Eastern Andes Metamorphic Complex

Eastern Andes Metamorphic Complex
TypeComplex
Lithology
PrimaryDeformed turbidite, limestone, metabasite
Location
RegionAysén Region, Magallanes Region, Santa Cruz Province
CountryChile, Argentina
Type section
Named forPosition relative to the Andes

The Eastern Andes Metamorphic Complex is a large coherent but varied group of metamorphic and sedimentary rocks –in other words a geologic complex – that crops out in the eastern Patagonian Andes in Chile and Argentina. The metamorphic grade of rocks varies but does not exceed greenschist facies, the only exception to this are rocks near plutons affected by contact metamorphism. The sedimentary protoliths sedimented in the Late Paleozoic. The pressures and temperatures of metamorphism of the Eastern Andes Metamorphic Complex are different those usually expected from accretionary complexes.[1] The sedimentary protoliths of the Eastern Andes Metamorphic Complex were likely deposited in a passive continental margin.[1][2]

Cordillera Darwin Metamorphic Complex shows affinity with the Eastern Andes Metamorphic Complex albeit both complexes lie hundreds of kilometers from each other.[2]

  1. ^ a b Hervé, F.; Faundez, V.; Calderón, M.; Massonne, H.-J.; Willner, A.P. (2007). "Metamorphic and plutonic basement complexes". In Moreno, Teresa; Gibbons, Wes (eds.). The Geology of Chile. Geological Society of London. pp. 7–20.
  2. ^ a b Hervé, F.; Fanning, C.M.; Pankhurst, R.J.; Mpodozis, C.; Klepeis, K.; Calderón, M.; Thomson, S.N. (2010). "Detrital zircon SHRIMP U–Pb age study of the Cordillera Darwin Metamorphic Complex of Tierra del Fuego: sedimentary sources and implications for the evolution of the Pacific margin of Gondwana" (PDF). Journal of the Geological Society, London. 167 (3): 555–568. doi:10.1144/0016-76492009-124. S2CID 129413187.