doi: 10.1111/ter.12120 Local high relief at the southern ...bodo/pdf/montero14_local_high_relief9Ma.pdf · clase, K-feldspar, biotite, and zircon. To constrain the age of palaeotopog-raphy

Local high relief at the southern margin of the Andean plateauby 9 Ma: evidence from ignimbritic valley fills and river incision

Carolina Montero-L!opez,1 Manfred R. Strecker,2 Taylor F. Schildgen,2 Fernando Hongn,1

Silvina Guzm!an,1 Bodo Bookhagen2 and Masafumi Sudo21Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA (IBIGEO), Universidad Nacional de Salta, CONICET, Salta 4400, Argentina; 2Institut f€urErd- und Umweltwissenschaften, Universit€at Potsdam, Potsdam 14476, Germany

ABSTRACT

A valley-filling ignimbrite re-exposed through subsequentriver incision at the southern margin of the Andean (Puna)plateau preserves pristine geological evidence of pre-lateMiocene palaeotopography in the north western ArgentineAndes. Our new 40Ar/39Ar dating of the Las Papas Ignimbritesyields a plateau age of 9.24 ! 0.03 Ma, indicating valley-relief and orographic-barrier conditions comparable to thepresent-day. A later infill of Plio–Pleistocene coarse conglo-merates has been linked to wetter conditions, but resulted inno additional net incision of the Las Papas valley, considering

that the base of the ignimbrite remains unexposed in thevalley bottom. Our observations indicate that at least 550 mof local plateau margin relief (and likely >2 km) existed by9 Ma at the southern Puna margin, which likely aided theefficiency of the orographic barrier to rainfall along the east-ern and south eastern flanks of the Puna and causes aridity inthe plateau interior.

Terra Nova, 00, 1–7, 2014

Introduction

Unravelling the spatiotemporal pat-terns in the topographic developmentof mountain belts is key to under-standing how tectonic forcing caninfluence climate and surface pro-cesses, particularly when assessing therole of deep-seated, mantle-drivenuplift mechanisms (Allmendingeret al., 1997; Garzione et al., 2006).The implications of such studies areeven broader when orographic-barrierevolution is viewed in light of itsinfluence on rainfall and erosion gra-dients (Bookhagen and Strecker,2012), speciation patterns (Semawet al., 2005) or the emplacement ofsupergene mineral deposits (Hartleyand Rice, 2005). The development ofsteep, deeply dissected flanks ofCenozoic orogenic plateaus and theirimpacts on climate make plateaumargins ideal sites to investigate howsurface and deep-seated processesinteract in creating and shaping theseenvironments.Studies attempting to elucidate the

surface-uplift history of the Andean(Altiplano-Puna) plateau have

employed stable isotopes in pedogeniccarbonates and hydrated volcanicglass (e.g. Garzione et al., 2006; Pin-gel et al., 2014; Saylor and Horton,2014), leaf morphology (e.g. Gregory-Wodzicki et al., 1998), and geomor-phic/geological evidence of reliefdevelopment (e.g. Gubbels et al.,1993; Barke and Lamb, 2006; Hokeet al., 2007; Schildgen et al., 2007;Thouret et al., 2007; Guzm!an andPetrinovic, 2010; Jordan et al., 2010).Most of the investigated areas liealong the flanks of the northern An-dean plateau (Altiplano), and studiessuggest surface uplift of c. 1–3.4 kmsince the late Miocene (e.g. Gregory-Wodzicki, 2000). Ambiguities remainowing to a lack of well-constrainedchronologies, and from the potentialfor topographically induced changesin climate to influence the stable isoto-pic (e.g. Ehlers and Poulsen, 2009) orincision (e.g. Lease and Ehlers, 2013)proxy data. Limited information ontopographic development exists forthe eastern sectors of the plateau, andvirtually nothing is known about theelevation history of its southern mar-gin.Shortening and surface uplift of

individual ranges in the present-dayPuna plateau and adjacent regionshad already occurred by the middleEocene–Oligocene (e.g. Kraemeret al., 1999; Coutand et al., 2001;Hongn et al., 2007; N!obile and

