Tectonophysics 326 (2000) 185202

www.elsevier.com/locate/tecto

Paleomagnetism of the North Patagonian batholith, southern

Chile. An exercise in shape analysis
M. Beck Jr. a, *, R. Burmester a, J. Cembrano b, R. Drake a, A. Garcia c,
F. Herve b, F. Munizaga
a Department of Geology, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225, USA
b Departamento de Geologa, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 13518, Correo 21, Santiago, Chile
c Minera Meridian Peru, Lord Nelson 410, Miraflores, Lima, Peru

Abstract
Over 100 sites in granitic country rock, mafic inclusions within granitic rock, and mafic dikes were sampled in the
northernmost 550 km of the Patagonian batholith. After magnetic cleaning, some sites were rejected as magnetically
unstable, and others were combined because they were contiguous and carried similar directions, hence probably
representing duplicate samplings of the same direction of the geomagnetic field. A total of 42 well-determined
directions 29 from granitic country rock and inclusions and 13 from dikes survived to be included in the
interpretation. Most of these had a normal magnetic polarity, probably indicating that a disproportionate fraction of
the North Patagonan batholith formed during the mid-Cretaceous long normal interval.
Tectonic interpretation of paleomagnetic directions from intrusive rocks often is difficult because paleohorizontal
indicators in such rocks are usually lacking. Rather than struggle against this limitation, we yielded to it and elected
to concentrate on the shapes of our various data sets. The method used is simple and straightforward, involving
Bingham statistics and small-circle fitting. From this analysis, it appears that the main structural feature within the
North Patagonian batholith (NPB) the Liquine-Ofqui fault zone is a site of crustal detachment; a sliver of
South America west of the fault is detached from the rest of the continent and has moved relatively northward.
Because the main strands of the Liquine-Ofqui fault are curved and concave to the west, northward movement was
accompanied by counterclockwise rotation. East of the fault, the NPB appears to have been the locus of distributed
shear, mainly dextral. The principal period of deformation of the batholith appears to have been mid- or late
Cenozoic, and may have been initiated by the arrival of the South AmericaNazca (Farallon)Phoenix (Aluk) triple
junction. 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: paleomagnetism; North Patagonian batholith; shape analysis

1. Introduction
The Patagonian batholith belt of southern Chile
extends along the coast from latitude 40S to at
least 53S (Fig. 1). According to Pankhurst et al.
* Corresponding author. Fax: +1-360-6507302.
E-mail address: beck@cc.wwu.edu (M. Beck)

(1999), it formed episodically, by subductionrelated processes, over a long interval (~135 Ma

to perhaps 15 Ma). It consists mainly of arc-related
calc-alkaline plutonic rocks, in places much
intruded by mafic dikes. In the north, the batholith
intrudes Late Paleozoic metamorphic basement
(the Chonos complex) on the west and a sequence
of mid-Mesozoic volcanic rocks assigned to the

0040-1951/00/$ - see front matter 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S0 0 4 0- 1 9 51 ( 0 0 ) 0 01 5 3 -0

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M. Beck Jr. et al. / Tectonophysics 326 (2000) 185202

M. Beck Jr. et al. / Tectonophysics 326 (2000) 185202

Ibanez Formation on the east. South of the limits

of this study (~46S ), the Ibanez Formation is
replaced on the east of the batholith by Paleozoic
metamorphic rocks; on the west, the batholith
forms the edge of the continent. The petrogenesis,
geochemistry and geochronology of the North
Patagonian batholith (NPB) are discussed by
Pankhurst et al. (1999). Detailed geological mapping of this relatively inaccessible part of the
Andean cordillera is largely lacking.
We did not set out to study the paleomagnetism
of the North Patagonian batholith. Much of our
collecting was done as an incidental by-product of
projects aimed at the study of layered rocks within
the batholith and on its eastern border. As is well
known, paleomagnetic data from batholithic rocks
are generally difficult to interpret because most
batholithic rocks do not provide geological evidence of post-magnetization tilt. Consequently, we
sampled the batholith only on days when no
suitable layered rocks turned up. There were many
such days; in all, we sampled the North Patagonian
batholith and its dikes 104 times. All of these
rocks have now been studied, and a pattern has
emerged that sheds some light on the tectonics of
the region.

2. Procedures and results

Laboratory and field procedures varied little
over the 12 years of the investigation. Five to 12
samples were collected at each site. Samples were
drilled and oriented in situ, using standard methods and equipment. Sun compass orientations were
obtained whenever possible. Where both sun and
magnetic orientation were obtained, they agreed
to 2 or less, so magnetic orientations for the
remainder of sites probably are reliable We
sampled three kinds of material; plutonic country
rock (mainly granodiorite), swarms of mafic inclusions within the country rock, and mafic to intermediate dikes.

