The Coastal Batholith of central Chile is a group of

pluton In geology, an igneous intrusion (or intrusive body or simply intrusion) is a body of intrusive igneous rock that forms by crystallization of magma slowly cooling below the surface of the Earth. Intrusions have a wide variety of forms and com ...

s in the

Chilean Coast Range The Chilean Coastal Range ( es, Cordillera de la Costa) is a mountain range that runs from north to south along the Pacific coast of South America parallel to the Andean Mountains, extending from Morro de Arica in the north to Taitao Peninsula, ...

Central Chile Central Chile (''Zona central'') is one of the five natural regions into which CORFO divided continental Chile in 1950. It is home to a majority of the Chilean population and includes the three largest metropolitan areas—Santiago, Valparaís ...

appearing contiguously from 33° S to 38° S. At a latitude of 40° S an outlying group of plutons of the

batholith A batholith () is a large mass of intrusive igneous rock (also called plutonic rock), larger than in area, that forms from cooled magma deep in Earth's crust. Batholiths are almost always made mostly of felsic or intermediate rock types, such ...

appear in a more eastward position in the Andes. Together with the

Elqui-Limarí Batholith The Elqui-Limarí Batholith is a group of plutons in the Andes of Chile and Argentina between the latitudes of 28 and 30° S. The plutons of the batholith were Methods of pluton emplacement, emplaced and cooled in the Paleozoic, Late Paleozoic and t ...

and the

Colangüil Batholith The Colangüil Batholith is a group of plutons in western Argentina between the latitudes of 29 and 31° S. The plutons of the batholith were emplaced and cooled in the Late Paleozoic and the Triassic. Runs in a north-south direction. The plutons o ...

, the Coastal Batholith of central Chile is a remnant of the volcanic arcs that erupted the volcanic material of the

Choiyoi Group Choiyoi Group ( es, Grupo Choiyoi) is a Permian and Triassic-aged group of volcano-sedimentary formations in Argentina and Chile. The group bears evidence of bimodal-style volcanism related to an ancient subduction zone that existed along the w ...

. During the Permian the zone of arc magmatism moved from the Coastal Batholith 350 km inland reaching San Rafael about 280 million years ago. The batholith is emplaced amidst metamorphic rocks belonging to a Paleozoic accretionary complex. The northern parts are of the batholith are themselves intruded by Jurassic gabbros. Rocks of the batholith belong to the calc-alkaline magma series.

References

Batholiths of South America Lithodemic units of Chile Carboniferous South America Carboniferous Chile Carboniferous magmatism Geology of the Chilean Coast Range Geology of Araucanía Region Geology of Biobío Region Geology of Los Ríos Region Geology of Maule Region Geology of O'Higgins Region Geology of Santiago Metropolitan Region Geology of Valparaíso Region Coasts of Valparaíso Region Coasts of O'Higgins Region {{geology-stub