Palaeomagnetic data for Permian and Triassic rocks from drill holes in the Southern Sydney Basin, New South Wales

A section 300 m thick across the Permian—Triassic boundary has been sampled in the Southern Coalfield of the Sydney Basin, New South Wales. 55 samples, mainly grey to drab sandstones, were collected from 9 diamond drill holes which penetrated the entire Narrabeen Group and the upper part of the conformably underlying Illawarra Coal Measures, as well as a sill emplaced into the coal measures. The samples included fully oriented cores. Additional reconnaissance samples from two further drill holes were also studied.Partial alternating field demagnetization and petrography indicate the magnetic remanence to be a stable DRM. Partial thermal demagnetization above 300°C or 400°C caused large increases in magnetic susceptibility. Partial chemical demagnetization did not cause significant changes in remanence directions.For the Coal Cliff Sandstone (basal Narrabeen Group, Triassic) the palaeomagnetic pole position (Normal) was calculated to be at 59°N 322°E (dp = 27°, dm = 29°), which agrees with previously published data. For the uppermost coal measures (Permian) the pole position was calculated as 58°N 340°E (dp = 09°, dm = 10°). Data for samples from the lower to middle coal measures yield a pole position which is between the new Permian—Triassic pole position and that for the underlying Middle Permian igneous rocks. The top of the Reversed “Kiaman Magnetic Interval” (Permian) may be near the Tongarra coal and Appin Formation boundary — (early) Late Permian.     

龙门山南段二叠系—下三叠统的古地磁研究

为了约束龙门山南段的构造运动特征,文章对龙门山南段大川镇附近的下三叠统飞仙关组淡紫灰色泥岩、粉砂岩和宝兴地区的二叠系灰岩开展了古地磁研究。古地磁样品取自10个采样点,其中3个采点为二叠系灰岩;7个采点为飞仙关组淡紫灰色泥岩、粉砂岩。对样品开展了逐步热退磁、岩石磁学（等温剩磁获得曲线和三轴等温剩磁热退磁）及扫描电镜实验。80个样品进行的逐步热退磁实验结果显示,二叠系灰岩样品未分离出稳定的特征剩磁;飞仙关组样品分离出了稳定的特征剩磁,并通过了广义褶皱检验,其特征剩磁的平均方向为：Ds=36.9°,Is=16.5°,α95=5.9°,K=33.8,N=18,对应的古地磁极投在了华南视极移曲线的早三叠世段附近。岩石磁学实验结果表明飞仙关组样品的载磁矿物为磁铁矿,扫描电镜观察展示其为碎屑状的铁氧化物,且无明显成岩后自生特征。结合退磁曲线特征,扫描电镜微观特征,特征剩磁的古地磁极位置和岩石磁学结果,飞仙关组样品的特征剩磁很可能为原生剩磁。该结果表明龙门山褶皱冲断带与四川盆地的没有明显地相对构造旋转运动,自晚三叠世以来,其与龙门山北段以及四川盆地在动力学上是统一的构造单元。     

The Bentong–Raub Suture Zone

It is proposed that the Bentong–Raub Suture Zone represents a segment of the main Devonian to Middle Triassic Palaeo-Tethys ocean, and forms the boundary between the Gondwana-derived Sibumasu and Indochina terranes. Palaeo-Tethyan oceanic ribbon-bedded cherts preserved in the suture zone range in age from Middle Devonian to Middle Permian, and mélange includes chert and limestone clasts that range in age from Lower Carboniferous to Lower Permian. This indicates that the Palaeo-Tethys opened in the Devonian, when Indochina and other Chinese blocks separated from Gondwana, and closed in the Late Triassic (Peninsular Malaysia segment). The suture zone is the result of northwards subduction of the Palaeo-Tethys ocean beneath Indochina in the Late Palaeozoic and the Triassic collision of the Sibumasu terrane with, and the underthrusting of, Indochina. Tectonostratigraphic, palaeobiogeographic and palaeomagnetic data indicate that the Sibumasu Terrane separated from Gondwana in the late Sakmarian, and then drifted rapidly northwards during the Permian–Triassic. During the Permian subduction phase, the East Malaya volcano-plutonic arc, with I-Type granitoids and intermediate to acidic volcanism, was developed on the margin of Indochina. The main structural discontinuity in Peninsular Malaysia occurs between Palaeozoic and Triassic rocks, and orogenic deformation appears to have been initiated in the Upper Permian to Lower Triassic, when Sibumasu began to collide with Indochina. During the Early to Middle Triassic, A-Type subduction and crustal thickening generated the Main Range syn- to post-orogenic granites, which were emplaced in the Late Triassic–Early Jurassic. A foredeep basin developed on the depressed margin of Sibumasu in front of the uplifted accretionary complex in which the Semanggol “Formation” rocks accumulated. The suture zone is covered by a latest Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous, mainly continental, red bed overlap sequence.     

