Paleomagnetic confirmation of the Laurentian origin of the Argentine Precordillera

Abstract

Several recent tectonic models have portrayed the Argentine Precordillera has been recently portrayed as an Early Paleozoic Laurentian derived exotic terrane now found in southwestern South America. These models have primarily been based on strong biogeographic and stratigraphic evidence, however, no paleomagnetic data have previously been available to independently test them. A paleomagnetic study was, therefore, carried out on the Early Cambrian Cerro Totora Formation, exposed in the northern reaches of the Argentine Precordillera. After stepwise thermal demagnetization a pre-folding remanence was identified in ten sites of this formation, yielding a paleomagnetic pole (CT) at 37.0°N, 314.1°E, A 95=5.8°. This pole is not consistent with the latest Proterozoic–Early Paleozoic apparent polar wander path for Gondwana, but it agrees with the Early Cambrian Section of the Laurentian path if the Argentine Precordillera is positioned as the conjugate margin of the Ouachita embayment in southeast Laurentia. This result confirms that the Precordillera is an allochthonous terrane derived from Laurentia in Cambrian times, that was later accreted to Gondwana, probably in Middle Ordovician times.