187

In the laboratory, the oriented cores were cut

into standard paleomagnetic specimens and the
natural remanent magnetization of one specimen
per sample measured on a spinner magnetometer.
Subsequently, several specimens/site were chosen
for detailed pilot demagnetization by standard
(alternating-field and/or thermal ) methods.
Finally, the remainder of the site was magnetically
cleaned by whichever method seemed the most
promising.
Visual observation of orthogonal diagrams was
used to identify the characteristic component of
magnetization of each specimen, which was then
defined using a line-fitting technique. Specimen
directions were excluded if not sufficiently well
defined (MAD<15; Kirschvink, 1980). Entire
sites were excluded if they consisted of less than
five samples with well-defined directions, or if the
radius of the circle of 95% confidence about their
mean directions exceeded 15. On a few occasions
conspicuous outliers were arbitrarily excluded
from a site-mean calculation. Site-mean directions
were calculated after Fisher (1953).
The response to magnetic cleaning varied considerably. Fig. 2 shows examples of magnetic behavior during alternating field (a.f.) and thermal
demagnetization for representative sites retained
for analysis. Mafic dikes, mafic plutons, and inclusions tended to be more stably magnetized
( Fig. 2cf ) than granodiorite plutonic samples
( Fig. 2a and b). Some dikes are as weakly magnetized as some granodiorite but exhibit a higher
magnetic stability, perhaps due to a finer grain
size ( Fig. 2e). Not shown in Fig. 2 are the rejected
low-stability sites; these made up slightly more
than half of the material collected. Many of the
rejected sites were grossly unstable probably
because their magnetization was dominated by
multi-domain magnetite. Within each category of
site (dike, inclusions, country rock), there were
examples of a very high magnetic stability and
examples of no magnetic stability whatsoever. We

Fig. 1. Map of the field area, showing the main outcrop area of the North Patagonian batholith (stippled). Simplified from the Carta
Geologica de Chile. CA, Castro; CC, Chile Chico; CO, Coihaique; PA, Puerto Aysen; PM, Puerto Montt. The heavy dashed line is
the Liquine-Ofqui fault, modified from Pankhurst et al. (1999) and Cembrano et al. (1996). Localities are marked by triangles (dikes)
and circles (country rock). Open symbols denote reverse polarity.

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M. Beck Jr. et al. / Tectonophysics 326 (2000) 185202

Fig. 2. Representative orthogonal diagrams illustrating demagnetization behavior for magnetically stable rocks from the North
Patagonian batholith. (a) Granodiorite with median destructive field (mdf ) of 1520 mT and median destructive temperature (mdt)
of ~500C. (b) Granodiorite with mdf of 40 mT and mdt near 550C. (c) Gabbro with mdf of 5060 mT and mdt of ~530C. (d)
Mafic inclusions in granodiorite with mdf of 40 mT and mdt above 550C. (e) Mafic dike with mdf of 2025 mT and mdt 525540C.
(f ) Mafic dike unaffected by a.f. demagnetization but with an mdt around 545C. This rare behavior suggests that fine-grained
hematite carries the bulk of the remanence. (a)(d ) show evidence of a recent normal polarity overprint removed at low demagnetization levels by both methods.

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M. Beck Jr. et al. / Tectonophysics 326 (2000) 185202

have not made a systematic study of the rock

magnetism of these samples; it would be interesting
to determine why the magnetic stability of these
superficially similar rocks varied so much.

Results of the laboratory work are summarized

in Tables 1 and 2 and illustrated in Figs. 35. In
Fig. 4, site-mean directions are recalculated to a
reference point near the center of the sampling

Table 1
Mean directions of remanent magnetization for selected sites in the northern Patagonian batholith, southern Chilea
Site #

S latitude

W longitude

Dec

Inc

88bc-24,25
88bc-35
88bc-19
88bc16,17
88bc-26
88bc-32
89fu-36
89fu-37
89fu-40
89fu-19
C-2
C-1
91bc-40
91bc-42
91bc-39
91bc-36
96bc-24
91bc-11
86bc-01,11
91bc-13
91bc-14
96bc-18
91bc-04
92bc-48
91bc-10
92bc-42
92bc-43
92bc-39
92bc-37
92bc-35
92bc-13
92bc-34
92bc-10
92bc-29
92bc-28
92bc-03
96bc-12
96bc-15
92bc22,23
96bc-14
92bc-06
92bc-07

41.5
41.55
41.56
41.58
41.63
42.10
42.55
42.65
42.90
43.18
43.63
44.06
44.26
44.26
44.33
44.34
45.29
45.29
45.29
45.36
45.4
45.46
45.47
45.60
45.63
45.80
45.80
45.83
45.93
46.02
46.02
46.04
46.08
46.08
46.16
46.18
46.28
46.31
46.32
46.42
46.51
46.51

72.27
72.51
72.37
72.31
72.67
72.45
72.50
72.58
72.73
72.78
72.00
72.24
73.19
73.11
73.21
72.97
72.29
73.2
72.32
73.05
72.97
72.76
73.73
73.20
73.59
73.86
73.79
73.85
73.98
74.31
73.34
74.28
73.46
73.65
73.69
73.82
72.80
72.78
73.51
72.71
73.75
73.75

1.7
312.0
248.6
345.4
301.8
337.7
348.7
355.2
359.2
202.4
5.6
359.0
13.8
339.8
346.8
2.0
359.0
347.3
8.0
228.5
20.3
35.1
331.0
180.0
335.7
1.0
230.5
211.0
340.5
347.2
196.8
355.5
233.3
183.7
353.1
335.1
40.4
335.5
34.9
345.5
3.4
17.8

44.2
48.9
50.5
51.8
59.6
53.3
54.5
56.6
47.0
52.1
57.8
63.1
66.8
62.3
74.5
67.7
67.9
69.8
68.8
72.8
67.1
69.3
61.4
57.3
52.1
66.1
75.5
65.7
51.2
71.6
68.0
69.8
80.1
74.6
48.2
61.1
57.6
61.8
71.1
68.6
57.6
66.5

29.0
109.4
27.3
54.1
44.4
55.0
130.3
128.6
539.7
62.1
95.3
184.7
173.9
96.8
28.0
80.6
392.0
461.5
168.1
857.1
106.4
405.0
66.7
1500
71.4
259.3
24.6
85.1
173.9
28.8
206.9
103.4
87.0
160.0
121.2
206.9
129.6
30.9
152.2
63.8
30.5
333.3

a Site numbers are our field designations. Location (south latitude, west longitude) of site given to nearest 0.01. Dec and Inc are
the site-mean declination and inclination, respectively. k is the precision parameter of Fisher (1953). For C1 and C2, see Table 2.

