Turning up the Heat:

High-Flux Magmatism
in the Central Andes
Shanaka L. de Silva1 and Suzanne M. Kay2

1811-5209/18/0014-0245$2.50  DOI: 10.2138/gselements.14.4.245

T
he Neogene history of the Central Andes records one of Earth’s most preted to record the major changes
productive periods of high-flux silicic magmatism. Subduction of an in subduction rate and geometry
that triggered a massive Andean
aseismic ridge, the Juan Fernández Ridge (JFR), led to changes in mantle crustal magmatic episode and
melt productivity that initiated a transcrustal magmatic system culminating the intrusion of massive silicic
in massive caldera- and ignimbrite-forming eruptions. This volcanism is time batholiths.
transgressive, tracking the southward passage of the JFR beneath the Central
HISTORICAL
Andes. The volcanic field is underlain by a composite, arc-long mid- and DEVELOPMENT
upper-crustal granodiorite batholith that represents extensive processing of Although the concept and processes
the continental crust by mantle-derived magmas. This batholith stabilized the of ignimbrite flare-ups were not
upper crust and contributed to the extreme elevations despite a net crustal introduced into the Central Andes
until the late 1980s (e.g. de Silva
loss beneath the Puna region. 1989), a rich history of investiga-
Keywords : Neogene, subduction, Cordilleran, ignimbrite flare-up, aseismic ridge, tions had already recognized the
delamination, Altiplano-Puna Plateau extensive ignimbrite stratigraphy.

INTRODUCTION Brazil
Peru
The Andes mountains of South America are the type
locality for continental arc volcanism, and they host the 15°S
eponymous andesite, the most ubiquitous magma compo-
sition erupted and the archetypal magma of normal or La Paz Bolivia
steady-state arcs. Changes in plate tectonic conditions can 20 Ma 15 Ma
lead to episodic higher flux magmatism (DeCelles et al.
25 Ma
2015), commonly known as flare-ups, the surface signature Sucre
of which is an extensive volcanic caldera and ignimbrite 20°S 30 Ma
plateau or a large silicic igneous province dominated by 10 Ma
dacite to rhyolite compositions (Best et al. 2016). 35 Ma
APVC Paraguay
In the last several decades, the Neogene (from roughly 10 - 1 Ma
23 Ma to 1 Ma) magmatic record of the Central Andes Chile
(Fig.  1) has become a key to understanding convergent 5 Ma
margin magmatic flare-ups (e.g. de Silva 1989, de Silva et 25°S
al. 2006; Kay and Coira 2009; Kay et al. 2010; DeCelles Cerro Galán
et al. 2015). The duration of the Central Andean Neogene 6.3 - 2.0 Ma
Ignimbrite Province approximately coincides with the
last 25 million years of southward subduction of the Juan 0 Ma
Fernández Ridge on the Nazca Plate as volcanism switched Argentina
from steady state (dominantly andesite–dacite composite 30°S
cones) to flare-up mode (dominantly large-scale ignimbrites 0-2.0 Ma
and caldera complexes). The southward sweep of the ridge 2-6.5
6.5-8
(Fig. 1) resulted in a time-transgressive southward switch
8-12
from steady state to flare-up (Kay and Coira 2009; Freymuth 12-14
Santiago
et al. 2015). This Neogene volcanic record is, thus, inter- 14-18
18-24
35°S km
no age data
0 200 400

1 College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences

75°W 70°W 65°W 60°W
Oregon State University The Neogene Ignimbrite Province of the Central
104 CEOAS Admin Bldg Figure 1
Andes (region shown in grey/blue). The time-trans-
Corvallis, OR 97331-5503, USA gressive position of the Juan Fernández Ridge (shown as grey lines)
E-mail: desilvas@geo.oregonstate.edu from 35 Ma to today is based on Yáñez et al. (2001) and Kay and
2 Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Coira (2009). Age-specific fields of ignimbrites (colored areas) are
Cornell University based primarily on the maps in Kay et al. (2010), Kern et al. (2016),
3140 Snee Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA and Freymuth et al. (2015). APVC = Altiplano–Puna Volcanic
E-mail: smk16@cornell.edu Complex.

