Field Trip Guides to the Backbone of the Americas in the Southern and Central Andes: Ridge Collision, Shallow Subduction, and Plateau Uplift
The geologic field guides in this volume to the Andes of Argentina and Chile were written for the five field trips accompanying the 2006 Backbone of the Americas conference in Mendoza, Argentina, which was sponsored by the Geological Society of America and the Asociación Geológica Argentina. The meeting was organized around three processes influential in the evolution of the western margin and cordilleras of the Americas—ridge collision, shallowing and steepening subduction zones, and plateau and orogenic uplift. Designed for use in the office or the field, the field guides are to regions that highlight these themes and present up-to-date overviews with references. The trip in chapter 1 to southern Patagonia highlights the ridge-trench collision theme; the next three to different regions of the south-central Andes examine temporal and spatial issues related to shallowing subduction; and the trip in the last chapter to the central Andean Puna plateau highlights plateau uplift in the context of steepening subduction and lithospheric delamination.
