User:Mamayuco/sandbox I

Patagonian slab window The geological structure beneath the lithosphere of central Patagonia includes a slab window. This slab window has far-reaching effects on things such as types and rates of volcanism, crustal thermal regime and uplift rates.

The Antarctic Plate started to subduct beneath South America 14 million years ago in the Miocene epoch. At first it subducted only in the southernmost tip of Patagonia, meaning that the Chile Triple Junction lay near the Strait of Magellan. As the southern part of the Nazca Plate and the Chile Rise became consumed by subduction the more northerly regions of the Antarctic Plate began to subduct beneath Patagonia so that the Chile Triple Junction lies at present in front of Taitao Peninsula at 46°15' S.

Volcanism
The slab window is associated to the eruption of basalt in the back-arc. These basalts form a series of plateaux. These basalts are of both the alkaline and sub-alkaline types. Associated to the basalts there is also trachybasalt and basaltic trachyandesite and trachyandesite are also present in the area.

Tectonics and uplift
The tectonics and crustal heat flow around General Carrera Lake might be influenced by the asthenospheric window.