AbstractThe relatively short‐term effects of ridge subduction may be evaluated in the Peruvian region of the recent (4 and 5 Ma) arrival of the Nazca Ridge at the subduction interface. Such effects are superposed onto—and are mostly discernible from—those of a long‐term, Cretaceous to Miocene tectonic evolution. A comprehensive two‐dimensional model was built to analyze the interaction between “young” ridge subduction and the preexisting structural framework of the overriding plate. This involved the construction of an approximately 1,000 km long and 180 km deep section integrating surface geology and available geophysical information. To constrain at depth and validate the section, we conducted forward modeling of the Bouguer anomaly using two distinct data sets and formulated a two‐dimensional density model considering the petrological properties and P‐T conditions of crustal and mantle rocks. While the deep portion of the subduction system is dominated by the Nazca Ridge flat subduction, upper plate rheology, inherited structures and stratigraphy mostly control fold and thrust belt architecture. This latter is characterized by basement‐involved thrusting and inversion tectonics. Crustal budget calculations provide shortening values ranging from 137 km (25%, considering an original crustal thickness like that of the present‐day Andean foreland) to 275 km (40%, for a rifted pre‐orogenic crust thinned by 20%). Despite the relatively large uncertainty, the obtained range of values is relevant and overall consistent with the northward decrease of shortening away from the Central Andes Orocline estimated by the restoration of vertical axis rotations obtained from paleomagnetic data.
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