D!avila, 2011). These uplifted rangesconstituted orographic barriers tonorth east and east-southeast mois-ture-laden winds, helping to sustainsemiarid to arid conditions in theplateau interior region since thattime (e.g. Strecker et al., 2007), whileinternal drainage conditions couldhave initiated by 15 Ma (Alonsoet al., 1991; Vandervoort et al.,1995). Despite this geological evi-dence for early topographic andrelief development of the Puna pla-teau, farther north, a recent studysuggests that relief within canyonsystems did not develop along theeastern margin of the Altiplano pla-teau in Bolivia until the onset of wet-ter conditions during the Pliocene(Lease and Ehlers, 2013), implyingpotentially long delays between sur-face uplift and river incision.In this study, we contribute to the

efforts to determine the timing ofplateau uplift and relief developmentby constraining the incision andfilling history of a deeply incisedcanyon that drains across the south-ern margin of the Puna plateau innorthwest Argentina (Fig. 1). Wepresent 40Ar/39Ar ages from twosamples of an ignimbrite in the LasPapas valley, which once covered anerosional palaeotopography and isnow being re-incised. These newdates allow us to place a minimumage on the high relief along the

Correspondence: Carolina Montero-L!opez, Instituto de Bio y Geociencias delNOA (IBIGEO), Universidad Nacionalde Salta, CONICET, Salta 4400, Argen-tina. Tel.: +54 387 4318086; e-mail:[email protected]

© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd 1

doi: 10.1111/ter.12120

southern margin of the Puna plateau.Also, even though global cooling andpossible changes in surface processeswere initiated during the Pliocene,we demonstrate that no additionalnet incision occurred in the LasPapas valley associated with thesechanges.

Geological framework

The Andean (Altiplano-Puna) plateauis located between 15° and 27°S lati-tude (Fig. 1), with a mean elevationof 3.7 km and an areal extent ofc. 500,000 km2. The Puna (Turner,1972) constitutes the southern pla-teau, which is characterized by inter-nally drained Cenozoic sedimentarybasins, widespread Cenozoic volca-nism, and N–S-oriented basement-cored ranges with peaks >6000 ma.s.l. The Las Papas valley is one ofseveral deeply incised valleys alongthe southern flanks of the Puna pla-teau, and drains the E–W-oriented

Cordillera de San Buenaventura(Fig. 1). The Las Papas valley has itsheadwaters atop the Puna at eleva-tions around 4300 m, where it tra-verses Proterozoic to early Palaeozoicbasement rocks and late Miocene–Pliocene volcanic rocks (Montero-L!opez et al., 2010a). Towards thesouth, the valley exposes the NeogeneLas Papas Ignimbrites (Montero-L!opez, 2009) and Quaternary ignimb-rites (Cerro Blanco Volcanic Complex,Seggiaro et al., 2006; Montero-L!opezet al., 2010b). Locally, the basementrocks and the Neogene ignimbritesare covered by the Plio–PleistocenePunaschotter conglomerates (Penck,1920). This diachronous unit comprisesdisorganized, poorly sorted boulderconglomerates, which filled valleysand basins throughout the Puna mar-gin (Penck, 1920; Turner, 1973; Bossiet al., 2001; Strecker et al., 2009). U–Pb ages of volcanic ashes intercalatedwithin the Punaschotter of the Fiam-bal!a Basin to the south (Fig. 1) are

between 3.05 ! 0.44 Ma and<3.77 ! 0.10 Ma (Carrapa et al.,2008), while ages range from c. 1.2–2.9 Ma in other basins (Bossi et al.,2001; Strecker et al., 2009). Thesestrata are in turn unconformablyoverlain by coarse river-terrace con-glomerates. Terraces were sculptedinto the underlying bedrock and sedi-mentary strata, and in places are1 km higher than the Las Papas val-ley floor (Schoenbohm and Strecker,2009).A series of nearly N–S striking,

west-dipping reverse faults associatedwith open folds has been related tothe growth of the ranges comprisingthe southern Puna margin (Rubioloet al., 2001), carrying basement rocksover the Las Papas ignimbrites andthe Punaschotter conglomerates(Schoenbohm and Strecker, 2009;Montero-L!opez et al., 2010a).Locally, these units are tilted approx-imately 15° SW in the region of theLas Papas valley.The Las Papas river drains into

the Fiambal!a Basin, which isbounded by reverse-faulted ranges(Fig. 1). Deformation and uplift ofthe Fiambal!a Basin’s northernranges, through which the Las Papasvalley has incised, is inferred to havestarted no later than the late Mio-cene, based on AFT exhumation agesof c. 6 Ma (Carrapa et al., 2006).

