Uplift of the western Altiplano plateau: Evidence from the Precordillera between 20° and 21°S (northern Chile)

Abstract

We present a quantitative reconstruction of uplift of the western flank of the Altiplano plateau (central Andes), one of the largest monoclines on the Earth, on the basis of an analysis of tectonic structures, syntectonic deposits, and geophysical data. Uplift occurred on a west vergent, slowly propagating system of high‐angle reverse faults merging into a joint detachment that ramps down to midcrustal levels below the plateau edge. The upper ramps determine local fold geometries while the lower ramp controls large‐scale surface tilting and uplift. At 20°S, this fault system was active between ∼30 Ma and 5–10 Ma, with maximum shortening rates of 0.22 mm/yr between 17 and 10 Ma. It generated some 2600 m of surface uplift with only minor shortening of ∼3000 m. Its activity was largely synchronous to eruption of large‐volume ignimbrites from a midcrustal source. Geophysical data indicate that the fault system localized deformation at the boundary between a cool, strong forearc crust and a presumably fluid‐rich and/or partially molten zone underneath the plateau area. The systematic relation between crustal melting and shortening with uplift at the western plateau margin can be traced along most of the plateau flank, with a stepwise decrease in age of deformation and magmatism toward the south indicating discontinuous addition of plateau segments. Crustal thickening to as much as 70 km from westward underthrusting in the back arc parts of the plateau isostatically compensated the tectonic surface uplift and monocline formation with respect to a stable forearc, which only reacted with minor tilting.