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M. Beck Jr. et al. / Tectonophysics 326 (2000) 185202

Table 2
Virtual geomagnetic pole positions, polarities, and lithologies for selected sites in the north Patagonian batholitha
Site #

Group

Polarity

S latitude

E longitude

Lithology

88bc-24,25
88bc-35
88bc-19
88bc-16,17
88bc-26
88bc-32
89fu-36
89fu-37
89fu-40
89fu-19
C-2
C-1
91bc-40
91bc-42
91bc-39
91bc-36
96bc-24
91bc-11
86bc-01,11
91bc-13
91bc-14
96bc-18
91bc-04
92bc-48
91bc-10
92bc-42
92bc-43
92bc-39
92bc-37
92bc-35
92bc-13
92bc-34
92bc-10
92bc-29
92bc-28
92bc-03
96bc-12
96bc-15
92bc-22,23
96bc-14
92bc-06
92bc-07

FZ
FZ
FZ
FZ
W
W
W
FZ
FZ
FZ
E
E
W
W
W
W
FZ
E
FZ
E
E
E
FZ
FZ
FZ
FZ
FZ
FZ
FZ
W
FZ
W
FZ
FZ
FZ
FZ
E
E
FZ
E
FZ
FZ

N
N
R
N
N
N
N
N
N
R
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
R
N
N
N
R
N
N
R
R
N
N
R
N
R
R
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N

74.4
49.8
35.3
75.2
46.9
70.7
78.4
83.4
75.3
69.6
83.3
89.1
79.3
75.5
71.6
83.6
84.3
78.3
81.3
58.2
75.6
66.2
69.0
82.3
67.3
87.3
57.2
68.8
69.4
77.0
77.8
81.9
54.8
74.8
72.2
71.8
59.4
72.3
66.5
79.1
81.4
77.8

113.4
18.6
210.4
51.2
358.7
35.5
54.3
71.9
104.5
174.9
149.1
341.2
230.3
12.4
307.3
275.7
294.1
326.7
253.3
238.5
222.2
228.2
14.0
107.1
42.6
272.1
245.3
213.1
52.3
318.6
227.2
304.9
259.3
279.5
86.2
19.9
196.7
19.1
232.5
341.9
124.3
214.5

Gabbro
Granite
Mincl
Granodiorite
Diorite
Dike
Granodiorite
Granodiorite
Granodiorite
Granodiorite
Monzogranite
Granodiorite
Tonalite
Mincl
Granodiorite
Gabbro
Granodiorite
Granite
Granodiorite
Granodiorite
Granodiorite
dIorite
Dike
Gabbro
Granite
Dike
Dike
Dike
Dike
Dike
Dike
Mincl
Dike
Mincl
Dike
Granodiorite
Granodiorite
Granodiorite
Dikes
Granodiorite
Dike
Dike

a C-1, combination of sites 89pa-07, 92bc-60, 90pa-07. C-2, combination of sites 89fu-51,52,53. Groups are W(est) (Of LiquineOfqui fault zone), E(ast) of the same zone, or ( FZ) within the zone. Polarities are normal (N ) or reverse (R). The location of the
site-mean VGP is given as S latitude and E longitude. Lithologies are field descriptions. Mincl indicates mafic inclusion.

area (44.5 S, 73.5 W ). Site locations are shown

on Fig. 1. For the purposes of assembling Tables
1 and 2, contiguous sites with similar directions
were combined.

3. A reference path for South America

South American apparent polar wander (APW )
has attracted much attention over the years (e.g.

M. Beck Jr. et al. / Tectonophysics 326 (2000) 185202

Fig. 3. Site-mean directions of magnetization for 42 sites in the

North Patagonian batholith and related dikes. Filled circles are
reverse polarity.

Valencio and Vilas, 1969; Beck, 1988; Roperch

and Carlier, 1992) and has assumed special significance with the discovery of systematic crustal
block rotation in the central Andes (e.g. Beck
et al., 1994; Somoza et al., 1996). Recently, Beck
(1999a) re-examined South American APW for

Fig. 4. Site-mean directions for NPB transferred to a common

locality (44.5 S, 73.5 W ). Reverse-polarity sites are inverted.

191

Fig. 5. Site-mean virtual geomagnetic poles ( VGP) for the NPB.

The triangle shows the sampling location.

the Jurassic and Cretaceous and concluded that

there was none, or at least very little. Detailed
study of the South American Mesozoic data set
indicates that APW is best treated as two periods
of stillstand, one for mid-Jurassic to midCretaceous time (165115 Ma; 88.8S, 72.4E,
A =4.9), and another for the Late Cretaceous
95
(8070 Ma; 80.8S, 346.7E, A =4.3). The two
95
stillstands are separated by 9.2 of APW, occurring
during the interval 11580 Ma. As there are no
reliable South American mid-Cenozoic reference
poles, for this study, we imported the North
American Cenozoic reference poles of Diehl et al.
(1983, 1988), rotated into the South American
coordinates after Engebretson et al. (1985). This
gives reference poles at 303.2E, 85.1S for 50 Ma,
and 305.2E, 82.1S for 30 Ma. For later times, we
used the present spin axis. All of these reference
poles lie within 10 of the present pole.
As mentioned earlier, radiometric dates for the
North Patagonian batholith range from 135 to
15 Ma. As we are not sure of the specific age of
any of our sites, the best choice of reference pole
for the entire batholith probably is the timeweighted average of the reference poles given
earlier: 86.7S, 326.6E, with an unknown and

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M. Beck Jr. et al. / Tectonophysics 326 (2000) 185202

probably large angular uncertainty. This is our

NPB reference pole.

