Contribution to the knowledge of the Domeyko Range in the Andes of Northern Chile

This work describes a geological scheme of the pre- And ean Domeyko Range of Northern Chile. This pre- And ean area consists of a basement formed by Paleozoic granitic, volcanic, and marine sedimentary rocks, and by Triassic acidic volcanics with continental intercalations. The Andean Basin developed in the Lias over the basement, with initial stages that include volcanic and continental sequences. A continuous marine environment existed in the Hettangian-Tithonian span, with volcanic events in the Bajocian, Callovian, Kimmeridgian, and Tithonian. Evaporitic facies developed in the Oxfordian-Kirnmeridgian. A marine-continental basin is recognized in the Neocomian, the Upper Cretaceous being represented by volcanic and continental deposits, a development similar to the Tertiary one; over these sequences volcanic, detrital, and saline deposits were laid down in the Plio-Pleistocene. Compressional tectonic cycles developed in the Upper Paleozoic, Upper Lias?, Upper Jurassic, Upper Cretaceous, and Tertiary, and tensional phases occured in the Triassic, Cretaceous, and Tertiary. The compressional stages were characterized by intrusive cycles while the tensional phases witnessed volcanic sedimentary events.