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A B
C ignimbrites and calderas formed throughout the
Three views, at different scales, of one of the largest
Figure 2
resurgent calderas on Earth: the Cerro Guacha (CG)
caldera complex. (A) The eruption of three ignimbrites from CG:
the 1.8 Ma Puripica Chico ignimbrite (green dashed line); the
3.6 Ma Tara ignimbrite (dashed yellow line); the 5.6 Ma Guacha
ignimbrite (dashed orange line). The total volume of erupted
magma is almost 2,000 km3, leaving a complex nested structure
and associated lava domes. (B) Perspective view (tilted to the
north) of the Cerro Guacha (CG) caldera complex, showing the
composite central resurgent uplifts. Image from Google E arth.
(C) Massive “yardangs” (wind-eroded aerodynamic ridges) in
the Tara outflow ignimbrite. Photo : Shanaka de Silva
As early as 1948, incandescent tuff flows in southern Peru,
parts of which are now known as the Arequipa Sillar, had
been described. The ignimbrites of northern Chile had
been ascribed to the Liparitica Formation after the tuffs of
Lipari (Italy) that were the standard ignimbrites of the day.
Early work on the volcanic stratigraphy in the San Pedro
and San Bartolo areas of northern Chile were followed
by the geomorphological, tectonic, and volcanic studies
by the University of London groups in the 1960s. These
were instrumental in establishing the Upper Miocene to
Recent age of the ignimbrites as the interplay of tectonism
and volcanism began to elegantly unravel. Chemical and
isotopic studies by German groups in the 1970s let to the
recognition that the ignimbrites represented significant
crustal processing. Hamilton (1969) proposed that the
Central Andes was tectonically analogous to the Cretaceous
in North America and argued that “modern analogues for
the great Late Cretaceous batholiths appear to be present
only in the volcanic fields of the continental margin …
particularly in the Central Andes.” He explicitly connected
the ignimbrites with plutonic rocks in saying “the great
elongate field of ignimbrites, beneath which crystallized
granite batholiths”.
THE REVOLUTIONARY SYNOPTIC VIEW
FROM SPACE
The advent of satellite imagery revolutionized volcanic
studies in the Central Andes. Photographs taken by Skylab
and the invaluable, ongoing, set of images taken by the
Landsat suite of satellites provided a synoptic perspec-
tive that has revealed the sources of regionally extensive
Andean ignimbrites to be large calderas (Fig. 2). This, in
turn, expanded a knowledge of Andean volcanic stratig-
raphy and chronology.
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Since the mid-1980s, comprehensive studies of
the calderas and ignimbrites have built on the
early remote sensing studies, with major efforts
in the Cerro Galán caldera region of Argentina
(26°S to 27°S) and the Altiplano–Puna transition
region (22°S to 24°S). Cerro Galán was the first
Andean caldera to be comprehensively investi-
gated and it inspired the recognition of multiple
Central Andes that together signaled the Neogene
Central Andean ignimbrite flare-up (F ig.  1).
The spatial and temporal connectivity of this
coherent regional flare-up was recognized by de
Silva (1989), who proposed the name Altiplano–
Puna Volcanic Complex. Since its recognition,
the Altiplano–Puna Volcanic Complex has been
the subject of extensive geophysical, geochrono-
logical, and petrochemical studies that are now
revealing the true structure and nature of the
Andean Neogene ignimbrite flare-up (e.g. Ward
et al. 2017; Pritchard et al. 2018).
GEODYNAMICS OF THE IGNIMBRITE
FLARE-UP
The prodigious volume of silicic volcanism that character-
izes an ignimbrite flare-up requires an elevated heat supply
from the mantle to generate a transcrustal magma system
that can create some of the largest silicic eruptions on
