Abstract

This book focuses on the strong relation between the tectonic evolution of the Southernmost Andes and their closest southern neighbors, the Scotia Sea and Antarctica. Some episodes are related to processes of global significance such as the opening of the Drake Passage, which is somehow linked to Late Cenozoic cooling. Many of the topics covered in the book are subjects of heated debates; as such, not only the latest data and approaches are presented, but different points of view as well. The chapters examine the interrelation between main geodynamic processes and plate tectonics from a multidisciplinary perspective. This Paleozoic-Cenozoic geodynamic evolution of the Southernmost Andes involved interrelated metamorphic, magmatic, sedimentary, and deformational processes directed by plate tectonics. The main topics cover the evolution of the Rocas Verdes basin and the Cordillera Darwin high-grade metamorphic complex, growth of the Patagonian Batholith, development of the Patagonian Orocline, the opening of the Drake Passage during growth of the Scotia Sea, evolution of the Austral-Magallanes foreland basin and its related fold and thrust belt.