4. Preliminary observations
The mean VGP for the 42 entries of Table 2 is
87.1S, 283.2E, K=17.3, A =5.8. This is only
95
3.5 from the reference pole (above) and giving
full credit to uncertainty associated with the
latter suggests that the NPB has neither rotated
nor been displaced in latitude with respect to the
stable interior of South America.
In Fig. 1, normal polarity sites are indicated by
filled symbols and batholith sites proper (circles)
are distinguished from dikes (triangles). A firstorder observation from Fig. 1 is that a substantial
majority of the samples that we collected have a
normal polarity: only four of 13 dike sites are
reverse, and the proportion is even lower for
country rock five of 29. This gives some clues
to the age of magnetization.
For much of geologic time reverse and normal
polarity states have had approximately equal duration. On the assumption that the probability of
obtaining a reverse polarity is 0.5, the probability
of obtaining only five reverse directions from 29
randomly selected sites is extremely small (P=
0.0002). The probability of obtaining four reverse
dike sites in 13 attempts is larger but still small
(P=0.087). Thus, our 42 North Patagonian batholith sites appear to have been selected from a
distribution that was dominantly of normal
polarity.
However, it is well established that there was a
strong bias toward normal polarity for the time
interval represented by the North Patagonian
batholith, owing to the occurrence of the midCretaceous long normal interval, which lasted
about 35 m.y. Taking this bias into account, the
probability of encountering reverse polarity rocks
from a suite dated 135 to 15 Ma decreases to 0.35,
and the probability of drawing five reverse-polarity
sites in 29 attempts increases to P=0.02; larger,
but still quite small (for the dikes, P=0.22). Thus,
a disproportionate amount of the total volume of
the North Patagonian batholith (but perhaps not
of the dikes cutting it) formed at times of normal

polarity. On geological grounds, Pankhurst et al.

(1999) conclude that much of the batholith formed
during the Cretaceous; the distribution of magnetic
polarities places much of the magmatism within
the mid-Cretaceous long normal interval.

5. Shape analysis
In this section, we examine the shapes of various
NPB paleomagnetic distributions for clues to the
tectonic history of the area. The method used is
described below.
Whether a paleomagnetic data set is elongate
or circular can be important. To characterize
shape, we follow Schmidt (1990) and define elongation (E) as the ratio of the second and third
eigenvalues of the set, calculated using Bingham
statistics (Onstott, 1980). Thus, Ek /k , where
2 3
E=1 is completely circular and E>2.5 or so is
conspicuously elongate.
To estimate the statistical significance of an
observed elongation (E ) we used a brute-force
o
Monte Carlo technique. First, a perfectly circular
( Fisherian) data set was created, with mean and
scatter statistics closely similar to those of the set
being tested. This was then sampled randomly
1000 times, with N (the size of the sample) equal
to the size of the observed set. The fraction of
random samples for which E=E was taken as an
o
estimate of the probability that the set being tested
was drawn from a circular distribution. If P<0.05,
we regard the set as significantly non-circular and
hence worth further study. We prefer this method
to the use of standard goodness-of-fit tests because
numerical experiments show that it is more sensitive to moderate elongations.
As an example, consider the set of all virtual
geomagnetic poles for the NPB (Fig. 5). For this
set, E=3.37, N=42. The mean of this collection
of poles is 283.2E, 87.1S, with K=17.3. On three
runs (1000 calculations each), we failed to obtain
a single sample of size N=42 with E=3.37 from
a Fisherian distribution of K=17.3 centered on
283.2E, 87.1S. (Actually, the placement of the
distribution is irrelevant.) Thus, for this sample,
P=0. Removing the three obvious outliers seen in
Fig. 5 makes little difference; without the outliers,

M. Beck Jr. et al. / Tectonophysics 326 (2000) 185202

E =2.94, and the probability that the sample was

o
drawn from a circular distribution becomes P=
0.003. Thus, the conspicuous elongation of VGP
seen in Fig. 5 is not accidental.
By inspection, the collection of all NPB sitemean directions shown in Fig. 4 is less elongate.
For this data-set, E =2.52 and K=31.5. The probo
ability of drawing this sample from a Fisherian
data set is also small; P=0.04. Thus, both directions and poles are significantly elongate.
Speculation about what may have caused a
particular shape requires some means of characterizing the direction of elongation. Again, the
Bingham eigenvectors are useful; k represents the
2
direction of elongation, and k is normal to it.
3
Thus, for example, suppose that the elongation of
the NPB VGP data set ( Fig. 5) was caused by
approximately equal amounts of clockwise and
counterclockwise rotation of crustal blocks about
a vertical axis. If the rotations were not large, this
would distort a circular set of VGP into an approximately linear distribution; k would then be
2
roughly parallel to the trend of the batholith, and
k would pass through the sampling region.
3
Alternatively, if the amount of differential rotation
were large, the distribution would appear elongate,
but also obviously curved. Thus, a second test
would be to fit a small circle to the data and
determine whether its center lies within the batholith. An additional (but not independent) test of
the block-rotation hypothesis would be to see if
NPB directions ( Figs. 3 and 4) fit a small circle
about a point near the center of the net.

6. Characteristic shapes of paleomagnetic data sets

Before one can impute any meaning to departures from circularity of the various sets and subsets of NPB paleomagnetic data, we need to ask
if they should be circular, if undisturbed. Certainly,
most paleomagnetic distributions of either VGP
or directions are nearly circular, and in fact, conspicuously elongate distributions are so unusual
that they generate discussions about what might
be wrong; for instance, was magnetic cleaning
adequate or, if tilt corrections were made, were
they appropriate? Several such topics are discussed below.

