Descripción: Cerro Falkner is composed of granitic rocks underlying volcanic rocks of the Ventana Formation of Paleogene age. Those intrusives are graniodioritic in composition, metaluminous to peraluminous, subalkaline, with characteristics of volcanic arc granites that are concordant with other granitoids of the Cordillera Patagónica Septentrional's northern segment. The age obtained by the K-Ar method on tschemakitic amphiboles (125 ± 20 Ma) points out a minimun age from the lower Cretaceous for the Cerro Falkner's granodiorite. Therefore the use of the term Los Machis Formation (Upper Cretaceous) would be incorrect for these rocks. This age, allows us to relate the granitic rocks on the study area to the lower Cretaceous, coeval with the volcanism of the Divisadero Group.

Descripción: Late Cretaceous and Paleogene sedimentary rocks of the Austral Basin crop out on the south-eastern margin of Lake Viedma. In the Barrancas Blancas section, 28 m of yellowish sandstone and mudstone of the La Asunción Member of the Anita Formation are transitionally covered by 390 m of greyish sandstone and mudstone of the Cerro Fortaleza Formation. The former represent a prograding barred nearshore system, whereas the latter correspond to paralic, fluvial and fluvial-tidal sedimentation. The evolution of the depositional sequences, sedimentary palaeoenvironments, sandstone provenance and palaeocurrents indicate that the sediments were deposited during the back-arc (sag) stage of the basin. At Cerro Piramides, Tertiary sedimentary rocks rest with fault contact on top of the Cerro Fortaleza Formation. The limited thickness (<1m) preserved of greenish sandstone of the Man Aike Formation precludes any attempt to interpret its depositional environment. Conglomerate, sandstone and mudstone (locally carbonaceous) of the Río Leona Formation (75 m) rest with erosional contact on the former. These rocks represent a rapid transition from a high energy to low energy fluvial systems that eventually graded into marginal marine environments represented by the fossiliferous sandstones of the Centinela Formation (<3m). The facies arrangement, evolution of the palaeoenvironments, and palaeocurrents suggest that these sediments were deposited during the foreland basin stage. © 2003 Asociación Geológica Argentina.

Descripción: Phosphate prospecting in marine sedimentary rocks of the Marginal and Austral basins of the Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego resulted in the first discovery of phosphatic beds in the Paleogene Rio Claro Formation. Phosphatic anomalies of up to 20.1% P2U5 in concretions and up to 2% PaOs in bulk rock offer promising opportunities for systematic prospection on the Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego. The phosphatic beds are conglomerates, coquinas and conglomeratic sandstones interbedded with thick mudstone packets. They belong to the condensed-type phosphatic beds, which are the product of erosion and reworking of concretions developed in fine sediments. Phosphate concretions containing glauconite, together with abundant glauconite in the same and closely associated beds, indicate a common syn-sedimentary to earlydiagenetic origin for both minerals, via recycling of sedimentary iron. This process occurred on a shelf with low sedimentation rates, pointing to high sea-level stands and marked interruptions in the sedimentation of the thick Paleogene sedimentary sequence of the Austral Basin . The deposit point to the existence and extension of this early Cenozoic phosphogenic episode to high latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere. © 1998 Asociacidn Geoldgica Argentina.

Descripción: A composite section, 1400 m thick, is established for the Upper Cretaceous-Paleogene strata in the fold and thrust belt of the Andes Fueguinos, south of 54° 30′S. The basal Policarpo Formation, > 350 m thick, consists of tuffaceous sandstones and bioturbated sandstones and siltstones. The ammonites Maorites densicostatus and Diplomoceras sp.; foraminifera common to the Gaudryina healyi Zone; and the dynocysts Manumiella seelandica and Operculodium cf. azcaratei indicate a Maastrichtian age. The Paleocene to lower Eocene include four new formations. The Cabo Leticia Formation, c.150 m, Paleocene, consists of gravity flows deposits: brecchias; conglomerates; and massive, tuffaceous sandstones. La Barca Formation, c. 220 m, includes two members: LB1, tuffaceous sandstones and intercalated carbonaceous siltstones; and LB2, black mudstones with Palaeocystodinium golzowense and Spiroplectammina spectabilis. P. golzowense and the Bulimina karpatica Assemblage in LB1 indicate a late Paleocene age. Punta Noguera Formation, 380 m, is dominated by glauconite rich, massive, tuffaceous sandstones with interbedded turbidite packages. The dynocyst group Apectodinium, Deflandrea robusta, Palaeocystodinium sp., and Odontodinium askinae; the foraminifera Alabamina creta, Charltonina acutimarginata, Valvulineria teurensis and the first ocurrence of Elphidium and Cribrorotalia suggest an age near the Paleocene/Eocene boundary. The Cerro Ruperto Formation, 200 m, is dominated by glauconite rich, silty very fine sandstones and siltstones; dominance of Deflandrea dartmooria indicate an early Eocene age. Resting on angular unconformity, the Río Bueno Formation, c. 60-80 m, consists of carbonate rocks; its member RB1, rhythmically bedded grainstones, with the planktic foraminifera Planorotalites australiformis and Subbotina linaperta is of early middle Eocene age; and its member RB2, regular alternation of grainstones and bioturbated marls and micrites, with Elphidium saginatum and Bulimina cf. bortonica, is assigned to the mid middle Eocene. The sedimentary and stratigraphic features of the Maastrichtian/Eocene have a strong tectonic control, suggesting that the foreland phase of evolution of the basin has been active at least since the Maastrichtian.

