structures records the onset of regional contractional deformation during the middle Eocene, revealing reactivation of Cretaceous extensional structures and the development of doubly vergent thrusts. This is in agreement with records from other southern parts of the Puna Plateau and the Eastern Cordillera. These observations indicate the existence of an Eocene broken foreland setting within the region, characterized by low-lying compressional basins and ranges with spatially disparate sectors of deformation, which was subsequently subjected to regional uplift resulting in the attainment of present-day elevations during the Neogene.}, language = {en} } @article{GuzmanPetrinovicBrodetal.2011, author = {Guzman, S. and Petrinovic, I. A. and Brod, J. A. and Hongn, Fernando D. and Seggiaro, R. E. and Montero, C. and Carniel, Roberto and Dantas, E. L. and Sudo, Masafumi}, title = {Petrology of the Luingo caldera (SE margin of the Puna plateau) a middle Miocene window of the arc-back arc configuration}, series = {Journal of volcanology and geothermal research}, volume = {200}, journal = {Journal of volcanology and geothermal research}, number = {3-4}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {0377-0273}, doi = {10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2010.12.008}, pages = {171 -- 191}, year = {2011}, abstract = {We describe the petrographic characteristics, whole-rock geochemistry and mineral chemistry of rocks from the Pucarilla-Cerro Tipillas Volcanic Complex with emphasis on the rocks belonging to the middle Miocene Luingo caldera, located in the south-eastern portion of the Central Volcanic Zone (CVZ) of the Andes. We modelled the petrogenesis of the Luingo caldera rocks as a mixture of ca. 20\% crustal magmas and 80\% of mantle magmas by AFC with recharge processes. A comparison of Luingo geochemical data with the composition of Miocene-Pliocene volcanic rocks from the broad area, points to major thickening events during the middle Miocene for the western portion and during the upper Miocene for the eastern portion of the Southern CVZ. In the eastern sector (similar to 66 degrees W) the mantle source appears to change from a spinel-lherzolite type for the middle Miocene to a garnet-lherzolite type for the upper Miocene-Pliocene magmas. The areal distribution of the volcanic products led to the recognition of approximately equivalent areas covered by volcanic rocks both in the eastern and in the western Puna borders. This indicates a broad arc, which was structurally controlled at the proto-Puna/Puna margins, whose geochemical differences are related with variations in crustal thicknesses and heterogeneous mantle sources from west to east.}, language = {en} } @article{GarciaHongnYagupskyetal.2019, author = {Garcia, Victor H. and Hongn, Fernando D. and Yagupsky, Daniel and Pingel, Heiko and Kinnaird, Timothy and Winocur, Diego and Cristallini, Ernesto and Robinson, Ruth Aj and Strecker, Manfred}, title = {Late Quaternary tectonics controlled by fault reactivation. Insights from a local transpressional system in the intermontane Lerma valley, Cordillera Oriental, NW Argentina}, series = {Journal of structural geology}, volume = {128}, journal = {Journal of structural geology}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Oxford}, issn = {0191-8141}, doi = {10.1016/j.jsg.2019.103875}, pages = {17}, year = {2019}, abstract = {We analyzed the Lomas de Carabajal area in the intermontane Lerma valley of the Cordillera Oriental to assess the level of neotectonic activity in a densely populated region of northwestern Argentina. In this region, Plio-Pleistocene synorogenic conglomerates are deformed, locally associated with high-angle faults, and NNW-SSE oriented en-echelon folds characterized by wavelengths of < 1 km. The deformed Quaternary units follow the same pattern of deformation as observed in the underlying Neogene deposits; growth-strata geometries are observed near faults. This configuration is compatible with local left-lateral transpressional tectonism driven by ENE-WSW buttressing against the NW-oriented border of a Cretaceous extensional basin (Alemania sub-basin). Optically Stimulated Luminescence analysis of sandy-silty layers interbedded within the folded late Pleistocene conglomeratic sequence helps to determine uplift rates of 0.83-0.87 mm/a during the last 30-40 ka. Nearby the Lomas de Carabajal, a WNW-striking, 3-m-high fault scarp disrupts radiocarbon dated, 10-ka-old loessic deposits providing a Holocene mean uplift rate of 0.30 mm/a. Our data unambiguously show that shallow crustal deformation in the intermontane Lerma valley is ongoing; some of this deformation may be associated with seismicity. Our findings support the notion of temporally and spatially disparate deformation processes in the broken foreland of the northwestern Argentinean Andes.}, language = {en} } @article{FigueroaVillegasWeissHongnetal.2020, author = {Figueroa Villegas, Sara and Weiss, Jonathan R. and Hongn, Fernando D. and Pingel, Heiko and Escalante, Leonardo and El{\´i}as, Leonardo and Aranda-Viana, R. Germ{\´a}n and Strecker, Manfred}, title = {Late pleistocene to recent deformation in the thick-skinned fold-and-thrust belt of Northwestern Argentina (Central Calchaqui Valley, 26 degrees S)}, series = {Tectonics / American Geophysical Union, AGU ; European Geophysical Society, EGS}, volume = {40}, journal = {Tectonics / American Geophysical Union, AGU ; European Geophysical Society, EGS}, number = {1}, publisher = {American Geophysical Union}, address = {Washington, DC}, issn = {0278-7407}, doi = {10.1029/2020TC006394}, pages = {20}, year = {2020}, abstract = {The thick-skinned fold-and-thrust belt on the eastern flank of the Andean Plateau in northwestern Argentina (NWA) is a zone of active contractional deformation characterized by fault-bounded mountain ranges with no systematic spatiotemporal pattern of tectonic activity. In contrast, the thin-skinned Subandean fold-and-thrust belt of northern Argentina and southern Bolivia is characterized primarily by in-sequence (i.e., west to east) fault progression, with a narrow zone of Quaternary deformation focused at the front of the