Earth. Kay and Coira (2009) proposed that the southward
passage of the Juan Fernández Ridge caused the southward-
trending ignimbrite flare-up in the Puna due to mantle
melting associated with re-steepening of the subducting
Nazca Plate. As shown in Figure 1, this concept was then
extended northwards into Peru by Freymuth et al. (2015).
In conjunction, an Early Miocene acceleration in the rate of
westward drift of South America over the Nazca Plate may
have contributed to the contractional tectonic environ-
ment that produced over 300 km of Central Andean short-
ening (Oncken et al. 2006) and contributed to eclogite
facies metamorphism at the base of a thickening ~50–70
km crust. Sporadic delamination of dense lower crust,
along with the subcontinental lithospheric mantle above
the southwardly steepening slab, created a pathway for
mantle magmas to interact with the base of the crust and
focus the elevated thermal input needed to fuel the ignim-
brite flare-up (e.g. Kay and Coria 2009) (Fig. 3). After the
hot middle crust was established, piecemeal delamination
and upper-crustal deformation likely occurred episodi-
cally to produce the observed peaks in volcanic output
in the Altiplano–Puna Volcanic Complex (e.g. de Silva et
al. 2015). Evidence for a delaminating lithospheric block
beneath Cerro Galán caldera in the southern Puna has
been revealed by recent seismic studies (e.g. Heit et al.
2014; Liang et al. 2014).
TRANSCRUSTAL HIGH-FLUX MAGMATISM
The Neogene Central Andean ignimbrite flare-up is the
surface record of a transcrustal magmatic system that itself
reflects the reaction of the crust to an elevated input of
mantle heat and fluid. Geophysical and petrological foren-
sics indicate that the processing of mantle input to the
crust takes place in three different domains: the lower,
middle, and upper crust (e.g. de Silva 1989; Davidson et
al. 1991; Coira et al. 1993; de Silva et al. 2006; Kay et al.
1994, 2010) (Fig. 4).
Lower-Crust
The rheological and density trap at the Moho leads to
ponding of mantle-derived, primitive magmas. As gravi-
tational instabilities develop in this region, mantle heat
246 A ugus t 2018
 AA steady-state subduction regime Middle- to Upper-Crust
frontal arc volcanism Subandean Small basaltic andesite to andesite volcanic centers with
CVZ thrusting
phase assemblages indicating equilibration at depths of
0 AFC 30 km to 10 km throughout the flare-up region provide
MASH
km evidence of progressive mid-crustal differentiation of
100 parental magmas derived from the lower crustal MASH
zone (e.g. Kay et al. 1994, 2010; Risse et al. 2013; Burns
200 Stage 4 et al. 2015). These magmas pond in the mid-crust and
fractionate into the more silicic melts that ascend to higher-
0 200 400 600 800 level pre-eruptive magma chambers from which they
eventually erupt. Extensive regional-scale, low-velocity
near & backarc regions identified in seismic images at this level (Fig. 4A)
BB calderas and ignimbrites are thought to represent magmatic mush containing up to
22% melt (e.g. Altiplano–Puna Magma Body, or the Cerro
steepening Subandean Galán Magma Body) (Ward et al. 2017). Transfer of melts
slab thrusting from the mush to the upper crust appears to be episodic,
0 Upper Crustal AFC
controlled either by internal instabilities, deep recharge,
AFC
km MASH
and/or upper crustal tectonics (e.g. Riller et al. 2001; Kay
100 and Coira 2009; de Silva et al. 2015).
Stage 3 delam
200 inatio
n
Upper Crust
Phase petrology of the ignimbrites indicate that magmas
200 400 600 800
0 were stored pre-eruptively over a depth range from about
3 km to 8 km (e.g. Folkes et al. 2011; Grocke et al. 2017).
broad arc Puna & Cordillera Further differentiation at these uppermost crustal levels is
initial slab small stocks/domes Oriental thrusting
CC steepening
indicated by equilibration pressure estimates from amphi-