Closure of the Solonker basin: Paleomagnetism of the Linxi and Xingfuzhilu formations (Inner Mongolia,China)

The results of petro- and paleomagnetic studies of the volcanic and sedimentary rocks of the Linxi and Xingfuzhilu formations (Solonker Zone, Inner Mongolia, China) are reported. The direction of an ancient prefold magnetization component is determined (Dec = 157.8°, Inc =–43.5°, K = 10.0, α₉₅ = 5.8°) and the coordinates of the corresponding paleomagnetic pole at ~250 Ma are calculated (Plat = 64.2°, Plong = 350.6°, d_p = 4.5°, d_m = 7.2°). The obtained and published paleomagnetic, geochronological, and geochemical data permit palinspatic reconstructions, according to which (1) a paleobasin ~500 km wide existed between the Late Permian and beginning of the Early Triassic (250 Ma); and (2) its closure occurred not in the Permian as previously thought, but at the beginning of the Early Triassic.     

Tectonic rotations in the Deseado Massif, southern Patagonia, during the breakup of Western Gondwana

Paleomagnetic investigation in the Deseado Massif, southern Patagonia, suggests that Triassic sedimentary rocks carry a latest Triassic to Jurassic remagnetization and that earliest Jurassic plutonic complexes carry a reversed polarity magnetization of thermoremanent origin. Despite uncertainties in the timing of the observed remanence in the Triassic rocks and the lack of paleohorizontal control on the plutonic complexes, comparison of the derived pole positions with the most reliable Late Triassic–Jurassic apparent polar wander paths indicates that the study areas underwent significant clockwise vertical-axis rotation. In contrast, paleomagnetic results from mid-Cretaceous rocks in the region indicate no rotation. The observed crustal rotations in the Deseado Massif are thus bracketed to have occurred between Jurassic and Early Cretaceous times, documenting southern Patagonian deformation during the breakup of Western Gondwana and then enlarging the regional record of clockwise rotations associated with this event. These results suggest a more complex than previously supposed tectonic evolution of this part of South America.     

Paleomagnetism of the Late Paleozoic granites of the Angara-Vitim batholith and the host rocks of the Baikal-Patom folded area: Tectonic implications

The paper presents the results of paleomagnetic and geochronological studies of the Late Paleozoic granites of the Angara-Vitim batholith as well as Vendian-Early Cambrian sedimentary rocks and Late Devonian subvolcanic rocks of the Patom margin of the Siberian Platform. Primary and metachronous magnetization in the rocks of the study region was used to calculate an Early Permian (~ 290 Ma) paleomagnetic pole, which is proposed as a reference pole for the Siberian Platform in paleomagnetic reconstructions, plotting of the apparent polar-wander path curve, and other magnetotectonic studies. The published and obtained paleomagnetic data and analysis of the geological data confirm the Late Paleozoic age of the final folding in the Baikal-Patom area. Possible causes of Late Paleozoic deformations and large-scale granite formation in the Baikal-Patom area and Transbaikalia in the Late Paleozoic are discussed.     

Palaeomagnetic and structural constraints on 90° anticlockwise rotation in SW Mongolia during the Permo–Triassic: Implications for Altaid oroclinal bending. Preliminary palaeomagnetic results

New and published paleomagnetic measurements from Trans Altai and South Gobi zones in south Mongolia document large tectonic motions in between Late Carboniferous and Triassic. Magnetic inclinations confirm equatorial position of south Mongolian terranes in Late Carboniferous–Permian times. The evolution of magnetic declinations indicates 90° anticlockwise rotation in between latest Carboniferous and Early Triassic of all studied tectonic units around the Eulerian pole located close to axis of Mongolian orocline. The anticlockwise rotation continues in Triassic being accompanied by a major drift to the north. The structural and published geochronological data suggest Carboniferous E–W shortening of the whole region resulting in N–S trend of all continental and oceanic geological units followed by orthogonal N–S shortening during Late Permian to Early Jurassic. Both paleomagnetic and geological data converge in a tectonic model of oroclinal bending of Mongolian ribbon continent, westerly back arc oceanic domain and Mongol–Okhotsk subduction zone to the east. The oroclinal bending model is consistent with the coincidence of the Eulerian pole of rotation with the structural axis of Mongolian orocline. In addition, the Mesozoic collisional tectonics is reflected by late remagnetizations due to formation of wide deformation fronts and hydrothermal activity.     