Las Papas Ignimbrites and theirtopographic relationships

Along the Las Papas valley, severalpyroclastic units with similar charac-teristics make for a complex volcanicstratigraphy. In the section studiedhere, there are at least two differentignimbrites that we refer to as the LasPapas Ignimbrites (Montero-L!opez,2009). The ignimbrites are exposedonly along the central and southernsectors of the valley (Figs 2 and 3), upto 2810 m a.s.l. in the central sectionof the valley and as low as 2260 ma.s.l. in the southern section, implyingat least 550 m of topographic relief atthe Puna margin at the time of ignim-brite deposition based on the outcroppattern (Fig. 3b). To the north of theLas Papas valley, the ignimbrites arenot exposed, while to the east of thevalley, younger ignimbrites are datedat 7.17 Ma (40Ar/39Ar in biotite,Montero-L!opez et al., 2010b).

Figure 2A

CORD

ILLE

RAFR

ONT

AL

FAM

ATIN

A SY

STEM

SIERRASPAMPEANAS

PUNA

EAST

ERN

CORD

ILLE

RA

S.M. deTucumán

S.F. del V.Catamarca

67º00’ W68º00’ W 66º00’ W

25º0

0’ S

26º0

0’ S

28º0

0’ S

27º0

0’ S

29

º00’

S

VP

LC

FB

BP

meters

150

7000

69º00’ W

C S B

Fig. 1 Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of northwest Argentina showing the loca-tion of the Puna plateau. White box shows location of study area. CSB, Cordillerade San Buenaventura; FB, Fiambal!a Basin; BP, Bols!on de Pipanaco; VP, Vicu~naPampa; LC, Luingo Caldera.

2 © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Local high relief of the southern Puna margin by 9 Ma • C. Montero-L!opez et al. Terra Nova, Vol 0, No. 0, 1–7.............................................................................................................................................................

Despite the incision of the LasPapas river, the base of the lowestignimbrite is not exposed anywherealong the valley bottom. In the mid-dle part of the river-long profile, theLas Papas Ignimbrites are exposedbetween elevations of 2300–2350 mat the valley bottom and up to2700 m on interfluves to the east,

indicating a minimum thickness of240 m after correcting for the post-depositional SW tilting (Figs 2b and3). Based on the overall outcrop pat-tern (Fig. 2a), we conclude that thisregion records the existence of asouthward-directed fluvial systemthat drained the Puna region, andthus significant plateau margin

(>550 m) and river valley (>240 m)relief at the time of ignimbriteemplacement.

Geochronology

The Las Papas Ignimbrites comprisepink-white to pale-purple coloured,indurated and welded pyroclasticdeposits with eutaxitic texture andcolumnar jointing (Fig. 4) and amineral association of quartz, plagio-clase, K-feldspar, biotite, and zircon.To constrain the age of palaeotopog-raphy and relief development withinthe Las Papas valley, we dated twosamples of the Las Papas Ignimbritesusing 40Ar/39Ar geochronology onbiotite separates from pumice bystepwise heating of multi-grain aliqu-ots (6–14 mg of biotite separate).The results show good plateau andinverse isochron ages, with 40Ar/36Arvalues close to the 40Ar atmosphericvalue, implying no contaminationand reinforcing the robustness of ourbiotite ages. Additional details ofsample analysis and summary tablesare in the Supporting Information.The sample collected from the

