The North-Chilean Coast Range — an example for the development of an active continental margin

Analysis of extended plutons in the Coast Range of North Chile between 25°30′ and 26°35′ led to the recognition of a complex magmatic and structural evolution from the Upper Paleozoic to the Tertiary. The ascension of the intrusive bodies is dictated by deep-seated block tectonics. Generally the chemistry changes from S-type magmas in the Paleozoic to I-type magmas in the Mesozoic and Cainozoic. This is accompanied by a change in the structural geology of the continental margin which we present in six hypothetic phases (Devonian-Tertiary). We are only at the beginning of an encompassing synthesis of the genesis of the Andean orogen.