Cuyo Basin

Cuyo Basin (Cuenca Cuyana) is a sedimentary basin in Mendoza Province, western Argentina. The Cuyo Basin has a NNW-SSE elongated shape and is limited to the west by the Sierra Pintada System and to the east by the Pampean pericraton. To the north the basin reaches the area around the city of Mendoza.

Description
The Cuyo Basin has an approximate area of 30000 km2. It has two major sub-basins: Cacheuta (Subcuenca Cacheuta) in the north and Alvear (Subcuenca Alvear) in the south. The northern fringes of Cacheuta sub-basin reaches into San Juan Province. The basin existed already during the Triassic but its current shape is derivative of the Andean orogeny.

The basin originated as a rift basin in the context of extensional tectonics and crustal thinning that followed the Paleozoic Gondwanide orogeny.

Stratigraphy
The stratigraphy of the Cuyo Basin comprises the following formations: