INVESTIGADORES
ROSSELLO Eduardo Antonio
artículos
Título:
Cenozoic dextral transpression and basin development at the southern edge of the Altiplano-Puna, northwestern Argentina.
Autor/es:
URREIZTIETA, M. DE, GAPAIS, D., C. LE CORRE, P.R. COBBOLD & E.A. ROSSELLO
Revista:
Tectonophysics
Editorial:
Elsevier
Referencias:
Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 1996 p. 17 - 39
Resumen:
In northwestern Argentina, the southern edge of the Altiplano-Puna is the most remarkable positive topographic anomaly
(average altitude > 3700 m) of the Andean chain. To the south are the Sierras Pampeanas, a less elevated domain made of
alternating compressive basins and ranges developed during the Cenozoic. At about 27°S, the transition between the Puna
and the Sierras Pampeanas coincides with a substantial narrowing of the high chain and with a change in the dip of the
Pacific subduction zone (Nazca plate), from 30°E below the plateau to subhorizontal below the Sierras Pampeanas. We argue
that this structural transition, which can be identified at the scale of the Andean topography, is a major dextral
transpressional transfer zone, the Tucum~ Transfer Zone. In this region, ENE-WSW- to E-W-directed subhorizontai
shortening related to bulk convergence between the Nazca and South American plates interferes with NW-SE-directed
subhorizontal shortening strains, due to lateral influence of changes in the amount of crustal thickening on intraplate
kinematics. Structural observations, digital mapping, SPOT satellite images and a microtectonic analysis of fault populations
provide general insights into the Neogene kinematic evolution of transpressional basins and ranges at the edge of the Puna.