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Geology; August 2008; v. 36; no. 8; p. 643-646; DOI: 10.1130/G24857A.1
© 2008 Geological Society of America
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Continental stretching preceding the opening of the Drake Passage: Evidence from Tierra del Fuego

Matías C. Ghiglione1,*, Daniel Yagupsky2, Marta Ghidella3 and Victor A. Ramos1

1 Laboratorio de Tectónica Andina, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, C1428EHA, Argentina, and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET)
2 Laboratorio de Modelado Geológico (LaMoGe), Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, C1428EHA, Argentina, and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET)
3 Instituto Antártico Argentino, Cerrito 1248, Buenos Aires, C1010AAZ, Argentina

Correspondence: *E-mail: matias{at}gl.fcen.uba.ar.

Age estimates for the onset of a seaway through the Drake Passage range from middle Eocene to early Miocene, complicating interpretations of the relation between ocean circulation and Cenozoic global cooling. Here we present evidence for the presence of a latest Paleocene–early Eocene extensional basin (i.e., lateral rift) in Tierra del Fuego. An accurately dated postrift unconformity indicates that extensional faulting ended in the studied area ca. 49 Ma, in concurrence with a previously reported eightfold increase in South America–Antarctica separation rate, and the proposed onset of oceanic basins in the incipient Drake Passage. The coincidence of these facts indicates progressive strain concentration on the zone of future crustal separation (i.e., Drake Passage) after abandonment of lateral rifts ca. 49 Ma. Although the described extensional depocenters did not allow the exchange of water between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, they represent a direct indication of continental lithospheric stretching preceding the recently proposed Eocene opening of embryonic basins in the West Scotia Sea.

Key Words: Tierra del Fuego • continental stretching • Scotia Sea • airborne magnetic data






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