3

Ramos, V. A., T. Zapata, E. Cristallini, and A. Introcaso, 2004, The Andean

thrust system — Latitudinal variations in structural styles and orogenic
shortening, in K. R. McClay, ed., Thrust tectonics and hydrocarbon systems:
AAPG Memoir 82, p. 30 – 50.

The Andean Thrust System—

Latitudinal Variations in Structural
Styles and Orogenic Shortening
Victor A. Ramos
Laboratorio de Tectónica Andina, Departamento de Ciencias Geológicas, Facultad de Ciencias
Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Tomás Zapata
REPSOL-YPF S.A., Exploración y Desarrollo en Faja Plegada, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Ernesto Cristallini
Laboratorio de Tectónica Andina, Departamento de Ciencias Geológicas, Facultad de Ciencias
Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina; CONICET Consejo
Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Técnicas

Antonio Introcaso
Instituto de Fı́sica de Rosario, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Rosario, Argentina; CONICET
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Técnicas

ABSTRACT

T
he different segments of the Andean thrust system have distinctive topography
and inferred crustal roots. These two characteristics both depend upon crustal
shortening, and on this basis they provide independent constraints for eval-
uating estimates of Cenozoic shortening obtained by balanced structural cross-sections
of different segments of the fold-and-thrust systems. Three transects in the Central
Andes are analyzed: a northern (22–238S), a central (32–338S), and a southern segment
(37–398S). Each segment shows different amounts of orogenic shortening, generated
through a complex combination of thin- and thick-skinned thrusting. Based on known
age constraints, different shortening rates are calculated for each segment. Estimates of
crustal shortening derived from gravity and seismic-refraction data are used to evaluate
interpretations of the structural style. In some segments, where alternative styles were
proposed, the crustal-shortening estimates are used to identify the more realistic models.
Crustal shortening, shortening rates, and the resulting topography decrease pro-
gressively from north to south. These variations cannot be fully explained by differential
fore-arc rotation, as in the Bolivian orocline model. Instead, a close correlation is sug-
gested between the age of oceanic crust being subducted and the amount of shortening

30
 The Andean Thrust System — Latitudinal Variations in Structural Styles and Orogenic Shortening
and propagation of the orogenic front toward the foreland. This fact becomes more im-
portant than fore-arc rotation farther south of the Bolivian orocline. On this basis, the
present topography of the Andes, along the Nazca plate boundary, can be correlated with
the age of adjacent oceanic crust.
INTRODUCTION
Several structural styles and kinematic models have
been proposed to explain the Cenozoic deformation of
the antithetic fold-and-thrust belt that has developed
in the eastern Andes, adjacent to the foreland region.
Thin-skinned deformation, basement uplifts, and re-
cently, rift inversion, have all been proposed for the
same areas. However, several of these proposed models
are incompatible with the orogenic shortening that is
implied by the Andean crustal roots, as reflected in the
present topography. Recently released digital topogra-
phy of the Andean mountain belt provides two impor-
tant facts. First, it illustrates the amount and shape of
uplift, and thus it gives some hints about the amount
and style of shortening. Second, it demonstrates pro-
nounced longitudinal variation along the strike of the
chain. This variation, as illustrated in Figure 1, points
out the different kinds of processes that took place along
strike in distinct segments of the Andes.
The objective of this chapter is to characterize the
Andean thrust system using the digital topography, the
inferred crustal roots, and the fold-and-thrust belts, which
are recognized in a series of representative segments. These
observations demonstrate a continuous decrease in oro-
genic shortening to the north and south of the Central
Andes of Bolivia, despite the different and complex struc-
tural styles and kinematics. Isacks (1988) explained this
variation in shortening, with reference to bending of
the Bolivian orocline, and the differential rotation of
the fore arc, as documented by paleomagnetic data. Sev-
eral paleomagnetic studies have reinforced the impor-
tance of fore-arc block rotations at both sides of the
Bolivian orocline during Cenozoic time (Roperch and
Carlier, 1992; Butler et al., 1995; Somoza et al., 1996).
However, a combination of oroclinal bending and post-
mid-Cretaceous shear-driven rotation by oblique subduc-
tion is required to explain the rotations found (Beck, 1998).
The Isacks model was successful in explaining the
variation in the amount of shortening at both sides of
the Bolivian orocline. Nevertheless, the trend of decreas-
ing shortening to the north and south of the orocline,
as shown by Kley et al. (1999), exceeds by far the area of
influence denoted by fore-arc rotation. This amount of
shortening decreases southward to the triple junction
among the Nazca, South America, and Antarctica plates
at 468300S. South of the triple junction, a collision of an
oceanic ridge segment against the subduction zone is
associated with a significant increase of deformation,
31
uplift, and shortening in the southern Patagonian Cor-
dillera (Ramos, 1989; Kraemer et al., 1996).
Three segments will be analyzed to address this
problem and characterize the Andean thrust system: a
segment across the Puna high plateau and the Sub-
Andean Ranges (22 – 238S), another across the highest
Andes of San Juan and Mendoza (328 – 338S), and a seg-
ment across the Neuquén Basin between 378 and 398S.
CRUSTAL ROOTS
AND TOPOGRAPHY
There is a remarkable correlation between crustal
structure and topography along the entire western mar-
gin of South America (Isacks, 1988; Dewey and Lamb,
1992). The topography clearly expresses the width of
the plate-boundary zone, where deformation, accom-
modated through different mechanisms along strike,
produced different sets of structures. Gravity studies per-
formed between 308 and 358S, combined with scarce
seismic-refraction data on both sides of the Andes, have
demonstrated that wavelength and amplitude of the
Bouguer anomalies beneath the Andes are mainly con-
trolled by crustal roots (Introcaso et al., 1992). Seismic-
refraction surveys and gravimetric studies between 208
and 268S have also made it possible to infer the shape
and depth of crustal roots (Götze et al., 1994). Recent
deep seismic reflection and refraction data reported by
the ANCORP working group (1999) shows that crust-
mantle boundary has a transitional character, with a
width of several hundreds of meters to a few kilometers.
However, these results are compatible with a crustal thick-
ness beneath the Altiplano and Puna of less than 70 km
at this latitude (Giese et al., 1999; Romanyuk et al., 1999).
Farther north at 208S, broadband seismologic studies
indicate a 70- to 74-km-thick crust (Beck et al., 1996).
On the other hand, seismologic studies by Whitman
et al. (1992, 1996) have shown that the lithosphere in
the Puna is substantially thinned, which explains the
higher topography of the Puna in comparison with the
Bolivian Altiplano (Allmendinger et al., 1997). This con-
firms that the present topography of the Puna-Altiplano
region required, besides orogenic shortening, thermal
uplift, as proposed by Isacks (1988). The region of ther-
mal uplift corresponds to areas of lithospheric thinning,
as depicted by Allmendinger et al. (1997).
Figure 2 summarizes the relationships between crust-
al thickness and topography between 238 and 398S,
32 Ramos et al.