orogenic wedge. To better understand how recent deformation is accommodated across these mountain ranges and the Argentinian portion of the orogen in particular, estimating and comparing deformation rates and patterns across different timescales is essential. We present Late Pleistocene shortening rates for the central Calchaqui intermontane valley in NWA associated with at least three episodes of deformation. Global Positioning System data for the same region reveal a gradual decrease in horizontal surface velocities from the Eastern Cordillera toward the foreland, which contrasts with the rapid velocity gradient associated with a locked decollement in the Subandean Ranges of southern Bolivia. Our new results represent a small view of regional deformation that, when considered in combination with the shallow crustal seismicity and decadal-scale surface velocities, support the notion that strain release in NWA is associated with numerous slowly deforming structures that are distributed throughout the orogen.}, language = {en} } @article{delPapaHongnPowelletal.2013, author = {del Papa, C. and Hongn, Fernando D. and Powell, J. and Payrola, P. and Do Campo, M. and Strecker, Manfred and Petrinovic, I. and Schmitt, A. K. and Pereyra, R.}, title = {Middle Eocene-Oligocene broken-foreland evolution in the Andean Calchaqui Valley, NW Argentina: insights from stratigraphic, structural and provenance studies}, series = {BASIN RESEARCH}, volume = {25}, journal = {BASIN RESEARCH}, number = {5}, publisher = {WILEY-BLACKWELL}, address = {HOBOKEN}, issn = {0950-091X}, doi = {10.1111/bre.12018}, pages = {574 -- 593}, year = {2013}, abstract = {Two end-member models have been proposed for the Paleogene Andean foreland: a simple W-E migrating foreland model and a broken-foreland model. We present new stratigraphic, sedimentological and structural data from the Paleogene Quebrada de los Colorados (QLC) Formation, in the Eastern Cordillera, with which to test these two different models. Basin-wide unconformities, growthstrata and changes in provenance indicate deposition of the QLC Formation in a tectonically active basin. Both west- and east-vergent structures, rooted in the basement, controlled the deposition and distribution of the QLC Formation from the Middle Eocene to the Early Miocene. The provenance analysis indicates that the main source areas were basement blocks, like the Paleozoic Oire Eruptive Complex, uplifted during Paleogene shortening, and that delimits the eastern boundary of the present-day intraorogenic Puna plateau. A comparison of the QLC sedimentary basin-fill pattern with those of adjacent Paleogene basins in the Puna plateau and in the Santa Barbara System highlights the presence of discrete depozones. These reflect the early compartmentalization of the foreland, rather than a stepwise advance of the deformation front of a thrust belt. The early Tertiary foreland of the southern central Andes is represented by a ca. 250-km-wide area comprising several deformation zones (Arizaro, Macon, Copalayo and Calchaqui) in which doubly vergent or asymmetric structures, rooted in the basement, were generated. Hence, classical foreland model is difficult to apply in this Paleogene basin; and our data and interpretation agree with a broken-foreland model.}, language = {en} } @article{AramayoGuzmanHongnetal.2017, author = {Aramayo, Alejandro and Guzman, Silvina and Hongn, Fernando D. and del Papa, Cecilia and Montero-Lopez, Carolina and Sudo, Masafumi}, title = {A Middle Miocene (13.5-12 Ma) deformational event constrained by volcanism along the Puna-Eastern Cordillera border, NW Argentina}, series = {Tectonophysics : international journal of geotectonics and the geology and physics of the interior of the earth}, volume = {703}, journal = {Tectonophysics : international journal of geotectonics and the geology and physics of the interior of the earth}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {0040-1951}, doi = {10.1016/j.tecto.2017.02.018}, pages = {9 -- 22}, year = {2017}, abstract = {The features of Middle Miocene deposits in the Puna-Eastern Cordillera transition (Valles Calchaquies) indicate that Cenozoic deformation, sedimentation and volcanism follow a complex spatiotemporal relationship. The intense volcanic activity recorded in the eastern Puna border between 14 and 11.5 Ma coincides with the occurrence of one of the most important deformation events of the Neogene tectonic evolution in the region. Studies performed across the Puna-Eastern Cordillera transition show different relationships between volcanic deposits of ca. 13.5-12.1 Ma and the Oligocene-Miocene Angastaco Formation. In this paper we describe the ash-flow tuff deposits which are the first of this type found concordant in the sedimentary fill of Valles Calchaquies. Several analyses performed on these pyroclastic deposits allow a correlation to be made with the Alto de Las Lagunas Ignimbrite (ca. 13.5 Ma) of the Pucarilla-Cerro Tipillas Volcanic Complex located in the Puna. Outcrops of the ca. 13.5 Ma pyroclastic deposits are recognised within the Puna and the Valle Calchaqui. However, in the southern prolongation of the Valle de Hualfin (Tiopampa-Pucarilla depression) that separates the Puna from the Valle Calchaqui at these latitudes, these deposits are partially eroded and buried, and thus their occurrence is recorded only by abundant volcanic clasts included in conglomerates of the Angastaco Formation. The sedimentation of the Angastaco Formation was aborted at ca. 12 Ma in the Tiopampa-Pucarilla depression by the Pucarilla Ignimbrite, which unconformably covers the synorogenic units. On the contrary, in the Valle Calchaqui the sedimentation of the Angastaco Formation continued until the Late Miocene. The different relationships between the Miocene Angastaco Formation and the ignimbrites with ages of ca. 13.5 and ca. 12 Ma reveal that in this short period (-1.5 m.y.) a significant deformation event took place and resulted in marked palaeogeographic changes, as evidenced by stratigraphic-sedimentological and chronological records in the Angastaco Formation. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.}, language = {en} }