Seminar on geodynamics of the Himalayan region: Harsh. K. Gupta (Editor). National Geophysical Research Institute, India, 1973, 221 p., US $ 8.00

For a detailed palaeomagnetic research on Upper Permian red beds in the Wardha Valley (Central India) 265 samples from 47 sites at 6 localities were investigated.The samples from 3 localities (17 sites) appeared to be completely remagnetized during Early Tertiary times by the vast Deccan Trap flood basalts effusions. The samples from 22 sites of the other three localities (results from 8 sites rejected) could become cleaned from hard secondary Deccan Trap components by detailed thermal demagnetization.The resulting primary magnetization component reveals a mean direction (regardless of polarity, 7 sites normal, 15 sites reversed): D = 101.5°, I = +58.5°, α₉₅ = 6.5°, N = 3. This mean direction corresponds to a pole position at 129° W 4° N (dp = 7°, dm = 9.5°). This pole position fits well with other acceptable Late Permian—Early Triassic pole positions for the Indian subcontinent. From these acceptable results, a mean Permo-Triassic pole for the Indian subcontinent was computed at: 125° W 6°N. This Indian Permo-Triassic pole position, when compared with data from other Gondwanaland continents, suggests the hypothesis of an early movement between India and Africa before Permo-Triassic times.The partial or total remagnetization of some Indian red beds, mainly of Gondwana age, during Deccan Trap times is explained as acquisition of viscous Partial Thermoremanent Magnetization. This mechanism was advanced by Briden (1965), Chamalaun (1964) and Irving and Opdyke (1965).     

Apparent polar wandering for the Atlantic-bordering continents: Late Carboniferous to Eocene

We present a compilation of reliable paleomagnetic pole positions from five continental plates (North America, Europe, the Iberian Peninsula, Africa, and South America) for ten time intervals ranging from Late Carboniferous to Eocene. Only well-dated results obtained by demagnetization techniques have been used. Paleomagnetic poles are plotted with respect to the paleo-positions of the continents, as reconstructed from correlations of marine magnetic anomalies in the Atlantic Ocean by Pitman and Talwani and from the fit by Bullard et al. The poles from North America, Europe and the younger poles from Africa show a very good grouping for most of the ten intervals considered, and a continuous apparent polar wandering path is obtained. These data have been used to construct paleolatitude maps for most intervals; thus the relative positions of the continents were established from sea-floor spreading data and their absolute positions on the globe were determined from paleomagnetic data. The older data from South America and the other Gondwana continents show a systematic deviation from those of the northern continents for Late Paleozoic and Early Triassic time periods. An explanation is offered in a different continental reconstruction between Laurasia and Gondwanaland before Middle Triassic times.     

Paleomagnetism of early Aphebian diabase dykes from the slave structural province, Canada

Early Aphebian dykes (lowermost Proterozoic) intrude the Archean terrain of the Slave Structural Province of the Canadian Shield and paleomagnetic results from them are reported. The Dogrib dykes, with an Rb/Sr age of 2692 ± 80 mm.y., have directions of magnetization directed toward the NW without reversals (16 sites; 309, + 37; α₉₅ = 4°; pole 35S, 050W). The Indin dykes, with an Rb/Sr age of 2093 ± 86 mm.y., have magnetization directed toward the SE with reversals (13 sites; 131, + 58; α₉₅ = 8°; pole 19N, 076W). Other, less well-documented data from a third dyke swarm (the “X” dykes) and a basic sill (the Duck Lake Sill), are also presented, and a very tentative polar path for the Slave Province in the earlier Proterozoic is given. This path is not greatly different from a similar very tentative early Aphebian polar path from the Archean Superior Province, considering the uncertainties in the paleomagnetic and age determinations. We interpret this to mean either that the intervening Hudsonian Structural Province (−1850 m.y.) was not the site of a wide plate-style opening and closing ocean, or if it was, the two bounding Archean cratons returned approximately to their original relative position.     