FIGURE 1. Digital topography

of the Central Andes, based on
U.S.G.S. data. Note the varia-
tion along strike and the close
correlation of the flat-slab seg-
ment with the Sierras Pampea-
nas between 278S and 338S.

(1988), Allmendinger et al.

(1990), and Introcaso et al.
(1992) proposed, the crustal
root area makes it possible to
compute the orogenic short-
ening in each segment, as-
suming a starting crustal
thickness. This starting crust-
al thickness is constrained
by the fact that the orogen
was covered by marine trans-
gressions prior to the Andean
deformation. In order to be
below sea level, the maxi-
mum thickness of the crust
should be less than normal.
Crustal root areas have
been used to estimate the
amount of shortening along
each traverse, as previously
proposed by Isacks (1988),
Roeder (1988), Introcaso et al.
(1992), and Allmendinger
et al. (1990). This crustal
shortening can be correlated
with the amount of short-
ening across the Andes ob-
tained from analysis of the
shallow crust structure in the
different fold-and-thrust-belt
segments, which is strongly
model dependent. This is
done first in a northern seg-
ment, where more geologic
and geophysical informa-
tion is available. These re-
sults are then compared with
central and southern seg-
ments, where geophysical in-
formation is scarcer.

based on geophysical data mainly derived from Roman-

yuk et al. (1999), Götze et al. (1994), Introcaso et al.
(1992), Martı́nez et al. (1997), and Couch et al. (1981). It
is evident that the cross-sectional area of the crustal
root decreases steadily from north to south, as does the
crustal thickness. Based on the premises that magmatic
addition and losses by erosion are negligible, as Isacks
NORTHERN SEGMENT
The northern segment includes the morphostruc-
tural provinces of Puna, Eastern Cordillera, and Sub-
Andean Ranges at 22 – 238S latitudes (Figure 1). The
crustal balance of this area, based on seismic-refraction
 The Andean Thrust System — Latitudinal Variations in Structural Styles and Orogenic Shortening 33

FIGURE 2. Crustal thickness and topography of the Andes between 238 and 408S. Shaded area corresponds to elevations
above the 3000 m.a.s.l. contour level. Crustal sections assume 33 km initial crust, topography has 10 times vertical
exaggeration, and stippled pattern shows crustal roots with maximum thickness in kilometers (based, from north to
south, on Götze et al., 1994; Introcaso et al., 1992; Martı́nez et al., 1997, and Couch et al., 1981).

data, indicates a shortening of 320 km, according to Ranges and with the thick-skinned deformation of
Schmitz (1993, 1994). This value correlates with the the Eastern and Western Precordillera and the Puna
thin-skinned fold-and-thrust belt of the Sub-Andean (Figure 3a).
 34
Ramos et al.

