Exhumation and uplift of the Sierras Pampeanas: preliminary implications from K–Ar fault gouge dating and low-T thermochronology in the Sierra de Comechingones (Argentina)

Abstract

The Sierras Pampeanas in central and north-western Argentina constitute a distinct morphotectonic feature between 27°S and 33°S. The last stage of uplift and deformation in this area are interpreted to be closely related to the Andean flat-slab subduction of the Nazca plate beneath the South American plate. K–Ar fault gouge dating and low-temperature thermochronology along two transects within the Sierra de Comechingones reveal a minimum age for the onset of brittle deformation about 340 Ma, very low exhumation rates since Late Paleozoic time, as well as a total exhumation of about 2.3 km since the Late Cretaceous. New Ar–Ar ages (7.54–1.91 Ma) of volcanic rocks from the San Luis volcanic belt support the eastward propagation of the flat-slab magmatic front, confirming the onset of flat-slab related deformation in this region at 11.2 Ma. Although low-temperature thermochronology does not clearly constrain the signal of the Andean uplift, it is understood that the current structural relief related to the Comechingones range has been achieved after the exhumation of both fault walls (circa 80–70 Ma).