lower section of the ignimbrite pro-file exposed at the valley bottom(LP-07, 2334 m a.s.l.) provided a pla-teau age of 9.24 ! 0.03 Ma (Fig. 5a,6 contiguous steps, 83.7% of total39Ar released). The normal andinverse isochron ages of9.33 ! 0.09 Ma (Table S1) from theplateau steps agree with the plateauage within uncertainty. The secondsample (Pa-08, 2436 m a.s.l.) wastaken several metres up-section andyielded a plateau age of8.47 ! 0.04 Ma (Fig. 5b). Althoughthe plateau age adopted here com-prises only two contiguous steps (10and 11) and covers 43.6% of total39Ar released, it is consistent with thetotal gas age (8.47 ! 0.02 Ma) andalso with normal and inverseisochron ages from the plateausteps (8.47 ! 0.09 Ma and 8.46 !0.09 Ma) (Fig. 5b and Table S2).Therefore, we conclude that theplateau age is geologically meaningful.

Discussion and conclusions

When volcanism was active in thesouthern Puna, pyroclastic flowsfollowed the course of the Las Papaspalaeo-valley, and in some cases

2300

2100

2500

1900

2700 W E

0 1 Kilometers

LPriver

A A’

Elev

atio

n as

l (m

)

67º45’ W

N

67º50’ W

Pa-08

FIAMBALÁBASIN

A A’

PAPAS

27º1

0’ S

27º0

5’ S

300030

00

2500

2500

300030

00

(A)C S B

Basement rocks Late Miocene ignimbritesPunaschotter cgl.Holocene ignimbritesA-A’ profile

normal faultreverse fault

sample locationselevation asl (m)3000

(B)

LAS

VALLEY

LP-7

0 1

Kilometers2

Fig. 2 (A) Geological map of the middle and southern part of the Las Papas valleyshowing the distribution of the Las Papas Ignimbrites and Punaschotter conglomer-ates, and sample locations. (B) AA0 cross profile illustrates the relationship betweenthe Las Papas Ignimbrites and paleotopography. See the bar tilted 15° to the SW,indicating the (minimum) measured thickness of the Las Papas Ignimbrites.


Terra Nova, Vol 0, No. 0, 1–7 C. Montero-L!opez et al. • Local high relief of the southern Puna margin by 9 Ma............................................................................................................................................................

overtopped the interfluves. Subse-quently, this palaeo-landscape wasre-incised, and rivers draining thePuna margin adjusted to the regional

base level in the Fiambal!a Basin tothe south. Based on the ages of theignimbrites and field observations oftheir valley-filling morphology, we

first deduce that the southern rim ofthe Puna constituted a topographichigh with at least 550 m of relief andan established river network drainingthe present-day plateau marginbefore 9.24 ! 0.03 Ma. Second, inci-sion of the Las Papas river throughthe ignimbrites was at least 240 mand continues to the present-daywithout having exposed their base,implying that cross-valley relief hasnot increased since ignimbrite deposi-tion. Finally, because differentialuplift of the plateau margin relativeto the Fiambal!a Basin would haveresulted in incision of the Las Papasvalley, the lack of exposure of thebase of the ignimbrite also arguesagainst significant post-9 Ma differ-ential uplift. Hence, the total localplateau-margin relief of c. 2 km(Fig. 3b) has likely changed littlesince 9 Ma.This process of filling and renewed

incision was repeated again duringthe deposition of the Plio-QuaternaryPunaschotter conglomerates, whichcovered the erosional palaeo-topog-raphy that had developed within thelate Miocene ignimbrites and base-ment rocks. Although diachronous,these coarse deposits have the unify-ing characteristic of having partlyre-incised or filled palaeo-topographyalong the southern and eastern Punamargin (Strecker et al., 2009; Pingelet al., 2013), implying that a high-elevation, high-relief plateau rimincised by river valleys alreadyexisted during the late Miocene.Because incision failed to expose thebase of the Las Papas Ignimbrites,we infer that the most importantphase of downcutting and reliefdevelopment of the Las Papas valleyreflects pre-late Miocene differentialuplift of the Puna margin relative tothe Fiambal!a Basin, rather than Plio-cene climate-driven processes thatmay have changed the precipitationand runoff regimes, a scenario thathas been proposed by Lease andEhlers (2013) for the more humidBolivian Andes, but has recentlybeen challenged (Gasparini andWhipple, 2014).Overall, our observations and data

from the Las Papas valley indicatethat topographic relief structure simi-lar to that of today existed by lateMiocene time along the southernPuna margin. This constraint on past