FIGURE 3. Structural crustal sections between 228 and 238S. (a) Crustal-scale section based on Schmitz (1993), Inter-Andean and Sub-Andean belt from Kley
(1996), eastern Cordillera from Heredia et al. (1999), and Puna from Gangui (1998). (b) The Sub-Andean belt section, immediately south of Figure 3a, based
on Aramayo Flores (1989), and growth strata stratigraphy after Hernández et al. (1996), Mojica and Zorzı́n (1996), and Mosquera (1999).
 The Andean Thrust System — Latitudinal Variations in Structural Styles and Orogenic Shortening
Several authors have studied the Sub-Andean belt,
from which most of the seismic information is avail-
able (Mingramm et al., 1979; Allmendinger et al., 1983;
Roeder, 1988; Aramayo Flores, 1989; Baby et al., 1992,
1993; Dunn et al., 1995; Allmendinger and Zapata, 1996).
Most of these authors accept a shortening between 132
and 75 km in a thin-skinned belt. The discrepancies are
due mainly to the precise location of the section, be-
cause a southward decrease in shortening is evident
within the southern Sub-Andean belt, from Santa Cruz
de la Sierra (Bolivia, 188S) up to Orán (northern Argen-
tina, 238S). Recent evaluation of the structure of this
area, based on new seismic analyses, indicates an aver-
age thin-skinned shortening of 100 km (55%) for this
belt (Giraudo et al., 1999). However, gravity data com-
bined with seismic information require that the west-
ern part of the belt (Figure 3a) must include basement
participation (Kley et al., 1996). This western part, named
the Inter-Andean belt, has, together with the Sub-Andean
belt, a shortening of 140 – 150 km.
Most authors have assumed a foreland breaking se-
quence of thrust-fault development in the Sub-Andean
belt thrusts (Kley et al., 1996; Giraudo et al., 1999), but
synorogenic sequences, mainly derived from the study
of the growth strata, indicate a more complex develop-
ment (Hernández et al., 1996). There is a general pat-
tern of a foreland breaking thrust sequence that up-
lifted the Eastern Cordillera between 17 and 12 Ma, and,
in a piggyback order, the Sub-Andean belt after 8.5 Ma
(Hernández et al., 1996). However, as Figure 3b shows,
following an initial foreland breaking sequence, most
of the Sub-Andean belt displays evidence of simulta-
neous displacements. Mosquera (1999), using the low-
est level of white tuffs as a marker-bed for correlation
dated at 4 – 3.5 Ma, has identified at least two youn-
ger syngrowth sequences. These syngrowth sequences
are associated with pulses of out-of-sequence thrusting
and were dated at 2 – 1.5 Ma (S1) and 1.5 – 0.25 (S2) in
the Simbolar syncline (section a in Figure 3b). Correl-
ative syngrowth sequences were recognized in the San
Antonio Syncline (section b), on both limbs of Sierra de
Aguaragüe (sections c and d), and in Campo Durán
Anticline backlimb (section e) (Mosquera, 1999). Even
farther east, at Jollı́n, a new, active structure was de-
veloping within this time interval (Mojica and Zorzı́n,
1996).
These facts demonstrate a partitioning of the dis-
placement across the thrust belt similar to those de-
scribed by Jordan et al. (1993) in the Argentine Pre-
cordillera and Butler et al. (1999) in the Central Sicilian
Thrust Belt. There are periods when all thrusts are
simultaneously active in the Sub-Andean belt, thereby
defining a mobile area that corresponds to what De-
Celles and Gilest (1996) called a wedge top of the fore-
land system. This area shifts to the foreland as the
foreland basin is cannibalized at the thrust front.
35
Another constraint from the synorogenic stratig-
raphy is the shortening rate of the Sub-Andean belt.
Magnetostratigraphic data, which are only available in
the southern part of the belt (Hernández et al. 1996),
were used to determine a shortening rate of between 7
and 9 mm/yr — higher than the rates obtained by But-
ler et al. (1999) in Central Sicilia. The rate of shortening
in the Sub-Andean belt is on the same order as the 7.65
mm/yr rate obtained by Cegarra and Ramos (1996) far-
ther south, in the highest Andes, but is less than the
peak rates documented for the Precordillera by Jordan
et al. (1993).
Heredia et al. (1999) have recently studied the struc-
ture of the Eastern Cordillera thrust belt at these lati-
tudes. These authors found evidence of inversion of
Cretaceous normal faults at both sides of Quebrada de
Humahuaca. The palinspastic restoration of their struc-
tural cross sections indicates a 55% shortening, which
is responsible for a total minimum shortening for the
Eastern Cordillera of 60 km. Heredia et al. (1999) as-
sumed that the time of deformation for the Eastern
Cordillera was between 17 and 11.4 Ma, based on the
Marrett et al. (1994) data. This time interval gives a
shortening rate of 9.3 mm/yr. It is necessary to remark
that this rate could be lower, because there is evidence
of neotectonic reactivation affecting Pliocene and Qua-
ternary deposits in the central part of Eastern Cordillera
near Tilcara. This confirms that at least part of the
structures have been reactivated in an out-of-sequence
mode, like the Tilcara thrust described by Salfity et al.
(1984).
No regional structural cross sections are available
farther west, in the Puna high plateau, but local studies
by Gangui (1998) have documented a complex struc-
ture. Interpretation of a few available seismic lines shows
a structure partially controlled by tectonic inversion of
Cretaceous normal faults, as well as by new thrusts
developed within the Puna Precambrian basement. Be-
cause most of western Puna is covered by Cenozoic vol-
canics, the data presented in Figure 3a, which are based
on one of Gangui’s (1998) local cross sections, indicate
the kind of structure that may exist beneath the Puna.
The thick-skinned deformation in the Puna was facil-
itated by the thermal structure (Springer and Förster,
1998). High heat flow (80 – 100 mW/m2), favored the
development of several potential ductile-brittle transi-
tions within the middle and upper crust that might be
the sites of the décollement levels. The minimum short-
ening in eastern Puna, although not as well constrained
as in the Sub-Andean belt, is about 60 km and was
