Paleozoic basin development in northern Chile (21°–27°S)

Abstract

The oldest non-metamorphic sediments of northern Chile (21‡–27‡S) are of Early Ordovician age. The partly strong volcanic influence in the clastic series of the Pre-Cordillera and the Puna might be connected with the extensive Ordovician magmatism on the eastern side of the Argentinian Puna. The geochemical character of the tholeiitic intercalations in the pelites and turbidites of the »Complejo Igneo-Sedimentario del Cordon de Lila« (C.I.S.L.) in the Pre-Andean Depression indicates a ?Lower Ordovician extensional regime in this area.