North Chilean forearc tectonics and cenozoic plate kinematics

The continental forearc of northern Chile has been subjected to contemporaneous extension and compression. Here, cross-sections constructed across the forearc are presented which show that since initial shortening, deformation of the forearc has occurred in two tectonically distinct areas. These inner and outer forearc areas are separated by the strain discontinuity of the Atacama fault system and the tectonically neutral Central Depression.

The outer forearc, the Coastal Cordillera, exhibits extensional tectonics, with large (up to 300 m) normal fault scarps preserved. These faults cut the earlier thrusts responsible for the elevation of Jurassic rocks at the coast above their regional elevation. The normal faults have been re-activated, displacing Quaternary salt deposits in the Salar Grande. This re-activation of the basement faults is probably due to the subduction of anomalously thick oceanic crust, producing an isostatic imbalance in the outer forearc. In the inner forearc, cross-sections through the Sierra del Medio and Cordillera de Domeyko show that structures of the Pre-Cordillera are best explained by a thick-skinned thrust system, with localized thin-skinned tectonics controlled by evaporite detachment horizons.

Current forearc deformation features indicate a strong degree of correlation between subduction zone geometry and forearc tectonics. The timing of Cenozoic tectonism also fits well with established plate motion parameters, and the spatial and temporal variation in the state of stress of the forearc shows a close relationship throughout the Cenozoic to the plate kinematics and morphology of the subducting Nazca plate.