bole, experimental evidence of late crystallization of quartz
0 AFC and sanidine, and zircon with oxygen isotopic and trace-
MASH
km element compositions characteristic of upper crustal differ-
100 entiation. Age and thermochemical modeling of zircon
characteristics suggest that eruptions tapped magmatic
200 Stage 2 zones that contained melt for periods of 100 ky to over
200 400 600
1 My before eruption (see Kern et al. 2016) and were respon-
0 800
sible for local upper-crust ratios of plutonic to volcanic
rocks up to 70:1 (Tierney et al. 2016). Such long melt-
ridge subduction Puna & Cordillera
DD magmatic gap Oriental thrusting
present lifetimes are the consequence of elevated tempera-
tures and storage-enhancing rheological conditions in the
0 crust upper crust (e.g. de Silva and Gregg 2014). Building such
km lithosphere large long-lived magma reservoirs has a profound effect
100 Ridge on wall-rock rheology and promotes storage over eruption,
leading to reservoir growth rather than eruption under
Stage 1 conditions of constant recharge flux and/or crystalliza-
200
tion. The eventual eruptions are triggered by the failure
200 400 600 800
0 Km of the weakened and extended roof as faults propagate
Schematic representations of the geodynamics of the from the surface into the magma system. Locally, exten-
Figure 3 sional regional tectonics, due to plateau uplift in response
Central Andean arc during the Neogene as a conse-
quence of the passage of the aseismic Juan Fernández Ridge. to crustal shortening and lower crustal flow (Kay and Coira
Abbreviations are as follows: AFC (assimilation, fractional crystalliza- 2009), may have played a critical role in triggering the
tion); MASH (mixing, assimilation, storage, homogenization); CVZ
(Central Volcanic Zone). Blue is subducting slab; yellow is crust; eruptions (e.g. Riller et al. 2001).
black is subducted ocean ridge; oblique lined is subcontinental
mantle lithosphere. Panels are not specific to any particular latitude DOES HIGH-FLUX MAGMATISM CREATE
and depict an integration of the processes that occur throughout
the arc region. Present-day situation at top (A). (A) Present day –
OR DESTROY CRUST?
steady state arc; steep slab. (B) Slab steepening, delamination, The volumes of ignimbrites, their plutonic underpin-
ignimbrite flare-up. (C) Post–ridge passage, slab steepening. nings, and the ignimbrites’ “crustal” isotopic composi-
(D) Initial condition - ridge subduction, flat slab. Modified from
K ay  and Coira (2009). tions evoke speculations about the crustal evolution of
the Central Andes and the relative role of flare-up modes
in the balance of continental crust created and recycled
back into the mantle. This has been a recurrent issue in
input is transferred upwards by advection. Injection and the Central Andes because crustal structure and magmatic
ponding of primitive magmas at the base of the crust architecture conspire to filter out geochemical signatures
generate and mix with crustal melts, leaving behind dense of primitive mantle, thereby leaving a critical ambiguity as
cumulates that, in turn, can be removed by delamination to the balance between new mantle addition and recycled
(foundering). Thermal and mechanical feedbacks result in crust in the erupted magmas. According to mass balance,
a lower-crustal zone of mixing, assimilation, storage, and the ignimbrites are roughly 50:50 volume mixtures of
homogenization (MASH) where baseline isotopic composi- mantle-derived basalts and regionally variable crust (e.g.
tions are set (Hildreth and Moorbath 1988; Davidson et Kay et al. 2010; Freymuth et al. 2015). Yet, uncertainty
al. 1991). and debate persists as to the isotopic characteristics of the
mantle source. While a typical depleted island arc mantle
source has generally been inferred under the Altiplano–
Puna Plateau (e.g. Davidson et al. 1991; de Silva et al.