bracketed between 26 and 18 Ma (Gangui, 1998); thus
the shortening rate is about 7.5 mm/yr. Based on the
surficial structure of the Cenozoic deposits, a conser-
vative estimate of total shortening in the Puna is more
than 100 km. The western sector of the Puna in the
Chilean side has been deformed since about 45 Ma (late
36 Ramos et al.
Eocene), as indicated by recent dating of the synoro-
genic deposits of the Salar de Atacama (older than 43.8
± 0.5 Ma, according to Mpodozis et al., 1999). Kraemer
et al.’s (1999) recent studies demonstrated that the
synorogenic deposits are older than 38 Ma west of An-
tofalla, which indicates the beginning of the foreland
basin subsidence in the Argentine side of the Puna.
In the section analyzed, the shortening is 140 – 150
km in the Inter-Andean and Sub-Andean belt, more than
60 km in the Eastern Cordillera, and about 100 km in
the Puna. The total shortening is 300 – 310 km at these
latitudes, without taking into account the shortening
of the Western Cordillera and adjacent areas to the west.
These values are similar to the crustal shortening ob-
tained by Schmitz (1994) and on the order of the esti-
mates by Kley (1999). This shortening occurred in the
last 45 million years, which gives an average shortening
rate of 6.7–6.9mm/yr, but probably with periods of high
activity during late Miocene and Pliocene – Quaternary
times.
CENTRAL SEGMENT
The central segment is located between 328 and
338S. This area includes the highest Andes of the states
of San Juan and Mendoza, with elevations of nearly
7000 m above sea level in Mount Aconcagua. This re-
gion comprises the Principal and Frontal Cordilleras
and the Precordillera (see Figure 4). The Andes at these
latitudes are much narrower but higher compared with
their northern segment (see Figure 1).
The changes along strike within this central segment
are shown by the crustal cross sections of Figure 5. This
figure illustrates two different tectonic styles related
to local development of early extensional structures
produced during Late Triassic and Early Jurassic rifting
in the Principal Cordillera (Ramos et al., 1996a, b).
First-order Nazca plate segmentation, with the de-
velopment of a flat subduction segment between 278
and 338300S (Jordan et al., 1983a), has obliterated other
significant differences in structural styles along strike
of the Principal and Frontal Cordilleras (Figure 6). Im-
portant changes in structural styles along the Principal
Andes, north and south of 338S, are controlled by the
local inception of early Mesozoic rifting. The La Ram-
ada fold-and-thrust belt in the north is the result of
tectonic inversion of Permian – Triassic Choiyoi nor-
mal faulting and Late Triassic rift extension (Alvarez,
1996; Alvarez and Ramos, 1999; Rodrı́guez Fernández
et al., 1999) (Figure 7). The main compressional de-
formation during Andean times has produced a com-
plete inversion of rift structures, with a few exceptions.
The normal fault on the western side of Cordón del
Espinacito still shows normal throw, in spite of kin-
ematic indicators that demonstrate top-to-the-east dis-
placement (Ragona, 1993), because in this case the
reverse displacement is less than normal displacement.
The Aconcagua fold-and-thrust belt in the Princi-
pal Cordillera at 338S is dominated by thin-skinned
deformation (Cegarra and Ramos, 1996) that was facil-
itated by the presence of thick gypsum of the Jurassic
Auquilco Formation, which localized the detachment
of the post-Jurassic cover (Figure 8). Triassic rifting at
these latitudes occurred east of the foothills of the Fron-
tal Cordillera within the Cuyo Basin (Dellapé and Hege-
dus, 1993). Because the present orogenic front is located
in that basin, inversion is still incipient.
Based on the present topography, gravity data,
and limited seismic refraction lines from both slopes
of the Andes, the Andean crustal structure contains deep
and narrow crustal roots varying from 70 to 64 km in
depth (Introcaso et al., 1992). Based on the crustal struc-
ture in the La Ramada segment, the shortening is about
150 km, while in the Aconcagua segment it is only 130
km (Introcaso et al., 1992).
In the northern section, at 328S, the shortening is
less than 30 km in the La Ramada fold-and-thrust belt
of Principal Cordillera (Cristallini, 1996); it is 85 km in
the thin-skinned Precordillera fold-and-thrust belt at
this latitude (Ramos et al., 1997); it is 10 – 20 km in the
Sierras Pampeanas; but it is poorly constrained in the
foothills of the Frontal Cordillera. However, based on
surface geology and a detachment level at about 15 to
20 km farther north in western Precordillera, as pro-
posed by Allmendinger et al. (1990), a minimum short-
ening of 20 km in the Frontal Cordillera seems reliable.
Andean shortening on the Chilean side is minimal at
these latitudes. Thus, crustal shortening across the 328S
section is between 135 and 155 km, which is compa-
rable to the 150 km estimated by Introcaso et al. (1992)
based on the crustal roots.
In the 338S section, the largest shortening occurs
in the Principal Cordillera, with 55 to 60 km, including
the Chilean side, at the Aconcagua fold-and-thrust belt
(Kozlowski et al., 1993); the thick-skinned Frontal Cor-
dillera records about 18 km (Ramos et al., 1996a, b); and
the remaining shortening has taken place either in the
Precordillera (less than 30 km at these latitudes) or by
inversion in the Cuyo Basin, and is less than 6.6 km in
the Sierras Pampeanas of San Luis (Costa, 1992). Thus,
total Andean shortening across the 338S section is on
the order of 110 – 115 km, slightly less than the 135 km
estimated by Introcaso et al. (1992).
In both sections, the fold-and-thrust belts have
developed in a foreland-breaking sequence, although
out-of-sequence thrusts have been identified in both
sections. The wedge top, as defined by DeCelles and
Gilest (1996), is very narrow (less than 10 km) at these
latitudes. This is substantially different from the de-
velopment of the large wedge top observed in the Sub-
Andean belt (Figure 3b).
 The Andean Thrust System — Latitudinal Variations in Structural Styles and Orogenic Shortening 37

