Volcán Miño (21°11'S) is located on the westernmost periphery of a longlived complex of stratovolcarioes and domes called the Aucanquilcha Complex. The Aucanquilcha Complex ranges in age from 11 Ma to 1-lolocene and lies along the main N-S trending axis of Quaternary volcanoes in the Andean Central Volcanic Zone (CVZ)....
Volcan Aucanquilcha, a Pleistocene to Recent composite volcano in northern Chile, is the youngest and center-most member of the 11 m.y.-old Aucanquilcha Volcanic Cluster (AVC). The AVC has produced [approximately]350 km³ of lava over its history. Magmatism started slowly and was punctuated by high rates of eruption between 4.5 and...
We document a new model of crustal structure of the Andean front in Argentina where numerous historic earthquakes destroyed the cities of Mendoza in 1861 (M[subscript s] = ~7) and San Juan in 1944 (M[subscript w] = 7.0). The Cerro Salinas anticline is formed above the west directed Cerro Salinas...
Gravity and seismic data obtained by the geophysical group at
Oregon State University on the R/V YAQUINA during 1969, 1971, and
1973 plus other available data over the area just west of Nicaragua
and Costa Rica indicate the tectonic complexity of the region. Gravity
measurements show negative free-air anomalies over...
The interaction of magma with continental crust at convergent margins is fundamental to
understanding if and how continents grow. Isotopic and elemental data constrain the
progressive stages of development of the magmatic underpinnings of the long-lived
Aucanquilcha Volcanic Cluster (AVC), situated atop the thick continental crust of the
central Andes...
Micropaleontological data have been analyzed through mathematical
and statistical procedures, in order to: (1) establish the distribution
pattern of radiolarian assemblages in the surface sediments,
(2) establish the relationship of these assemblages with oceanographic
variables, (3) determine the faunal composition down-core with
respect to the faunal surface pattern, and (4)...
The Inmaculada Mine is located in the Miocene belt of epithermal deposits that extends from southern Peru to northern Chile and Bolivia. This belt is known for its silver-rich epithermal veins that have been worked since colonial times. The Inmaculada Mine belongs to a mining district that includes, from north...
In this study, 3D finite difference and 2D finite element forward modeling were used to create an electromagnetic sensitivity analysis for the Cotopaxi volcano in Ecuador. Magnetotellurics (MT) is a natural-source electromagnetic geophysical technique that images electrical conductivity. Measuring strong contrasts in electrical conductivity in volcanic materials allows for the...
The pressure history of a continental magmatic system can be deciphered by analyzing the composition of amphiboles in the eruptive products where the pressure of equilibration correlates with the depth of the magmatic system. This can reveal vertical evolution of the magma as amphibole composition varies significantly with temperature and...
This dissertation combines volcanological research of three convergent continental margins. Chapters
1 and 5 are general introductions and conclusions, respectively. Chapter 2 examines the spatiotemporal
development of the Altiplano-Puna volcanic complex in the Lípez region of southwest Bolivia, a locus of a
major Neogene ignimbrite flare- up, yet the least...
Constraining the development, evolution, and timescales of large silicic magma systems is important to understanding the development of granite batholiths, the relationships between volcanoes and their plutonic underpinnings, and the development of the continental crust.
The ignimbrite flare up that produced the Altiplano-Puna Volcanic Complex of the Central Andes is...
Growth strata geometries and deformed geomorphic surfaces reflect the shorttimescale growth of Sierra de Villicum (San Juan Province, Argentina). Accumulated deformation in repeated earthquakes is recorded by the structural geometry of deformed geomorphic surfaces. Through geologic mapping and topographic surveying, six strath terraces were identified on the eastern flank of...
The 2-ka eruption of Misti volcano produced voluminous flowage deposits and a wide-spread tephra-fall deposit. The flowage deposits form large terraces within channels draining the south side of the volcano. All the channels drain into the city of Arequipa. Arequipa's city center is ~16 km from the summit of the...
A large, damaging earthquake in 1944 on a blind thrust fault caused 60 cm of surface rupture on the subsidiary La Laja fault and additional unmeasured growth of an associated backlimb fold. Both the fold and fault are components of the La Laja Fault System (LLFS) located 25 km northeast...
