The Pre-Andean Phases of Construction of the Southern Andes Basement in Neoproterozoic-Paleozoic Times

During the late Neoproterozoic and Paleozoic times, the southern Andes of Argentina and Chile (21 degrees-55 degrees S) formed part of the southwestern margin of Gondwana. During this period of time, a set of continental fragments of variable extent and allochtony was successively accreted to that margin, resulting in six Paleozoic orogenies of different temporal and spatial extension: Pampean (Ediacaran-early Cambrian), Famatinian (Middle Ordovician-Silurian), Ocloyic (Middle Ordovician-Devonian), Chanic (Middle Devonian-early Carboniferous), Gondwanan (Middle Devonian-middle Permian), and Tabarin (late Permian-Triassic). All these orogenies culminate with collisional events, with the exception of the Tabarin and a part of the Gondwanan orogenies that are subduction-related.