Caldera Basin

Caldera Basin (Cuenca de Caldera) is a sedimentary basin located in the coast of northern Chile west of Copiapó. The basin has a fill of marine sediments of Late Cenozoic age. With a north–south extension of 43 km and an east–west width of 20 km the basin occupies an area between the coast and the Chilean Coast Range and between the port of Caldera and the mouth of Copiapó River. The sedimentary fill rests on metamorphic rocks of Paleozoic age and on plutonic rocks of Mesozoic age.