Are the La Pampa Gneisses remnants of the Chilenia

basement?
1 2 3, 4 3, 5 1, 6
Javier Álvarez* , Constantino Mpodozis , Antonio García-Casco , Idael F. Blanco-Quintero and Diego Morata
1
Departamento de Geología, Fac. de Cs. Físicas y Matemáticas, Universidad de Chile, Plaza Ercilla 803, Santiago, Chile.
2
Antofagasta Minerals, Apoquindo 4001, Santiago, Chile.
3
Departamento de Petrología y Mineralogía, Universidad de Granada, España.
4
Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra (IACT, CSIC-UGR), España.
5
Departamento de Geociencias, Universidad de Los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia.
6
Centro de Excelencia en Geotermia de Los Andes (CEGA), Universidad de Chile, Chile.

* E-mail: javalvar@cec.uchile.cl

Abstract. The La Pampa Gneisses (LPG) form a small López de Azarevich et al. (2009) locate them as part of
outcrop of leucocratic gneisses embedded within the late Cuyania basement.
Paleozoic-Triassic Chollay Batholith to the east of Vallenar
(Chile). The LPG was previously considered one of the few
preserved remnants of the Chilenia basement (accreted to
the Gondwana margin in the Devonian). Zircons collected
from these rocks show inherited cores with highly variable
U/Pb ages and two principal peak of ca. 301 Ma,
interpreted as the age of zircons in the protolith; and a
younger peak at ca. 263 Ma, probably record the age of a
metamorphic episode, related to a regional Permian
intrusion event. Calculated P-T conditions show that peak
conditions took place at ca. 780 ºC and 5.3 kbar. These
new data indicate that the LPG were emplaced and
metamorphosed during the late Paleozoic, attesting that
they are not relicts of the Chilenia basement.

Keywords: Chilenia, U/Pb, Zircon, Geothermobarometry.

1 Introduction
During most part of the Paleozoic a variety of allocthonous
terranes (Pampia, Famatina, Arequipa-Antofalla and
Cuyania) were amalgamated to the stable Río de la Plata
and Amazonia cratons (Fig. 1). The latest terrane to
become part of Gondwana was the hypotetical Chilenia
terrane (Ramos et al., 1986; Fig. 1), which accreted to the
western margin during the Devonian (ca. 395 Ma; Davis et
al., 2000; Willner et al., 2011). However, unlike other
terranes such as Pampia or Cuyania (Ramos, 2009; 2010),
the outcrops attributed to Chilenia are scarce and there is
no direct evidence for its original affiliation. The
Guarguaraz Complex, that occur close to Mendoza,
Argentina (Fig.1) has been interpreted as an acretionary
wedge developed between Chilenia and Cuyania during
the Devonian (Willner et al., 2011 and references therein).
Figure 1. Map of tectonostratigraphic terranes of Central Chile
Chilenia seems to have bounded to the west by late
and Argentina (Ramos, 2009). In black, outcrops of the main
Paleozoic subduction originated after its collision with metamorphic complexes. TMC: El Tránsito Metamorphic
Gondwana (Hervé, 1988; Fig. 1), which probably include Complex, LPG: La Pampa Gneisses, GC: guarguaraz Complex,
the El Tránsito Metamorphic Complex located in the LPAC: Late Paleozoic Accretionary Complexes.
Frontal Cordillera, east of Vallenar (Ribba et al, 1988;
Álvarez et al., 2011). Another unit attributed to Chilenia is the Filo Gris
Complex (Astini and Cawood, 2009; Fig. 1), in the Frontal
One of the scarce outcrop attributed to Chilenia is Las Cordillera of La Rioja, Argentina. Finally, the only one
Yaretas Gneisses (Keppie and Ramos, 1999). However, outcrop attributed to Chilenia basement in Chile

389
corresponds to the La Pampa Gneisses (LPG; Ribba et al., shows a field formed by sillimanite, biotite, plagioclase,
1988; Moscoso et al., 2010). According to Ribba et al. cordierite, garnet, quartz and melt, similar to the peak
(1988), these rocks form a 2 km in diameter, subcircular metamorphic assemblage of the sample. This modelling,
enclave within late Paleozoic granitoids of the Chollay and the fact that sillimanite is strongly deformed, whereas
Batholith in the El Tránsito valley, east to Vallenar (Fig. 1). quartz and plagioclase are not, suggest that partial melting
The LPG are surrounded by a migmatitic aureole including occurred during prograde metamorphism. The isopleths of
metamorphic fragments in a tonalite to granodiorite observed mineral composition intersect in the stability
neosome (Ribba et al., 1988) similar to the late Paleozoic field of the observed assemblage. Using these data the
granitoids surrounding the metamorphic enclave peak metamorphic conditions are estimated at ca. 780 ºC
(Mpodozis and Kay, 1992). The LPG are light colored and ca. 5.3 kbar. Considering that the closure temperature
rocks with alternating biotite-rich and quartz-feldespatic in zircon U/Pb system is over 900 °C (Lee et al., 1997), we
bands. Their mineralogy includes quartz, plagioclase and conclude that Carboniferous (ca. 301 Ma) ages of LPG
biotite plus muscovite and also sillimanite and cordierite. correspond to the protholith age.
Ribba et al. (1988) suggested that they were “probably
derived form a granodioritic protolith”. One of the reasons
to suggest that the LPG could be part of the basement of
Chilenia is a Silurian (415±4 Ma) three point whole rock
Rb/Sr isochron age reported by Ribba et al. (1988). Two
K/Ar ages (muscovite: 239±10 Ma, biotite: 236±6 Ma)
together with a 246±18 Ma Rb/Sr whole rock-muscovite-
biotite isochron were considered, by the same authors, as
the product of a younger Triassic thermal event.

