Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Tectonics of the Southern Central Andes pp 171–188Cite as

Sedimentary and Structural Evolution of the Salar de Atacama Depression

  • Chapter

Abstract

The Salar de Atacama Depression is part of the northern Preandean Depression, a SSW-NNE striking morphological low situated between the Western Cordillera de los Andes and the Chilean Precordillera. The Cordillera de la Sal is a small SSW-NNE striking intrabasinal foldbelt within the Salar de Atacama Depression and provides the best outcrops of the sedimentary record of the Preandean Depression. It is built mainly of continental red beds (San Pedro Formation, Oligo-Miocene), locally more than 3 km thick. These sediments were deposited in a playa environment and contain large amounts of evaporites (gypsum, anhydrite, glauberite, and, especially, halite). First fossil findings (charophytes, gastropods, ostracods) indicate intervals with an oligohaline lacustrine environment in the north. Towards the west, the San Pedro Formation interfingers with an alluvial fan sequence (Tambores Formation). The sediments of the Salar de Atacama Depression overlie unconformably folded Upper Cretaceous-Eocene sediments of the Purilactis Formation. The origin of the observed complicated structural pattern is considered to be a result of the combination of compressional and sinistral strike slip movements. The most evident tectonic elements within the sediments of the Salar de Atacama Depression are: (1) NNE-SSW striking folds with doubly plunging axes; (2) a complex pattern of nearly vertical small scale normal, reverse and strike slip faults; (3) NNE-SSW striking low angle reverse faults; (3) N-S to NW-SE striking vertical tension fissures; (4) effects of gravitational lateral spread of thick halite deposits.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Abele G (1988) Geomorphological west-east section through the northern Chilean Andes near Antofagasta. In: Bahlburg H, Breitkreuz C, Giese P (eds). The southern Central Andes. Lecture Notes in Earth Sciences, 17. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 153–168

    Google Scholar 

  • Alonso RN, Jordan ET, Tabutt KT, Vandervoort DS (1991) Giant evaporite belts of the Neogene central Andes. Geology 19: 401–404

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Armijo R, Thiele R (1990) Active faulting in northern Chile: ramp stacking and lateral decoupling along a subduction plate boundary. Earth Planet Sci Lett 98: 40–61

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baby P, Sempéré T, Oiler J, Barrios L, Hérrail G (1990) The southern Altipiano of Bolivia: An Oligo-Miocene intermontane foreland basin. Forschergruppe Mobilität aktiver Kontinentalränder, Final Workshop, Abstr Vol Berlin, p 69

    Google Scholar 

  • Brüggen J (1934) Grundzuge der Geologie und Lagerstättenkunde Chiles. Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften

    Google Scholar 

  • Brüggen J (1942) Geología de la Puna de San Pedro de Atacama y sus formaciones de areniscas y arcillas rojas. Primer Congr Panam Ing Minas Geol An II, 1: 342–367

    Google Scholar 

  • Dingman RJ (1962) Tertiary salt domes near San Pedro de Atacama. US Geol Surv Prof Pap 450D: 92–94

    Google Scholar 

  • Dingman RJ (1967) Geology and ground-water resources of the northern part of the Salar de Atacama, Antofagasta province, Chile. US Geol Surv Bull 1219, 49 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Döbel R, Friedrichsen H, Hammerschmidt K (1992) Implication of 40Ar/39Ar dating of early Tertiary volcanic rocks from the north Chilean Precordillera. Tectonophysics 202:55–81

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eugster HP, Hardie LA (1978) Saline lakes. In: Lerman A.(ed) Lakes — chemistry, geology, physics. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 237–293

    Google Scholar 

  • Flint S (1985) Alluvial fan and playa sedimentation in an Andean arid closed basin: The Pacencia Group, Antofagasta province, Chile. J Geol Soc Lond 142: 535–546

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forsythe RD, Toskos T (1988) Late Cenozoic tectonics along the southwestern border of the Altiplano/Puna, Salar de Atacama Depression, Antofagasta region, Chile. VII. Congr. Latinamericano de Geologia Belem Abstr, p 315

    Google Scholar 

  • Gerth H (1955) Der geologische Bau der südamerikanischen Kordillere. Bornträger, Berlin, 264 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Guest JE (1969) Upper Tertiary ignimbrites in the Andean Cordillera of part of the Antofagasta province, northern Chile. Geol Soc Am Bull 80: 337–362.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Handford CR (1982) Sedimentology and evaporite genesis in a Holocene continental-sabkha playa basin — Bristol Dry Lake, California. Sedimentology 29: 239–253.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hardie LA, Smoot JP, Eugster HP (1978) Saline lakes and their deposits: A sedimentological approach. In: Matter, A., Tucker, M. E. (eds.). Modern and ancient lake sediments. Int Assoc Sedimentol Spec Publ 2: 7–41

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Harding TP (1974) Petroleum traps associated with wrench faults. AAPG Bull 58: 1290–1304

    Google Scholar 

  • Hollingworth SE, Rutland RWR (1968) Studies of Andean uplift Part I — Post-Cretaceous evolution of the San Bartolo area, north Chile. Geol J 6(1): 49–61

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hooper B, Flint S. (1987) Miocene-Recent tectonic evolution of the San Bartolo Area, northern Chile. Zentralbl Geol Paläontol Teil I (7/8): 967–981

