Low‐grade regional metamorphism in the Mesozoic‐Cenozoic volcanic sequences of the Central Andes

Abstract

ABSTRACT All the Mesozoic and Cenozoic volcanic rocks of the Central Andes (from southern Ecuador to central Chile), except Recent ones, have been affected by episodes of regional metamorphism, without change in texture and structure. The metamorphism, which ranges from low zeolite to greenschist facies, can be classified as burial metamorphism because there is an overall increase in metamorphic grade with stratigraphic depth in the individual volcanic sequences separated by regional unconformities. Some sequences display metamorphic patterns transitional to ocean‐floor and to geothermal field types, reflecting variations along and across the Andes in tectonic setting and thermal gradients.Volcanism was closely followed by metamorphism during each cycle characterizing the geological history of the Central Andes. The episodic nature of the metamorphism has led to breaks in metamorphic grade at regional unconformities and repetition of facies series, where strata of higher grade may even overlie those of lower grade. The existence of permeability‐controlled distribution patterns of secondary minerals within individual flows shows that gradients of chemical activity, rate of reaction and Pfluid were acting, in addition to temperature and P,tot overall gradients, during the regional metamorphism. The alteration is accompanied by chemical changes and disturbances of the K‐Ar and Rb‐Sr isotope systems. Similarities between Mesozoic facies series in the western and eastern flanks of the Andes are consistent with a mechanism of ensialic spreading‐subsidence.