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 A B
Interpretations of geophysical and petrochemical
Figure 4
forensics of the Central Andean subcaldera crust.
(A) Two seismic tomographic vertical slices through the lithosphere
beneath the Altiplano–Puna Volcanic Complex (APVC) and Cerro
Galán regions. Seismic images suggest the mid-crustal melt zone is
deeper in the Cerro Galán region [CGMB = Cerro Galán Magma
Body] than in the Altiplano-Puna region [APMB = Altiplano–Puna
Magma Body]. The APVC and Galán regions are indicated by the
dashed black lines. Black triangles are volcanoes. Green lines show
the borders between Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina. From Ward et al.
(2018). (B) Central Andean crustal magmatism pictorially summa-
rized. Petrological and geochemical evidence layered over the
2006), an enriched mantle is favored by others and is
required under the southern Puna where Mg- and Cr-rich
late Neogene mafic lavas have enriched 87Sr/ 86Sr isotopic
ratios (>0.705) (e.g. Kay et al. 1994; Risse et al. 2013). As
this enriched signature is strongest in late Neogene mafic
magmas, the recent enrichment has been interpreted to
reflect the introduction of crustal material into the mantle
wedge through a combination of delamination and forearc
subduction erosion (see Kay et al. 2010; Risse et al. 2013;
Goss et al. 2013).
Whereas the prevailing view has been that flare-ups repre-
sent a time of crustal growth through magmatic addition,
the important—maybe even dominant—role for delamina-
tion and subduction erosion, and its impact on the mass
balance of crustal addition and loss, needs to be considered.
As the compositions and erupted volumes of the ignimbrites
can be observed and calculated to acceptable precision, and
the crust-to-mantle ratio in the erupted magmas can be
assumed to be near 50:50, the critical unknowns relevant to
mass balance are the plutonic versus volcanic ratio and the
percent of crust recycled back into the mantle. Petrological
and volcanological approaches have traditionally adopted
overall ratios of plutonic-to-volcanic ratios of 3:1 to 10:1,
respectively. However, recent ambient noise crustal-scale
tomographic seismic images under the Altiplano–Puna
Plateau suggest average plutonic-to-volcanic ratios as high
as 35:1 based on interpreted volumes of magma mush zones
containing an ~22% melt fraction (Ward et al. 2017).
Table 1 shows estimates of new crustal volumes added to the
Puna crust from the mantle during the magmatic flare-up
that happened over the last 11 My, based on representative
plutonic-to-volcanic ratios of 10:1 and 35:1 and having a
50% new mantle contribution. These new crustal volumes
correspond to addition rates of 14–45 km3/km/My for the
Puna from 21°S to 27°S (Galán region) and 33–107 km3/km/
My for the Altiplano–Puna Volcanic Complex. The latter
rate is about half that suggested for the initial stages of the
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Resurgent Composite
Minor Caldera Volcano
-5 Center
0
20
40
60
80
Subduction flux-modified mantle wedge
km
Island arc tholeiite Enriched mantle
87
Sr/86Sr = 0.704; Sr = 200 ppm OR 87
Sr/86Sr = 0.7055; Sr = 500 ppm
e.g. Davidson et al. 1991 e.g. Kay et al. 2010
seismic tomography from the APVC in Figure 4A. These data suggest
three staging levels in the crust for the magma that eventually
erupts to produce the ignimbrites. The seismic data most clearly
image the upper and middle crustal melt storage zone, labeled as
the two MASH (mixing, assimilation, storage, homogenization)
zones. The magmas become progressively more differentiated as
magmatism propagates upward through the crust, with the final
erupted ignimbrites representing an approximately 50:50 mantle-
to-crust melt mix, although the nature of the mantle source region
is debated. Figure 4B is based on the APVC region (APMB) in Figure
4A. Data sources and other references can be found online at elements-
magazine.org
oceanic Aleutian arc and greater than that for the Sierra
Nevada (USA) flare-up when only new crustal addition is
considered (see Jicha and Jagoutz 2015) (Table 1).
In addressing the question of crustal volume change during
magmatic flare-ups, new crustal input from the mantle
must be balanced against crustal loss due to removal.
And this removal can be caused by (1) delamination (also
referred to as foundering or dripping) of mafic cumulates
and lower crust whose density exceeds that of the under-
lying mantle; (2) forearc subduction erosion. The bottom
of Table 1 addresses the possible crustal loss under the Puna
from 21°S to 27°S over the last 11 My. A rough volume
estimate of high-velocity mantle regions, interpreted as
delaminated blocks on seismic tomographic images under
the region (e.g. the Galán region in Liang et al. 2014),
permits the loss of more than one million km3 of basal
crust. Adding in crustal loss by forearc subduction erosion
near 27°S (Goss et al. 2013) produces an additional loss
of ~992 km3. Averaging this crustal loss over the region
from 21°S to 27°S leads to removal rates of −155 km3/km/
My for delamination and of −15 km3/km/My for forearc
subduction erosion.
A comparison of the volume of the crust that could have
been lost with the volume of existing crust between 21°S
and 27°S shows an approximate 5.5% crustal loss over the
region during the last 11 My (see Table 1). Therefore, from
a simplified viewpoint, the Puna has been a site of net
crustal loss rather than crustal gain during the flare-up over
the last 11 My. Furthermore, recycling of basal and forearc
crust removed by delamination and forearc subduction
erosion into the mantle wedge provides a mechanism for
enriching the mantle magma source beneath the plateau
during the Neogene. Overall, the Central Andean plateau
is an area where crustal processing is producing an increas-
ingly more evolved (granodioritic) crust as it evolves from a
continental margin to a region of stable continental crust.
248 A ugus t 2018
 Table 1 ESTIMATES OF MAGMA ADDITION AND CRUSTAL GAIN AND LOSS UNDER THE ANDEAN PLATEAU (21°S–27°S). Estimates
focus on the best-studied and constrained portion of the Central Andean plateau from 21°S to 27°S latitude, which includes
the Cerro Galán and Altiplano–Puna Volcanic Complex (APVC) regions (see Fig. 1 for locations). Erupted volumes are converted to crustal
magmatic volumes based on a plutonic-to-volcanic ratio of 10:1; the extreme ratio of 35:1 by Ward et al. (2017), among others, is based
on joint inversions of Rayleigh-wave dispersion from ambient seismic noise with P-wave receiver functions. All estimates assume 50:50
crust-to-mantle ratio that is constrained by trace element and O and Sr isotopic ratios (e.g. Kay et al. 2010). Estimates of crustal loss by
delamination under the Andean Plateau are guided by seismic P-wave and attenuation tomographic images. The forearc subduction
erosion rate at 26°S to 27°S is from Goss et al. (2013). Note that these are integrated rates and that episodic rates can be considerably
higher (de Silva et al. 2015). Data sources and other referencecs can be found at elementsmagazine.org.