FIGURE 4. Regional structural units of the southern central Andes, with locations of the different crustal and structural
cross sections of the central segment. In the Principal Cordillera the La Ramada, Aconcagua, and Malargüe belts are
indicated (Based on Ramos et al., 1996b).
 38
Ramos et al.

FIGURE 5. Structural crustal section of the central segment. The boundaries of the basement terranes are based on Ramos (1994). (a) Crustal section of the La
Ramada belt at 328S. Note that the Principal Cordillera is controlled by tectonic inversion of Triassic normal faults (according to Cristallini and Ramos, 1997).
(b) Crustal section of the Aconcagua belt at 338S. Note that the Principal Cordillera is dominated by thin-skinned deformation (according to Introcaso and Ramos,
1992).
 The Andean Thrust System — Latitudinal Variations in Structural Styles and Orogenic Shortening 39

FIGURE 6. First-order Nazca

plate segmentation related
to the Wadati-Benioff zone
geometry. The crustal sec-
tions of the central segment
are in the middle of the flat-
slab segment (Figure 5a) and
in its southern boundary
(Figure 5b). Based on Isacks
(1988) and Cahill and Isacks
(1992).

The time constraints

along both sections indicate
that the present structures
developed in the last 20 mil-
lion years (Ramos, 1996).
Based on that estimate, the
shortening rates at these
latitudes vary, from 7.3 – 7.7
mm/yr along the La Ramada
northern section, to 5.5 – 5.7
mm/yr in the Aconcagua
southern section.

SOUTHERN
SEGMENT
The southern segment
crosses the Principal Cordil-
lera and the Neuquén em-
bayment, thereby encom-
passing the Agrio fold-and-
thrust belt. The interpreta-
tion of the crustal structure
shown in Figure 9 is less constrained than that of the
other two segments and comes mainly from the work
of Couch et al. (1981), Pacino (1993), and Martı́nez et
al. (1997). It is based on gravity data, and features a
small crustal root, less than 42 – 43 km deep (Figure 9).
This fact poses important constraints on the structural
style of the Agrio fold-and-thrust belt.
The structure of the Neuquén embayment has
received considerable attention in recent years because
of the basin’s hydrocarbon potential. Several papers
describing the Agrio fold-and-thrust belt have presented
contrasting models and interpretations; some involve a
thin-skinned style, based mainly on detachment folds
controlled by the Jurassic Auquilco gypsum (Vásquez,
1979; Allen et al., 1984; Ploszkiewicz, 1987; Viñes,
1989; Eisner, 1991). In contrast, other models display a
conspicuous basement involvement (Groeber, 1929;
Kozlowski, 1991; Kozlowski et al., 1993, 1996; Uliana and
Legarreta, 1993; Legarreta and Uliana, 1996).
Based on the surface geology and the basement con-
trol of the structures, there is no doubt that the inner
sector of the Agrio fold-and-thrust belt has been pro-
duced by tectonic inversion of pre-Jurassic normal faults
(Ramos, 1998). The outer sector of the belt, on the other
hand, has a localized, thin-skinned deformation. Dis-
placement transfer between the two sectors has been
explained by different mechanisms. Deep basement
faults with considerable displacement were recognized
by Kozlowski et al. (1996, 1993); a combination of base-
ment thrusts with surface detachment folds was pro-
posed by Chaveau et al. (1996); and tectonic inversion
was suggested by Booth and Coward (1996).
40 Ramos et al.

FIGURE 7. Structural cross-section of the Principal Cordillera at the La Ramada belt (based on Cristallini, 1996).
Note that first-order structures are controlled by Choiyoi Group geometry, reactivated during Late Triassic rifting.

FIGURE 8. The thin-skinned Aconcagua belt across the principal Andes at 338S (based on Cegarra and Ramos, 1996).
The Andean Thrust System — Latitudinal Variations in Structural Styles and Orogenic Shortening 41

FIGURE 9. Structural crustal section of the southern segment. The upper crustal structures are based on Zapata et al. (1999). Crustal roots are from Couch et al.
The crustal structure imposes important constraints
on previous models because it implies that the crustal
shortening cannot exceed 44 km at 378S and 20 km at
the 398S (Martı́nez et al., 1997). These crustal models
assume that during the Pacific marine transgression
that covered the entire orogen in the Early Cretaceous
with shallow-water deposition, the crustal thickness
should be slightly less than normal. Several of the pro-
posed models, such as those of Vásquez (1979) and Al-
len et al. (1984), can be ruled out because of excessive
shortening. The structural cross sections at 378 and 398S
(Zapata et al., 1999) have a strong basement control, as
illustrated in Figure 10. The minimum shortening at
378S is 36 km, and it is 19 km at 398S, in agreement
with what is inferred from the crustal structure.
Both structural sections of Figure 10 show a simple
basement structure dominated by two or three impor-
tant basement uplifts, such as the Cordillera del Viento,
Volcán Tromen, and Sierra de Reyes blocks. The Cor-
dillera del Viento and adjacent blocks plunge to the
south, where they are covered by a Mesozoic sequence.
A thicker Mesozoic sequence favored the development
of the detachment folds and faults in the upper part of
the section that characterize the surface deformation
of the Agrio fold-and-thrust belt.
A common feature of both sections is the Lon-
copué Trough, a possible Jurassic depression that was
reactivated during Cenozoic times. The Cenozoic Cura
Mallı́n Basin, a volcaniclastic trough characterized by
a northwest-trending half-graben system, was devel-
oped in the late Oligocene and early Miocene along the
Chilean-Argentine border (Vergara et al., 1997). The
extension and formation of this basin coincide with
trenchward shifting of the magmatic arc, probably pro-
duced as a consequence of the steepening of the sub-
duction zone at the end of the Eocene or the early
Oligocene (Ramos and Folguera, 1999). Subsequent ex-
tensional reactivation at the end of the Miocene pro-
duced the present structure of the Loncopué Trough,
which is linked to an important volcanic field having
numerous monogenic basaltic cones. Late Cenozoic
strike-slip displacements were responsible for the lo-
calized extension and compression observed in the
Copahue region, along the volcanic axis. Partitioning
(1981) and Martı́nez et al. (1997).