The ~1 Myr history of the Purico-Chascon volcanic complex (PCVC) records significant changes in the production and storage of magmas in the crust. At ~1 Ma activity at the PCVC initiated with the eruption of a large 80-100 km³ crystal-rich dacite ignimbrite with restricted whole rock ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr isotope ratios between...
The climatic and tectonic framework of the St. Elias orogen makes it an excellent place to study the interactions between tectonic processes such as deformation and erosive processes, in particular glacial erosion. One type of link between these processes, proposed by numerical models of orogenic development, is an effect of...
This study is an effort to characterize the magma sources, plumbing system, and eruptive behavior of Mount Hood, a low-explosivity recharge-dominated volcano in the Oregon Cascades. The three manuscripts in this dissertation make use of melt inclusion data, phenocryst compositions, and whole rock petrology and geochemistry to build a schematic...
The 2008-2009 eruption of Chaitén Volcano (Chile) involved a variety of volcanic and associated hydrologic processes that damaged nearby forests. These processes included coarse (gravel) and fine (silt to sand) tephra fall, a laterally directed blast, fluvial deposition of remobilized tephra, a variety of low-temperature mass-movement processes, and a pyroclastic...
A free-air gravity anomaly map of the continental margin of
Peru between 12° and 18° S. Lat. shows a -110 to -220 mgl anomaly
associated with the Peru-Chile Trench, a -60 mgl anomaly over the
Pisco Basin on the continental shelf, and -120 mgl anomaly over the
Mollendo (or Arequipa)...
Gravity and magnetic data from cruises by the R/V Yaquina in 1973
and the R/V Wecoma in 1975 provide new data that make possible the construction of a map of the free-air gravity anomalies at sea and simple
Bouguer anomalies on lano in Panama, western Colombia, and the eastern
Panama...
Seismic refraction, reflection and gravity data obtained
across the Peru continental margin and Nazca Plate
at 9° S. permit a detailed determination of crustal structure.
Complex structures normal to the profile require the
development of a ray trace technique to analyze first and
later arrivals for eleven overlapping refraction lines....
This thesis synthesizes surficial structural data, a detailed analysis of an earthquake in 1944, and historical seismicity into a new model of crustal scale deformation in the eastern Precordillera in northwestern Argentina in the vicinity of San Juan. The eastern Precordillera was uplifted during previous thin-skinned deformation episodes, and is...
This dissertation is informally divided into three major sections. In the first section (Chapter 2) I use data from field mapping, isotopic geochronology, whole rock geochemistry and trace element concentrations in zircons to examine the petrology, geochemistry and ages of the Haquira East porphyry copper deposit of southern Peru. In...
The Altiplano-Puna Volcanic Complex in the Central Andes is one of the youngest large silicic volcanic fields (LSVFs) in the world, erupting over 13,000 km³ of material during multiple supereruptions from 11 to 1 Ma. Understanding the timescales over which magma is stored in the crust prior to eruption is...
The Pastos Grandes Caldera Complex (PGCC) in southwest Bolivia has produced two large-volume (≥800 km³ DRE) dacite ignimbrites from a nested caldera source over a period of 5.5 Myr. In addition to the large-volume ignimbrites, a small-volume ignimbrite shield and post-climactic lavas define this composite system. Based on detailed field...
Constraining the magma evolution and dynamics that lead to the eruption of large volume continental arc systems is fundamental to our understanding of continental crust formation. An investigation into the magmagenesis that results in the formation of the Central Volcanic Zone (CVZ) in the Andes of South America, situated atop...
The Pebble porphyry Cu-Au-Mo deposit in Alaska is one of the world's largest Cu-Au mineral resources. Late Cretaceous magmatic evolution in the Pebble district culminated with the intrusion of the Kaskanak Batholith and associated porphyry copper-gold-molybdenum mineralization. The Kaskanak Batholith is a multiphase granodiorite intrusion with an estimated footprint of...
Porphyry Cu-(Au-Mo) deposits are critical sources of several economically important metals. The processes governing the total metal endowment and relative proportions of ore metals at these large magmatic-hydrothermal deposits remain uncertain. The Sulphurets porphyry district, in northwestern British Columbia, Canada, contains four porphyry Au-Cu-Mo deposits that each feature distinct Cu/Au...