准噶尔盆地东北缘二叠纪地层时代划分

准噶尔盆地东北缘二叠纪地层为陆相沉积，古生物资料贫乏，地层划分方案纷杂，众说不一，部分层段划分证据不足。本文利用磁性地层配合同位素年代学和孢粉学对该区二叠系重新划分，二叠纪沉积期大多数时间处于基亚曼反向极性期，其极性单一，据地磁年表反应的极性特征来对比确定其地层时代界线。     

Detrital zircon age constraints on depositional history and provenance of the Murihiku Supergroup,Murihiku Terrane,North Island,New Zealand

In the Murihiku Terrane of New Zealand, U-Pb detrital zircon ages in Murihiku Supergroup sandstones of Late Triassic, Jurassic and possibly earliest Cretaceous age have a marked youngest age component that is close to, and sometimes coincident with, established biostratigraphic ages, thus reflecting contemporary volcanism. However, youngest Huriwai Group samples yield 137–142 Ma zircon age components (earliest Early Cretaceous) in conflict with palynofloras that suggest only a latest Jurassic age. This is resolved if the age of the Jurassic/Cretaceous boundary is lowered to ca. 140 Ma. Older, reworked zircons are mainly Early Jurassic, Late Triassic and Late Permian reflecting an enduring exhumed magmatic arc source nearby. This might be in the adjacent Median Batholith but as a Murihiku sediment source its Jurassic, Triassic and Permian elements are not well-matched in terms of extent, age and bulk compositions. A connection between the Murihiku (proximal forearc) and Waipapa Composite (distal accretionary wedge) terranes is probable, with a common magmatic arc, speculatively situated in the New England Orogen, eastern Australia.     

Paleozoic northward drift of the North Tien Shan (Central Asia) as revealed by Ordovician and Carboniferous paleomagnetism

Three new Middle–Late Ordovician and two new Early Carboniferous paleomagnetic poles have been obtained from the North Tien Shan Zone (NTZ) of the Ural–Mongol belt in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. Paleolatitudes for the Carboniferous are unambiguously northerly and average 15.5°N, whereas the Ordovician paleolatitudes (6°, 9°, and 9°) are inferred to be southerly, given that a very large (180°) rotation of the NTZ would be necessary during the middle Paleozoic if the other polarity option was chosen. Thus, the NTZ drifted northward during much of the Paleozoic; east–west drift cannot be determined, as is well known, from paleomagnetic data. In addition, detailed thermal demagnetization analysis reveals two overprints, one of recent age and the other of Permian age, which is a time of strong deformation in the NTZ. The paleolatitude of the combined Permian overprint is 30.5+2°N. The paleolatitudes collectively track those predicted for the area by extrapolation from Baltica very well, but are different from those of Siberia for Ordovician times. This finding is compatible with Sengör and Natal'in's [Sengör, A.M.C., Natal'in, B.A., 1996. Paleotectonics of Asia: fragments of a synthesis. In: Yin A., Harrison, M. (Eds.), The Tectonic Evolution of Asia. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, pp. 486–640] model of tectonic evolution of the Ural–Mongol belt and disagrees with the models of other researchers. Declinations of the Ordovician and Early Carboniferous results range from northwesterly to northeasterly, and are clearly affected by local relative rotations, which seem characteristic for the entire NTZ, because the Permian overprint declinations also show such a spread. Apparently, the important latest Paleozoic–Triassic deformation involved shear zone-related rotations as well as folding and significant granitic intrusions.     

New African Lower Carboniferous paleomagnetic pole from intrusive rocks of the Tin Serririne basin (Southern border of the Hoggar, Algeria)

A paleomagnetic study has been conducted on intrusive doleritic rocks cropping out within Devonian horizontal tabular formations of the Saharan craton (Tin Serririne basin, South of Hoggar shield). The ⁴⁰K/⁴⁰Ar dating of the dolerites gave an age of 347.6 ± 8.1 Ma, i.e. Tournaisian. The paleomagnetic data present three different directions. The first has a paleomagnetic pole close to the previous African poles of Permian age. This direction is therefore interpreted as a Permian remagnetization. The second direction, which is defined by both linear regression and remagnetization circles analysis, is considered as the primary magnetization. It yields a new African Tournaisian paleomagnetic pole (λ = 18.8° S,  = 31.2° E, K = 29, A₉₅ = 7.5°) very close to the Ben Zireg Tounaisian pole [Aifa, T., Feinberg, H., Pozzi, J.P., 1990. Devonian/Carboniferous paleopoles for Africa. Consequences for Hercynian geodynamics. Tectonophysics, 179, 288–304]. The third direction has intermediate orientation between those of the first or second directions and that of the Upper Cenozoic field. It is interpreted as related to a composite magnetization. This new Tin Serririne pole improves the APWP of Gondwana, for this key period of the evolution of the Pangea. This APWP confirms the previous paleogeographic reconstruction which shows that the pre-Hercynian ocean between Gondwana and Laurussia is still not close during the beginning of the Carboniferous.     

