Mantle Processes and Sources of Neogene Slab Window Magmas from Southern Patagonia, Argentina

Neogene plateau lavas in Patagonia, southern Argentina, eastof the volcanic gap between the Southern and Austral VolcanicZones at 46·5° and 49·5°S are linked withasthenospheric slab window processes associated with the collisionof a Chile Ridge segment with the Chile Trench at 12 Ma. Thestrong ocean-island basalt (OIB)-like geochemical signatures(La/Ta <20; Ba/La <20; ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr = 0·7035–0·7046;¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd = 0·51290–0·51261; ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb= 18·3–18·8; ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 15·57–15·65;²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb = 38·4–38·7) of these Patagonianslab window lavas contrast with the mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB)-like,depleted mantle signatures of slab window lavas elsewhere inthe Cordillera (e.g. Antarctic Peninsula; Baja California).The Patagonian lavas can be divided into a voluminous