The late Paleozoic paired metamorphic belt of southern Central Chile: Consequence of a near-trench thermal anomaly?

Abstract

The hypothesis of a subduction-related Miyashiro-type paired metamorphic belt for the origin of the late Paleozoic igneous and metamorphic complex in the Andean Coastal Cordillera has remained unquestioned since its proposal in the early seventies. A synthesis of the advances in the study of these metamorphic rocks between 33°S and 42°S, revising field relations among geological units, and geochemical and geochronological data from the contemporaneous granitoids of the Coastal Batholith, highlights inconsistencies in this model. The record of short-lived forearc magmatism in the late Paleozoic intruding the partially synchronous accretionary prism, and geochemical and isotopic data from the igneous rocks indicating sources from the accretionary prism sediments and the back-top lithosphere, suggest a departure from typical subduction settings. I conclude that the anomalous configuration of the paired metamorphic belt and the associated Coastal Batholith resulted from a complex geodynamic process involving a near-trench thermal anomaly caused by the subduction of a trench parallel mid-ocean ridge.