New Magma Addition under Central Andean Plateau from 21°S to 27°S in last 11 My
Plateau from 21°S to 27°S All Galán region APVC region
Length of arc in km 600 100 230
Time of eruption in million years 11 6 11
Erupted volume in km3 16,490 1,490 15,000
Added crustal volumes and new crustal addition rates
with a new mantle contribution of 50%
At a plutonic to volcanic ratio of 10 to 1
Volume of new crust from the mantle in km3 90,695 8,195 82,500
3
New crustal growth rate (km /km of arc/My) 14 14 33
At a plutonic-to-volcanic ratio of 35 to 1
Volume of new crust from the mantle in km3 593,640 53,640 540,000
3
New crustal growth rate (km /km of arc/My) 45 45 107
Comparative new crustal growth rates in km3/km/My in other arcs
(see Jicha and Jagoutz 2015)
Initial growth-rate of oceanic Aleutian arc ~210 assumes all new mantle contribution
Sierra Nevada flare-up growth rate ~90 ~45 if new mantle contribution is 50%

Crustal Loss under Central Andean Plateau from 21°S to 27°S in last 11 My
Estimate of crustal gain and loss rate Modern Puna crustal volume
All in km3/km of arc per My at 22°S to 27°S per km of arc east–west
New crust created by magmatic addition at plutonic-to-volcanic Width kms east to
45 500
ratio of 35 to 1 west (65°W to 71°W)
Average crustal
Delamination of 20 km of basal crust (1,025,000 km3 lost) –155 50
thickness (km)
Forearc subduction erosion at 28°S to 26°S rate of 192 km3/km/ Crustal volume in
–15 25,000
My for 5 My km3 per km today
3
km of crust
Time Period of Loss % of crust removed
Lost Remaining
last 1 million years –125 24,875 –0.5%
last 8 million years –997 24,003 –4.0%
last 11 million years –1.370 23,630 –5.5%