N

Puna L Miocene ignimbritesFig. 4

study area

68ºW

27ºS

PUNA

FB

samplelocations

FB: Fiambalá BasinLP: Las Papas valley

Puna rim

Pa-08LP-7

6868

171meters

(A)

(B)

Elev

atio

n ab

ove

see

leve

l (km

)

Distance downstream (km)10 20 30 40 500

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

Las Papas Valley4.5

Basement (metamorphicand volcanic rocks)

Punaschotter cgl.Las Papas Ignimbrites

LP-7Pa-08

Long river profile

?

Holocene ignimbrites

LP valley outlet

B B’

B’

B

B-B’ profile

Fig. 3 (A) Three-dimensional perspective view of the outcrop pattern of the lateMiocene ignimbrites that filled local paleotopography across the southern Punaplateau margin. (B) Long river profile of the Las Papas River with the sample loca-tions and the units exposed along the valley.

E W

Las Papas River

Basement

Las Papas Ignimbrites

Fig. 4 View of the Las Papas Ignimbrites from the Las Papas River (approximatelyat the location of the AA0 profile of Fig. 2B).



relief is in agreement with the agesfor palaeotopographic constructionreported farther east and north east(i.e. c. 12 Ma, Vicu~na Pampa Volca-nic Complex, Guzm!an et al., 2014;12.1 Ma, Luingo caldera, Guzm!anand Petrinovic, 2010) along the southeastern Puna margin (Fig. 1), andthus represents a phenomenon ofregional importance. Moreover, therestriction of the 7 Ma ignimbrites tothe north of 27°S latitude impliesthat a topographic barrier preventedtheir distribution farther south intothe Fiambal!a Basin (Montero-L!opezet al., 2010b).An elevated region coinciding with

the present-day margin of the plateauwould have constituted an efficientorographic barrier to east-southeast-erly derived moisture. Indeed, sedi-mentary characteristics (Starck andAnz!otegui, 2001; Coutand et al.,2006) and stable isotope data (Klein-ert and Strecker, 2001) record achange from arid to more humid con-ditions at c. 9 Ma in the adjacentAngastaco and Santa Mar!ıa basins tothe north, while deposits from the pla-teau interior reflect protracted aridity(Alonso et al., 1991). Taken together,our new observations add to a grow-ing body of evidence that the south-eastern Puna margin constituted a

high orographic barrier to moistureduring the late Miocene.The infilling nature of the Las

Papas Ignimbrites and the lack ofexposure of their base in the modernLas Papas valley imply no additionalnet incision of the valley since depo-sition of the ignimbrites, despite sub-sequent changes in climate andprecipitation along the eastern andsouthern flanks of the Andes (e.g.Vera et al., 2006; Strecker et al.,2007), and also no significant differ-ential uplift of the plateau marginrelative to the Fiambal!a Basin.Hence, we propose that the plateaumargin and valley relief of the south-ern Puna margin at c. 9 Ma musthave been comparable to that oftoday in the vicinity of the LasPapas valley, and likely also in otherparts of the south eastern Puna mar-gin, based on integration of our datawith regional palaeoclimatic and sed-imentological observations.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by DAAD(Germany)-Ministerio de Educaci!on(Argentina) grant to C. Montero-L!opez,DFG grant STR373/28-1 to M. Streckerand an Emmy Noether grant (SCHI1241/1-1) to T. Schildgen. We thank M. Cabe-

zas for field assistance. A. Hartley, T. Jor-dan and an anonymous reviewer arethanked for constructive reviews.

References

Allmendinger, R.W., Jordan, T.E., Kay,S.M. and Isacks, B.L., 1997. Theevolution of the Altiplano-Puna Plateauof the Central Andes. Annu. Rev. EarthPlanet. Sci., 25, 139–174.