of the stress through strike-slip displacements between

the fore arc and the back arc explains the presently
active tectonism as being a product of the oblique con-
vergence. Diraison et al. (1998) have described a similar
setting farther south that has the opposite sense of dis-
placement controlled by a different basement fabric.
The timing of the main deformation in the Neu-
quén embayment is poorly known. The pre-Liassic half
grabens were partially inverted during Cretaceous
compressional deformation. The structure was mildly
reactivated during the early Miocene, with final com-
pressional deformation taking place in the middle late
42 Ramos et al.

FIGURE 10. Structural cross sections of the Neuquén embayment, based on Zapata et al. (1999). (a) Structural cross
section at 378S, showing the basement uplift of Cordillera del Viento and the Sierra de Reyes, as controlled by tectonic
inversion of previous normal faults. (b) Structural cross section at 398S showing the tectonic inversion of normal faults
in the inner sector of the Agrio belt and in the Chihuidos Arch.

Miocene, as indicated by the synorogenic sediments
and associated volcaniclastic deposits. The Cenozoic
deformation was a combination of extension, mild com-
pression, and strike-slip displacements, as established
by Lavenu and Cembrano (1999), and was very differ-
ent from the active late Cenozoic deformation of pre-
vious segments. The average shortening rate has been
less than 1 mm/yr since the early Miocene.
DISCUSSION
The differences in the thrusting among the three
segments of this part of the Andes are strongly con-
trolled by a series of factors related to the nature and
physical state of the continental crust. The most im-
portant of these factors are the thermal gradient in the
crust, the lithologic nature and structure of the base-
ment, the former geologic history of the crust, and the
previous existence of a sedimentary wedge. Other im-
portant factors are related to the kinematics and the
properties of the subducting oceanic slab.
Basement Influence
The nature of the Andean basement is of primary
importance in controlling compressional deformation.
An example of this control can be seen in the northern
segment. The old and strong Amazonia cratonic terrane
underlies the Sub-Andean belt. Its rigid nature favored
the detachment of the sedimentary cover from the base-
ment, resulting in greater than 100-km shortening in
the thin-skinned fold-thrust belt. On the other hand,
farther west, the suture between Amazonia and the
composite Arequipa-Antofalla terrane coincides with
important changes in structural style (Figure 3). This
composite basement terrane is clearly depicted in grav-
imetric maps (Götze et al., 1994). A Cretaceous graben
system that developed in the hanging wall of the su-
ture has controlled the style and structure of some
 The Andean Thrust System — Latitudinal Variations in Structural Styles and Orogenic Shortening
sectors of the Eastern Cordillera and the adjacent Puna
(Salfity et al., 1993; Kley and Monaldi, 1998; Cristallini
et al., 1997).
The central segment shows similar controls that
were exerted, by the nature of the basement, on the de-
formation. The thin-skinned Precordillera thrust belt
(von Gosen, 1992) formed in the thick-layered strata of
the early Paleozoic passive margin that were deposited
on the ancient, highly metamorphosed and therefore
presumably strong basement of the Cuyania terrane
(Ramos et al., 1996a, b). In contrast, the adjacent Pam-
pia and Chilenia terranes (see Figure 11) were rheolog-
ically weak and had no passive margin sedimentary
wedge. Triassic rifting, which subsequently developed
in the hanging wall of the suture, induced changes in
the style of compressional deformation even within
the Precordillera fold-and-thrust belt. Sectors of thin-
skinned deformation alternate with others having in-
version tectonics, as shown in the sections of Figure 5.
The composite and relatively young nature of the Pam-
pia terrane favored the basement thrusts of Sierras Pam-
peanas, as seen in the Sierras de Córdoba and farther
west (Cristallini et al., 2004).
The southern segment developed in young, thin
continental crust, which probably was accreted to
Gondwana during Paleozoic times. The rheologically