    Google Scholar 

  • Jolley EJ, Turner P, Williams GD, Hartley A, Flint S (1990) Sedimentological response of an alluvial system to Neogene thrust tectonics, Atacama desert, northern Chile.- J Geol Soc Lond 147: 769–784

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jordan TE, Alonso RN (1987) Cenozoic stratigraphy and basin tectonics of the Andes mountains, 20°–28° south latitude. AAPG Bull 71(1): 49–64

    Google Scholar 

  • Kussmaul S, Jordan L, Ploskonka E (1975) Isotopic ages of Tertiary volcanic rocks of southwest Bolivia. Geol Jahrb B14: 111–120

    Google Scholar 

  • Lahsen A (1982) Upper Cenozoic volcanism and tectonism in the Andes of northern Chile. Earth Sci Rev 18: 285–302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lerche I, O’Brien JJ (1987) Modelling of buoyant salt diapirism. In: Lerche I, O’Brien JJ (eds) Dynamical geology of salt and related structures. Academic Press, New York, pp 129–162

    Google Scholar 

  • Macellari CE, Su MJ, Townsend F (1991) Structure and seismic stratigraphy of the Atacama basin, northern Chile. VI Congr. Geol Chil Resumenes ampliados: 133–137

    Google Scholar 

  • Marinovic SN, Lahsen A (1984) Hoja Calama. Serv. Nac. Geol Min, Santiago, Carta Geol de Chile 58, 140 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Mégard F, Noble DC, McKee EH, Bellon H (1984) Multiple pulses of Neogene compressive deformation in the Ayacucho intermontane basin, Andes of central Peru. Geol Soc Am Bull 95: 1108–1117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moraga A, Chong G, Fortt MA, Henriquez H (1974) Estudio geologico del Salar de Atacama, provincia de Antofagasta. Bol Inst Invest Geol Santiago 29: 56

    Google Scholar 

  • Niemeyer H (1984) La Megafalla Tucucaro en el extremo sur del Salar de Atacama: una antigua zona de cizalle reactivada en el Cenozoico. Comunicaciones 34: 37–45

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramirez CF (1977) Geologia de la parte norte de los cuadrangulos San Pedro de Atacama y Cordillera de la Sal, provincia El Loa, II. Region. Taller de Titulo I y II, Univ de Chile, Santiago 67 pp (unpubl)

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramirez CF (1979a) Geologia de cuadrangulo Rio Grande y sector sur oriental de cuadrangulo Barros Arana, provincia El Loa, II. Región. Tesis de Grado, Univ de Chile, Santiago 139 pp (unpubl)

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramirez CF (1979b) Edades potassio-argón de rocas volcánicas cenozoicas en la zona de San Pedro de Atacama-El Tatio, región de Antofagasta. II Congr. Geol Chil Arica 1: F31–F41

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramirez CF, Gardeweg PM (1982) Hoja Toconao. Serv Nac Geol Min, Santiago, Carta Geol de Chile 54, 121 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Scheuber E, Andriessen PAM (1990) The kinematic and geodynamic significance of the Atacama Fault Zone, northern Chile. J Struct Geol 12: 243–257

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwab K (1985) Basin formation in a thickening crust — the inter-montane basins in the Puna and the Eastern Cordillera of NW-Argentina (Central Andes). IV. Congr Geol Chil, Antofagasta 1: 138–158

    Google Scholar 

  • Stoertz GE, Ericksen GE (1974) Geology of salare in northern Chile. US Geol Surv Prof Pap 811: 65 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Thomas A (1970) Beitrag zur Tektonik Nordchiles. Geol Rundsch 59: 1013–1027

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Townsend F (1988) Exploracion petrolera en la cuenca del Salar de Atacama, región de Antofagasta, Chile. Veniente, Antofagasta 4: 45–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Travisany VA (1978) Mineralización cuprìfera en areniscas de la Formación San Pedro en el distrito San Bartolo. Tesis de Grado, Univ de Chile, Santiago 71 pp (unpubl)

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkes E (1990) Die Geologie der Cordillera de la Sal, Nordchile. Berl Geowiss Abh (A) 128: 145 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkes E, Görler K (1988) Sedimentary and structural evolution of the Cordillera de la Sal, II. Regíon, Chile. V. Congr Geol Chil, Santiago 1: A173–A188

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams GD, Turner P, Flint S, Stimpson I, Jolley EJ, Hartley AJ (1990) Andean basin dynamics in northern Chile. Symp int Geodynamique andine, Résumés des communications. ORSTOM, Grenoble p 231

    Google Scholar 

  • Zeil W (1964) Geologie von Chile. Bornträger, Berlin, 233 pp

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fachrichtung Geologie, Freie Universität Berlin, Malteserstr. 74-100, D-1000, Berlin 46, Germany

    Konrad Görler

Authors
  1. Eberhard Wilkes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Konrad Görler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Geologie, Geophysik und Geoinformatik, Freie Universität Berlin, Malteserstr. 74-100, 12249, Berlin, Germany

    Klaus-Joachim Reutter , Ekkehard Scheuber  & Peter J. Wigger ,  & 

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1994 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Wilkes, E., Görler, K. (1994). Sedimentary and Structural Evolution of the Salar de Atacama Depression. In: Reutter, KJ., Scheuber, E., Wigger, P.J. (eds) Tectonics of the Southern Central Andes. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-77353-2_12

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-77353-2_12

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-77355-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-77353-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation