Surface uplift and erosion of the southernmost Argentine Precordillera

The timing of uplift of the Precordillera is important for understanding the linkages, if any, between slab dynamics, shortening and topography. The study region (between 32° and 33° S latitude) lies at the southern end of the flat slab, where the subducting Nazca plate is nearly horizontal. South o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geomorphology (Amsterdam, Netherlands) Netherlands), 2012-06, Vol.153-154, p.156-168
Main Authors: Walcek, Alina A., Hoke, Gregory D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adjustment
Argentina
Cosmogenic
dry environmental conditions
Erosion
Erosion rate
Geomorphology
Landscape evolution
Landscapes
latitude
Neogene
Nuclide
quartz
rivers
sediments
Slabs
Slopes
streams
Surface uplift
Topography
Uplift
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Summary:The timing of uplift of the Precordillera is important for understanding the linkages, if any, between slab dynamics, shortening and topography. The study region (between 32° and 33° S latitude) lies at the southern end of the flat slab, where the subducting Nazca plate is nearly horizontal. South of the study region, subduction occurs at normal subduction angles of around 30° while north of the study region the slab subducts at around 5°. We use the geomorphology of the region to date the initiation of surface uplift and the ensuing landscape adjustment. The topography of the Precordillera of the Argentine Andes consists of both remnants of a low-relief Miocene landscape developed when the region was at a lower elevation, and rapidly eroding fluvial systems that have been dissecting this surface since uplift. This study utilizes 26Al and 10Be concentrations in stream sediment quartz to calculate erosion rates of the Miocene remnant paleo-landscape, as well as incision rates within the actively incising post-uplift fluvial system. The remnant landscape is eroding at
ISSN:0169-555X
1872-695X
DOI:10.1016/j.geomorph.2012.02.021