193

One common cause of elongation in paleomagnetic data sets needs to be discussed immediately.
As is well known, the pole-to-direction mapping
relationship also affects shape; in general, both
poles and directions for the same study cannot be
circular (if they are, the mean direction must be
vertical ). Circular distributions of poles map into
oval distributions of directions, and vice versa; the
amount of elongation depends on paleolatitude.
This is illustrated in Fig. 6.
If the poles are circular, then the directions will
be elongate in the direction of the mean declination
(the paleomeridian; Fig. 6a). The maximum elongation is reached at a site latitude of 0.
If the directions are circular, then the poles will
be elongate normal to the paleomeridian (Fig. 6b).
Again, maximum elongation is reached at l=0.
The question of which set (poles or directions)
should be circular has been discussed by many
authors (e.g. Cox, 1970; Merrill and McElhinny,
1983), although to our knowledge, this has not
been investigated by looking at real paleomagnetic
results. We have begun to study this question (e.g.
Beck, 1999b), using large data sets from tectonically stable regions of North and South America
and northwestern Europe. Results so far are somewhat inconsistent; although VGP distributions are
generally more circular than the corresponding set
of directions, there are significant exceptions.
However, for the collections studied so far, elongation values <2.5 are the norm, for both directions
and poles. For instance, early Tertiary intrusive
complexes from central Montana (Diehl et al.,
1983) have elongations ranging from 1.1 to 1.8 for
VGP, and 1.2 to 1.8 for directions. The set of all
Montana VGP, formed during a time of fairly
active APW, nevertheless has an elongation of
only 1.29. For the purposes of this study, we will
assume that elongations greater than about 2.5
probably indicate some sort of tectonic
disturbance.
The degree of elongation resulting from the
pole-to-direction and direction-to-pole mapping
relationship is illustrated in Fig. 7. Fig. 7a shows
the elongation of VGP data sets as a function of
mean paleomagnetic inclination; in this illustration, directions are assumed circular. Elongation
decreases nearly linearly with mean inclination and

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M. Beck Jr. et al. / Tectonophysics 326 (2000) 185202

B
Fig. 6. If the poles are circular, the directions are oval, and vice
versa. (a) Plot of directions at 30N, 0E resulting from a circular distribution of poles (mean 90N, K=30). Directional distribution is elongate along the mean declination. (b) Plot of VGP
mapped from a circular distribution (k=30) about the expected
direction at 30N, 0E. The plot is elongate normal to
paleomeridian.

has a value of about E=1.72 at the mean inclination of the NPB data set (65). The observed value
of elongation for NPB VGP lies well above the
curve. Fig. 7b shows elongations that result from
the opposite transformation; circular poles to elon-

Fig. 7. Elongation caused by the mapping relationships. (a)

Fisherian directional set with mean inclinations indicated,
mapped into VGP. k=50, N=42. (b) Fisherian VGP mapped
into directions at paleolatitudes indicated. K=24, N=42. See
text.

gate directions. Again, the observed NPB value

lies well above the curve.
Fig. 7 was made in the following way. First, a
Fisherian data set was created, with an assigned
dispersion similar to the actual NPB results. This
was then sampled 400 times (N=42), each sample
was mapped from directions to poles (or vice
versa), and its elongation calculated. Means and
standard deviations were calculated in the usual
way; error limits were estimated on the assumption
that the E values had a Gaussian distribution.
[Error values are extremely small (all less than
0.16) and are omitted from Fig. 7.] Successive runs
indicate that the values shown are highly
repeatable.
Fig. 8 illustrates the mapping relationships for
the NPB. The mean paleolatitude of the NPB sites
is about 46.5, for which fig. 6.17 of Merrill and
McElhinny (1983) suggests an appropriate dispersion of VGP of about K=24. Fig. 8a shows an
artificial Fisherian set of VGP with N=42 and
K=24, centered at 86.7S, 326.6E (the NPB reference pole) that has been mapped into a distribution
of normal-polarity directions at a point near the
center of the collection area (our NPB reference
location; 44.5S, 73.5W ). As predicted, the cluster
of directions is elongate in the direction of the
mean declination. The dispersion and circularity
of this collection of directions are k=46.2 and E=

M. Beck Jr. et al. / Tectonophysics 326 (2000) 185202

195

normal to the direction of elongation in Fig. 8a.

Thus, the elongation of NPB directions must be
caused by something other than the pole-to-direction mapping relationship.
The opposite transformation is shown in
Fig. 8b; circular directions are mapped into an
oval distribution of poles. From Cox (1970), a
VGP dispersion of K=24 at a geomagnetic latitude
of 47 would be approximately equivalent to a
directional dispersion of k=50. To make Fig. 8b,
we first created an artificial Fisherian data set
about Dec=356.9, I=65.0, with k=50, then
mapped it into VGP from the reference location.
( The direction chosen is the dipole field direction
that one would find at the reference location from
a pole at 86.7S, 326.6E.) The elongation of this
artificial set of poles is E=2.22, and, as expected,
it is elongate perpendicular to the paleomeridian.
This direction of elongation is similar to the direction of elongation of the observed set of NPB
poles (Fig. 5), but the elongation value is much
smaller. Again, the pole-to-direction mapping relationship cannot explain the observed data
Next, we consider possible tectonic explanations
for the shape of the NPB data set.