The Taimyr fold belt, Arctic Siberia: timing of prefold remagnetisation and regional tectonics

Late Precambrian and Palaeozoic platform sediments from the Central–South Taimyr Peninsula (Arctic Siberia) are all remagnetised. The remagnetisation is prefold and is related to thermal remagnetisation caused by Taimyr Trap magmatism. The remagnetisation age is estimated to 220–230 Ma and, hence, is considerably younger than the ca. 251 Ma age for the main body of Siberian Trap flood basalts. The folding that affected the Taimyr region platform sediments also included the Taimyr “Traps,” hence, relegating Taimyr deformation to post-Mid Triassic time, and most probably, to a Late Triassic age. This shows that whilst thrusting terminated in the Urals during the Permian, crustal shortening continued in Taimyr, Novaya–Zemlya and the South Barents Sea, well into the Mesozoic.     

A paleomagnetic polarity transition in the devonian columbus limestone of Ohio: A possible stratigraphic tool

A 40-m section, including the top 1 m of the Raisin River Dolomite, 31 m of the type section of the Columbus Limestone, and 7 m of the Delaware Limestone, was sampled at 15-cm intervals for paleomagnetic stratigraphy. The Raisin River Dolomite and the first meter of the Columbus Limestone were normally magnetized (position of the paleomagnetic pole: 24°N164°E, dp = 9.3°, dm = 11.3°). The next 16 m of the Columbus Limestone shows what the author interprets to be a transition zone from normal to reversely magnetized sediments. This is followed by 22 m of reversely magnetized sediments of the Columbus Limestone (position of the paleomagnetic pole: 45°N120°E, dp = 2.9°, dm = 1.6°) and 7 m of the Delaware Limestone (position of the paleomagnetic pole: 48°N118°E, dp = 4.0°, dm = 2.0°). Since the section might not represent sufficient time to average out secular variation, these pole positions may not represent the axial geocentric dipole. The reversal should be useful as a stratigraphic marker horizon. The transition zone should be useful for a detailed study of an Early Paleozoic reversal of the earth's magnetic field. Due to the low inclination values the reversal is best seen in the declinations.     

华南地块的地极移动曲线及其地质意义

结合最近获得的古地磁数据,作者重新计算编制了华南地块的地极移动曲线,进而讨论了华南和华北地块在早古生代的地理位置,二者最后拼合的时代,以及华南地块和欧亚大陆北部两条极移曲线之间的系统偏差等问题。     

The Triassic of the Thakkhola (Nepal). II: Paleolatitudes and comparison with other Eastern Tethyan Margins of Gondwana

During the Triassic, the Thakkhola region of the Nepal Himalaya was part of the broad continental shelf of Gondwana facing a wide Eastern Tethys ocean. This margin was continuous from Arabia to Northwest Australia and spanned tropical and temperate latitudes.A compilation of Permian, Triassic and early Jurassic paleomagnetic data from the reconstructed Gondwana blocks indicates that the margin was progressively shifting northward into more tropical latitudes. The Thakkhola region was approximately 55° S during Late Permian, 40° S during Early Triassic, 30° S during Middle Triassic and 25° S during Late Triassic. This paleolatitude change produced a general increase in the relative importance of carbonate deposition through the Triassic on the Himalaya and Australian margins. Regional tectonics were important in governing local subsidence rates and influx of terrigenous clastics to these Gondwana margins; but eustatic sea-level changes provide a regional and global correlation of major marine transgressions, prograding margin deposits and shallowing-upward successions. A general mega-cycle characterizes the Triassic beginning with a major transgression at the base of the Triassic, followed by a general shallowing-upward of facies during Middle and Late Triassic, and climaxing with a regression in the latest Triassic.     