Alonso, R.N., Jordan, T.E., Tabbut, K.T.and Vandervoort, D.S., 1991. Giantevaporite belts of the Neogene centralAndes. Geology, 19, 401–404.

Barke, R. and Lamb, S., 2006. LateCenozoic uplift of the EasternCordillera, Bolivian Andes. EarthPlanet. Sci. Lett., 249, 350–367.

Bookhagen, B. and Strecker, M.R., 2012.Spatiotemporal trends in erosion ratesacross a pronounced rainfall gradient:Examples from the southern CentralAndes. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 327,97–110.

Bossi, G., Georgieff, S., Gavriloff, I.,Iba~nez, L. and Muruaga, C., 2001.Cenozoic evolution of the intramontaneSanta Maria basin, Pampean ranges,northwestern Argentina. J. S. Am.Earth Sci., 14, 725–734.

Carrapa, B., Strecker, M.R. and Sobel,E.R., 2006. Cenozoic orogenic growthin the Central Andes: evidence fromsedimentary rock provenance andapatite fission track thermochronologyin the Fiambal!a Basin, southernmostPuna Plateau margin (NW Argentina).Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 247, 82–100.

Carrapa, B., Hauer, J., Schoenbohm, L.,Strecker, M., Schmitt, A., Villanueva,A. and Sosa G!omez, J., 2008.Dynamics of deformation andsedimentation in the Northern SierrasPampeanas: an integrated study of theNeogene Fiambal!a basin, NWArgentina. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 120,1518–1543.

Coutand, I., Cobbold, P., de Urreiztieta,M., Gautier, P., Chauvin, A., Gapais,D., Rossello, E. and L!opez-Gamundi,O., 2001. Style and history Andeandeformation, Puna plateaunorthwestern Argentina. Tectonics, 20,210–234.

Coutand, I., Carrapa, B., Deeken, A.,Schmitt, A., Sobel, E. and Strecker, M.,2006. Propagation of orographicbarriers along an active range front:insights from sandstone petrographyand detrital apatite fission-trackthermochronology in the intramontaneAngastaco basin, NW Argentina. BasinRes., 18, 1–26.

Ehlers, T. and Poulsen, C.J., 2009.Influence of Andean uplift on climateand paleoaltimetry estimates. EarthPlanet. Sci. Lett., 281, 238–248.

)aM(

egA

2

6

8

Total gas age:8.86 ± 0.05 Ma

Plateau age: 9.24 ± 0.03 Ma

LP-7(C08034)

4

10

0

5

10

15

0 20 40 60 80 100

Plateau age:8.47 ± 0.04 Ma

39Ar released (cumulative %)

)aM(

egA

Pa-08(C11023)Total gas age:8.47 ± 0.02 Ma

(A)

(B)

Fig. 5 40Ar/39Ar step-heating experiment results and plateau ages of Las Papas Ig-nimbrites. (A) Sample LP-7 (27°04052.40 0S, 67°47021.40 0W); (B) Sample Pa-08(27°04011.60 0S, 67°47048.80 0W).



Garzione, C., Molnar, P., Libarkin, J.and MacFadden, B., 2006. Rapid lateMiocene rise of the Bolivian Altiplano:evidence for removal of mantlelithosphere. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett.,241, 543–556.

Gasparini, N.M. and Whipple, K.X.,2014. Diagnosing climatic and tectoniccontrols on topography: Eastern flankof the northern Bolivian Andes.Lithosphere, 6, 230–250.

Gregory-Wodzicki, K.M., 2000. Uplifthistory of the Central and NorthernAndes: a review. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull.,112, 1095–1105.

Gregory-Wodzicki, K.M., McIntosh,W.C. and Velasquez, K., 1998. Climaticand tectonic implications of the lateMiocene Jakokkota flora, BolivianAltiplano. J. S. Am. Earth Sci., 11,533–560.

Gubbels, T., Isacks, B. and Farrar, E.,1993. High-level surfaces, plateauuplift, and foreland development,Bolivian Central Andes. Geology, 21,695–698.

Guzm!an, S. and Petrinovic, I., 2010. TheLuingo caldera: the South-easternmostcollapse caldera in the Altiplano-Punaplateau, NW Argentina. J. Volcanol.Geoth. Res., 194, 174–188.

Guzm!an, S., Petrinovic, I., Mart!ı, J.,Montero, C. and Grosse, P., 2014. ElComplejo Volc!anico Vicu~na Pampa,Puna Sur. 19! Congreso Geol!ogicoArgentino. C!ordoba, Argentina, ActasCD-Rom Abstracts S24-3-05.

Hartley, A.J. and Rice, C.M., 2005.Controls on supergene enrichment ofporphyry copper deposits in the CentralAndes: a review and discussion. Miner.Deposita, 40, 515–525.

Hoke, G., Isacks, B., Jordan, T., Blanco,N., Tomlinson, A. and Ramezani, J.,2007. Geomorphic evidence for post-10 Ma uplift of the western flank of theCentral Andes 18!30’-22!S. Tectonics,26, TC5021.

Hongn, F., del Papa, C., Powell, J.,Petrinovic, I., Mon, R. and Deraco, V.,2007. Middle Eocene deformation andsedimentation in the Puna-EasternCordillera transition (23!-26! S):control by preexisting heterogeneitieson the pattern of initialAndean shortening. Geology, 35,271–274.

Jordan, T.E., Nester, P.L., Blanco, N.,Hoke, G.D., D!avila, F. and Tomlinson,A.J., 2010. Uplift of the Altiplano-Punaplateau: a view from the west.Tectonics, 29, TC5007.

Kleinert, K. and Strecker, M., 2001.Changes in moisture regime andecology in response to late Cenozoicorographic barriers: the Santa Mar!ıavalley, Argentina. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull.,113, 728–742.

Kraemer, B., Adelmann, D., Alten, M.,Schnurr, W. and Erpenstein, K., 1999.Incorporation of the Paleogeneforeland into the Argentine Punaplateau: the Salar de Antofalla area,Southern Central Andes. J. S. Am.Earth Sci., 12, 157–182.

Lease, R.O. and Ehlers, T., 2013. Incisioninto the Eastern Andean Plateau duringPliocene cooling. Science, 341, 774–776.

Montero-L!opez, M.C. 2009. Estructura ymagmatismo ne!ogeno-cuaternarios enla sierra de San Buenaventura(Catamarca): su vinculaci!on con laterminaci!on austral de la Puna.Unpubl. Doctoral thesis, NationalUniversity of Salta, Salta, Argentina.255 p.

Montero-L!opez, M.C., Hongn, F.,Marrett, R., Seggiaro, R., Strecker,M.R. and Sudo, M., 2010a. LateMiocene-Pliocene onset of N-Sextension along the southern margin ofthe Central Andean Puna plateau frommagmatic, geochronological andstructural evidences. Tectonophysics,494, 48–63.

Montero-L!opez, M.C., Hongn, F., Brod,J.A., Seggiaro, R., Marrett, R. andSudo, M., 2010b. Magmatismo !acidodel Mioceno Superior-Cuaternario en el!area de Cerro Blanco-La Hoyada, PunaSur. Rev. Asoc. Geol. Argentina, 67,329–348.

N!obile, J. and D!avila, F.M., 2011. Uplifthistory of Northern Sierras Pampeanasbroken foreland, Argentina: Apreliminary river profile approach. 18!Congreso Geol!ogico Argentin,Neuqu!en, Argentina. Actas CD-RomAbstracts.

Penck, W., 1920. Der S€udrand der Punade Atacama. Leipzig, Nigar, AkademieDer Wissenschaften, 37, 420.

Pingel, H., Strecker, M.R., Alonso, R.and Schmitt, A.K., 2013. Neotectonicbasin and landscape evolution in theEastern Cordillera of NW Argentina,Humahuaca basin (~24!S). Basin Res.,25, 1–20.

Pingel, H., Alonso, R., Mulch, A.,Rohrmann, A., Sudo, M. and Strecker,M.R., 2014. Pliocene orographic barrieruplift in the Southern Central Andes.Geology, 42, 691–694.