7. Testing various tectonic models

B
Fig. 8. Pole-to-direction mapping relationship specific to the
North Patagonian batholith. (a) Artificial Fisherian VGP data
set with mean at 86.7S, 326.6E, K=24, mapped into normalpolarity directions at 44.5S, 73.5W. Compare Fig. 3. (b)
Artificial Fisherian directional data set with mean at D=356.9,
I=65.0, k=50, mapped into VGP from 44.5S, 73.5W.
Compare Fig. 4.

1.78, respectively. The set of actual NPB directions

mapped to 44.5S, 73.5W ( Fig. 4) has slightly
more scatter (k=31.5) and considerably more
elongation (E=2.52). Moreover, the direction of
elongation in the actual NPB data set is nearly

In this section, we will look at the shape of the

entire NPB VGP data set ( Fig. 5) and attempt to
choose between three tectonic models that are
described below and illustrated in Fig. 9. These
three models seem to us to be the most likely,
given the tectonic setting of the NPB. Obviously,
other models are possible.
The first model accounts for the elongation of
Fig. 5 by in-situ block rotations about a vertical
axis, as might result if the NPB were the locus of
distributed strike-slip displacement ( Fig. 9a). A
shear model is suggested by the presence of a
major strike-slip fault the Liquine-Ofqu fault
zone within the NPB.
The second and third models rely on tilt to
account for the elongation of the distributions of
directions and VGP. Tilt as a factor in controlling
the shape of the various NPB distributions is
suggested by the fact, discussed above, that the

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M. Beck Jr. et al. / Tectonophysics 326 (2000) 185202

(a)

(b)

nature of these batholithic rocks makes it impossible to recognize, and thus correct for, any postmagnetization tilt that may have occurred. Thus,
the second model attributes dispersion of NPB
VGP to post-magnetization tilt approximately
normal to the trend of the batholith. This direction
of tilt might occur, for instance, if the batholith
acted as an elongate zone of crustal inflation, with
early-formed plutons tilting progressively outward
as inflation progressed (Fig. 9b, top). Tilt normal
to the trend of the batholith might also result from
other processes accompanying subduction
( Fig. 9b, bottom). A third possibility is that elongation of the cluster of NPB VGP represents
northsouth differential tilt; that is, tilt within the
trend of the batholith. Model 3 could be true if,
for instance, later-arriving plutons forcibly displaced and tilted their already-magnetized neighbors ( Fig. 9c). Obviously, more than one tectonic
processs, including some not discussed here, could
have been active, either at different times or
simultaneously.
Fig. 10 shows the distributions of VGP that
would result from these three models. Because
in-situ rotation about a vertical axis changes only
the declination, the distribution of VGPs that
would result from this process can be simulated
by rotating the mean paleomagnetic pole about
the reference locality. Fig. 10 shows an artificial
VGP data set centered on the reference pole, then

(c)

Fig. 9. Three alternative models to explain the elongate distribution of NPB VGP. (a) Shear-zone model. Crustal blocks rotate
about nearby vertical axes. Dashed arrows show the velocity of
ductile flow beneath the brittleductile transition. Rigid crustal
blocks rotate as shown; angular velocity of rotations depends
on gradient of ductile flow, and shape and orientation of fragment. See Beck (1998). (b) Two versions of the batholithnormal tilt model; crustal blocks rotate about a horizontal axis
parallel to the trend of the batholith. Diagrams are cross-sections. Top: batholiths tilted outward by inflation. Both clockwise and counterclockwise rotations occur. Bottom: batholiths
along western edge tilted outward by subduction-related traction. No rotations further inboard. A modification of this model
supposes that underplating at a subduction zone could tilt the
leading-edge batholiths inward; inboard plutons still are
unaffected. (c) Batholith-parallel tilt model; crustal blocks
rotate about a horizontal axis normal to the trend of the batholith. Plutons shown by dashed lines are older and are tilted by
forceable injection of a younger pluton.

M. Beck Jr. et al. / Tectonophysics 326 (2000) 185202

197

observed pattern, although the sense of curvature

it produces (concave toward the east) is incorrect.
The arc-parallel model is clearly wrong.
As an additional test, we fitted a small circle to
the VGP distribution shown in Fig. 5. The best-fit
small circle (shown by the open inverted triangle
in Fig. 10) is centered at 43.5S, 55.5W, about
13 east of the NPB. This agrees well with the
sense of curvature seen in Fig. 5. The arc-normal
tilt model would produce the opposite sense of
curvature.
We conclude that the North Patagonian
Batholith has probably been deformed internally
by differential rotations of crustal blocks within a
vertical shear zone that trends parallel to the
Andes. Some tilt normal to the trend of the range
may also have occurred.
Fig. 10. Artificial VGP data set that would result from the three
models illustrated by Fig. 9. Fisherian set of VGP centered on
the NPB reference poles, with N=42, K=24 rotated through
random angles between 50 clockwise and 30 counterclockwise
about a rotation pole near the center of the NPB (44.5S,
73.5W ). Compare with Fig. 5. Curves show shapes of distributions that would arrise from the second and third models of
Fig. 9. Dashed curve shows the trend of the distribution of poles
caused by arc-normal tilt; dotted curve shows the pattern for
tilt parallel to the arc. See text. The open inverted triangle is
the center of the best-fit small circle to the NPB VGP data
set ( Fig. 5).

smeared out by random rotations about a pole

located at 44.5S, 73.5W. The resemblance of this
plot to Fig. 5 is obvious.
It is less easy to illustrate the shape effects of
the other two models because tilt in general
changes both inclination and declination, so the
resulting distribution of VGP will not lie on a
small circle about the pole of rotation. The lines
in Fig. 10 illustrate the pattern that would result
from the two tilt models. The dashed line was
created by first rotating the mean direction of the
NPB about the appropriate direction (D=5, I=0)
for the arc-normal tilt model, then mapping the
resulting directions into VGP. The dotted line,
which illustrates the curvature that would be
caused by the arc-parallel tilt model, was made in
the same way, using D=95, I=0 for a rotation
pole. Fig. 10 shows that the arc-normal model
would produce a pattern that is similar to the

8. Comparison of sub-sets of NPB data

8.1. Normal vs. reverse polarity
From Fig. 3, it is obvious that the means of the
normal and reverse sub-sets of NPB directions are
not precisely anti-parallel. As will be shown, this
probably reflects the geographic distribution of
the sites.
The difference between N and R sub-sets is
statistically significant. The mean of nine reverse
VGP is 68.1S, 228.5E, A =13.3 and the mean
95
of 33 normal-polarity VGP is 85.3S, 9.9E,
A =5.6. The corresponding directions at the
95
reference locality are D =353.4, I =63.3, and
n
n
D =211.2, I =68.9. The angular difference (16)
r
r
is significant at 95% confidence.
After Butler (1992), the usual first-guess explanations for a negative reversal test are a failure
to adequately average the geomagnetic secular
variation, or the presence of an unremoved secondary component of remanent magnetization. In view
of the slow cooling of these plutonic rocks, the
first of these can hardly be true here, and we doubt
the second for reasons explained below.
If the 16 difference in the normal and (the
antipode of ) the reverse directions were due to an
unerased secondary magnetization, then following
Scott and Hotes (1996), at least 15% of the

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M. Beck Jr. et al. / Tectonophysics 326 (2000) 185202

magnetization remaining after laboratory demagnetization must be secondary. Judging from the
examples given by Scott and Hotes, this apparently
is not impossible, but in view of the generally
uncomplicated demagnetization behavior encountered in most of the sites used in this study, it
seems unlikely.
A stronger argument against secondary overprint involves directions. From work discussed
earlier, South American APW since the early stages
of formation of the North Patagonian batholith
has been practically non-existent. Thus, if the
secondary component was acquired parallel to the
ambient field at some post-NPB time, it could
hardly differ from the original direction by more
than a few degrees. From fig. 4 of Scott and Hotes
(1996), if the angle between the observed normal
direction and the secondary direction is <10, the
secondary magnetization remaining must be equal
to 45% or more of the primary. Such a tenacious
secondary overprint in these rocks seems entirely
unlikely.
However, still, the two sub-sets are significantly
different in mean direction. Almost certainly, the
explanation lies in the geographic distribution of
the reverse sites, all of which are found within or
east of the Liquine-Ofqui fault zone. As shown
below, sites within, and east of, the fault zone are
rotated clockwise relative to sites further west.

8.2. Dikes vs. country rock.

Fig. 11 shows VGP for dikes and country rock
plotted separately. The two distributions are nearly
identical in shape, and the two mean VGPs differ
by only about 4. The dikes must be younger on
average than the country rock that they intrude,
but apparently, APW was too small to allow the
mean directions to reflect the age difference.
8.3. Sites divided by their relationship to the
Liquine-Ofqui fault zone
The principal structure associated with the
North Patagonian batholith is the Liquine-Ofqui
fault zone (LOFZ). The main strands of the LOFZ
are shown on Fig. 1, modified from Cembrano
et al. (1996) and Pankhurst et al. (1999).

B
Fig. 11. The distribution and mean VGPs for dikes (a) and
country rock sites (b) are essentially identical.

According to the latter, displacement on the LOFZ

has been dextral during the late Cenozoic but may
have been sinistral earlier. The LOFZ is widely
interpreted to be a response of overriding South
American crust to oblique subduction. The tectonics of the LOFZ is discussed by Forsythe and
Nelson (1985), Beck et al. (1993), and Rojas et al.
(1994), among others.
According to the model of Beck et al. (1993)

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M. Beck Jr. et al. / Tectonophysics 326 (2000) 185202

Table 3
Mean VGP location and scatter statistics for three groups of
NPB polesa
Group

Mean l

Mean w

Prob

West
East
LOFZ

9
9
24

78.8S
81.5
88.2

347.2E
238.4
217.9

24.8
19.8
13.1

2.79
5.39
3.72

0.36
0.083
0.008

a Group designations are geographical; West: sites west of the

Liquine-Ofqui fault zone (LOFZ ); East: sites east of the LOFZ;
LOFZ: sites within the fault zone. N is the number of sites in
the group. Mean l and w are the mean latitude and longitude
for the site, calculated by the method of Fisher (1953). E is the
elongation of group, and Prob is the probability that the sample
came from a circular distribution (see text).

and Rojas et al. (1994), the LOFZ is a zone of

crustal decoupling. The sliver of South American
crust west of the fault is detached from the continent at the LOFZ and tends to move northward
along the margin without much internal deformation. Owing to the curved nature of the various
fault-strands, the northward motion is accompanied by a small amount of counterclockwise rotation. East of the LOFZ, however, a zone of
distributed shear may have existed; if so, one might
expect supracrustal blocks within this zone to be
rotated differentially about local vertical axes. The
distribution of VGP east of the LOFZ and within
this hypothetical shear zone thus should be an arc
of a small circle with a center somewhere near the
NPB. We can test this hypothesis by subdividing
the data of Table 2 by location.
In Fig. 12, the NPB set is divided into three
groups: (1) a West group, consisting of nine sites
located well west of the LOFZ; (2) an East group
made up of nine sites from well east of the fault
zone; (3) and a fault-zone (LOFZ) group consisting of the remaining 24 sites. Group membership is indicated in Table 2. Mean VGPs and
scatter statistics for the three groups are given
in Table 3.
From Fig. 12a and b, there appears to be no
important difference between the Fault Zone ( FZ )

Fig. 12. Plots of VGP for (a) sites within the Liquine-Ofqui
fault zone (LOFZ ), (b) sites east of the LOFZ, and (c) sites
west of the LOFZ.