The Jinshajiang–Ailaoshan Suture Zone, China: tectonostratigraphy, age and evolution

The Jinshajiang Suture Zone is important for enhancing our understanding of the evolution of the Paleo-Tethys and its age, tectonic setting and relationship to the Ailaoshan Suture Zone have long been controversial. Based on integrated tectonic, biostratigraphic, chemostratigraphic and isotope geochronological studies, four tectono-stratigraphic units can be recognized in the Jinshajiang Suture Zone: the Eaqing Complex, the Jinshajiang Ophiolitic Melange, the Gajinxueshan “Group” and the Zhongxinrong “Group”. Isotope geochronology indicates that the redefined Eaqing Complex, composed of high-grade-metamorphic rocks, might represent the metamorphic basement of the Jinshajiang area or a remnant micro-continental fragment. Eaqing Complex protolith rocks are pre-Devonian and probably of Early–Middle Proterozoic age and are correlated with those of the Ailaoshan Complex. Two zircon U–Pb ages of 340±3 and 294±3 Ma, separately dated from the Shusong and Xuitui plagiogranites within the ophiolitic assemblage, indicate that the Jinshajiang oceanic lithosphere formed in latest Devonian to earliest Carboniferous times. The oceanic lithosphere was formed in association with the opening and spreading of the Jinshajiang oceanic basin, and was contiguous and equivalent to the Ailaoshan oceanic lithosphere preserved in the Shuanggou Ophiolitic Melange in the Ailaoshan Suture Zone; the latter yielded a U–Pb age of 362±41 Ma from plagiogranite. The re-defined Gajinxueshan and Zhongxinrong “groups” are dated as Carboniferous to Permian, and latest Permian to Middle Triassic respectively, on the basis of fossils and U–Pb dating of basic volcanic interbeds. The Gajinxueshan “Group” formed in bathyal slope to neritic shelf environments, and the Zhongxinrong “Group” as bathyal to abyssal turbidites in the Jinshajiang–Ailaoshan back-arc basin. Latest Permian–earliest Middle Triassic synorogenic granitoids, with ages of 238±18 and 227±5–255±8 Ma, respectively, and an Upper Triassic overlap molasse sequence, indicate a Middle Triassic age for the Jinshajiang–Ailaoshan Suture, formed by collision of the Changdu-Simao Block with South China.     

Late Paleozoic to Early Jurassic tectonic development of the high Andean Principal Cordillera,El Indio Region,Chile (29–30°S)

Regional mapping (1:50,000) and U-Pb and K-Ar geochronology in the El Indio region refines the knowledge of the distribution, lithostratigraphy, and age of the sedimentary, volcanic, and intrusive rocks that comprise the regionally extensive Pastos Blancos Group which is equivalent to the Choiyoi Group of the Argentine Frontal Cordillera. The Pastos Blancos Group (which we elevate to Group status herein) includes at least two diachronous volcanic–sedimentary sequences: an older felsic volcanic and volcaniclastic unit, the Guanaco Sonso sequence, that is Permian in age, and a younger bimodal volcanic and volcaniclastic unit, the Los Tilos sequence that is Middle Triassic to Early Jurassic. Sedimentary rocks of the Los Tilos sequence are transitional upward into the overlying Early to Middle Jurassic shallow marine limestones of the Lautaro Formation.Intrusions that make up the regionally extensive Permian to Early Jurassic plutons of the Chollay and Elqui-Limarı́ batholiths that were previously mapped as a single plutonic association, the Ingaguás Complex, include in the El Indio region at least three discrete intrusive units. These include: Early Permian (280–270 Ma) biotite granites, Early to Middle Triassic (242–238 Ma) silica-rich leucocratic granites and rhyolitic porphyries that made up the bulk of the Chollay Batholith, and a younger Late Triassic–Early Jurassic unit (221–200 Ma) of mainly intrusive rhyolitic porphyries, extrusive domes, and subordinate mafic intrusions and both felsic and mafic dikes, which are coeval with volcanic rocks of the Los Tilos sequence.Our data show that latest Paleozoic to Early Jurassic intrusive, volcanic, and sedimentary rocks in the El Indio region of the High Andes of Chile between 29–30°S likely formed during extension driven processes after the cessation of Carboniferous–Early Permian subduction along the western edge of Gondwana. These processes began by Late Permian time, but instead of recording a single and protracted magmatic event, as has been previously suggested, rocks that belong to the Pastos Blancos Group and the Ingaguás Intrusive Complex record at least three discrete periods of silicic to bimodal magmatism which occurred during the Middle Permian to Early Jurassic interval.