The Bahía Mansa Metamorphic Complex in the Coastal Range of south central Chile (39°30'-42°00'S): K-Ar, 40Ar/39Ar and U-Pb geochronology and their implications in the evolution of the southwestern margin of Gondwana.

Abstract

The Bahía Mansa Metamorphic Complex (BMMC) consists of pelitic schists, metagreywackes, oceanic type mafic metavolcanics, and minor proportion of tectonically emplaced mafic and ultramafic bodies, mylonites to ultramylonites and rare trachytic intrusive bodies and interbbeded metaignimbrites. The metamorphic mineral associations observed both in metapelitic and metavolcanic rocks suggest a main deformation and metamorphic phase (D₂) in the green schist facies affected the complete lithologic group. This phase was ductile and penetrative in character and completely obliterated the previous features of the rocks, which shown a typical deformation fabric qualified by the development of strong foliation (S₂). Local blue amphiboles in mafic schist, glaucophane in blue schist blocks, zussmanite in iron rich pelitic schists and relict textures (S₁), such as microfolding and internal foliation in albite crystals, intrafolial microfoliation and quartz bearing non root isoclinal folds, evidence a previous deformation and metamorphic phase (D₁) of high P/T gradient, in the blue schist facies. The mineral ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar and K-Ar cooling dates point out a permian-triassic age for the main deformation and metamorphic phase, in the lapse 260-220 Ma, and an upper carboniferous age for the previous high P/T phase, the last during the interval 320-300 Ma. The 396 Ma U-Pb date of a trachytic body emplaced in mafic schists indirectly determined a minimal early devonian age for a portion of these rocks. U-Pb dates of detrital zircons indicate maximal depositional ages during Middle Devonian and Early Permian times for some individual sedimentary components of the BMMC, which imply the deformation and metamorphic event in the blue schist facies affected only rocks with older maximal depositional ages. In this way, at least two episodes of deposition and a similar number of deformation and metamorphic events are well represented in the BMMC. The BMMC has evolved during Devonian-Triassic times in the south-western margin of Gondwana, but others complexes to the south evolved during Triassic-Jurassic and Jurassic-Cretaceous times as a consequence of diacronic accretion in the Gondwana and South American continental margins.