Rubiolo, D., Seggiaro, R. and Hongn, F.,2001. Hoja Geol!ogica 2769-IVFiambal!a, provincias de Catamarca yLa Rioja. Bolet!ın 361. Preliminaryversion. Programa Nacional deCartas Geol!ogicas. 1:250.000.SEGEMAR.

Saylor, J.E. and Horton, B.K., 2014.Nonuniform surface uplift of theAndean plateau revealed by deuteriumisotopes in Miocene volcanic glass fromsouthern Peru. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett.,387, 120–131.

Schildgen, T.F., Hodges, K.V., Whipple,K.X., Reiners, P.W. and Pringle, M.,2007. Uplift of the western margin ofthe Andean plateau revealed fromcanyon incision history, southern Peru.Geology, 35, 523–526.

Schoenbohm, L. and Strecker, M.R.,2009. Normal faulting along thesouthern margin of the Puna Plateau,Northwest Argentina. Tectonics, 28,TC5008.

Seggiaro, R., Hongn, F., Folguera, A.and Clavero, J., 2006. Hoja Geol!ogica2769 – II. Paso de San Francisco.Bolet!ın 294. Programa Nacional deCartas Geol!ogicas. 1:250.000.SEGEMAR

Semaw, S., Simpson, S.W., Quade, J.,Renne, P.R., Butler, R.F., McIntosh,W.C., Levin, N., Dom!ınguez-Rodrigo,M. and Rogers, M.J., 2005. EarlyPliocene hominids from Gona,Ethiopia. Nature, 433, 301–305.

Starck, D. and Anz!otegui, L.M., 2001.The late Miocene climatic change –persistence of a climate signal throughthe orogenic stratigraphic record innorthwestern Argentina. J. S. Am.Earth Sci., 14, 763–774.

Strecker, M.R., Alonso, R.N.,Bookhagen, B., Carrapa, B., Hilley,G.E., Sobel, E.R. and Trauth, M.H.,2007. Tectonics and climate of theSouthern Central Andes. Annu. Rev.Earth Planet. Sci., 35, 747–787.

Strecker, M.R., Alonso, R.N.,Bookhagen, B., Carrapa, B., Coutand,I., Hain, M.P., Hilley, G.E., Mortimer,E., Schoenbohm, L. and Sobel, E.R.,2009. Does the topographicdistribution of the central AndeanPuna Plateau result from climatic orgeodynamic processes? Geology, 37,643–646.

Thouret, J.-C., W€orner, G., Gunnell, Y.,Singer, B., Zhang, X. and Souriot, T.,2007. Geochronologic and stratigraphicconstraints on canyon incision andMiocene uplift of the central Andes inPeru. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 263, 151–166.

Turner, J.C., 1972. Puna. In: PrimerSimposio de Geolog"ıa RegionalArgentina (A. Leanza, ed), pp. 91–116.Academia Nacional de Ciencias,C!ordoba.

Turner, J.C., 1973. Hoja geol!ogica 11d,Laguna Blanca. Servicio Geol!ogicoNacional Bolet!ın 142.

Vandervoort, D.S., Jordan, T.E., Zeitler,P.K. and Alonso, R.N., 1995.Chronology of internal drainagedevelopment and uplift, southern Punaplateau, Argentina Central Andes.Geology, 23, 145–148.

Vera, C., Higgins, W., Amador, J.,Ambrizzi, T. and Garreaud, R., 2006.A unified view of the American



monsoon systems. J. Clim., 19, 4977–5000.

Received 25 June 2014; revised versionaccepted 13 August 2014

Supporting Information

Additional Supporting Informationmay be found in the online versionof this article:

Data S1. Sample analysis.Table S1. Summary table of

40Ar/39Ar step-heating analysis ofsample LP-7.

Table S2. Summary table of40Ar/39Ar step-heating analysis ofsample PA-08.



doi: 10.1111/ter.12120 Local high relief at the southern ...bodo/pdf/montero14_local_high_relief9Ma.pdf · clase, K-feldspar, biotite, and zircon. To constrain the age of palaeotopog-raphy

Documents