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M. Beck Jr. et al. / Tectonophysics 326 (2000) 185202

group and the East group. Both are highly elongate, their directions of elongation are similar, and
their means are essentially identical. Only in total
scatter, are they different; the LOFZ group is
significantly more scattered. In contrast, the West
group has less scatter, is less elongate and has a
mean direction that is significantly counterclockwise from the other two groups. This is predicted
by the model just outlined.
Studies of the paleomagnetism of the midCenozoic Cocotue Beach basalts (Garcia et al.,
1988) and sedimentary Ayacara Formation (Rojas
et al., 1994) detected counterclockwise rotation of
about 14.5. The Ayacara Formation and Cocotue
Beach basalts lie well west of the LOFZ and thus
occupy the same tectonic setting as the West group
of NPB sites. Relative to the reference pole calculated earlier, the West NPB group of this study is
also rotated counterclockwise by about 10. Thus,
it appears that a small counterclockwise rotation
may be associated with a position west of the
LOFZ. Rotation took place after the creation of
the mid-Cenozoic rocks because the amount of
rotation is nearly the same for both the NPB,
much of which appears to have been magnetized
in the mid-Cretaceous, and the younger (Ayacara
plus Cocotue basalts) groups.
The pattern of dispersion shown by both LOFZ
and East groups (Fig. 12a and b) suggests distributed shear. Evidently, the shear zone extends eastward from the LOFZ to the eastern margin of the
batholith. Shear may have taken place during
intrusion and been concentrated in thermally
weakened crust (e.g. Beck, 1986). The mean of the
FZ and E groups is rotated 9.4 clockwise with
respect to the reference pole. Relative to the West
group, the combined FZ and East groups are
rotated clockwise by 18.715.2.
An interesting feature in Fig. 12a and b is that,
although clockwise rotations are the norm in the
FZ and East groups, some sites appear to have
rotated counterclockwise.

9. Summary of interpretations
It is gratifying that, although we did not know
either the exact age or the post-magnetization tilt
history of our rocks, it was still possible to obtain

some valuable tectonic information from their

paleomagnetism. The secret seems to be to have
enough sites, scattered over a large enough area,
to allow meaningful patterns of distribution to
emerge. A summary of interpretations follows.
Some of these are entirely new.
1. The North Patagonian batholith almost certainly formed near its present relative latitude,
probably as part of South America. It does not
appear to be accreted and has experienced little
or no relative latitudinal displacement.
2. A disproportionate amount of the NPB formed
during the mid-Cretaceous long normal-polarity interval.
3. The NPB has been the locus of distributed
margin-parallel shear. Shear was probably
caused by oblique subduction, but this has not
been established.
4. Some plutons may have been tilted normal to
the trend of the batholith, although this was
probably not the dominant tectonic process.
Tilt parallel to the trend of the batholith is
less likely.
5. Dikes and country rock have the same paleomagnetic signature; hence, both formed before
the major deformational event(s) in the region.
6. Rocks west of the Liquine-Ofqui fault zone are
rotated counterclockwise. The rotation was
probably accomplished sometime after midCenozoic time and involved less internal deformation than was experienced by the NPB within
and east of the fault zone.
7. In the zone of distributed shear east of the
LOFZ, most blocks rotated clockwise, but a
few rotated counterclockwise.

10. Conclusions and speculations

In Beck (1998), it was suggested that an important tectonic transition recorded in the midCretaceous geology of northern Chile (Mpodozis
and Ramos, 1990) represents the replacement of
the Phoenix (or Aluk) plate off the western edge
of South America by the Farallon (Nazca) plate.
According to most plate reconstructions, the
South AmericaFarallonPhoenix triple junction
migrated southward along the coast of South
America, although its location at any particular

M. Beck Jr. et al. / Tectonophysics 326 (2000) 185202

time is problematical. If this scenario is true, then

southern Chile interacted with the Phoenix plate
until sometime after the mid-Cretaceous, and the
North Patagonian batholith is mainly the result of
subduction of the Phoenix plate. The Phoenix plate
may have had south-oblique convergence with
South America (Duncan and Hargraves, 1984).
It seems likely that most of the rotations found
in the NPB occurred after the Nazca plate replaced
the Phoenix plate at southerly (4046S ) latitudes.
This may have occurred because the subducting
Nazca plate was relatively young, subducted at a
shallow angle, and thus applied strong traction to
the underside of the South American plate (Beck,
1998). This would explain the slight northward
displacement of the sliver west of the LOFZ and
the counterclockwise rotations that accompanied it.
It would also explain the preponderance of clockwise rotations found in sites east of the LOFZ.

11. Future work

Recently, we obtained a few sites along the
northern edge of the South Patagonian batholith,
immediately south of the Golfo de Penas. The
pattern of fjords and inlets found in the SPB
differs significantly from the pattern found north
of the triple junction. We suspect that sinistral
shear has been dominant in the SPB. A much
larger and more widely distributed data set is
needed to test this suspicion.

Acknowledgements
Supported by NSF grant 9200931 and Fondecyt
grant 1950/544. Comments by F. Heller, K.
Kodama, A. Rapalini, P. Schmidt, R. Somoza and
J. Stomatakos were useful. Kevin Short drafted
the illustrations.

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