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The Andes in northern Patagonia are mainly formed by Mesozoic magmatic units: the mostly Jurassic–Cretaceous North Patagonian Batholith and volcanism of the Jurassic Lago La Plata (Ibáñez) Formation as well as the mid-Cretaceous Divisadero Group. These rocks represent the development of a magmatic belt through Jurassic–mid-Cretaceous time, during a switch of the tectonic regime from extension to compression. To study arc evolution during this transition, we carried out fieldwork and geochemical sampling at c. 43°S, clarifying structural relationships and characterizing the magmatic sources. Multi-element diagrams for both volcanic units suggest a slab-derived signature, whereas isotopic ratios (Sr–Nd–Pb) indicate parental melts sourced from the subduction-modified asthenospheric mantle interacting with crustal sources during their emplacement. An angular unconformity is identified between the synextensional Jurassic volcanic rocks and Lower Cretaceous sedimentary rocks beneath the mid-Cretaceous sequences. Although this deformational event was simultaneous with generalized overriding plate compression, geochemical ratios indicate an immature Aptian–Albian arc with no associated crustal thickening. Late Jurassic to mid-Cretaceous arc settlement after a trenchward retraction of magmatism from the foreland between c. 41 and 45°S, with an associated increase in slab dip angle, may have provoked crustal softening facilitating the subsequent initial fold–thrust belt growth. Supplementary material: Petrographic descriptions and geochemical–isotopic data are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.3677974

The geodynamic setting along the SW Gondwana margin during its early breakup (Triassic) remains poorly understood. Recent models calling for an uninterrupted subduction since Late Palaeozoic only slightly consider the geotectonic significance of coeval basins. The Domeyko Basin initiated as a rift basin during the Triassic being filled by sedimentary and volcanic deposits. Stratigraphic, sedimentological, and geochronological analyses are presented in order to determine the tectonostratigraphic evolution of this basin and to propose a tectonic model suitable for other SW Gondwana‐margin rift basins. The Domeyko Basin recorded two synrift stages. The Synrift I (~240–225 Ma) initiated the Sierra Exploradora sub‐basin, whereas the Synrift II (~217–200 Ma) reactivated this sub‐basin and originated small depocentres grouped in the Sierra de Varas sub‐basin. During the rift evolution, the sedimentary systems developed were largely controlled by the interplay between tectonics and volcanism through the accommodation/sediment supply ratio (A/S). High‐volcaniclastic depocentres record a net dominance of the syn‐eruptive period lacking rift‐climax sequences, whereas low‐volcaniclastic depocentres of the Sierra de Varas sub‐basin developed a complete rift cycle during the Synrift II stage. The architecture of the Domeyko Basin suggests a transtensional kinematic where N‐S master faults interacted with ~NW‐SE basement structures producing highly asymmetric releasing bends. We suggest that the early Domeyko Basin was a continental subduction‐related rift basin likely developed under an oblique convergence in a back‐arc setting. Subduction would have acted as a primary driving mechanism for the extension along the Gondwanan margin, unlike inland rift basins. Slab‐induced dynamic can strongly influence the tectonostratigraphic evolution of subduction‐related rift basins through controls in the localization and style of magmatism and faulting, settling the interplay between tectonics, volcanism, and sedimentation during the rifting.

The Andes between 28° and 30°S represent a transition between the Puna‐Altiplano Plateau and the Frontal/Principal Cordillera fold‐and‐thrust belts to the south. While significant early Cenozoic deformation documented in the Andean Plateau, deciphering the early episodes of deformation during Andean mountain building in the transition area is largely unstudied. Apatite fission track (AFT) and (U‐Th‐Sm)/He (AHe) thermochronology from a vertical and a horizontal transect reveal the exhumation history of the High Andes at 30°S, an area at the heart of this major transition. Interpretation of the age‐elevation profile, combined with inverse thermal modeling, indicates that the onset of rapid cooling was underway by ~35 Ma, followed by a significant decrease in cooling rate at ~30–25 Ma. AFT thermal models also reveal a second episode of rapid cooling in the early Miocene (~18 Ma) related to rock exhumation to its present position. Low exhumation between the rapid cooling events allowed for the development of a partial annealing zone. We interpret the observed Eocene rapid exhumation as the product of a previously unrecognized compressive event in this part of the Andes that reflects a southern extension of Eocene orogenesis recognized in the Puna/Altiplano. Renewed early‐Miocene exhumation indicates that the late Cenozoic compressional stresses responsible for the main phase of uplift of the South Central Andes also impacted the core of the range in this transitional sector. The major episode of Eocene exhumation suggests the creation of significant topographic relief in the High Andes earlier than previously thought.