weak basement and the segmented nature of the sub-
stratum resulting from the Mesozoic rifting favored the
basement’s involvement in the deformation, as de-
picted in Figures 9 and 10.
Oceanic Slab Influence
The continuous trend of decreasing crustal roots
observed at both sides of the Bolivian orocline can be
only partially explained by fore-arc rotation and dif-
ferences in orogenic shortening of the foreland fold-
and-thrust belts, as proposed by Isacks (1988). The de-
crease in shortening continues as far south as 468300S,
almost 3000 km away, in regions not affected by fore-
arc rotation.
Jordan et al. (1983a, b) described the control ex-
erted by the geometry of the oceanic Nazca plate be-
neath the Andes. The strong coupling between the
Nazca and South America plates in the Pampean sub-
horizontal subduction segment controls the develop-
ment of the Sierras Pampeanas in the adjacent broken
foreland.
Kley et al. (1999) recently questioned the relation-
ship between flat-slab segments and broken foreland
and basement thrusts. A contrast exists between the
Peruvian and the Pampean segments, despite their sim-
ilar subduction geometry: In the Pampean segment
there are well-developed basement thrust blocks in the
foreland that are similar to the Colorado-Wyoming
43
Rockies ( Jordan and Allmendinger, 1986). As shown by
Mathalone and Montoya (1995), although the base-
ment in the Peruvian segment is involved in the de-
formation, there are no basement thrust blocks like
those in the Sierras Pampeanas. Kley et al. (1999) took
this fact as evidence that the existence of old basement
highs, without significant sedimentary cover, was the
main control of these basement thrusts. However, as
Jordan et al. (1983b) and Pilger (1984) pointed out, the
shallowing of the subduction zone occurred 15 million
years ago in the Pampean segment and much more
recently (approximately 5 million years ago) in the Pe-
ruvian segment). Therefore, the Peruvian segment has
only an incipiently developed broken foreland. On the
other hand, another flat-slab segment, the one devel-
oped in the Bucaramanga segment (Ramos, 1999) in the
Northern Andes (north of 48300N) and described by
Pennington (1981), is closely related to the basement
uplift by tectonic inversion of the Mérida Andes that
was described by Colletta et al. (1997).
The transition between the tectonic inversion of
the Santa Bárbara fold-thrust belt and the Sierras Pam-
peanas basement thrusts is imperceptible (Figure 1);
there is a smooth transition from a normal-dipping to
a flat-slab subduction zone between 268 and 288S.
However, in spite of the importance of the geom-
etry of the Nazca plate, there are no significant varia-
tions, either in the crustal roots or in the amount of
upper-plate shortening, immediately to the north and
south of the flat-slab segment. Variations in structural
styles in this area are mainly controlled by basement
rheology and previous tectonic history (Allmendinger
et al., 1983; Ramos et al., 1996a, b; Kley et al., 1999).
To explain the continuous trend of decreasing short-
ening at both sides of the Bolivian orocline, far from
the rotated fore-arc areas, it is necessary to examine
other characteristics of the oceanic floor.
Golovchencko et al. (1981) present a magnetic
lineation map of the adjacent oceanic floor, west of
South America, that shows that the oldest and coldest
oceanic crust reaching the trench is the early Eocene
crust that is being subducted at both sides of the Boli-
vian orocline, along the central segment of the Central
Andes. In this segment the Andes are widest, the crustal
roots are largest, and the orogenic shortening is great-
est. The present thrust front extends as much as 800 km
away from the trench.
On the other hand, the crust being subducted south
of the Gulf of Guayaquil (38S latitude) is as young as
early Oligocene, and the crustal shortening and crustal
roots are smaller than in the Bolivian segment (Cabassi
and Introcaso, 1999). The difference is more striking
in the Southern Andes. The age of oceanic crust that
is being subducted there varies from early Eocene in
the north at the Bolivian segment to Quaternary at
the triple junction of the Nazca, South America, and
44 Ramos et al.