The San Vicente zinc lead deposit is located in the Eastern Andes of
Central Peru. The deposit is an epigenetic Mississippi Valley-type deposit
based on stratigraphic, geologic, petrographic, and geochemical evidence.
The dolomite host rocks of the Pucara Group are of Triassic-Jurassic
age. The source of metals are red sandstones...
The ~5 km3, 4.54 to 4.09 Ma Caspana Ignimbrite of the Altiplano-Puna Volcanic Complex (APVC) of the Central Andes records the eruption of an andesite and two distinct rhyolitic magmas. It provides a unique opportunity to investigate the production of silicic magmas in a continental arc flare-up, where small volumes...
The El Salvador porphyry copper deposit in the Indio Muerto district of northern Chile has been geologically investigated for more than 60 years and provides one of the best bases for understanding similar environments of ore formation elsewhere in the world. Fourteen new zircon U/Pb isotopic ages obtained via in...
To investigate the dynamic response of the outer accretionary wedge updip from the patch of greatest slip during the Mw8.8 2010 Maule earthquake, 10 Ocean Bottom Seismometers (OBS) were deployed from May 2012 to March 2013 in a small array with an inter-instrument spacing of ~10 km. Nine instruments were...
This dissertation is concerned with the behavior of sulfur in intermediate-silicic arc magmas associated with subduction at convergent margins. In particular it focusses on oxidized, sulfur-rich magmas, the conditions at which they might reach sulfate saturation, and implications of sulfate saturation. It is divided into an investigation of natural samples...
The eruptive history of the Quaternary Cascades arc has been relatively well characterized. However, much less is known about the frequency and sizes of explosive eruptions produced by earlier stages of the arc. The Late Neogene Deschutes Formation of Central Oregon preserves a remarkable record of heightened pyroclastic activity during...
This dissertation is divided into two major chapters. The first chapter covers the geologyof the Encuentro deposit with emphasis in the intrusion sequence, vein mineral assemblages and distribution, and age of mineralization. The data used for this section includes field mapping, petrography, elemental analysis of biotite, and isotopic geochronology. The...
The Clarno Formation is a series of volcanic, volcaniclastic, and related intrusive rocks located in central Oregon. It is the westernmost extent of a broader Eocene magmatic belt that covers much the western United States. The magmatic belt stretches eastward from Oregon to western South Dakota, and from the Canadian...
The imposing andesite stratovolcano is the characteristic expression of subduction zone magmatism, posing hazards to coastal populations and bearing insight into deep Earth processes. On a map of a typical volcanic arc, one can easily distinguish the approximately linear alignment and regular spacing of these major edifices that stand out...
The Cascadia subduction zone has been characterized as a typical Chilean-type
subduction zone based on qualitative comparisons of plate age and convergence rate, with
simple forearc structure. However, the discovery of unusual structural styles of
deformation, variations in the morphology of the forearc, and its absence of seismic activity
suggest...
By inverting EarthScope long-period magnetotelluric (MT) data from the southeastern United States (SEUS), we obtain electrical conductivity images that provides key insights into the geodynamics of this region. Significantly, we resolve a highly electrically resistive block that extends to mantle depths beneath the modern Piedmont and Coastal Plain physiographic provinces....
Explosively erupting volcanoes and megathrust earthquakes (Mw 8+ magnitude) occur at subduction zones and adjacent volcanic arcs. Volcanic eruptions are observed occurring close in time to megathrust earthquakes in the historical record from at least the 18th century CE to present in locations globally, including Japan in 1707 CE (Chesley...
Crystal-rich (40-50 vol.%) intermediate lava has been the primary eruptive product of several recent hazardous eruptions: Mt. Pinatubo, Philippines (1991), Soufriere Hills, Montserrat (1995-present), and Unzen, Japan (1990-1995). Despite this association with such devastating eruptions, the formation, timing, and evacuation of such magma is not well understood: do such eruptions...
