Hot spring geochemistry from the Cordillera Blanca and Cordillera Huayhuash, Peru, reveal the influence of crustal‐scale structures on geothermal fluid circulation in an amagmatic region located above a flat‐slab subduction zone. To test the influence of contrasting modes of faulting in these regions, springs were targeted along the Cordillera Blanca detachment fault, within its hanging wall, in the footwall of the detachment, and in the Cordillera Huayhuash. Hot springs along the Cordillera Blanca detachment fault zone are associated with recent extension and normal faulting, and those in its footwall and the Cordillera Huayhuash are located in the Marañon fold and thrust belt where compressional structures dominate. Springs along and in the hanging wall of the Cordillera Blanca detachment fault yield brackish‐saline, alkaline‐chloride waters, with oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, and chlorine stable isotope values that suggest mixing between meteoric groundwater and saline brine affected by high water‐rock interaction. Geothermometry reservoir temperature estimates (RTEs) of 91–226°C indicate maximum flow path depths of 8.7 or 11 km, depending on geothermal gradient, associated with the Cordillera Blanca detachment fault. In contrast, springs in the footwall and in the Cordillera Huayhuash exhibit a wide range of water types with an isotopic affinity to meteoric water, suggesting a greater influence from shallow groundwater and less water‐rock interaction. For these springs, RTEs of 40–98°C correspond to much shallower circulation (1.6–4 km). Results indicate that the Cordillera Blanca detachment system accommodates significantly deeper circulation of crustal fluids compared to other regional compressional structures.

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The Cordillera Blanca detachment in the highest elevations of the Peruvian Andes has been accommodating synconvergent extension since the late Miocene. Stable isotope analysis of synkinematic mica from its exhumed footwall shear zone provides new constraints on deep meteoric-hydrothermal circulation during ductile deformation and regional paleoelevation. Muscovite and biotite that deformed and/or grew synkinematically in the shear zone have δ2H values of −131‰ to −58‰ and −149‰ to −98‰ (versus Vienna standard mean ocean water, VSMOW), respectively. The δ2H value difference between coexisting muscovite and biotite is consistent with equilibrium fractionation of the same fluid at the same temperature. Calculated δ2H values of water (−107‰ to −78‰) in equilibrium with these micas are indistinguishable from those of present-day, deeply circulated (9–11 km) hot spring waters emanating from the fault. Such low-δ2H fluids indicate circulation of meteoric water to the depths of the brittle-ductile transition that cannot be explained by other mechanisms. Average recharge paleoelevation for water entering the shear zone based on hydrogen isotopes was 3400 + 500/–700 m (1σ). This is near, but ~500 m below, the present-day mean elevation of the catchments feeding modern hot springs of 3965 ± 880 m, and ~700 m below the 4200 + 700/–900 m mean recharge elevation derived from δ2H values of modern surface and thermal water. The consistency between modern and ancient fault-assisted hydrothermal systems and elevation suggests that high topography, steep relief, and meteoric-hydrothermal circulation have persisted throughout the history of the Cordillera Blanca detachment system.

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