Descripción: The finding of peperite breccias on Marambio Island allows to confirm the existence of at least two different pulses in the instrusion of basaltic dykes within the James Ross Island Volcanic Group. Two important bodies of peperites were recognized at Filo Negro and Geoantar hill. They were formed by the intrusion of basaltic dykes in the unconsolidated Paleogene sediments of Sobral Formation. The breccias are composed of vesicular glassy fragments, and volcanic and sedimentary lithic constituents in a sand matrix. The intrusions were probably emplaced at very shallow depth and are possibly related to a younger volcanic pulse, dated at 1.3 Ma. © 1997 Asociaciôn Geolôgica Argentina.

Descripción: The Chancho-Co hill is the main positive feature in the caldera del Agrio domain with the only exception of the Copahue volcano. Its development is lin- ked to a series of NE-trending thrusts with a general vergence to the SE, which affects Late Pliocene successions gathered in Las Mellizas Formation. The main topographic break in this fan of reverse faults coincides with the Copahue Fault. This structure uplifted Late Pliocene sequences over younger unconsolidated fluvial and coluvial deposits. The detailed study of these sequences allowed identifying at least two periods of activity for the Copahue Fault. This fault, as well as the other neigh- bor thrusts, cuts the Copahue lavas to the south showing the precise geometry of the Chanchó-Co uplift. Finally, the inver- sion of Paleogene depocenters at depth determined from gravimetric studies is proposed to explain the deeper geometry of the neotectonic structures in the area.

Descripción: Structures cropping out in the Jachal Valley from the Cuesta del Viento dam to the locality of Los Tuneles are described and analyzed. These structures affect the Ordovician Yerba Loca and Los Sombreros Formations and the Paleogene-Neogene Vallecito and Rodeo Formations. The oldest units form the heights, Sierra Negra de Rodeo and Sierra de los Túneles, which are limited in their eastern flanks by the La Tranca and Los Blanquitos overthrusts, and by the angular unconformity underlying Rodeo Formation in their western ones. The regional folds show asymmetrical shapes and a wavelength comparable to the width of the Sierras, but minor structures ranging from meters to tens of meters are very common in their eastern limbs. Regional folds axis trend varies from Az 315 to Az 360 and the vergence of pre-carboniferous and andean structures point to the east, what makes very difficult to use orientation as a criterion to discriminate the differentiated deformational episodes. The comparison of sedimentological and structural features in the Rodeo area with those at the San Juan River evidences strong similarities but also important differences. Among the first ones, it can be mentioned the lithological and structural resemblance of the Ordovician units, which show NS trending axis in the eastern outcrops and point N-NW in the western ones. Main differences are the absence -in the Rodeo area- of the metapelites of the Silurian Calingasta Formation. and that of the conglomerates and rhythmites of the Devonian (?) El Planchón Formation. present in the San Juan River section.

Descripción: Nearly all data regarding land-plant turnover across the Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary come from western North America, relatively close to the Chicxulub, Mexico impact site. Here, we present a palynological analysis of a section in Patagonia that shows a marked fall in diversity and abundance of nearly all plant groups across the K/Pg interval. Minimum diversity occurs during the earliest Danian, but only a few palynomorphs show true extinctions. The low extinction rate is similar to previous observations from New Zealand. The differing responses between the Southern and Northern hemispheres could be related to the attenuation of damage with increased distance from the impact site, to hemispheric differences in extinction severity, or to both effects. Legacy effects of the terminal Cretaceous event also provide a plausible, partial explanation for the fact that Paleocene and Eocene macrofloras from Patagonia are among the most diverse known globally. Also of great interest, earliest Danian assemblages are dominated by the gymnosperm palynomorphs Classopollis of the extinct Mesozoic conifer family Cheirolepidiaceae. The expansion of Classopollis after the boundary in Patagonia is another example of typically Mesozoic plant lineages surviving into the Cenozoic in southern Gondwanan areas, and this greatly supports previous hypotheses of high latitude southern regions as biodiversity refugia during the end-Cretaceous global crisis. © 2012 Barreda et al.

Descripción: The Oligo-Miocene Somuncura province is the largest (∼55 000 km2) back-arc mafic volcanic field in Patagonia, and one of Earth's largest with no clear link to a hotspot or major extension. Major and trace element and Sr-Nd-Pb isotopic data suggest involvement of a plume-like component in the mantle magma source mixed with hydrous, but not high field strength element (HFSE)-depleted components, from a disintegrating subducting plate. Magmatism is attributed to mantle upwelling related to disturbances during plate reorganization, possibly at a time when the South America plate was nearly stationary over the underlying mantle. Melting was enhanced by hydration of the mantle during Paleogene subduction. Crustal contamination was minimal in a refractory crust that had been extensively melted in the Jurassic. Eruption began with low-volume intraplate alkaline mafic flows with depleted Nd-Sr isotopic signatures. These were followed by voluminous ∼29-25 Ma tholeiitic mafic flows with flat light and steep heavy rare earth element (REE) patterns, intraplate-like La/Ta ratios, arc-like Ba/La ratios and enriched Sr-Nd isotopic signatures. Their source can be explained by mixing EM1-Tristan da Cunha-like and depleted mantle components with subduction-related components. Post-plateau ∼24-17 Ma alkaline flows with steep REE patterns, high incompatible element abundances, and depleted Sr-Nd isotopic signatures mark the ebbing of the mantle upwelling. Copyright © 2007 Oxford University Press.

Descripción: The Payenia basaltic province is a typical retroarc association developed along the foothills of the Andes between 33°40 ́S and 38°00'S. It records two main events, an older, mostly Miocene one (26 to 8 Ma) and a younger Pliocene to Holocene one (younger than 5 Ma). It covers an N-S lowland belt named here the central depression. To the North of 36°20'S, the region was described as Los Huarpes depression, a partially deformed sedimentary basin characterized by a 1000 m-thick, undifferentiated Cenozoic sequence. To the south, Upper Cretaceous to Lower Paleogene layers, instead of the undifferentiated Cenozoic deposits, are covered by basalts. The volcanism additionally covers the western side of the San Rafael Block as well as the fold and thrust belt of the Andean foothills. The Payenia province consists of more than 800 monogenetic basaltic cones, and scarce polygenetic volcanos fed by shallow magmatic chambers. Among the latter, the following examples can be mentioned: Miocene Chachahuén volcano (7 to 5 Ma), composed of andesites, rhyodacites and basalts with high-K and amphibole; Pliocene El Nevado volcano, with calc-alkaline, basaltic trachyandesites, trachytes, dacites and rhyolites; and Upper Pleistocene to Holocene Payún Matrú volcano, composed of trachytes, trachyandesites and trachybasalts. The southernmost area of the central depression is covered by the Pleistocene, Auca Mahuida basaltic shield (1.7 to 0.88 Ma), consisting of trachybasalts, basaltic trachyandesites and trachyandesites. This shield is aligned with Tromen and Domuyo volcanos, defining an NW-SE volcanic belt, oblique to the Andes, whose southern tip corresponds to the Cortaderas lineament. Some of the monogenetic cones are of hydromagmatic origin, whereas a few others exhibit small mantle inclusions. The Payenia retroarc province develops to the south of the Pampean flat slab segment, where the heights of the Andes are smaller. This height difference might have been caused by a higher thermal gradient that softened the crust in the steeper subduction segment, while the colder lithosphere in the flat slab segment allowed greater crustal thickening and height. From the tectonic point of view the height difference has been attributed to a smaller orogenic contraction in the southern segment. Holocene volcanism appears exclusively at Payun Matru volcano. The associated thermal anomaly may explain the segmentation of the central depression, separating the Cenozoic Los Huarpes basin in the north and the section without coeval sedimentation in the south. The only surface evidence of this segmentation is the E-W, La Carbonilla fault, running both sides of the Payun Matru volcano. Other authors have explained this thermal anomaly as a process of crustal thinning and stretching associated with hot injection from the asthenosphere.