Large silicic magmatic systems are responsible for producing the largest explosive volcanic eruptions on earth. These phenomena, although infrequent (i.e., 1 per 100,000 years), impact the global climate, deposit ash over continent sized regions, and significantly alter landscapes. Silicic magmatism also plays important roles in the formation and ongoing evolution...
The Bransfield Strait is the narrow, late Tertiary to Quaternary marginal basin separating the South Shetland Islands from the northern end of the Antarctic Peninsula magmatic arc. Quaternary volcanism in the strait is tholeiitic to mildly alkaline, and contrasts chemically with the pre-Quaternary calc-alkaline arc volcanism. Geochemical evidence presented here...
This thesis focuses on the identification of ecohydrological processes in nested system of catchments in a tropical alpine (the wet Andean páramo) ecosystem. We accomplish this by conducting a water stable isotopic characterization of water sources, an evaluation of the mean transit time (MTT) of streams waters, and the investigation...
New analyses of teleseismic body waves from moderate earthquakes in western Argentina demonstrate that active shortening of the Andean foreland occurs on reverse faults extending to 40–50 km depth. Existing crustal‐scale models of foreland deformation invoke thin‐skinned fault geometries, which root into an east‐dipping mid‐crustal décollement. Whereas thin‐skinned thrust sheets...
Sediments of the central Chile margin record changes in ocean circulation and
continental erosion associated with large–scale climate change. Here Antarctic–
influenced Southern Ocean currents flow equatorward, forming a link between the high–
and low–latitude oceans. Part of this link, Antarctic Intermediate Water, is an important
conduit that ventilates South...
The R/V WECOMA cruise leg 6 emphasized the field work of the marine geology research program on "Patterns and processes of continental margin sedimentation." This program constitutes a mesoscale study of processes controlling hemipelagic sediment distribution and composition beneath the coastal upwelling, non-upwelling and pelagic regimes of the equatorial East...
A feature of large continental magmatic systems is voluminous dacite ignimbrites erupted from upper crustal magma reservoirs. In the Altiplano Puna Volcanic Complex (APVC) of the Central Andes, a major ignimbrite and caldera plateau, magma systems are found to be long-lived and remarkably homogeneous requiring that they be maintained by...
Subduction zone earthquake and tsunami hazards affect tens of millions worldwide and the recurrence of these disasters can be evaluated with paleoseismic techniques, because earthquake cycles (and their supercycles) typically span many millennia. In these three chapters, I discuss a suite of analyses I use to evaluate the sedimentary record...
This research incorporates geochemical and helium isotopic analyses of Lau Basin volcanic glasses, along with helium isotopic analyses of water column hydrothermal plumes to better understand the processes that control the formation and evolution of this backarc basin. Lavas newly collected from the four southernmost segments of the Valu Fa...
Harney County contains defining characteristics of regions containing arsenic within the groundwater such as its location in the western United States, unique closed basin geography, complex geology, and seasonal groundwater level fluctuations. Confirmation of arsenic concentrations above the Maximum Contaminant Level Drinking Water Standard of 10 μg/L has been observed...
The ~1 Myr history of the Purico-Chascon volcanic complex (PCVC) records significant changes in the production and storage of magmas in the crust. At ~1 Ma activity at the PCVC initiated with the eruption of a large 80-100 km³ crystal-rich dacite ignimbrite with restricted whole rock ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr isotope ratios between...
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Geology presented on
May 20, 2014.
Title: Crustal Architecture and Magma Dynamics in a Large
The composition of the continental crust is closely tied to subduction zone magmatism. Elevated oxygen fugacity (fO₂) plays a central role in fostering crystallization of oxide minerals and thereby aids in generating the calc-alkaline trend of iron depletion that characterizes the continents. Along continental margins, arc magmas erupt through continental...
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source variations in controlling the oxidation
state of iron in Central Andean magmas
1. Continental
The composition of the continental crust is closely tied to subduction zone magmatism. Elevated oxygen fugacity (fO₂) plays a central role in fostering crystallization of oxide minerals and thereby aids in generating the calc-alkaline trend of iron depletion that characterizes the continents. Along continental margins, arc magmas erupt through continental...
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processes versus source variations in controlling the oxidation state of iron in Central Andean magmas
Neotropical characiform fishes form one of the most diverse freshwater ichthyofauna in the world. Knowledge of evolutionary processes that generated and maintain the immense characiform lineage and morphological diversity is still poorly understood. When did characiform lineages diversify? How have major geological and environmental changes affected diversification? Why are some...
The interaction of magma with continental crust at convergent margins is fundamental to
understanding if and how continents grow. Isotopic and elemental data constrain the
progressive stages of development of the magmatic underpinnings of the long-lived
Aucanquilcha Volcanic Cluster (AVC), situated atop the thick continental crust of the
central Andes...
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Geology presented on
July 20, 2011.
Title: The Geochemical Evolution of the Aucanquilcha Volcanic
The largest known Quaternary silicic lava body in the world is Cerro Chao in north Chile, a 14-km-long coulée with a volume of at least 26 km³. It is the largest of a group of several closely similar dacitic lavas erupted during a recent (< 100,000 year old) magmatic episode...
Detailed bathymetric survey data were collected along the Peruvian
continental margin and were compiled by the author and other
investigators to construct a new bathymetric map for the area between
6° to 18°S latitude. Based on this map and individual bathymetric
profiles, the continental shelf topography is essentially flat. Four...
Accumulating human impacts on freshwater ecosystems have created a biodiversity crisis for freshwater fishes while conservation efficacy remains hampered by the Linnaean shortfall, the ignorance of many species that have yet to be discovered and described. The past discovery of most freshwater fish species was simply a matter of collecting...
Altar (31º 29’ S, 70º 28’ W) is a large porphyry Cu-(Au-Mo) deposit with associated
epithermal Au-(Ag-Cu) veins located in the Cordillera Principal of SW San Juan Province
(Argentina). Altar is a complex magmatic-hydrothermal system formed from several
magmatic and hydrothermal pulses during the middle-late Miocene. New LA-ICPMS U-Pb
ages...
Four multicyclic complex calderas and smaller ignimbrite shields located within the Altiplano Puna Volcanic Complex of the Central Andes (APVC) erupted 13000 km³ of magma within the last 11 Ma. One of the largest and most complex of these is the Cerro Guacha Caldera. Ar-Ar age determinations and paleomagnetic directions...
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degree of Master of Science in Geology Presented on May 22, 2012
Title: The Cerro Guacha Caldera
Detailed surveys of several segments of the Peru Trench show
that the region between 6° to 10⁰ S is an area of recent deformation.
Seismic reflection records across the axis of the trench show faulting,
uplift, and tilting of the sedimentary fill and the acoustic basement.
Uplift of the acoustic...
Using stable isotope analyses of N and C we present preliminary evidence of marine-derived nutrients from introduced Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha Walbaum) in stream food webs of Laguna Los Patos, NW Patagonia. Similar to values reported within Chinook salmon's native distributional range periphyton and aquatic insects are the trophic levels...
Maximum earthquake magnitude (m[subscript x]) is a critical parameter in seismic
hazard and risk analysis. However, some recent large earthquakes have shown that
most of the existing methods for estimating m[subscript x] are inadequate. Moreover, m[subscript x] itself is ill-defined because its meaning largely depends on the context, and it...
Sufficiently large lake loads provide a means of probing rheological stratification of the crust and upper mantle. Lake Minchin was the largest of the late Pleistocene pluvial lakes in the central Andes. Prominent shorelines, which formed during temporary still‐stands in the climatically driven lake level history, preserve records of lateral...
New K-Ar age determinations on
basalts, basaltic andesites, and ash flow
tuffs from the central Western Cascades in
Oregon range in age from 32 to 3 Ma. The
ages decrease from west to east and with
increasing elevation. Volcanism has been
continuous throughout the evolution of the
Western Cascades, with...
Extensive new trackline coverage of the Chile Trench between 23°S and 34°S, including more than 60 bathymetric and seismic reflection profiles across the trench axis, allows a much more detailed study of the tectonics and sedimentation of this feature than previously possible. Sediment distribution along the axis shows a remarkable...
Reintroduction programs are increasingly being used to save animals from extinction and aid in their recovery. The California Condor (Gymnogyps californianus), one of the most endangered birds in the world, is a remarkable example of how reintroduction programs can help rapidly increase a species' population numbers and range following a...
Pre-Tertiary metamorphic rocks, Jurassic granitic intrusions,
and Eocene basalts are exposed along the North Fork of the John Day
River at its confluence with Granite Creek. Geochemical and textural
evidence suggest greenschist-metamorphosed, strongly sheared,
volcanogenic rocks originated in an island-arc environment. These
greenstones were apparently intruded during the Late Permian...
From detailed fieldwork and biotite ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating correlated with paleomagnetic analyses of lithic clasts, we present a revision of the stratigraphy, areal extent and volume estimates of ignimbrites in the Cerro Galan volcanic complex. We find evidence for nine distinct outflow ignimbrites, including two newly identified ignimbrites in the Toconquis...
Large ignimbrite flare-ups provide records of profound crustal modification during batholith formation at depth. The locations of source calderas and volumes and ages of the eruptions must be determined to develop models for the tectonomagmatic processes that occur during these events. Although high-precision isotopic ages of the ignimbrites are critical,...
Himalayan collision produced frontal and lateral
ramps and associated Pliocene to Quaternary tectonic
geomorphic features in the foreland fold-thrust belt of
northwestern Pakistan. The transpressional right-lateral
Kalabagh tear fault zone displaced the emergent Surghar
Range frontal thrust from the western Salt Range by 16-19
km since 1.9-2.1 Ma: the age...
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Geology and geophysics of the foreland fold-thrust belt
The 4.59-4.18 Ma Caspana ignimbrite, found within the Altiplano-Puna Volcanic Complex (APVC), is the result of an ~8km3 eruption that took place during the Neogene Ignimbrite Flare-up in the N. Chilean Andes. While most of the eruptions during this flare up are large, monogenetic eruptions, the Caspana that is characterized...
Using temperature gradients measured in 10 holes at 6 sites, we generate the first high fidelity heat flow measurements from Integrated Ocean Drilling Program drill holes across the northern and central Lesser Antilles arc and back arc Grenada basin. The implied heat flow, after correcting for bathymetry and sedimentation effects,...
This comprehensive bibliography is collection of refereed research related to climate change, wetlands and wetland restoration published before January 1, 2008.
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-Andean Basin of
Bolivia during late Cretaceous to early Tertiary times. SEDIMENTARY GEOLOGY 113 (1-
2
Active mountain building associated with the accretion of the Yakutat microplate (YT) in southern Alaska is characterized through the combination of a new balanced cross section and new low-temperature cooling ages. This analysis constrains the amount and timing of shortening, the spatial and temporal trends of exhumation, and the interplay...
The Ataspaca prospect is in the Cordillera Occidental, 45 km northwest of Tacna, Peru. Epizonal intrusions satellitic to the Caplina- Ataspaca pluton were emplaced 41 m.y. ago into limestones of the Lower Jurassic Pelado Formation along the northeast-trending Chucchuco fault system. Depths of emplacement ranged from 4.5 to 6.0 km....
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The geology, igneous petrology, and mineral deposits of the
The Yanacocha Mining District in northern Perú is considered the largest group of
high-sulfidation style epithermal gold deposits in the world. District-scale geologic mapping coupled with detailed 40Ar/39Ar geochronology, geochemistry and petrography establish the volcanic history of the area and analyze the temporal and spatial evolution of volcanism, hypogene advanced...
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Yanacocha Mining District, Northern Perú
By
Anthony A. Longo
Ph.D. Geology
The present study describes a primitive kissing bug (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Triatominae) in mid-Cretaceous amber from northern Myanmar. The fossil, which is described as Paleotriatoma metaxytaxa gen. et sp. nov., contains a predominance of features of the Triatominae as well as some characters of the Reduviinae and is considered an intermediate...
The intrusion-related Cerro Negro Norte Fe-oxide (Cu-Au) deposit is hosted in andesites and diorites of the early to middle Cretaceous Coastal Cordilleran arc of northern Chile. Tabular and irregularly shaped magnetite orebodies are localized on splays and fractures of the regional NINE striking Atacama Fault Zone. Production from this district...
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Geology of the Cerro Negro Norte Fe-Oxide (Cu-Au) District