To check more carefully, the possible affinities of the LPG

with the Chilenia basement it is necessary to employ more
penetrative geochronological methods including zircon
U/Pb dating. In this contribution, we present new zircon
U/Pb age data for the LPG and some of the sourrounding
plutons together with petrological (geothermobarometric
and P-T path calculations) data for the LPG in order to
evaluate its potential adscription to Chilenia.

2 New data from the La Pampa Gneisses

Geochronology: Figure 2 show the probability density

plot of sample JA05, onsidered to be representative from
the LPG. The analyzed sample is a banded gneiss formed
by plagioclase, quartz, biotite, muscovite, cordierite and
sillimanite. Ages of individual zircon grains extend from
the Mesoproterozoic to the Permian. The oldest zircons
(Mesoprotrozoic, Cambrian, Ordovician and Silurian) are
doubtless inherited. The largest populations are late
Paleozoic, and include two peaks at 301 (Carboniferous)
and 263 Ma (Permian). Carboniferous ages come from
zircons with euhedral and prismatic habit that suggest an
igneous origin either "in situ" or, if they were detrital
zircons, a source very close. Permian ages come instead
from the rims of grains with evidence of crystallization,
thus showing that would, have been, most likely related to
a Permian metamorphic event.

Geothermobarometry: The P-T evolution of LPG sample

JA05 was evaluated by means of an isochemical PT
projection (pseudosection) using the bulk chemical
analysis of the sample, obtained by ICP-OES. Calculations
Figure 2. LA-ICP-MS zircon probablity density ages plots
were performed for the KNCFMASHT system using
for analyzed grains.
Perple_X software (Connolly, 2005). The pseudosection

390
3 U/Pb ages from late Paleozoic and
Triassic intrusives
Along with the analysis in the LPG, we analyzed two
samples from the Chollay Batholith from localities north
and east of the LPG outcrops. The first corresponds to a
hornblende-biotite tonalite sample from an large pluton
(termed here as La Totora pluton) that intruded the LPG
north of the El Tránsito river. This sample (JA01) yield a
266,1±3,5 Ma (Fig. 2) crystallization age, concordant with
the age obtained in recrystallized borders within the LPG
zircons. The second sample (JA02) corresponds to a coarse
grained leucocratic “pink” granites that from large
outcrops to the east and were attributed by Mpodozis and
Kay (1992) to the Chollay intrusive unit of the Chollay
Batholith. This sample has a crystallization age of
247,7±3,4 Ma and is slightly older than another U/Pb age
(242,5±1.5 Ma) reported, for the same pluton by Martin et
al. (1999), south to the study area. Both ages attest the
occurrence of a regional Triassic intrusive. These are older
than the K/Ar reported by Ribba et al (1988) for the LPG
that probably correspond to regional colling ages.
4 Discussion and Conclusions
The outcrops of La Pampa Gneisses have been considered
as a potential candidate to be the only preserved relict of
the Chilenia basement in Chile (Ribba et al., 1988).
Nevertheless, the maximum age (ca. 301 Ma) of igneous
emplacement indicated by LPG zircon cores, is younger
than the time considered as the age of accretion of Chilenia
to Gondwana (ca. 395 Ma; Davis et al., 2000). The data
presented here rules out the possibility that LPG are
remnants of the Chilenia basement. The La Pampa
Gneisses were formed after the time of Chilenia collision
to Gondwana.
The metamorphic episode can be linked, as shown by the
age of zircon rims, to the intrusion of tonalite-granodioritic
phases of the Chollay Batholith during the Permian. By
contrast, the younger Triassic intrusive event extensively
developed to the east, was unable to alter the balance of
the mineral phases.
Aknowledgments
This work was supported by Conicyt doctoral thesis and
Departamento de Postgrado y Postítulo, Universidad de
Chile grants, Fondecyt Project 1080468, Chile and
MICINN Project CGL2009-12446, Spain.
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