IMPLICATIONS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS
The Neogene ignimbrite flare up of the Central Andes
records a change from steady state to high-flux magmatism.
The drive for this transition appears primarily to be subduc-
tion of an aseismic ridge and the attendant changes in the
crust–mantle interface. The details of the time lag between
the changes in the subduction zone and the magmatic
response remain to be understood.
in continental arc evolution in which significant crustal
differentiation occurs and in which andesitic (granodio-
ritic) crust is produced at the same time as dense mafic
crust is lost to the underlying mantle. This process further
enhances the differentiation of the continental crust to
more silicic compositions. Identifying and quantifying the
overall crustal recycling processes remains a fertile field for
future investigations.

A transcrustal magmatic system that has lower-, middle-,
and upper-crustal stages is the signature of high-flux
magmatism and supports the original view of Hamilton
(1969) that a crustal-scale batholith underpins the Central
Andes, the modern modification being that this batho-
lith is probably time transgressive. Parts of this batholith
have been imaged geophysically, but much remains to be
imaged and resolved locally and regionally, particularly in
the deeper parts of the crust.
The thermomechanical consequence of a transcrustal
magmatic system is an upward transgressive wave of
differentiation that leads to a more granodioritic crustal
composition. A flare-up stage is an evolutionary phase
The thermomechanical consequences of progressive crustal
weakening during the peaks of a flare-up are critical to
developing a long-lived system from which andesitic and
dacitic magmas can periodically rise and erupt as ignim-
brites. Linking the development and timing of shallow
pre-eruptive magma reservoirs to deeper stages of differen-
tiation is a continuing challenge. Given that surface uplift
may be partly a consequence of upper-crustal batholith
building (Perkins et al. 2016), understanding links between
magmatism, uplift, stress regimes on the plateau, crustal
thickening and shortening, lower crustal flow, delami-
nation, and eruptions is likely to be an exciting area of
research.

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 Although the prevailing model of crustal growth through
magmatic addition holds sway, the possibility that
magmatic flare-ups in areas of thickened crust can be times
of net crustal loss, principally through the removal of basal
crust, requires further investigation. Understanding the
mechanisms and resolving the quantity of crustal loss
throughout the entire Andean region remains an area of
future investigation, one that will require resolving the
nature of the mantle source.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Shan de Silva acknowledges the vital roles of Peter Francis
and Jon Davidson (both deceased) in his understanding of
Andean and subduction-related magmatism. Funding from
the National Aeronautical and Space Administration and
the National Science Foundation have been critical for this
work. Support and encouragement by Guest Editor Gerhard
Wörner and reviews by Robert Trumbull, an anonymous
reviewer, Gerhard Wörner, and Principal Editor Jon Blundy
have clarified and improved the form and content of this
paper significantly. Suzanne Kay acknowledges the many
insightful contributions of Beatriz Coira (Argentina),
Constantino Mpodozis (Chile) and other South American
colleagues that have lead to our current understanding of
the magmatic and tectonic processes of the central Andean
plateau.

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