From Foreland Rift to Forearc Basin: Tectono-Thermal Controls on Subsidence and Stratigraphic Development in the Mesozoic-Recent Salar de Atacama Basin, Chilean Andes

The Salar de Atacama and westerly adjacent Domeyko basins originated as Permian foreland rifts, containing some 2 km of Triassic synrift red beds. Continued extension and volcanic are establishment resulted in deposition of important Jurassic marine source rocks in the Domeyko basin. Rift basin subsidence was controlled by extension, followed by thermal sagging. Middle Cretaceous contraction (opening of the south Atlantic) inverted the Domeyko back-arc basin as a thrustbelt. To the east, the Salar basin subsequently accommodated 4 km of Late Cretaceous-Palaeocene continental detritus. Accommodation space reflected the interplay between limited flexural loading and thermal effects related to a 150 km eastward jump of the Andean volcanic arc to the margin of the arc-related, foreland-style basin. Late Eocene transpression (high rate of oblique convergence between the Farallon and South American plates) inverted the western basin margin, sourcing a 2 km thick Oligocene intra-arc basin-fill component. Accommodation space was controlled by thermal sagging associated with a further 100 km eastward arc jump. The Salar de Atacama basin thus provides a model for the evolution of complex, mixed origin basins associated with a migrating volcanic arc and varying crustal stress regime. The complex interplay between variable tectonic style and thermal processes inmore » controlling subsidence and resultant stratigraphic development is not yet adequately constrained. However, simple, single stage tectono-sedimentary models commonly used in play definition may not be appropriate in complex, arc-related basin settings.« less