FIGURE 11. Terrane map of the central segment of the Andes, indicating the sutures and inferred sutures, magmatic
arcs, and basement thrust vergence; based on Ramos (1996).

Antarctica plates, where the Chilean spreading ridge smaller crustal roots and orogenic shortening that
collides with the trench (Tebbens et al., 1997). This matches the trend of decreasing age of oceanic-crust
age decrease occurs in discrete segments, which show subduction.
 The Andean Thrust System — Latitudinal Variations in Structural Styles and Orogenic Shortening
Crustal Roots and Shortening
The amount of crustal shortening inferred from
geophysical data, on the basis of crustal thickness de-
rived from seismic-refraction and gravity data and
other methods, generally matches the orogenic short-
ening derived form structural cross sections. The few
exceptions found along the Andes (Kley and Monaldi,
1998) may be related either to lack of information,
which locally is the result of the extensive cover by the
late Cenozoic volcanic arc, or to the mass transfer by
strike-slip faults to adjacent areas. The fit is adequate
in those areas where there is good surface information.
On the other hand, the crustal shortening derived
from the topography, which is used to constrain the
interpretation of the crustal roots, gives an indepen-
dent way to control the structural style of the surface
deformation. Several previously proposed models seem
to be inadequate when compared with the available in-
formation on size of the crustal roots. In some areas,
such as the Puna or sectors of the Eastern Cordillera,
models that advocate high-angle thrusting do not pro-
duce enough shortening to account for the crustal roots.
In the southern segment described here, some
authors have proposed thin-skinned structural geom-
etries with large amounts of shortening (Vásquez, 1979;
Allen et al., 1984). However, the Agrio fold-and-thrust
belt sections of Figure 10, constrained by the available
seismic-reflection data, suggest substantial basement
involvement and only about 20 km of crustal shorten-
ing. If the crustal roots are as small as suggested by
the relatively subdued topography and gravity data of
this region, it will be difficult to accommodate large-
magnitude shortening without significant tectonic ero-
sion at the continental margin. The lack of foreland
shifting of the volcanic arc between the Jurassic and the
Paleogene demonstrates that no important tectonic
erosion took place (Ramos, 1988).
There is a close relationship between orogenic
shortening and propagation of the thrust front to the
foreland. In the areas of greatest shortening, such as in
the northern segment, the thrust front extends 750 to
800 km away from the trench. The separation decreases
to the south, and at the latitude of the Neuquén Basin,
the distance from the orogenic front in the foreland
to the trench is about 280 km. The separation between
the orogenic front and trench also correlates with the
age of the subducting oceanic crust. The inboard limit
of the Wadati-Benioff zone seismicity coincides, to a
first order, with the Andean deformation front. It seems
reasonable to suggest that younger, hotter oceanic
lithosphere will be resorbed back into the mantle faster
and therefore has a less profound inboard extent. Old,
cold oceanic lithosphere occupies a larger downdip
extent of the subducted plate and therefore has a larger
asthenospheric wedge. As a result, deformation is more
45
efficiently transmitted to the foreland and extends far-
ther away from the trench.
Newly acquired space geodetic data record rates
and direction of motion across the Andes, mainly be-
tween the continental margin, which is affected by
the Nazca plate convergence, and stable South America
(Norabuena et al., 1998). Recent data presented by
Kendrick et al. (1999) show significant shortening rates
between the western slope of the Andes and the aver-
age position of stations located in cratonic stable areas
of Argentina and Brazil. This total relative motion is
the result of several components, such as (1) transient
elastic deformation on the locked portion of the plate
interface that can be released during large thrust earth-
quakes, and (2) permanent deformation through crust-
al shortening and mountain uplift. The assessment of
this permanent deformation is important for inter-
preting the Andean rates of shortening. The changes
in displacement rates among Santiago, Chile (19.4 ±
0.2 mm/yr); San Juan (7.3 ± 0.3 mm/yr), Argentina; and
La Plata, near Buenos Aires (1.9 ± 0.5 mm/yr) make it
possible to evaluate the active shortening within the
Principal Cordillera-Precordillera and Sierras Pampea-
nas in the Pampean flat-slab segment. These rates in-
dicate a shortening between both slopes of the Andes of
12 ± 0.5 mm/yr, and within Sierras Pampeanas of 5.4 ±
0.5 mm/yr. If we compare these figures with those de-
rived from crustal balance of Andean roots (7.65 mm/yr)
or from structural cross sections (5.25 mm/yr) in the
Principal Cordillera at these latitudes, the G.P.S. results
are higher. The rates obtained by Zapata and Allmen-
dinger (1996) for the Precordillera are within this range.
This fact may indicate either a concentration of elastic
deformation along the continental margin or an in-
crease, in recent years, of the average Neogene short-
ening. On the other hand, figures obtained from the
structural shortening computed for one of the most
active areas of Sierras Pampeanas, mainly in the Pie de
Palo area (5 mm/yr in the last 3 m.y., according to
Ramos and Vujovich, 1995), give similar rates when
compared with the G.P.S. data (5.4 mm/yr). The similar
values may indicate that any elastic deformation accu-
mulated in this region was minimal, and, if it existed,
was released by the large Pie de Palo earthquake in 1977
(Smalley et al., 1993).
Although these values are still preliminary, they
illustrate that space-based geodesy is opening a new
era for the evaluation, in an independent way, of the
present orogenic shortening in the Andes.
CONCLUSIONS
This overview attempts to relate topography to
crustal roots and, on this basis, to evaluate the crust-
al shortening in three segments of the Andes. The
46 Ramos et al.
correlation is good between crustal shortening data
derived from the crustal roots and topography and
orogenic shortening data derived from balanced cross
sections of fold-and-thrust belts.
In the northern segment of the Andes, the struc-
tural style is a thick-skinned belt in the Puna, con-
trolled mainly by the high heat flow and a shallow
ductile-brittle transition in the basement but with sub-
ordinate control by tectonic inversion of older normal
faults. The Eastern Cordillera is mainly a thick-skinned
belt controlled by tectonic inversion, while the Sub-
Andean belt is entirely dominated by thin-skinned
tectonics. The Sub-Andean belt is developing as the
wedge top of the foreland system, where shortening is
partitioned in four or five thrusts that are moving sim-
ultaneously. Average shortening rates for the entire
segment vary from 6.7 to 6.9 mm/yr, although locally
they may reach 9.3 mm/yr.
The central segment shows contrasting structural
styles, with alternating thin- and thick-skinned belts.
Tectonic inversion dominates the thick-skinned belts,
and the wedge-top is relatively reduced. In spite of the
different heat flows and the distinct basement with the
northern segment, the shortening rate varies, from 7.3–
7.7 mm/yr in the north, to 5.5–5.7 mm/yr in the south.
The southern segment has a very low rate of short-
ening — less than 1 mm/yr — and probably is regulated
by important strike-slip partitioning of the finite oblique
stress in the fore arc.
The size of the crustal roots, the shortening within
the fold-and-thrust belts, and the estimated shortening
rates show a progressive decrease that correlates with
the age of the subducting oceanic crust. This latter fac-
tor seems to control the amount of shortening detected
at different latitudes, with larger shortening associated
with the older, subducting oceanic crust.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors are indebted to several colleagues of
the Laboratorio de Tectónica Andina of the Universi-
dad de Buenos Aires, as well as to YPF S.A. for logistic
support. The SECYT PICT 06729 and CONICET PIP
4162 financed this work. The authors want to express
their gratitude to reviewers Richard Allmendinger, Ray-
mond Price, and Jorge Skarmeta for their comments
and suggestions.
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