Quick Search:    advanced search

GSW Home   GeoRef Home   My GSW Alerts   Contact GSW   About GSW   Journals List   Help

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (19) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Schildgen, T. F. Articles by Pringle, M. S. Search for Related Content GeoRef GeoRef Citation

Uplift of the western margin of the Andean plateau revealed from canyon incision history, southern Peru

¹ Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
² School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287, USA
³ Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA
⁴ Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA

We explore canyon incision history of the western margin of the Andean (Altiplano-Puna) plateau in the central Andes as a proxy for surface uplift. (U-Th)/He apatite data show rapid cooling beginning at ca. 9 Ma and continuing to ca. 5.1 Ma in response to incision. A minimum of 1.0 km of incision took place during that interval. The youngest apatite date and a volcanic flow perched 125 m above the present valley floor dated at 2.261 ± 0.046 Ma (⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar) show that an additional 1.4 km of incision occurred between ca. 5.1 and 2.3 Ma. Thus, we infer that a total of at least 2.4 km, or 75% of the present canyon depth was incised after ca. 9 Ma. (U-Th)/He zircon data collected along the same transect imply that the western margin of the plateau was warped upward into its present monoclinal form, rather than uplift being accommodated on major surface-breaking faults.

Key Words: Altiplano • geochronology • tectonics • Peru • geomorphology • helium

This article has been cited by other articles:

				D. Steffen, F. Schlunegger, and F. Preusser Drainage basin response to climate change in the Pisco valley, Peru Geology, June 1, 2009; 37(6): 491 - 494. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Boni, G. Balassone, V. Arseneau, and P. Schmidt The Nonsulfide Zinc Deposit at Accha (Southern Peru): Geological and Mineralogical Characterization Economic Geology, March 1, 2009; 104(2): 267 - 289. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. M. H. Ruiz, V. Carlotto, P. V. Van Heiningen, and P. A. M. Andriessen Steady-state exhumation pattern in the Central Andes - SE Peru Geological Society, London, Special Publications, January 1, 2009; 324(1): 307 - 316. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. N. Garzione, G. D. Hoke, J. C. Libarkin, S. Withers, B. MacFadden, J. Eiler, P. Ghosh, and A. Mulch Rise of the Andes Science, June 6, 2008; 320(5881): 1304 - 1307. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Tooth Arid geomorphology: recent progress from an Earth System Science perspective Progress in Physical Geography, February 1, 2008; 32(1): 81 - 101. [PDF]

				P. W. Reiners Thermochronologic Approaches to Paleotopography Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry, October 1, 2007; 66(1): 243 - 267. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. Molnar and M. A. Cane Early Pliocene (pre Ice Age) El Nino like global climate: Which El Nino? Geosphere, October 1, 2007; 3(5): 337 - 365. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]